Pathfinder Landing Site in IR Color (Released 3 August 2004)

This image shows two representations of the same infra-red image covering the region around the Mars Pathfinder landing site. On the left is a grayscale image showing surface temperature, and on the right is a false-color composite made from 3 individual THEMIS bands. The false-color image is colorizedusing a technique called decorrelation stretch (DCS), which emphasizesthe spectral differences between the bands to highlight compositionalvariations.In this image, the green areas are light colored soil and dust, and the pink/magenta is due to basaltic sand. The Pathfinder site is in the green area in the top portion of the image. There is also a purple/indigo unit in the middle of the image that appears to be a bedrock outcrop. This unit has a spectral signature that indicates it may contain the mineral olivine. The catastrophic outflows that carved the channels in the region are probably responsible for exposing this unique rock layer.