[Reposting after the original somehow got deleted.] Here’s another great photo from the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter :

Opportunity Rover on Valentine’s Day 2014

This is the latest HiRISE image of Opportunity rover at Solander Point, where it spent a few weeks investigating Pinnacle rock (the “jelly donut”) that was flipped over by the rover wheel.

We planned this image when this “new” rock was first seen; one hypothesis was that a recent impact deposited the rock. We see no obvious signs of a very recent crater in our image, but a careful comparison to prior images might reveal subtle changes (besides the rover position).

Changes in this region of Mars might be most likely from the action of wind (there are active sand dunes on the floor of Endeavour Crater), but new impacts could occur anywhere. The rover is located in the exact center of the color cutout.

Written by: Alfred McEwen   (19 February 2014)