Possible meteorites in the Martian Hills

From its winter outpost at Low Ridge inside Gusev Crater, the Spirit rover took this spectacular, color mosaic of hilly, sandy terrain and two potential iron meteorites. The two light-colored, smooth rocks about two-thirds of the way up from the bottom of the frame have been labeled Zhong Shan and Allan Hills.

These two rocks have unusual morphologies and miniature thermal emission spectrometer signatures that resemble those of a rock known as Heat Shield at the Meridiani site explored by Spirit's companion rover Opportunity. Opportunity's analyses revealed Heat Shield to be an iron meteorite.

Spirit acquired this false-color image on the rover's 872nd Martian day, June 16, 2006, using exposures taken through three of the panoramic camera's filters, centered on wavelengths of 750 nanometers, 530 nanometers, and 430 nanometers. The image is presented in false color to emphasize differences among materials in the rocks and soil.