The dark features here look like raindrops, but are actually sand dunes. This spot was targeted by CRISM because the dunes are rich in the mineral olivine.

Olivine-rich dunes are very rare on Earth, as olivine rapidly weathers to clays in a wet environment. There is also olivine-rich bedrock in the central peaks of Copernicus Crater on the Moon.

There is only a handful of very important scientists, like Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) who have craters named after them on both Mars and the Moon.

ID: ESP_031221_1315
date: 25 March 2013
altitude: 253 km

https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_031221_1315
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA