The strange speck outlined above sits on the surface of Mars in this false color image acquired on July 8th, 2013. It is the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, launched ten years ago, landing over nine years ago, and to this day still actively exploring this region in Meridiani Planum. This image was taken from 269.2 kilometers (168.2 miles) above the surface by the HiRISE camera, a high-resolution telescope/camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

We operate the HiRISE camera from our HiRISE Operations Center here in Tucson, Arizona.

For more information about this image: http://www.uahirise.org/ESP_032573_1775