PIA05339.jpg = PIA05339: Spirit Shadow over Laguna Trench
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit casts a shadow over the trench that the rover is examining with tools on its robotic arm. Spirit took this image with its front hazard-avoidance camera on Feb. 21, 2004, during the rover's 48th martian day, or sol. It dug the trench with its left front wheel the preceding sol. Plans call for Spirit to finish examining the trench on sol 50.
Voir l'image PIA05339: Spirit Shadow over Laguna Trench sur le site de la NASA.PIA05176: Adirondack Under the Microscope-2
| | PIA05176: Adirondack Under the Microscope-2
PIA05083.jpg = PIA05083: Panoramic View of Lander During Turn
| | PIA05083: Panoramic View of Lander During Turn
PIA05499.jpg = PIA05499: A Hole in Humphrey
This image taken by the navigation camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a hole drilled by the rover in the rock dubbed "Humphrey." Spirit ground into the rock with the rock abrasion tool located on its robotic arm on the 60th martian day, or sol, of its mission. Scientists are investigating the freshly exposed rock with the rover's suite of scientific instruments, also located on the rover's arm. Spirit is on its way to a large crater nicknamed "Bonneville."
Voir l'image PIA05499: A Hole in Humphrey sur le site de la NASA.PIA05510: Messy Grind
This image shows the results of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's grinding of its first target with the rock abrasion tool, located on its instrument deployment device, or "arm." The target, called "McKittrick," is located on the "El Capitan" region of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars.
The grinding process at "McKittrick" has generated a significant amount of fine-grained, reddish dust. Color and spectral properties of the dust show that it may contain some fine-grained crystalline red hematite. This image is an enhanced color composite generated from three different panoramic camera filters.
Voir l'image PIA05510: Messy Grind sur le site de la NASA.PIA03610: Summit Panorama with Rover Deck
Click on the image for Summit Panorama with Rover (QTVR)
The panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took the hundreds of images combined into this 360-degree view, the "Husband Hill Summit" panorama. The images were acquired on Spirit's sols 583 to 586 (Aug. 24 to 27, 2005), shortly after the rover reached the crest of "Husband Hill" inside Mars' Gusev Crater. This is the largest panorama yet acquired from either Spirit or Opportunity. The panoramic camera shot 653 separate images in 6 different filters, encompassing the rover's deck and the full 360 degrees of surface rocks and soils visible to the camera from this position. This is the first time the camera has been used to image the entire rover deck and visible surface from the same position. Stitching together of all the images took significant effort because of the large changes in resolution and parallax across the scene.
The image is an approximately true-color rendering using the 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 480-nanometer filters for the surface, and the 600-nanometer and 480-nanometer filters for the rover deck. Image-to-image seams have been eliminated from the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see.
This panorama provided the team's first view of the "Inner Basin" region (center of the image), including the enigmatic "Home Plate" feature seen from orbital data. After investigating the summit area, Spirit drove downhill to get to the Inner Basin region. Spirit arrived at the summit from the west, along the direction of the rover tracks seen in the middle right of the panorama. The peaks of "McCool Hill" and "Ramon Hill" can be seen on the horizon near the center of the panorama. The summit region itself is a broad, windswept plateau. Spirit spent more than a month exploring the summit region, measuring the chemistry and mineralogy of soils and rocky outcrops at the peak of Husband Hill for comparison with similar measurements obtained during the ascent.
Voir l'image PIA03610: Summit Panorama with Rover Deck sur le site de la NASA.PIA03271: Bird's-Eye View of Opportunity at 'Erebus' (Polar)
This view combines frames taken by the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on the rover's 652nd through 663rd Martian days, or sols (Nov. 23 to Dec. 5, 2005), at the edge of "Erebus Crater." The mosaic is presented as a polar projection. This type of projection provides a kind of overhead view of all of the surrounding terrain. Opportunity examined targets on the outcrop called "Rimrock" in front of the rover, testing the mobility and operation of Opportunity's robotic arm. The view shows examples of the dunes and ripples that Opportunity has been crossing as the rover drives on the Meridiani plains.
This view is an approximate true color rendering composed of images taken through the camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters.
Voir l'image PIA03271: Bird's-Eye View of Opportunity at 'Erebus' (Polar) sur le site de la NASA.PIA05103: Hungry for Rocks
This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit hazard identification camera shows the rover's perspective just before its first post-egress drive on Mars. On Sunday, the 15th martian day, or sol, of Spirit's journey, engineers drove Spirit approximately 3 meters (10 feet) toward its first rock target, a football-sized, mountain-shaped rock called Adirondack (not pictured). In the foreground of this image are "Sashimi" and "Sushi" - two rocks that scientists considered investigating first. Ultimately, these rocks were not chosen because their rough and dusty surfaces are ill-suited for grinding.
Voir l'image PIA05103: Hungry for Rocks sur le site de la NASA.PIA05497: Accidental Art
Figure 1 (Click on image for larger view)
This image, acquired by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic camera on the 53rd martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission, struck science and engineering teams as not only scientifically interesting but remarkably beautiful. The large, shadowed rock in the foreground is nicknamed "Sandia" for a mountain range in New Mexico. An imposing rock, "Sandia" is about 33 centimeters high (1 foot) and about 1.7 meters (5.5 feet) long.
Figure 1 above is a lightened version of the more artistic image above.
The combination of the rover's high-resolution cameras with software tools used by scientists allows the minute details on martian targets to be visualized. When lightened, this image reveals much about the pictured rocks, which the science team believes are ejected material, or ejecta, from the nearby crater called "Bonneville." Scientists believe "Sandia" is a basaltic rock that landed on its side after being ejected from the crater. The vertical lines on the side of the rock facing the camera are known by geologists as "flow banding" and typically run horizontally, indicating that "Sandia" is on its side. What look like small holes on the two visible sides of the rock are called vesicles; they were probably once gas bubbles within the lava.
The lighting not only makes for an artistic image, it helps scientists get a virtual three-dimensional feel for target rocks. Observations taken at different times of day, as shadows move and surface texture details on target rocks are revealed, are entered into modeling software that turns a two-dimensional image into a three-dimensional research tool.
Many smaller rocks can be seen in the background of the image. Some rocks are completely exposed, while others are only peeking out of the surface. Scientists believe that two processes might be at work here: accretion, which occurs when winds deposit material that slowly buries many of the rocks; and deflation, which occurs when surface material is removed by wind, exposing more and more of the rocks.
Voir l'image PIA05497: Accidental Art sur le site de la NASA.PIA05337: Spirit Digs a Trench
A view from the front hazard avoidance camera of NASA's Spirit rover on its 47th sol shows a trench excavated by the rover's left front wheel within the "Laguna Hollow" area. The trench, dubbed "Road Cut," is 7 centimeters (3 inches) deep. The soil at this location is more cohesive than the material where Spirit's twin, Opportunity, dug its first trench at Meridiani. Spirit made 11 back-and-forth passes to dig this trench, and still did not produce as deep a hole as Opportunity dug in 6 passes. Scientists and engineers plan to begin up-close inspection of the soil in this trench on sol 48 by placing the microscopic imager on the floor and the walls before conducting Moessbauer and alpha particle x-ray spectrometer readings on some of the same points.
Voir l'image PIA05337: Spirit Digs a Trench sur le site de la NASA.PIA05519: Some Rocky Road Please
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's navigation camera shows the rocky path lying due east of the rover. Boulders as large as half a meter (1.6 feet) dot the landscape here near Bonneville Crater. The east hills, over two kilometers away (1.3 miles), can be seen to the far right. Spirit will most likely drive toward the rim of Bonneville crater along a safer route to the north of this area.
Voir l'image PIA05519: Some Rocky Road Please sur le site de la NASA.PIA03617: Partial 'Seminole' Panorama (False Color)
This view from Spirit's panoramic camera is assembled from frames acquired on Martian days, or sols, 672 and 673 (Nov. 23 and 24, 2005) from the rover's position near an outcrop called "Seminole." The view is a southward-looking portion of a larger panorama still being completed. This is a false-color version to emphasize geological differences. It is a composite of images shot through three different filters, admitting light of wavelengths 750 nanometers, 530 nanometers and 430 nanometers.
Voir l'image PIA03617: Partial 'Seminole' Panorama (False Color) sur le site de la NASA.PIA04979: View in Front of Spirit
| | PIA04979: View in Front of Spirit
PIA05104.jpg = PIA05104: "They of the Great Rocks"
This approximate true color image taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows "Adirondack," the rover's first target rock. Spirit traversed the sandy martian terrain at Gusev Crater to arrive in front of the football-sized rock on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2004, just three days after it successfully rolled off the lander. The rock was selected as Spirit's first target because its dust-free, flat surface is ideally suited for grinding. Clean surfaces also are better for examining a rock's top coating. Scientists named the angular rock after the Adirondack mountain range in New York. The word Adirondack is Native American and means "They of the great rocks."
Voir l'image PIA05104: "They of the Great Rocks" sur le site de la NASA.PIA05474: Focus on El Capitan
This image, taken by the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, shows a geological region of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars dubbed "El Capitan." Light from the top is illuminating the region. Several images, each showing a different part of this region in good focus, were merged to produce this view. The area in this image, taken on Sol 28 of the Opportunity mission, is 1.3 centimeters (half an inch) across.
Voir l'image PIA05474: Focus on El Capitan sur le site de la NASA.PIA05015: Martian Surface at an Angle
This latest color "postcard from Mars," taken on Sol 5 by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, looks to the north. The apparent slope of the horizon is due to the several-degree tilt of the lander deck. On the left, the circular topographic feature dubbed Sleepy Hollow can be seen along with dark markings that may be surface disturbances caused by the airbag-encased lander as it bounced and rolled to rest. A dust-coated airbag is prominent in the foreground, and a dune-like object that has piqued the interest of the science team with its dark, possibly armored top coating, can be seen on the right.
Voir l'image PIA05015: Martian Surface at an Angle sur le site de la NASA.PIA03070: Stargazing at 'Husband Hill Observatory' on Mars
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit continues to take advantage of extra solar energy by occasionally turning its cameras upward for night sky observations. Most recently, Spirit made a series of observations of bright star fields from the summit of "Husband Hill" in Gusev Crater on Mars. Scientists use the images to assess the cameras' sensitivity and to search for evidence of nighttime clouds or haze. The image on the left is a computer simulation of the stars in the constellation Orion. The next three images are actual views of Orion captured with Spirit's panoramic camera during exposures of 10, 30, and 60 seconds.
Because Spirit is in the southern hemisphere of Mars, Orion appears upside down compared to how it would appear to viewers in the Northern Hemisphere of Earth. "Star trails" in the longer exposures are a result of the planet's rotation. The faintest stars visible in the 60-second exposure are about as bright as the faintest stars visible with the naked eye from Earth (about magnitude 6 in astronomical terms). The Orion Nebula, famous as a nursery of newly forming stars, is also visible in these images. Bright streaks in some parts of the images aren't stars or meteors or unidentified flying objects, but are caused by solar and galactic cosmic rays striking the camera's detector.Spirit acquired these images with the panoramic camera on Martian day, or sol, 632 (Oct. 13, 2005) at around 45 minutes past midnight local time, using the camera's broadband filter (wavelengths of 739 nanometers plus or minus 338 nanometers).
Voir l'image PIA03070: Stargazing at 'Husband Hill Observatory' on Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA04299: Sand-Strewn Summit of "Husband Hill" on Mars
Undulating bands of dark and light sand, sloping dunes, and scattered cobbles form an apron around a ridge of light-colored rock that stands in bold relief against distant plains, as viewed by NASA's "Spirit" rover from the top of "Husband Hill" on Mars. "The view of the summit is spectacular where we are right now," said geologist Larry Crumpler, with the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque.
From here, Spirit is looking north-northeast en route to examining more of the local geology of the "Columbia Hills" in Gusev Crater. A few days after taking this picture, Spirit investigated the small, sinuous drifts on the left, located north-northeast of the rover's position in this image. The last previous time Spirit examined a drift was on the rim of "Bonneville Crater" almost 500 martian days, or sols, ago, in March 2004.
The largest light-colored rock in the foreground is nicknamed "Whittaker." The cliff beyond it and slightly to the left is nicknamed "Tenzing." The highest rock on the ridge ahead has been dubbed "Hillary." Science team members selected the nicknames in honor of the earliest climbers to scale Mount Everest on Earth. This view covers approximately 50 degrees of the compass from left to right. It is a mosaic assembled from frames Spirit took with the panoramic camera on sol 603 (Sept. 13, 2005). It was taken through a blue (430-nanometer) filter and is presented as a cylindrical projection.
Voir l'image PIA04299: Sand-Strewn Summit of "Husband Hill" on Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA03622: Rim of 'Erebus'
The center upper portion of this image shows a portion of the rim of "Erebus Crater" in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. This approximately true-color view from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is a composite of frames acquired on the rover's 657th Martian day, or sol, (Nov. 28, 2005). This is a small portion of a large panorama. Other portions of the panorama were still being shot three sols later. This view is a composite of separate images taken through the camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters.
Voir l'image PIA03622: Rim of 'Erebus' sur le site de la NASA.PIA05069: Ready to Roll
This image shows the view from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit after it successfully completed a 115 degree turn to face northwest, the direction it will roll off the lander. The image was taken by the rover's front hazard avoidance camera.
Voir l'image PIA05069: Ready to Roll sur le site de la NASA.PIA04158: Rind-Like Features at a Meridiani Outcrop
After months spent roving across a sea of rippled sands, Opportunity reached an outcrop in August 2005 and began investigating exposures of sedimentary rocks, intriguing rind-like features that appear to cap the rocks, and cobbles that dot the martian surface locally. Opportunity spent several sols analyzing a feature called "Lemon Rind," a thin surface layer covering portions of outcrop rocks poking through the sand north of "Erebus Crater." In images from the panoramic camera, Lemon Rind appears slightly different in color than surrounding rocks. It also appears to be slightly more resistant to wind erosion than the outcrop's interior. To obtain information on how this surface layer (or weathering rind) may have formed and how it compares to previously analyzed outcrops, Opportunity is using the microscopic imager, alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and Moessbauer spectrometer to analyze surfaces that have been brushed and ground with the rock abrasion tool. Scientists will compare these measurements with similar measurements made on the underlying rock material.
This is a false-color composite generated by draping enhanced red-green-blue color from the panoramic camera's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer and 482-nanometer filters over a high-fidelity violet, 432-nanometer-filter image. The image was acquired on martian day, or sol 552 (Aug. 13, 2005) around 11:55 a.m. local true solar time. In this representation, bright sulfur-bearing sedimentary rocks appear light tan to brown, depending on their degree of dust contamination, and small dark "blueberries" and other much less dusty rock fragments appear as different shades of blue. Draping the color derived from the blue to near-infrared filters over the violet filter image results in a false color view with the sharpest color and morphology contrasts.
Voir l'image PIA04158: Rind-Like Features at a Meridiani Outcrop sur le site de la NASA.PIA04189: Rind-Like Features at a Meridiani Outcrop
Annotated image of PIA04189
Rind-Like Features at a Meridiani Outcrop
After months spent crossing a sea of rippled sands, Opportunity reached an outcrop in August 2005 and began investigating exposures of sedimentary rocks, intriguing rind-like features that appear to cap the rocks, and cobbles that dot the martian surface locally. Opportunity spent several martian days, or sols, analyzing a feature called "Lemon Rind," a thin surface layer covering portions of outcrop rocks poking through the sand north of "Erebus Crater." In images from the panoramic camera, Lemon Rind appears slightly different in color than surrounding rocks. It also appears to be slightly more resistant to wind erosion than the outcrop's interior. This is an approximately true-color composite produced from frames taken during Opportunity's 552nd martian day, or sol (Aug. 13, 2005).
Voir l'image PIA04189: Rind-Like Features at a Meridiani Outcrop sur le site de la NASA.PIA05136: Behold Spirit
This high-resolution image shows a computer-generated model of Spirit's lander at Gusev Crater as engineers and scientists would have expected to see it from a perfect overhead view. The background is a reprojected image taken by the Spirit panoramic camera on Sol 19 (Jan. 21-22, 2004). The top of the image faces north.
Note: This image has been updated with a much higher resolution version than the original release.
Voir l'image PIA05136: Behold Spirit sur le site de la NASA.PIA05221: Back in Action-2
This image shows the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's "hand," or the tip of the instrument deployment device, poised in front of the rock nicknamed Adirondack. In preparation for grinding into Adirondack, Spirit cleaned off a portion of the rock's surface with a stainless steel brush located on its rock abrasion tool, seen here at the top of its hand. The image was taken by the rover's panoramic camera.
Voir l'image PIA05221: Back in Action-2 sur le site de la NASA.PIA05305: Fresh Soil for Inspection
The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity dragged one of its wheels back and forth across the sandy soil at Meridiani Planum to create a hole (bottom of image) measuring approximately 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) long by 20 centimeters (7.9 inches) wide by 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) deep. The rover's instrument deployment device, or arm, will begin studying the fresh soil at the bottom of this trench later today for clues to its mineral composition and history. Scientists chose this particular site for digging because previous data taken by the rover's miniature thermal emission spectrometer indicated that it contains crystalline hematite, a mineral that sometimes forms in the presence of water. The brightness of the newly-exposed soil is thought to be either intrinsic to the soil itself, or a reflection of the Sun. The rock outcrop lining the inner edge of the small crater encircling the rover and lander can be seen on the horizon. This fish-eye image was taken by the rover's hazard-avoidance camera.
Voir l'image PIA05305: Fresh Soil for Inspection sur le site de la NASA.PIA05473: Focused on Robert E
This image, taken by the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, shows a geological feature dubbed "Robert E." Light from the top is illuminating the feature, which is located within the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars. Several images, each showing a different part of "Robert E" in good focus, were merged to produce this view. The area in this image, taken on Sol 15 of the Opportunity mission, is 2.2 centimeters (0.8 inches) across.
Voir l'image PIA05473: Focused on Robert E sur le site de la NASA.PIA04156: Wide-Angle View of Gusev Dust Devil, Sol 559
This movie clip shows dust devils moving across the plain inside Mars' Gusev Crater, as seen with a hazard-identification camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. The clip consists of consists of frames taken by that camera during a span of 8 minutes, 26 seconds on the rover's 559th martian day, or sol (July 29, 2005). Contrast has been enhanced for anything in the images that changes from frame to frame, that is, for the dust moved by wind.
Spirit began seeing dust devil activity around the beginning of Mars' spring season. Activity increased as spring continued, but fell off again for about two weeks during a dust storm. As the dust storm faded away, dust devil activity came back. In the mid-afternoons as the summer solstice approached, dust devils were a very common occurrence on the floor of Gusev crater. The early-spring dust devils tended to move southwest-to-northeast, across the dust devil streaks in Gusev seen from orbit. Increasingly as the season progresses, the dust devils are seen moving northwest-to-southeast, in the same direction as the streaks. Scientists are watching for the big dust devils that leave those streaks.
Voir l'image PIA04156: Wide-Angle View of Gusev Dust Devil, Sol 559 sur le site de la NASA.PIA04994: Facing the Sun
Click for larger view
The bright white dot in this image taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is the Sun, used to help point the rover's high-gain antenna toward Earth. The inset shows the Sun magnified five times.
Voir l'image PIA04994: Facing the Sun sur le site de la NASA.PIA05138: First Panoramic Look at Meridiani Planum, Mars
| | PIA05138: First Panoramic Look at Meridiani Planum, Mars
PIA05525.jpg = PIA05525: A Long Way From Home
This pair of pieced-together images was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's left navigation camera looking aft on March 6, 2004. It reveals the long and rocky path of nearly 240 meters (787 feet) that Spirit had traveled since safely arriving at Gusev Crater on Jan. 3, 2004.
The lander can still be seen in the distance, but will never be "home" again for the journeying rover. This image is also a tribute to the effectiveness of the autonomous navigation system that the rovers use during parts of their martian drives. Instead of driving directly through the "hollow" seen in the middle right of the image, the autonomous navigation system guided Spirit around the high ridge bordering the hollow.
In the two days after these images were taken, Spirit has traveled roughly 60 meters (197 feet) farther toward its destination at the crater nicknamed "Bonneville."
Voir l'image PIA05525: A Long Way From Home sur le site de la NASA.PIA05144: Meridiani Planum in Color
This color image shows the martian landscape at Meridiani Planum, where the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity successfully landed at 9:05 p.m. PST on Saturday. This is one of the first images beamed back to Earth from the rover shortly after it touched down. The image was captured by the rover's panoramic camera.
Voir l'image PIA05144: Meridiani Planum in Color sur le site de la NASA.PIA05195: Microscope on Mars
This image taken at Meridiani Planum, Mars by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rover's microscopic imager (circular device in center), located on its instrument deployment device, or "arm." The image was acquired on the ninth martian day or sol of the rover's mission.
Voir l'image PIA05195: Microscope on Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA04413: Artist's Concept of Rover on Mars
| | PIA04413: Artist's Concept of Rover on Mars
PIA01898.jpg = PIA01898: Opportunity's View, Sol 958
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this stereo view of the rover's surroundings on the 958th sol, or Martian day, of its surface mission (Oct. 4, 2006).
This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.
Voir l'image PIA01898: Opportunity's View, Sol 958 sur le site de la NASA.PIA03231: Special-Effects Spirit on Flank of "Husband Hill"
This synthetic image of the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover on the flank of "Husband Hill" was produced using "Virtual Presence in Space" technology. Developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., this technology combines visualization and image-processing tools with Hollywood-style special effects. The image was created using a photorealistic model of the rover and a false-color mosaic. The size of the rover in the image is approximately correct and was based on the size of the rover tracks in the mosaic. The mosaic was assembled from frames taken by the panoramic camera on the rover's 454th Martian day, or sol (April 13, 2005); see PIA07855).
Because this synthesis provides viewers with a sense of their own "virtual presence" (as if they were there themselves), such views can be useful to mission teams in planning exploration by enhancing perspective and a sense of scale.
Voir l'image PIA03231: Special-Effects Spirit on Flank of "Husband Hill" sur le site de la NASA.PIA05143: Airbag Seams Leave Trails
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows where the rover's airbag seams left impressions in the martian soil. The drag marks were made after the rover successfully landed at Meridiani Planum and its airbags were retracted. The rover can be seen in the foreground.
Voir l'image PIA05143: Airbag Seams Leave Trails sur le site de la NASA.PIA04180: Looking Up from the Deep
Click on the image for
Looking Up from the Deep (QTVR)
Not long after conducting extensive investigations of tilted martian rock layers along its path, NASA's Spirit rover prepared to resume the trek to the top of the "Columbia Hills" in June. This panorama, nicknamed "Sunset Ridge," shows the terrain that lay ahead of the rover on Spirit's 519th martian day, or sol (June 19, 2005). On the left is the summit of "Husband Hill," Spirit's objective at that time.
This mosaic of images is an approximate true-color rendering of snapshots taken by the rover's panoramic camera using 750-, 530-, and 430-nanometer filters. Spirit took these images at approximately 3 p.m. local true solar time in Gusev Crater on Mars. The rover then continued to climb throughout July, making numerous scientific investigations of martian rocks along the way.
Voir l'image PIA04180: Looking Up from the Deep sur le site de la NASA.PIA05067: 95-degree Position on Mars
This image from the hazard avoidance camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rover in its near-final turned position on the lander at Gusev Crater. At this point, the rover has turned 95 degrees, with 115 degrees being its goal position. This picture looks remarkably similar to the image taken during a "dress rehearsal" at the JPL In-Situ Laboratory, or "testbed," prior to the maneuver on Mars.
Voir l'image PIA05067: 95-degree Position on Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA05152: A Hole in One
The interior of a crater surrounding the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity at Meridiani Planum on Mars can be seen in this color image from the rover's panoramic camera. This is the darkest landing site ever visited by a spacecraft on Mars. The rim of the crater is approximately 10 meters (32 feet) from the rover. The crater is estimated to be 20 meters (65 feet) in diameter. Scientists are intrigued by the abundance of rock outcrops dispersed throughout the crater, as well as the crater's soil, which appears to be a mixture of coarse gray grains and fine reddish grains.
Data taken from the camera's near-infrared, green and blue filters were combined to create this approximate true color picture, taken on the first day of Opportunity's journey. The view is to the west-southwest of the rover.
Voir l'image PIA05152: A Hole in One sur le site de la NASA.PIA01907: 'McMurdo' Panorama from Spirit's 'Winter Haven'
Click on the image for
Spirit's Winter Panorama Labeled Version
Since April of 2006, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has been sojourning in a place called "Winter Haven," where the robotic geologist spent several months parked on a north-facing slope in order to keep its solar panels pointed toward the sun. During that time, while the rover spent the daylight hours conducting as much scientific research as possible, science team members assigned informal names to rock outcrops, boulders, and patches of soil commemorating exploration sites in Antarctica and the southernmost islands of South America. Antarctic bases are places where researchers, like the rovers on Mars, hunker down for the winter in subzero temperatures. During the past Martian winter, Spirit endured temperatures lower than minus 100 degrees Celsius (minus 148 degrees Fahrenheit).
This full-color mosaic of images acquired by the rover's panoramic camera shows the various features of the landscape near Spirit's "Winter Haven" and the informal names used to identify them. With Martian spring just around the corner and solar power levels on the rise, Spirit has been driving again. Scientists hope to return to the circular, plateau-like feature known as "Home Plate," though it will take some weeks to get there with a dragging right front wheel after visiting other points of scientific interest along the way.
The full-resolution TIFF file labeled version can be viewed or downloaded here PIA01907_fig1.tif; the full-resolution JPEG can be viewed or downloaded here PIA01907_fig1.jpg. [Photojournal note: due to the large sizes of the high-resolution TIFF and JPEG files, some systems may experience extremely slow downlink time while viewing or downloading these images; some systems may be incapable of handling the download entirely.]
This 360-degree view, called the "McMurdo" panorama, comes from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. From April through October 2006, Spirit has stayed on a small hill known as "Low Ridge." There, the rover's solar panels are tilted toward the sun to maintain enough solar power for Spirit to keep making scientific observations throughout the winter on southern Mars. This view of the surroundings from Spirit's "Winter Haven" is presented in approximately true color.
Oct. 26, 2006, marks Spirit's 1,000th sol of what was planned as a 90-sol mission. (A sol is a Martian day, which lasts 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds). The rover has lived through the most challenging part of its second Martian winter. Its solar power levels are rising again. Spring in the southern hemisphere of Mars will begin in early 2007. Before that, the rover team hopes to start driving Spirit again toward scientifically interesting places in the "Inner Basin" and "Columbia Hills" inside Gusev crater. The McMurdo panorama is providing team members with key pieces of scientific and topographic information for choosing where to continue Spirit's exploration adventure.
The Pancam began shooting component images of this panorama during Spirit's sol 814 (April 18, 2006) and completed the part shown here on sol 932 (Aug. 17, 2006). The panorama was acquired using all 13 of the Pancam's color filters, using lossless compression for the red and blue stereo filters, and only modest levels of compression on the remaining filters. The overall panorama consists of 1,449 Pancam images and represents a raw data volume of nearly 500 megabytes. It is thus the largest, highest-fidelity view of Mars acquired from either rover. Additional photo coverage of the parts of the rover deck not shown here was completed on sol 980 (Oct. 5 , 2006). The team is completing the processing and mosaicking of those final pieces of the panorama, and that image will be released on the Web shortly to augment this McMurdo panorama view.
This beautiful scene reveals a tremendous amount of detail in Spirit's surroundings. Many dark, porous-textured volcanic rocks can be seen around the rover, including many on Low Ridge. Two rocks to the right of center, brighter and smoother-looking in this image and more reflective in infrared observations by Spirit's miniature thermal emission spectrometer, are thought to be meteorites. On the right, "Husband Hill" on the horizon, the rippled "El Dorado" sand dune field near the base of that hill, and lighter-toned "Home Plate" below the dunes provide context for Spirit's travels since mid-2005. Left of center, tracks and a trench dug by Spirit's right-front wheel, which no longer rotates, have exposed bright underlying material. This bright material is evidence of sulfur-rich salty minerals in the subsurface, which may provide clues about the watery past of this part of Gusev Crater.
Spirit has stayed busy at Winter Haven during the past six months even without driving. In addition to acquiring this spectacular panorama, the rover team has also acquired significant new assessments of the elemental chemistry and mineralogy of rocks and soil targets within reach of the rover's arm. The team plans soon to have Spirit drive to a very nearby spot on Low Ridge to access different rock and soil samples while maintaining a good solar panel tilt toward the sun for the rest of the Martian winter.
Despite the long span of time needed for acquiring this 360-degree view -- a few images at a time every few sols over a total of 119 sols because the available power was so low -- the lighting and color remain remarkably uniform across the mosaic. This fact attests to the repeatability of wintertime sols on Mars in the southern hemisphere. This is the time of year when Mars is farthest from the sun, so there is much less dust storm and dust devil activity than at other times of the year.
This is an approximately true-color, red-green-blue composite panorama generated from images taken through the Pancam's 600-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 480-nanometer filters. This "natural color" view is the rover team's best estimate of what the scene would look like if we were there and able to see it with our own eyes.
Voir l'image PIA01907: 'McMurdo' Panorama from Spirit's 'Winter Haven' sur le site de la NASA.PIA03641: Descent from the Summit of 'Husband Hill' (False Color)
In late November 2005 while descending "Husband Hill," NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took the most detailed panorama so far of the "Inner Basin," the rover's next target destination. Spirit acquired the 405 individual images that make up this 360-degree view of the surrounding terrain using five different filters on the panoramic camera. The rover took the images on Martian days, or sols, 672 to 677 (Nov. 23 to 28, 2005 -- the Thanksgiving holiday weekend).
This image is a false-color rendering using camera's 750-, 530-, and 430-nanometer filters, emphasizing some colors more than others to enhance striking but subtle color differences among rocks, soils, hills, and plains.
"Home Plate," a bright, semi-circular feature scientists hope to investigate, is harder to discern in this image than in earlier views taken from higher up the hill. Spirit acquired this more oblique view, known as the "Seminole panorama," from about halfway down the south flank of Husband Hill, 50 meters (164 feet) or so below the summit. Near the center of the panorama, on the horizon, are "McCool Hill" and "Ramon Hill," named, like Husband Hill, in honor of the fallen astronauts of the space shuttle Columbia. Husband Hill is visible behind the rover, on the right and left sides of the panorama. An arc of rover tracks made while avoiding obstacles and getting into position to examine rock outcrops can be traced over a long distance by zooming in to explore the panorama in greater detail.
Spirit is now significantly farther downhill toward the center of this panorama, en route to Home Plate and other enigmatic soils and outcrop rocks in the quest to uncover the history of Gusev Crater and the "Columbia Hills."
Voir l'image PIA03641: Descent from the Summit of 'Husband Hill' (False Color) sur le site de la NASA.PIA05239: Spirit's First Grinding of a Rock on Mars
The round, shallow depression in this image resulted from history's first grinding of a rock on Mars. The rock abrasion tool on NASA's Spirit rover ground off the surface of a patch 45.5 millimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter on a rock called Adirondack. The hole is 2.65 millimeters (0.1 inch) deep, exposing fresh interior material of the rock for close inspection with the rover's microscopic imager and two spectrometers on the robotic arm. This image was taken by Spirit's panoramic camera, providing a quick visual check of the success of the grinding. The rock abrasion tools on both Mars Exploration Rovers were supplied by Honeybee Robotics, New York, N.Y.
Voir l'image PIA05239: Spirit's First Grinding of a Rock on Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA04982: First Look at Spirit at Landing Site
| | PIA04982: First Look at Spirit at Landing Site
PIA04191.jpg = PIA04191: Sitting on 'Voltaire'
Annotated image of PIA04191
Sitting on 'Voltaire'This false-color mosaic was taken with Spirit's panoramic camera on martian day, or sol, 554 (July 25, 2005), while Spirit was sitting on the "Voltaire" layered rock outcrop.
A rock within the Voltaire outcrop, called "Haussmann," exhibited many interesting patterns, including rounded pebbles that are approximately 2 to 3 centimeters (.8 to 1.2 inches) across. The pebbles are embedded in a finer-grained matrix of material. The striations in Haussmann are noted. The rounded pebbles must have been exposed to erosion in the past, before they were embedded into the rock.
The layered rocks in this area are thought to have formed from an impact event, as ejected deposits. They illustrate the complexity of the rocks found by Spirit as the rover made its way to the summit of Husband Hill.
Voir l'image PIA04191: Sitting on 'Voltaire' sur le site de la NASA. | | PIA04191: Sitting on 'Voltaire'
PIA03014.jpg = PIA03014: More Climbing Ahead
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit will not plant a flag, as did Sir Edmund Hillary when he scaled Mount Everest on Earth, when the rover reaches the hilltop outcrop shown here, which scientists have nicknamed in honor of Hillary. But Spirit will send images and other scientific data across the millions of miles that separate Earth from the distant planet where no human has yet set foot. This false-color view combines images that Spirit took with its panoramic camera during the rover's 608th martian day, or sol (Sept. 18, 2005). The site is on top of "Husband Hill" inside Gusev Crater, where the rover has been conducting scientific studies. The component images were taken through the camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters.
The slightly lower outcrop to the left of "Hillary" is nicknamed "Tenzing." The names recall the first humans -- Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal -- to reach the highest point on Earth, in 1953. Husband Hill rises 106 meters (348 feet) above the surrounding plains.
Voir l'image PIA03014: More Climbing Ahead sur le site de la NASA.PIA04985: Spirit's Descent to Mars-1983
This image, taken by the descent image motion estimation system camera located on the bottom of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's lander, shows a view of Gusev Crater as the lander descends to Mars. The picture is taken at an altitude of 1983 meters. Numerous small impact craters can be seen on the surface of the planet. These images help the onboard software to minimize the lander's horizontal velocity before its bridal is cut, and it falls freely to the surface of Mars.
Voir l'image PIA04985: Spirit's Descent to Mars-1983 sur le site de la NASA.PIA04196: Focus on 'Rue Legendre'
Annotated image of PIA04196
Focus on 'Rue Legendre'Spirit used its microscopic imager to take this mosaic of the rock "Haussmann" on martian day, or sol, 563 (August 3, 2005). The specific target is nicknamed "Rue Legendre." The rounded nature of the pebbles indicates that they were eroded on the surface before being embedded into the Haussmann rock. The size of the larger of the two pebbles is approximately 3 centimeters (1.2 inches). The rock probably formed from impact ejecta, consistent with other rocks Spirit discovered during its climb to the summit of "Husband Hill."
Voir l'image PIA04196: Focus on 'Rue Legendre' sur le site de la NASA. | | PIA04196: Focus on 'Rue Legendre'
PIA05155.jpg = PIA05155: NASA Dedicates Martian Landmarks To Apollo 1 Crew
An image taken from Spirit's PanCam looking west depicts the nearby hills named after the astronauts of the Apollo 1. The crew of Apollo 1 perished in flash fire during a launch pad test of their Apollo spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center, Fl. on January 27, 1967.
The inset above is an image taken by the Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera of the Columbia Memorial Station and the nearby hills named after the Apollo 1 crew. "Grissom Hill" is located 7.5 kilometers (4.7 miles) to the Southwest of the rover Spirit's landing site. "White Hill" is 11.2 kilometers (7 miles) Northwest of its position and "Chaffee Hill" is 14.3 kilometers (8.9 miles) south-Southwest of Spirit.
Voir l'image PIA05155: NASA Dedicates Martian Landmarks To Apollo 1 Crew sur le site de la NASA.PIA05546: Stars in Orion as Seen from Mars
Stars in the upper portion of the constellation Orion the Hunter, including the bright shoulder star Betelgeuse and Orion's three-star belt, appear in this image taken from the surface of Mars by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit.
Spirit imaged stars on March 11, 2004, after it awoke during the martian night for a communication session with NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. This image is an eight-second exposure. Longer exposures were also taken. The images tested the capabilities of the rover for night-sky observations. Scientists will use the results to aid planning for possible future astronomical observations from Mars.
Voir l'image PIA05546: Stars in Orion as Seen from Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA05003: Martian Horizon
| | PIA05003: Martian Horizon
PIA05314.jpg = PIA05314: Spirit Spies "Bonneville"
This mosaic image from the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the area in front of the rover after its record 27.5 meters (90.2 feet) drive on Sol 43, which ended February 16, 2004. Spirit is looking toward one of its future targets, the rim of a crater nicknamed "Bonneville."
Voir l'image PIA05314: Spirit Spies "Bonneville" sur le site de la NASA.PIA03061: After Conquering 'Husband Hill,' Spirit Moves On
The first explorer ever to scale a summit on another planet, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has begun a long trek downward from the top of "Husband Hill" to new destinations. As shown in this 180-degree panorama from east of the summit, Spirit's earlier tracks are no longer visible. They are off to the west (to the left in this view). Spirit's next destination is "Haskin Ridge," straight ahead along the edge of the steep cliff on the right side of this panorama.
The scene is a mosaic of images that Spirit took with the navigation camera on the rover's 635th Martian day, or sol, (Oct. 16, 2005) of exploration of Gusev Crater on Mars. This view is presented in a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.
Voir l'image PIA03061: After Conquering 'Husband Hill,' Spirit Moves On sur le site de la NASA.PIA02186: Revealing Roosevelt
This image mosaic from the microscopic imager aboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows detailed structure of a small fin-like structure dubbed "Roosevelt," which sticks out from the outcrop pavement at the edge of "Erebus Crater."
Roosevelt lines a fracture in the local pavement and scientists hypothesize that it is a fracture fill, formed by water that percolated through the fracture. This would mean the feature is younger than surrounding rocks and, therefore, might provide evidence of water that was present some time after the formation of Meridiani Planum sedimentary rocks.
The image shows fine laminations (layers about 1 millimeter or .04 inch thick) that run parallel to the axis of the fin. Some of the textures visible in the image likely indicate that minerals precipitated from the outcrop rocks, but sediment grains are also apparent.
The three frames combined into this mosaic were taken during Opportunity's 727th Martian day, or sol (Feb. 8, 2006). In subsequent days, the rover completed textural and chemical inspection of Roosevelt to help the science team understand this structure's significance for Martian history.
Voir l'image PIA02186: Revealing Roosevelt sur le site de la NASA.PIA01880: Three-Frame 'Movie' of Opportunity Rover at 'Victoria Crater'
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter imaged Opportunity on Oct. 3, Nov. 4 and Nov. 30, 2006. Each time the rover was in a different location as it progressed around "Victoria Crater." The remainder of the scene is unchanged, except that the shadows are slightly different given variations in the time of year and time of day between images. Also, each image was acquired with slightly different viewing geometries: the orbiter was pointed 3.84 degrees to the west for the first image, 16.3 degrees west for the second, and 1.76 degrees west for the third.
All three images are shown here in their original geometry, not reprojected to map format.
Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu.
For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, http://www.nasa.gov.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.
Voir l'image PIA01880: Three-Frame 'Movie' of Opportunity Rover at 'Victoria Crater' sur le site de la NASA.PIA02157: Hardened Lava Meets Wind on Mars
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its microscopic imager to capture this spectacular, jagged mini-landscape on a rock called "GongGong." Measuring only 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across, this surface records two of the most important and violent forces in the history of Mars -- volcanoes and wind.
GongGong formed billions of years ago in a seething, stirring mass of molten rock. It captured bubbles of gases that were trapped at great depth but had separated from the main body of lava as it rose to the surface. Like taffy being stretched and tumbled, the molten rock was deformed as it moved across an ancient Martian landscape. The tiny bubbles of gas were deformed as well, becoming elongated. When the molten lava solidified, the rock looked like a frozen sponge.
Far from finished with its life, the rock then withstood billions of years of pelting by small sand grains carried by Martian dust storms that sometimes blanketed the planet. The sand wore away the surface until, little by little, the delicate strands that enclosed the bubbles of gas were breached and the spiny texture we see today emerged.
Even now, wind continues to deposit sand and dust in the holes and crevices of the rock.
Similar rocks can be found on Earth where the same complex interplay of volcanoes and weathering occur, whether it be the pelting of rocks by sand grains in the Mojave desert or by ice crystals in the frigid Antarctic.
GongGong is one of a group of rocks studied by Spirit and informally named by the Athena Science Team to honor the Chinese New Year (the Year of the Dog). In Chinese mythology, GongGong was the god-king of water in the North Land. When he sacrificed his life to knock down Mount BuZhou, he defeated the bad Emperor in Heaven, freed the sun, moon and stars to go from east to west, and caused all the rivers in China to flow from west to east.
Spirit's microscopic imager took this image during on the rover's 736th day, or sol, of exploring Mars (Jan. 28, 2006). The rock lies in the "Inner Basin" between "Husband Hill" and "McCool Hill" in Gusev Crater. Spirit acquired the image while the rock was fully shadowed, with diffuse illumination mostly from the top in this view.
Voir l'image PIA02157: Hardened Lava Meets Wind on Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA05313: Mark of the Moessbauer
This image, taken by an instrument called the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, reveals an imprint left by another instrument, the Moessbauer spectrometer. The imprint is at a location within the rover wheel track named "Middle of Road." Both instruments are located on the rover's instrument deployment device, or "arm."
Not only was the Moessbauer spectrometer able to gain important mineralogical information about this site, it also aided in the placement of the microscopic imager. On hard rocks, the microscopic imager uses its tiny metal sensor to determine proper placement for best possible focus. However, on the soft martian soil this guide would sink, prohibiting proper placement of the microscopic imager. After the Moessbauer spectrometer's much larger, donut-shaped plate touches the surface, Spirit can correctly calculate where to position the microscopic imager.
Scientists find this image particularly interesting because of the compacted nature of the soil that was underneath the Moessbauer spectrometer plate. Also of interest are the embedded, round grains and the fractured appearance of the material disturbed within the hole. The material appears to be slightly cohesive. The field of view in this image, taken on Sol 43 (February 16, 2004), measures approximately 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across.
Voir l'image PIA05313: Mark of the Moessbauer sur le site de la NASA.PIA05237: Mars Rock Formation Poses Mystery
This sharp, close-up image taken by the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's instrument deployment device, or "arm," shows a rock target dubbed "Robert E," located on the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars. Scientists are studying this area for clues about the rock outcrop's composition. This image measures 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across and was taken on the 15th day of Opportunity's journey (Feb. 8, 2004).
Voir l'image PIA05237: Mars Rock Formation Poses Mystery sur le site de la NASA.PIA05541: 'Humphrey' Like You've Never Seen It
This image shows a three-dimensional model of the rock dubbed "Humphrey" at Gusev Crater, Mars, the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's landing site. Spirit examined the lumpy rock with its suite of scientific instruments both before and after it drilled a hole into the rock surface on the 60th martian day, or sol, of its mission. "Humphrey" was one of several stops on the rover's way to the large crater dubbed "Bonneville." This model is displayed using software developed by NASA's Ames Research Center. Images from the rover's panoramic camera were used to make the model.
Voir l'image PIA05541: 'Humphrey' Like You've Never Seen It sur le site de la NASA.PIA03252: Sweeping View of the "Columbia Hills" and Gusev Crater (Approximate True Color)
| | PIA03252: Sweeping View of the "Columbia Hills" and Gusev Crater (Approximate True Color)
PIA03194.jpg = PIA03194: A Sense of Place
Labeled image for A Sense of Place
NASA's Mars Exploration rover Spirit continues to descend along the east side of the "Columbia Hills," taking panoramic views of surrounding terrain at the end of each day of driving. This helps members of the science team get a sense of place before proceeding, kind of the way a hiker pauses now and then to view the scenery. Scientists and engineers use panoramas like this to select interesting rocks and soils for further study and to plan a safe path for the rover.
In this image mosaic, Spirit is pausing to take a good look around while descending due east toward a ridge nicknamed "Haskin Ridge." Before driving the rest of the way down, Spirit will take a panoramic image of the large, deep basin to the left of the ridge, labeled "East Basin," which was not visible from the summit. A longer-term destination is the prominent, round, platform-like feature labeled "Home Plate."
This 360-degree panorama was assembled from images Spirit took with its navigation camera on the 651st martian day, or sol (Nov. 2, 2005), of its exploration of Gusev Crater on Mars. The view is presented in a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.
Voir l'image PIA03194: A Sense of Place sur le site de la NASA.PIA05508: Spotlight on "El Capitan"
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows the outcrop that sits just inside the small crater where the rover landed. Highlighted in black and white is the region dubbed "El Capitan," where scientists gained their first clues to the outcrop's watery past. The color portion of the image is low-resolution, and the black and white portion is high-resolution.
Voir l'image PIA05508: Spotlight on "El Capitan" sur le site de la NASA.PIA05481: Which Came First? Vug or Spherule?
This image, taken by the microscopic imager onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, shows a close-up of the region dubbed "El Capitan," which lies within the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars. In the lower left, a spherule, or sphere-shaped grain, can be seen penetrating the interior of a small cavity called a vug. This "cross-cutting" relationship allows the relative timing of separate events to be established. In this case, the spherule appears to "invade" the vug, and therefore likely post-dates the vug. This suggests that the spherules may have been one of the last features to form within the outcrop.
Voir l'image PIA05481: Which Came First? Vug or Spherule? sur le site de la NASA.PIA05326: The Mystery of the Sparkling Spheres
This image, taken by the microscopic imager, an instrument located on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity 's instrument deployment device, or "arm," reveals shiny, spherical objects embedded within the trench wall at Meridiani Planum, Mars. Scientists are highly intrigued by these objects and may further investigate them. The area in this image measures approximately 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across.
Voir l'image PIA05326: The Mystery of the Sparkling Spheres sur le site de la NASA.PIA05450: Long and Winding Road
This image shows the path the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has traveled since it landed 53 martian days, or sols, ago. "Laguna Hollow," the shallow depression where Spirit dug a trench, can be seen to the right of center. Spirit stayed at "Laguna Hollow" for 3 sols, investigating the fine-grained soil contained there and the trench it dug with one of its wheels. The rover is headed northeast toward a large crater nicknamed "Bonneville." This navigation camera image mosaic was taken from the rover's new location, a region dubbed "Middle Ground" located 98 meters (322 feet) away from "Bonneville."
Voir l'image PIA05450: Long and Winding Road sur le site de la NASA.PIA05115: Spirit Switches on Its X-ray Vision
This image shows the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit probing its first target rock, Adirondack. At the time this picture was snapped, the rover had begun analyzing the rock with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer located on its robotic arm. This instrument uses alpha particles and X-rays to determine the elemental composition of martian rocks and soil. The image was taken by the rover's hazard-identification camera.
Voir l'image PIA05115: Spirit Switches on Its X-ray Vision sur le site de la NASA.PIA05205: Poised for Discovery
This image taken by the front hazard-identification camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rover's arm in its extended position. The arm, or instrument deployment device, was deployed on the ninth martian day, or sol, of the mission. The rover, now sitting 1 meter (3 feet) away from the lander, can be seen in the foreground.
Voir l'image PIA05205: Poised for Discovery sur le site de la NASA.PIA01292: Opportunity on 'Cabo Frio' (Simulated)
This image superimposes an artist's concept of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity atop the 'Cabo Frio' promontory on the rim of 'Victoria Crater' in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. It is done to give a sense of scale. The underlying image was taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera during the rover's 952nd Martian day, or sol (Sept. 28, 2006).
This synthetic image of NASA's Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover at Victoria Crater was produced using "Virtual Presence in Space" technology. Developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., this technology combines visualization and image processing tools with Hollywood-style special effects. The image was created using a photorealistic model of the rover and an approximately full-color mosaic.
Voir l'image PIA01292: Opportunity on 'Cabo Frio' (Simulated) sur le site de la NASA.PIA05321: Wiggling Its Way to Discovery
This image shows the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's view from its new location inside the shallow depression dubbed "Laguna Hollow." To get a better look at the soil making up the hollow, Spirit drove forward a bit, wiggled its wheels, then turned and backed up. The result - a scrape on the floor and a clod of dirt stuck on one of Spirit's wheels - told scientists that the soil is sticky and reminiscent of that observed at the airbag drag mark nicknamed "Magic Carpet." Spirit will further investigate this disturbed patch of soil with its robotic arm beginning today (Feb. 19, 2004). It will also dig a trench at "Laguna Hollow" with one of its wheels. This fish-eye image was taken by the rover's hazard-avoidance camera.
Voir l'image PIA05321: Wiggling Its Way to Discovery sur le site de la NASA.PIA05036: New Real Estate on Mars
This image mosaic taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic camera shows a new slice of martian real estate southwest of the rover's landing site. The landscape shows little variation in local topography, though a narrow peak only seven to eight kilometers away is visible on the horizon. A circular depression, similar to the one dubbed Sleepy Hollow, can be seen in the foreground. Compared to the Viking and Pathfinder landing sites (
PIA02405,
PIA00563,
PIA00393,
PIA00568), the terrain at Gusev Crater, Spirit's landing site, is flat and speckled with a sparse array of rocks.
Voir l'image PIA05036: New Real Estate on Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA05457: El Capitan
This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows the "El Capitan" region of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars. On the bottom is the view obtained from the "Alpha" waypoint station on Sol 18 of Opportunity's mission. On the top is the view obtained after the rover had moved to "Bravo" waypoint station on Sol 19. This image is a false-color composite using the red, green and blue filters.
Voir l'image PIA05457: El Capitan sur le site de la NASA.PIA05044: "Bird's Eye" View of Egress
This mosaic image taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit represents an overhead view of the rover as it prepares to roll off the lander and onto the martian surface. The yellow arrow illustrates the direction the rover may take to roll safely off the lander. The rover was originally positioned to roll straight forward off the lander (south side of image). However, an airbag is blocking its path. To take this northeastern route, the rover must back up and perform what is likened to a 3-point turn in a cramped parking lot.
Voir l'image PIA05044: "Bird's Eye" View of Egress sur le site de la NASA.PIA05160: Opportunity Rocks!
This high-resolution image captured by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows in superb detail a portion of the puzzling rock outcropping that scientists are eagerly planning to investigate. Presently, Opportunity is on its lander facing northeast; the outcropping lies to the northwest. These layered rocks measure only 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall and are thought to be either volcanic ash deposits or sediments carried by water or wind. The small rock in the center is about the size of a golf ball.
Voir l'image PIA05160: Opportunity Rocks! sur le site de la NASA.PIA05501: A Hole In Humphrey
This false-color image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rock dubbed "Humphrey" and the hole drilled into the rock by the rover. Spirit ground into the rock with the rock abrasion tool located on its robotic arm on the 60th martian day, or sol, of its mission. Scientists are investigating the freshly exposed rock with the scientific instruments on the arm. Spirit is about halfway to a large crater nicknamed "Bonneville." This image was made by combining data from the camera's different wavelength filters. The particular filters used were chosen to enhance features of scientific interest.
Voir l'image PIA05501: A Hole In Humphrey sur le site de la NASA.PIA05459: Circular Signs of the Rock Abrasion Tool
This image was taken by Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's front hazard-avoidance camera, providing a circular sign of the success of the rover's first grinding of a rock. The round, shallow hole seen in this image is on a rock dubbed "McKittrick," located in the "El Capitan" area of the larger outcrop near Opportunity's landing site.
Opportunity used its rock abrasion tool to grind off a patch of rock 45.5 millimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter during the 30th martian day, or sol, of its mission (Feb. 23, 2004). The grinding exposed fresh rock for close inspection by the rover's microscopic imager and two spectrometers located on its robotic arm. The Honeybee Robotics team, which designed and operates the rock abrasion tool, determined the depth of the cut at "McKittrick" to be 4.4 millimeters (0.17 inches) deep.
On sol 34 (Feb. 27, 2004), the rover is scheduled to grind into its second target on the "El Capitan" area, a rock dubbed "Guadalupe" in the upper middle part of this image.The rock abrasion tools on both Mars Exploration Rovers were supplied by Honeybee Robotics, New York, N.Y.
Voir l'image PIA05459: Circular Signs of the Rock Abrasion Tool sur le site de la NASA.PIA05167: Recovering Spirit Sends a New Picture
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took and returned this image on January 28, 2004, the first picture from Spirit since problems with communications began a week earlier. The image from the rover's front hazard identification camera shows the robotic arm extended to the rock called Adirondack. As it had been instructed a week earlier, the Moessbauer spectrometer, an instrument for identifying the minerals in rocks and soils, is still placed against the rock. Engineers are working to restore Spirit to working order so that the rover can resume the scientific exploration of its landing area.
Voir l'image PIA05167: Recovering Spirit Sends a New Picture sur le site de la NASA.PIA05270: Martian Microscope
The microscopic imager (circular device in center) is in clear view above the surface at Meridiani Planum, Mars, in this approximate true-color image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The image was taken on the 9th sol of the rover's journey. The microscopic imager is located on the rover's instrument deployment device, or arm. The arrow is pointing to the lens of the instrument. Note the dust cover, which flips out to the left of the lens, is open. This approximated color image was created using the camera's violet and infrared filters as blue and red.
Voir l'image PIA05270: Martian Microscope sur le site de la NASA.PIA05328: Charlie Flats and El Capitan
Click on image for larger view
This mosaic image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows two regions of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The region on the left, dubbed "Charlie Flats," was imaged because it contains an assortment of small grains, pebbles and spherules, as well as both dark and light soil deposits. The region on the right, nicknamed "El Capitan," is where Opportunity is parked and is doing work as of Sol 33 of its mission (February 26, 2004).
Voir l'image PIA05328: Charlie Flats and El Capitan sur le site de la NASA.PIA03230: Special-Effects Spirit in "Columbia Hills"
This synthetic image of the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover in the "Columbia Hills" was produced using "Virtual Presence in Space" technology. Developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., this technology combines visualization and image-processing tools with Hollywood-style special effects. The image was created using a photorealistic model of the rover and an image taken by the Spirit navigation camera during the rover's 438th Martian day, or sol (March 27, 2005); see PIA07829). The size of the rover in the image is approximately correct and was based on the size of the rover tracks in the navigation-camera image.
Because this synthesis provides viewers with a sense of their own "virtual presence" (as if they were there themselves), such views can be useful to mission teams in planning exploration by enhancing perspective and a sense of scale.
Voir l'image PIA03230: Special-Effects Spirit in "Columbia Hills" sur le site de la NASA.PIA05523: The Biggest Microscopic Image Ever
This is a mosaic of four individual frames taken by the microscopic imager that have been very carefully stitched together to reveal the entire 5-centimeter-diameter (almost 2-inch) hole left on the rock dubbed "Humphrey." The holes were created by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's rock abrasion tool. The mosaic, created on March 7, 2004, is the first of its kind of an abraded surface on Mars, and gave scientists their first ever microscopic imager view of the entire drilled area. While it is easy for the panoramic camera and the navigation cameras to fit an area this size into their field of view, the microscopic imager can only capture a portion of the ground area with each image.
Scientists are interested in many of the small features on "Humphrey" uncovered by the rock abrasion tool and made visible by the microscopic imager. The sinuous veins within the rock could be evidence that water was trickling through the material while it was deep underground, whereas the dark "age spots" in the center of the hole may be crystals of the mineral olivine.
Voir l'image PIA05523: The Biggest Microscopic Image Ever sur le site de la NASA.PIA05142: Airbag Impressions in Soil
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows where the rover's airbags left impressions in the martian soil. The drag marks were made after the rover successfully landed at Meridiani Planum and its airbags were retracted. The rover can be seen in the foreground.
Voir l'image PIA05142: Airbag Impressions in Soil sur le site de la NASA.PIA05193: Opportunity Stretches Out
This image taken by the front hazard-identification camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rover's arm in its extended position. The arm, or instrument deployment device, was deployed on the ninth martian day, or sol, of the mission. The rover, now sitting 1 meter (3 feet) away from the lander, can be seen in the foreground.
Voir l'image PIA05193: Opportunity Stretches Out sur le site de la NASA.PIA04992: Right Panorama of Spirit's Landing Site
| | PIA04992: Right Panorama of Spirit's Landing Site
PIA04181.jpg = PIA04181: Top of the World
This panorama is one of the first that NASA's Spirit rover snapped upon reaching the summit of "Husband Hill," located in "Columbia Hills" in Gusev Crater, Mars. It reveals the vast landscape to the east previously hidden behind the Columbia Hills. The rim of "Thira Crater" frames the distant horizon some 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) away. The summit area is divided by a shallow saddle that slopes north (left) into an area called "Tennessee Valley." Large amounts of sandy material have been blown up the valley and across the saddle in the left-to-right direction, creating the rippled piles of sand seen in this image.
The science team will examine bedrock and other materials in the summit area to determine their composition and the orientation of the rock layers. These and other observations will provide clues to how the rocks formed and how the hills were sculpted in the geologic past.
This mosaic was taken by Spirit's panoramic camera, using the blue filter of its right eye.
Voir l'image PIA04181: Top of the World sur le site de la NASA.PIA05066: 95-degree Position at JPL Testbed
This image shows a test rover in a near-final turned position on the lander in the JPL In-Situ Instruments Laboratory, or "testbed." This is where engineers tested the rover's three-point turn before completing the manuever with the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on Mars. At this point, the test rover has turned 95 degrees, with 115 degrees being its goal position. This picture looks remarkably similar to the image taken by the rover's hazard avoidance camera while in the same position on Mars.
Voir l'image PIA05066: 95-degree Position at JPL Testbed sur le site de la NASA.PIA04157: Sol 568 Dust Devil in Gusev, Unenhanced
This movie clip shows several dust devils moving from right to left across a plain inside Mars' Gusev Crater, as seen from the vantage point of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in hills rising from the plain. The clip consists of frames taken by Spirit's navigation camera during the rover's 543rd martian day, or sol (July 13, 2005). Unlike some other movie clips of dust devils seen by Spirit, the images in this clip have not been processed to enhance contrast of the dust devils. The total time elapsed during the taking of these frames was 12 minutes, 17 seconds.
Spirit began seeing dust devil activity around the beginning of Mars' spring season. Activity increased as spring continued, but fell off again for about two weeks during a dust storm. As the dust storm faded away, dust devil activity came back. In the mid-afternoons as the summer solstice approached, dust devils were a very common occurrence on the floor of Gusev crater. The early-spring dust devils tended to move southwest-to-northeast, across the dust devil streaks in Gusev seen from orbit. Increasingly as the season progresses, the dust devils are seen moving northwest-to-southeast, in the same direction as the streaks. Scientists are watching for the big dust devils that leave those streaks.
Voir l'image PIA04157: Sol 568 Dust Devil in Gusev, Unenhanced sur le site de la NASA.PIA04995: First Color Image from Spirit
| | PIA04995: First Color Image from Spirit
PIA05061.jpg = PIA05061: In the Far East
Click on the image for In the Far East (QTVR)
In the distance stand the east hills, which are closest to the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in comparison to other hill ranges seen on the martian horizon. The top of the east hills are approximately 2 to 3 kilometers (1 to 2 miles) away from the rover's approximate location. This image was taken on Mars by the rover's panoramic camera.
Voir l'image PIA05061: In the Far East sur le site de la NASA.PIA05139: Meridiani Planum in View
This image shows one of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's first breathtaking views of the martian landscape after its successful landing at Meridiani Planum on Mars. On the left, the rover's mast can be seen in a stowed position. Opportunity landed Saturday night at approximately 9:05 PST. The image was taken by the rover's navigation camera.
Voir l'image PIA05139: Meridiani Planum in View sur le site de la NASA.PIA02695: 'Payson' Panorama in False Color
The panoramic camera aboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity acquired this panorama of the "Payson" outcrop on the western edge of "Erebus" Crater during Opportunity's sol 744 (Feb. 26, 2006). From this vicinity at the northern end of the outcrop, layered rocks are observed in the crater wall, which is about 1 meter (3.3 feet) thick. The view also shows rocks disrupted by the crater-forming impact event and subjected to erosion over time.
To the left of the outcrop, a flat, thin layer of spherule-rich soils overlies more outcrop materials. The rover is currently traveling down this "road" and observing the approximately 25-meter (82-foot) length of the outcrop prior to departing Erebus crater.
The panorama camera took 28 separate exposures of this scene, using four different filters. The resulting panorama covers about 90 degrees of terrain around the rover. This false-color rendering was made using the camera's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer and 423-nanometer filters. Using false color enhances the subtle color differences between layers of rocks and soils in the scene so that scientists can better analyze them. Image-to-image seams have been eliminated from the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see.
Voir l'image PIA02695: 'Payson' Panorama in False Color sur le site de la NASA.PIA05524: A Glimpse of What's to Come
This 360-degree navigation camera mosaic was taken by Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on March 9, 2004, after a drive that brought the rover to less than 20 meters (66 feet) from the rim of the crater nicknamed "Bonneville." The vista provides a glimpse of the far side of the rim. It also includes a close-up look at a 1-meter-tall (3.3-foot-tall) rock called "The Hole Point," which which has served as a beacon for scientists and rover operators in guiding the rover toward the crest of this rim.
Scientists are anxious for Spirit to get to the very edge of the crater rim and peer down inside. From that vantage, Spirit will examine the floor and walls of the crater, where layers may be exposed that are older than the surface material on the terrain outside of the crater.
Voir l'image PIA05524: A Glimpse of What's to Come sur le site de la NASA.PIA05283: Flaky "Mimi"
This color image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic camera on Sol 40 is centered on an unusually flaky rock called Mimi. Mimi is only one of many features in the area known as "Stone Council," but looks very different from any rock that scientists have seen at the Gusev crater site so far. Mimi's flaky appearance leads scientists to a number of hypotheses. Mimi could have been subjected to pressure either through burial or impact, or may have once been a dune that was cemented into flaky layers, a process that sometimes involves the action of water.
Voir l'image PIA05283: Flaky "Mimi" sur le site de la NASA.PIA05145: First Look Behind Opportunity
| | PIA05145: First Look Behind Opportunity
PIA05194.jpg = PIA05194: Rat on Mars
This image taken on Mars by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rover's rock abrasion tool, also known as "rat" (circular device in center), located on its instrument deployment device, or "arm." The image was acquired on the ninth martian day or sol of the rover's mission.
Voir l'image PIA05194: Rat on Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA05137: On Its Own
This 3-D image combines computer-generated models of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and its lander with real surface data from the rover's panoramic camera. It shows Spirit's position just after it rolled off the lander on Jan. 15, 2004.
Voir l'image PIA05137: On Its Own sur le site de la NASA.PIA05220: Back in Action
Click on image for larger view
This image shows the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's "hand," or the tip of the instrument deployment device, poised in front of the rock nicknamed Adirondack, the rover's first science target since developing communication problems over two weeks ago. In preparation for grinding into Adirondack, Spirit cleaned off a portion of the rock's surface with a stainless steel brush located on its rock abrasion tool and seen here at the end of the yellow arrow. The image was taken by the rover's panoramic camera.
Voir l'image PIA05220: Back in Action sur le site de la NASA.PIA05475: Focus on El Capitan-2
This image, taken by the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, shows a geological region of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars dubbed "El Capitan." Light from the top is illuminating the region. Several images, each showing a different part of this region in good focus, were merged to produce this view. The area in this image, taken on Sol 28 of the Opportunity mission, is 1.5 centimeters (0.6 inches) across.
Voir l'image PIA05475: Focus on El Capitan-2 sur le site de la NASA.PIA03623: Partial 'Seminole' Panorama
This view from Spirit's panoramic camera is assembled from frames acquired on Martian days, or sols, 672 and 673 (Nov. 23 and 24, 2005) from the rover's position near an outcrop called "Seminole." The view is a southward-looking portion of a larger panorama still being completed. This approximately true-color view is a composite of images shot through three different filters, admitting light of wavelengths 750 nanometers, 530 nanometers and 430 nanometers.
Voir l'image PIA03623: Partial 'Seminole' Panorama sur le site de la NASA.PIA05551: Stars and Cosmic Rays Observed from Mars
In this five-minute exposure taken from the surface of Mars by NASA's Spirit rover, stars appear as streaks due to the rotation of the planet, and instantaneous cosmic-ray hits appear as points of light.
Spirit took the image with its panoramic camera on March 11, 2004, after waking up during the martian night for a communication session with NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. Other exposures were also taken. The images tested the capabilities of the rover for night-sky observations. Scientists will use the results to aid planning for possible future astronomical observations from Mars.
The difference in Mars' rotation, compared to Earth's, gives the star trails in this image a different orientation than they would have in a comparable exposure taken from Earth.
Voir l'image PIA05551: Stars and Cosmic Rays Observed from Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA05227: Opportunity Bounces to a Stop
In this close-up view of the path Opportunity took when it landed at Meridiani Planum, Mars, a computer-generated red line shows the spacecraft's bounce motions as it landed at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The spacecraft bounced north approximately 26 times while safely encased in airbags, until it came to a stop inside the crater to the right of the image. The red line is superimposed on a mosaic of the three images taken during descent by the descent image motion estimation system camera, located on the bottom of the lander.
Voir l'image PIA05227: Opportunity Bounces to a Stop sur le site de la NASA.PIA03095: 'Everest' Panorama; 20-20 Vision
'Everest' Panorama 20-20 Vision (QTVR)
'Everest' Panorama Animation
If a human with perfect vision donned a spacesuit and stepped onto the martian surface, the view would be as clear as this sweeping panorama taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. That's because the rover's panoramic camera has the equivalent of 20-20 vision. Earthlings can take a virtual tour of the scenery by zooming in on their computer screens many times to get a closer look at, say, a rock outcrop or a sand drift, without losing any detail. This level of clarity is unequaled in the history of Mars exploration.
It took Spirit three days, sols 620 to 622 (Oct. 1 to Oct. 3, 2005), to acquire all the images combined into this mosaic, called the "Everest Panorama," looking outward in every direction from the true summit of "Husband Hill." During that period, the sky changed in color and brightness due to atmospheric dust variations, as shown in contrasting sections of this mosaic. Haze occasionally obscured the view of the hills on the distant rim of Gusev Crater 80 kilometers (50 miles) away. As dust devils swooped across the horizon in the upper right portion of the panorama, the robotic explorer changed the filters on the camera from red to green to blue, making the dust devils appear red, green, and blue. In reality, the dust devils are similar in color to the reddish-brown soils of Mars. No attempt was made to "smooth" the sky in this mosaic, as has been done in other panoramic-camera mosaics to simulate the view one would get by taking in the landscape all at once. The result is a sweeping vista that allows viewers to observe weather changes on Mars.
The summit of Husband Hill is a broad plateau of rock outcrops and windblown drifts about 100 meters (300 feet) higher than the surrounding plains of Gusev Crater. In the distance, near the center of the mosaic, is the "South Basin," the destination for the downhill travel Spirit began after exploring the summit region.
This panorama spans 360 degrees and consists of images obtained during 81 individual pointings of the panoramic camera. Four filters were used at each pointing. Images through three of the filters, for wavelengths of 750 nanometers, 530 nanometers and 430 nanometers, were combined for this approximately true-color rendering.
Voir l'image PIA03095: 'Everest' Panorama; 20-20 Vision sur le site de la NASA.PIA05518: Martian Eclipses: Deimos and Phobos
Deimos
Phobos
This panel combines the first photographs of solar eclipses by Mars' two moons. The panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured the images as the first in a planned series of eclipse observations by Opportunity and Spirit.
The Deimos image was taken at 03:04 Universal Time on March 4, 2004. This irregularly shaped moon is only 15 kilometers (9 miles) across in its longest dimension. It appears as just a speck in front of the disc of the Sun. The Phobos image was taken as that moon grazed the edge of the solar disc at 02:46 Universal Time on March 7, 2004. Phobos is 27 kilometers (17 miles) in its longest dimension. Its apparent size relative to Deimos is even greater because it orbits much closer to Mars' surface than Deimos does.
Voir l'image PIA05518: Martian Eclipses: Deimos and Phobos sur le site de la NASA.PIA05105: "They of the Great Rocks"-2
This approximate true color image taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows "Adirondack," the rover's first target rock. Spirit traversed the sandy martian terrain at Gusev Crater to arrive in front of the football-sized rock on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2004, just three days after it successfully rolled off the lander. The rock was selected as Spirit's first target because its dust-free, flat surface is ideally suited for grinding. Clean surfaces also are better for examining a rock's top coating. Scientists named the angular rock after the Adirondack mountain range in New York. The word Adirondack is Native American and is interpreted by some to mean "They of the great rocks."
Voir l'image PIA05105: "They of the Great Rocks"-2 sur le site de la NASA.PIA03270: On the Rim of 'Erebus'
Click on the image for On the Rim of 'Erebus' (QTVR)
This is the Opportunity panoramic camera's "Erebus Rim" panorama, acquired on sols 652 to 663 (Nov. 23 to Dec. 5, 2005 ), as NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was exploring sand dunes and outcrop rocks in Meridiani Planum. The panorama originally consisted of 635 separate images in four different Pancam filters, and covers 360 degrees of terrain around the rover and the full rover deck. Since the time that this panorama was acquired, and while engineers have been diagnosing and testing Opportunity's robotic arm, the panorama has been expanded to include more than 1,300 images of this terrain through all of the Pancam multispectral filters. It is the largest panorama acquired by either rover during the mission.
The panorama shown here is an approximate true-color rendering using Pancam's 750 nanometer, 530 nanometer and 430 nanometer filters. It is presented here as a cylindrical projection. Image-to-image seams have been eliminated from the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see.
This panorama provides the team's highest resolution view yet of the finely-layered outcrop rocks, wind ripples, and small cobbles and grains along the rim of the wide but shallow "Erebus" crater. Once the arm diagnostics and testing are completed, the team hopes to explore other layered outcrop rocks at Erebus and then eventually continue southward toward the large crater known as "Victoria."
Voir l'image PIA03270: On the Rim of 'Erebus' sur le site de la NASA.PIA05102: Rocks: Windows to History of Mars-2
This full-resolution image taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit before it rolled off the lander shows the rocky surface of Mars. Scientists are eager to begin examining the rocks because, unlike soil, these "little time capsules" hold memories of the ancient processes that formed them. The lander's deflated airbags can be seen in the foreground. Data from the camera's red, green and blue filters were combined to create this approximate true color picture.
Voir l'image PIA05102: Rocks: Windows to History of Mars-2 sur le site de la NASA.PIA05331: "Stucco" Walls
This projected mosaic image, taken by the microscopic imager, an instrument located on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity 's instrument deployment device, or "arm," shows the partial clotting or cement-like properties of the sand-sized grains within the trench wall. The area in this image measures approximately 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) wide and 5 centimeters (2 inches) tall.(This image also appears as an inset on a separate image from the rover's navigation camera, showing the location of this particular spot within the trench wall.)
Voir l'image PIA05331: "Stucco" Walls sur le site de la NASA.PIA05496: Mars Magnet Hits the Bull's-Eye
This image shows the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's "capture magnet," which attracts atmospheric dust particles from the front deck of the rover. The lighter-colored areas in the image are clean sections of the magnet virtually free of dust, and the dark areas are places where dust has collected. Scientists were surprised to see the black specks in the microscopic image, which are either unexpectedly large dust particles or collections of many particles bound together. Dust particles in the martian atmosphere are estimated to be about 1 micrometer in size (1/1000th of a millimeter (.04 inch)). The dark specks seen here are much larger than that. The whole image is 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across.
The material below the magnet's aluminum surface is laid out in concentric rings, giving the image a bull's-eye appearance. The magnet was designed in this configuration to collect as much atmospheric dust as possible. If the magnet were one large cylinder, it would create the largest magnetic field, but not the most attractive magnetic force. In this bull's-eye layout, the force of the magnet lures the dust particles as they drift around the rovers, collecting the particles on the magnet surface for further study.
Spirit and Opportunity each carry seven magnets. Four magnets are inside the rovers' rock abrasion tools, and three others are at the back and front of the rovers. The magnets are five to 10 times stronger than a normal refrigerator magnet. They help scientists better understand how the airborne dust on Mars was formed and why it is so magnetic. Most scientists believe the martian dust has "global properties," meaning that its chemical composition is similar around the globe.
Because Opportunity landed on Mars roughly one month after Spirit, right now it has a thinner dust layer on top of its capture magnet. Scientists will wait until more dust collects on Opportunity's magnets before looking at the dust with the rover's alpha particle x-ray spectrometer and Moessbauer instruments. Spirit has already taken x-ray spectrometer readings of the dust collected on one of its magnets, and scientists are busy analyzing the data.
The science team will study the differences and similarities of the dust collected on Spirit and Opportunity, which are roving on opposite sides of the planet. The magnet images from this mission will also be compared to images from magnet tests on Earth. More information about the rover magnets can be found at the University of Copenhagen's Center for Planetary Science web site at
http://www.fys.ku.dk/mars/.
This image was taken by Opportunity's microscopic imager on the 38th martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission.
Voir l'image PIA05496: Mars Magnet Hits the Bull's-Eye sur le site de la NASA.PIA05054: Turning on Mars
This image, taken on Mars, shows the view from the front hazard avoidance cameras on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit after the rover has backed up 25 centimeters (10 inches) and turned 45 degrees clockwise. This maneuver is the first step in a 3-point turn that will rotate the rover 115 degrees to face the rear direction and drive off a rear side lander petal. Note that the view in this image matches that of the image taken during rehearsal of this maneuver in the JPL testbed.
Voir l'image PIA05054: Turning on Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA02399: Rover Team Decides: Safety First
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit recorded this view while approaching the northwestern edge of "Home Plate," a circular plateau-like area of bright, layered outcrop material roughly 80 meters (260 feet) in diameter. The images combined into this mosaic were taken by Spirit's navigation camera during the rover's 746th, 748th and 750th Martian days, or sols (Feb. 7, 9 and 11, 2006).
With Martian winter closing in, engineers and scientists working with NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit decided to play it safe for the time being rather than attempt to visit the far side of Home Plate in search of rock layers that might show evidence of a past watery environment. This feature has been one of the major milestones of the mission. Though it's conceivable that rock layers might be exposed on the opposite side, sunlight is diminishing on the rover's solar panels and team members chose not to travel in a counterclockwise direction that would take the rover to the west and south slopes of the plateau. Slopes in that direction are hidden from view and team members chose, following a long, thorough discussion, to have the rover travel clockwise and remain on north-facing slopes rather than risk sending the rover deeper into unknown terrain.
In addition to studying numerous images from Spirit's cameras, team members studied three-dimensional models created with images from the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Globel Surveyor orbiter. The models showed a valley on the southern side of Home Plate, the slopes of which might cause the rover's solar panels to lose power for unknown lengths of time. In addition, images from Spirit's cameras showed a nearby, talus-covered section of slope on the west side of Home Plate, rather than exposed rock layers scientists eventually hope to investigate.
Home Plate has been on the rover's potential itinerary since the early days of the mission, when it stood out in images taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera shortly after the rover landed on Mars. Spirit arrived at Home Plate after traveling 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) across the plains of Gusev Crater, up the slopes of "West Spur" and "Husband Hill," and down again. Scientists are studying the origin of the layering in the outcrop using the Athena science instruments on the rover's arm.
Voir l'image PIA02399: Rover Team Decides: Safety First sur le site de la NASA.PIA05449: The Bumpy Road Ahead
This image shows the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's view of the rocky terrain that lies between it and its intended target, the large crater dubbed "Bonneville." The landscape here is roughly two times as bumpy and more difficult to traverse than that crossed so far. Spirit has currently stopped to examine the soil and rocks at a region nicknamed "Middle Ground." The rover is 98 meters (322 feet) away from "Bonneville" and facing northeast. The large rock called "Humphries" can be seen in the lower right corner. The image was taken on the 53rd martian day, or sol, of Spirit's mission by the rover's panoramic camera.
Voir l'image PIA05449: The Bumpy Road Ahead sur le site de la NASA.PIA03202: A Closer Look at 'Kalavrita'
These four images were taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on sols 632 and sol 633 (Nov. 3 and 4, 2005) before and after using the rock abrasion tool on sol 633 to grind into a rock target dubbed "Kalavrita." The images on the top are mosaics of four frames each from the microscopic imager. The images on the bottom are from the rover's front hazard-avoidance camera. The dotted white circle in the lower-left image shows the approximate location of where the rock abrasion tool would grind into the target. Kalavrita was analyzed to investigate how the rock outcrops near the crater "Erebus" compare with rock outcrops to the north that were analyzed along Opportunity's traverse from "Endurance Crater" to Erebus Crater. The abraded circle is about 4.5 cm (1.8 inches) across.
Voir l'image PIA03202: A Closer Look at 'Kalavrita' sur le site de la NASA.PIA05170: Opportunity Egress Aid Contacts Soil
This image from the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rover's egress aid touching the martian soil at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The image was taken after the rear lander petal hyperextended in a manuever to tilt the lander forward. The maneuver pushed the front edge lower, placing the tips of the egress aids in the soil. The rover will drive straight ahead to exit the lander.
Voir l'image PIA05170: Opportunity Egress Aid Contacts Soil sur le site de la NASA.PIA05338: Plotting and Scheming
Figure 1
Figure 2 Click for larger view
These two graphics are planning tools used by Mars Exploration Rover engineers to plot and scheme the perfect location to place the rock abrasion tool on the rock collection dubbed "El Capitan" near Opportunity's landing site. "El Capitan" is located within a larger outcrop nicknamed "Opportunity Ledge."
The rover visualization team from NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., initiated the graphics by putting two panoramic camera images of the "El Capitan" area into their three-dimensional model. The rock abrasion tool team from Honeybee Robotics then used the visualization tool to help target and orient their instrument on the safest and most scientifically interesting locations. The blue circle represents one of two current targets of interest, chosen because of its size, lack of dust, and most of all its distinct and intriguing geologic features. To see the second target location, see the image titled "Plotting and Scheming."
The rock abrasion tool is sensitive to the shape and texture of a rock, and must safely sit within the "footprint" indicated by the blue circles. The rock area must be large enough to fit the contact sensor and grounding mechanism within the area of the outer blue circle, and the rock must be smooth enough to get an even grind within the abrasion area of the inner blue circle. If the rock abrasion tool were not grounded by its support mechanism or if the surface were uneven, it could "run away" from its target. The rock abrasion tool is location on the rover's instrument deployment device, or arm.
Over the next few martian days, or sols, the rover team will use these and newer, similar graphics created with more recent, higher-resolution panoramic camera images and super-spectral data from the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. These data will be used to pick the best spots to apply the rock abrasion tool on two very distinct areas of "El Capitan." The upper and lower portions of "El Capitan" have different textures, and both areas should provide distinct and unique clues about the history of Mars. The rock abrasion tool will also enter the target areas from different perspectives, creating unique views simply by the way they grind into the different areas of the rocks. For the current upper target (Fig. 1), the rock abrasion tool would go into the rock as if from the side of a layered cake, while at the bottom target (Fig. 2), the instrument would enter from above as if going down the middle of a cake.
"El Capitan" was named after a mountain in Texas, but on Mars, it is about 10 centimeters (4 inches) high. Scientists are eager to use the rock abrasion tool to peer deeper into the history of the formation of "El Capitan," and the team will spend multiple sols taking pre- and post-measurements of the rock targets. Opportunity will spend one sol moving in between target locations.
Voir l'image PIA05338: Plotting and Scheming sur le site de la NASA.PIA05177: Adirondack's Finer Side
This close-up look at the martian rock dubbed Adirondack was captured by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's microscopic imager before Spirit stopped communicating with Earth on the 18th martian day, or sol, of its mission. The rock's smooth and pitted surface is revealed in this first-ever microscopic image of a rock on another planet. The examined patch of rock is 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across; features within the rock as small as 1/10 of a millimeter (.04 inch) can be detected. The rover's shadow appears at the bottom of the image.
Voir l'image PIA05177: Adirondack's Finer Side sur le site de la NASA.PIA05516: Front Windshield after Sol 61 Drive
| | PIA05516: Front Windshield after Sol 61 Drive
PIA05053.jpg = PIA05053: Turning in the Testbed
This image, taken in the JPL In-Situ Instruments Laboratory or "Testbed," shows the view from the front hazard avoidance cameras on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit after the rover has backed up and turned 45 degrees counterclockwise. Engineers rehearsed this maneuver at JPL before performing it on Mars. This maneuver is the first step in a 3-point turn that will rotate the rover 115 degrees to face the rear direction and drive off a rear side lander petal.
Voir l'image PIA05053: Turning in the Testbed sur le site de la NASA.PIA03279: 'Festoon' Pattern in Meridiani Outcrop
Close-Up of 'Festoon' Pattern
This image from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the best examples yet seen in Meridiani Planum outcrop rocks of well-preserved, fine-scale layering and what geologists call "cross-lamination." Opportunity acquired this image of a rock called "Overgaard" at the edge of "Erebus Crater" during the rover's 690th Martian day (Jan. 2, 2006).
The uppermost part of the rock, just above the center of the image and in the enlargement at top, shows distinctive centimeter-sized, smile-shaped features that sedimentary geologists call "festoons." The detailed geometric patterns of such nested sets of concave-upward layers in sedimentary rocks imply the presence of small, sinuous sand ripples that form only in water on Earth. Similar festoon cross-lamination and other distinctive sedimentary layer patterns are also visible in the lower parts of the rock, just left of center, and in other rocks near the rim of Erebus. Essentially, these features are the preserved remnants of tiny (centimeter-sized) underwater sand dunes formed long ago by waves in shallow water on the surface of Mars.
This image was obtained in the late afternoon (4:15 p.m. local solar time) using the panoramic camera's 430 nanometer filter.
Voir l'image PIA03279: 'Festoon' Pattern in Meridiani Outcrop sur le site de la NASA.PIA05082: Spirit Looks Back
This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's rear hazard identification camera shows the rover's hind view of the lander platform, its nest for the past 12 sols, or martian days. The rover is approximately 1 meter (3 feet) in front of the airbag-cushioned lander, facing northwest. Note the tracks left in the martian soil by the rovers' wheels, all six of which have rolled off the lander. This is the first time the rover has touched martian soil.
Voir l'image PIA05082: Spirit Looks Back sur le site de la NASA.PIA05507: "Blueberry" Exposed
This three-dimensional model shows a postage-stamp-sized patch of the rock target in the outcrop near the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's landing site. A sliced sphere-like particle, or "blueberry," can be seen to the far right of the model. The model was created from images taken by the rover's microscopic imager, after the surface of the rock was scraped away with the rock abrasion tool.
Voir l'image PIA05507: "Blueberry" Exposed sur le site de la NASA.PIA05094: First Patch of Probed Soil
This image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit highlights the first patch of soil examined by the rover's microscopic imager. The imager is located on the rover's instrument deployment device, or "arm." The rover can be seen to the right. Engineers first deployed the arm early Friday morning, Jan. 16, 2004.
Voir l'image PIA05094: First Patch of Probed Soil sur le site de la NASA.PIA05161: Airbag Tracks on Mars
The circular shapes seen on the martian surface in these images are "footprints" left by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's airbags during landing as the spacecraft gently rolled to a stop. Opportunity landed at approximately 9:05 p.m. PST on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2004, Earth-received time. The circular region of the flower-like feature on the right is about the size of a basketball. Scientists are studying the prints for more clues about the makeup of martian soil. The images were taken at Meridiani Planum, Mars, by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.
Voir l'image PIA05161: Airbag Tracks on Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA05500: Humphrey on the Inside
Figure 1 (Click on image for larger view)
This image taken by the microscopic imager onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a close-up look at the rock dubbed "Humphrey." The image was taken after the rover drilled into the rock with its rock abrasion tool, exposing fresh rock underneath. Scientists are examining "Humphrey" for clues to its past with the rover's suite of scientific instruments, located on the rover's arm along with its rock abrasion tool. This image was taken on the 60th martian day, or sol, of Spirit's mission. The rover is on its way to a large crater nicknamed "Bonneville."
Natural or Manmade?
The circled areas in Figure 1 above represent features that scientists have identified as being either natural or induced by grinding processes. The yellow circle shows a natural mark; the green and blue circles highlights droppings thought to be left by the rover's Moessbauer spectrometer; and the red circle contains a natural indentation. The image was taken on the 60th martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission.
Voir l'image PIA05500: Humphrey on the Inside sur le site de la NASA.PIA05276: A Sharp Look at Robert E
This sharp, high-resolution image shows a rock target dubbed "Robert E," on a rock called Stone Mountain at Meridiani Planum, Mars. It is one of the highest-resolution images ever taken while looking at a rock on another planet. Scientists are studying this area, which measures 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across, for clues about how the rock formed. The image was created by merging five separate images taken at varying distances from the target by the microscopic imager, an instrument located on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's instrument deployment device, or "arm."
Voir l'image PIA05276: A Sharp Look at Robert E sur le site de la NASA.PIA05037: Hazy Martian Skies
This image mosaic taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic camera shows the hills southeast of Spirit's landing site. Like a smoggy day in Los Angeles, dusty martian skies limit how much detail can be seen. This lack in visibility is demonstrated by comparing hills on the left to those on the right, located nearly two times farther away. The left panel of this image was captured in the late morning martian hours, looking toward the Sun. The right image was taken in the early afternoon, when the Sun was higher and the skies appeared darker.
Voir l'image PIA05037: Hazy Martian Skies sur le site de la NASA.PIA05456: Charlie Flats
This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows a region of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars, dubbed "Charlie Flats." This region is a rich science target for Opportunity because it contains a diverse assortment of small grains, pebbles and spherules, as well as both dark and light soil deposits. The area seen here measures approximately 0.6 meters (2 feet) across. The smallest grains visible in this image are only a few millimeters in size. The approximate true color image was acquired on Sol 20 of Opportunity's mission with panoramic camera filters red, green and blue.
Click on image for larger view
Charlie Flats Spectra The chart above shows examples of spectra, or light wave patterns, extracted from the region of the Meridiani Planum rock outcrop dubbed "Charlie Flats," a rich science target for the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The spectra were extracted from the similarly colored regions in the image on the left, taken by the rover's panoramic camera. The green circle identifies a bright, dust-like soil deposit. The red circle identifies a dark soil region. The yellow identifies a small, angular rock chip with a strong near-infrared band. The pink identifies a sphere-shaped pebble with a different strong near-infrared band. The cyan circle shows a dark, grayish pebble.
Voir l'image PIA05456: Charlie Flats sur le site de la NASA.PIA05168: Opportunity Prepares for Egress
This image from the rear hazard-identification camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the spacecraft's rear point of view before the rear lander petal was hyperextended. This was one of the steps taken to successfully tilt the lander forward in preparation for egress, or rolling off the lander, at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The rover will roll north off the lander, opposite this viewpoint.
Voir l'image PIA05168: Opportunity Prepares for Egress sur le site de la NASA.PIA05509: Seeing Red at Guadalupe
This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows the results of the second drilling by the rock abrasion tool, located on the rover's instrument deployment device, or "arm." The drilling took place on a target called "Guadalupe" within the "El Capitan" region of the Meridiani Planum, Mars, rock outcrop.
As with the first rock abrasion tool target called "McKittrick," the grinding process at "Guadalupe" has generated a significant amount of fine-grained, reddish dust. Color and spectral properties of the dust show that it may contain some fine-grained crystalline red hematite. This image is an enhanced color composite generated from three different panoramic camera filters.
Voir l'image PIA05509: Seeing Red at Guadalupe sur le site de la NASA.PIA05327: Moessbauer Nose Print
This image was taken by the microscopic imager, an instrument located on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity 's instrument deployment device, or "arm." The image shows the imprint of the donut-shaped plate on the rover's Moessbauer spectrometer instrument, also located on the "arm." The Moessbauer spectrometer was deployed within the trench to investigate the fine-grained soil for iron-bearing minerals. The area in this image measures approximately 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across.
Voir l'image PIA05327: Moessbauer Nose Print sur le site de la NASA.PIA05480: Larger Grains Suggest Presence of Fluid
This image, taken by the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, shows an extreme close-up of the "El Capitan" region, part of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars. As seen in panoramic images of "El Capitan," this region appears laminated, or composed of layers of firmly united material. The upper left portion of this image shows how the grains of the region might be arranged in planes to create such lamination.
At the upper right, in the zone surrounding two larger sphere-shaped particles, this image also shows another apparent characteristic at the scale of individual grains. The granularity of the matrix -- the rock in which the spherules are embedded -- is modified near the spherules compared with grains farther from the spherules. Around the upper spherule, the grain size is increased. This change in grain size might represent a "reaction rim," a feature produced by fluid interaction with the matrix material adjacent to the spherule during the growth of the spherule.
Voir l'image PIA05480: Larger Grains Suggest Presence of Fluid sur le site de la NASA.PIA05451: Opportunity Landing Spot Panorama (3-D Model)
The rocky outcrop traversed by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is visible in this three-dimensional model of the rover's landing site. Opportunity has acquired close-up images along the way, and scientists are using the rover's instruments to closely examine portions of interest. The white fragments that look crumpled near the center of the image are portions of the airbags. Distant scenery is displayed on a spherical backdrop or "billboard" for context. Artifacts near the top rim of the crater are a result of the transition between the three-dimensional model and the billboard. Portions of the terrain model lacking sufficient data appear as blank spaces or gaps, colored reddish-brown for better viewing. This image was generated using special software from NASA's Ames Research Center and a mosaic of images taken by the rover's panoramic camera.
Click on image for larger view
The rocky outcrop traversed by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is visible in this zoomed-in portion of a three-dimensional model of the rover's landing site. Opportunity has acquired close-up images along the way, and scientists are using the rover's instruments to closely examine portions of interest. The white fragments that look crumpled near the center of the image are portions of the airbags. Distant scenery is displayed on a spherical backdrop or "billboard" for context. Artifacts near the top rim of the crater are a result of the transition between the three-dimensional model and the billboard. Portions of the terrain model lacking sufficient data appear as blank spaces or gaps, colored reddish-brown for better viewing. This image was generated using special software from NASA's Ames Research Center and a mosaic of images taken by the rover's panoramic camera.
Voir l'image PIA05451: Opportunity Landing Spot Panorama (3-D Model) sur le site de la NASA.PIA02187: Spirit Hits a Home Run
This week, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit arrived at "Home Plate," a feature that, when seen from orbit, looks like the home plate of a baseball diamond. Home Plate is a roughly circular feature about 80 meters (260 feet) in diameter that might be an old impact crater or volcanic feature. The Spirit team has been eager to get to Home Plate and has been enjoying distant views of the feature and a curious "bathtub ring" of light-colored materials along its edges. The team has pushed the rover hard to get here before the deep Martian winter sets in.
After scientists had identified Home Plate from orbit, they had many theories about what it could be and what they might see. But when Spirit's panoramic camera (Pancam) took this and other images, the science team was stunned. This Pancam image is of an outcrop nicknamed "Barnhill" and surrounding rocks on the north side of Home Plate, showing the most spectacular layering that Spirit has seen.
Pancam and microscopic imager views of the layers in the rocks reveal a range of grain sizes and textures that change from the lower to the upper part of the outcrop. This may help scientists figure out how the material was emplaced. Spirit is also conducting work with its arm instruments to figure out the chemistry and mineralogy of the rocks. Scientists have several hypotheses about what Home Plate could be, including features made by volcanoes and impact craters, and ways that water could have played a role. They are busy trying to figure out what the data from Spirit is really telling us.
As Spirit works at Home Plate during February, the science team is choosing informal names for rocks from the great players and managers of the Negro Leagues of baseball. This outcrop, "Barnhill," is informally named for David Barnhill, the ace of the New York Cubans' pitching staff during the early 1940s. He compiled an 18-3 record in 1941 and defeated Satchel Paige in the 1942 East-West all-star game. Other rocks in the area are informally named for Josh Gibson, "Bullet Joe" Rogan, and Cumberland Posey. Stay tuned this month, as the Baseball Hall of Fame elects more players from the Negro Leagues and Spirit continues to examine these spectacular rocks.
Spirit took this mosaic of images using the panoramic camera on the rover's 746th day, or sol (Feb. 7, 2006), of exploring Mars. Scientists are acquiring and processing image data for more views of the same terrain in approximate true color.
Voir l'image PIA02187: Spirit Hits a Home Run sur le site de la NASA.PIA02156: Opportunity's Arm in 'Hover-Stow' Position
In January 2006, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover team adopted a new strategy for carrying Opportunity's robotic arm (the instrument deployment device with its turret of four tools at the end) when the rover is driving.
On short drives over smooth terrain, Opportunity now holds the arm in a "hover-stow" position as shown in this image taken by the navigation camera during the rover's 706th Martian day, or sol (Jan. 18, 2006), with elbow forward and the tool turret held above the rover deck. (In this image, the Moessbauer spectrometer is facing upwards, the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer faces to the right and the rock abrasion tool faces to the left). On longer or rougher drives, Opportunity still holds the arm in the original stow position used throughout the mission, tucked underneath the deck.
During Opportunity's 654th sol (Nov. 25, 2005), symptoms began appearing that have been diagnosed as a broken wire in the motor windings for the azimuth actuator at the shoulder joint, a motor that moves the arm from side to side. The motor still works when given extra current, but the change in strategy for stowing the arm results from concern that, if the motor were to completely fail with the arm in the original stow position, the arm could no longer be unstowed for use. If that motor were to fail while the arm is in the hover-stow position, the arm could still be manipulated for full use of the tools on the turret. However, the hover-stow position gives less protection to the arm during drives. Concern about protecting the arm during drives led to the compromise strategy of using hover-stow only during short, smooth drives.
Voir l'image PIA02156: Opportunity's Arm in 'Hover-Stow' Position sur le site de la NASA.PIA05312: At Home in the Crater
The wheel tracks seen above and to the left of the lander trace the path the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has traveled since landing in a small crater at Meridiani Planum, Mars. After this picture was taken, the rover excavated a trench near the soil seen at the lower left corner of the image. This image mosaic was taken by the rover's navigation camera.
Voir l'image PIA05312: At Home in the Crater sur le site de la NASA.PIA05540: Trenching Martian Ground
This image shows a three-dimensional model of the trench dug by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit at a shallow depression dubbed "Laguna Hollow" on the 47th martian day, or sol, of its mission. The rover dragged one of its wheels back and forth across the surface to create this 7-centimeter-deep (3-inch) hole. Afterwards, it investigated the freshly exposed soil with the scientific instruments located on its robotic arm. This model was created using images from the rover's panoramic camera.
Voir l'image PIA05540: Trenching Martian Ground sur le site de la NASA.PIA05002: Airbag Deflates on Mars
| | PIA05002: Airbag Deflates on Mars
PIA05315.jpg = PIA05315: Spirit Keeps Rolling
This 360-degree mosaic panorama image, taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, includes a view of the lander. The lander is located to the south-southwest of the rover, which is moving toward a crater nicknamed "Bonneville." Sleepy Hollow can be seen to the right of the lander. As of Sol 44, which ended on February 17, 2004, the rover had moved a total of 106.6 meters (350 feet) since leaving the lander on January 15, 2004. This image was taken on Sol 39 (February 11, 2004).
Voir l'image PIA05315: Spirit Keeps Rolling sur le site de la NASA.PIA04984: Spirit's Descent to Mars-1706
This image, taken by the descent image motion estimation system camera located on the bottom of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's lander, shows a view of Gusev Crater as the lander descends to Mars. The picture is taken at an altitude of 1706 meters. Numerous small impact craters can be seen on the surface of the planet. These images help the onboard software to minimize the lander's horizontal velocity before its bridle is cut, and it falls freely to the surface of Mars.
Voir l'image PIA04984: Spirit's Descent to Mars-1706 sur le site de la NASA.PIA05182: Opportunity on Its Own
This image captured by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's rear hazard-identification camera shows the now-empty lander that carried the rover 283 million miles to Meridiani Planum, Mars. Engineers received confirmation that Opportunity's six wheels successfully rolled off the lander and onto martian soil at 3:01 a.m. PST, January 31, 2004, on the seventh martian day, or sol, of the mission. The rover is approximately 1 meter (3 feet) in front of the lander, facing north.
Voir l'image PIA05182: Opportunity on Its Own sur le site de la NASA.PIA01906: 'McMurdo' Panorama from Spirit's 'Winter Haven' (False Color)
This 360-degree view, called the "McMurdo" panorama, comes from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. From April through October 2006, Spirit has stayed on a small hill known as "Low Ridge." There, the rover's solar panels are tilted toward the sun to maintain enough solar power for Spirit to keep making scientific observations throughout the winter on southern Mars. This view of the surroundings from Spirit's "Winter Haven" is presented in exaggerated color to enhance color differences among rocks, soils and sand.
Oct. 26, 2006, marks Spirit's 1,000th sol of what was planned as a 90-sol mission. (A sol is a Martian day, which lasts 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds). The rover has lived through the most challenging part of its second Martian winter. Its solar power levels are rising again. Spring in the southern hemisphere of Mars will begin in early 2007. Before that, the rover team hopes to start driving Spirit again toward scientifically interesting places in the "Inner Basin" and "Columbia Hills" inside Gusev crater. The McMurdo panorama is providing team members with key pieces of scientific and topographic information for choosing where to continue Spirit's exploration adventure.
The Pancam began shooting component images of this panorama during Spirit's sol 814 (April 18, 2006) and completed the part shown here on sol 932 (Aug. 17, 2006). The panorama was acquired using all 13 of the Pancam's color filters, using lossless compression for the red and blue stereo filters, and only modest levels of compression on the remaining filters. The overall panorama consists of 1,449 Pancam images and represents a raw data volume of nearly 500 megabytes. It is thus the largest, highest-fidelity view of Mars acquired from either rover. Additional photo coverage of the parts of the rover deck not shown here was completed on sol 980 (Oct. 5 , 2006). The team is completing the processing and mosaicking of those final pieces of the panorama, and that image will be released on the Web shortly to augment this McMurdo panorama view.
This beautiful scene reveals a tremendous amount of detail in Spirit's surroundings. Many dark, porous-textured volcanic rocks can be seen around the rover, including many on Low Ridge. Two rocks to the right of center, brighter and smoother-looking in this image and more reflective in infrared observations by Spirit's miniature thermal emission spectrometer, are thought to be meteorites. On the right, "Husband Hill" on the horizon, the rippled "El Dorado" sand dune field near the base of that hill, and lighter-toned "Home Plate" below the dunes provide context for Spirit's travels since mid-2005. Left of center, tracks and a trench dug by Spirit's right-front wheel, which no longer rotates, have exposed bright underlying material. This bright material is evidence of sulfur-rich salty minerals in the subsurface, which may provide clues about the watery past of this part of Gusev Crater.
Spirit has stayed busy at Winter Haven during the past six months even without driving. In addition to acquiring this spectacular panorama, the rover team has also acquired significant new assessments of the elemental chemistry and mineralogy of rocks and soil targets within reach of the rover's arm. The team plans soon to have Spirit drive to a very nearby spot on Low Ridge to access different rock and soil samples while maintaining a good solar panel tilt toward the sun for the rest of the Martian winter.
Despite the long span of time needed for acquiring this 360-degree view -- a few images at a time every few sols over a total of 119 sols because the available power was so low -- the lighting and color remain remarkably uniform across the mosaic. This fact attests to the repeatability of wintertime sols on Mars in the southern hemisphere. This is the time of year when Mars is farthest from the sun, so there is much less dust storm and dust devil activity than at other times of the year.
This is a false-color, red-green-blue composite panorama generated from images taken through the Pancam's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters.
Voir l'image PIA01906: 'McMurdo' Panorama from Spirit's 'Winter Haven' (False Color) sur le site de la NASA.PIA03640: Descent from the Summit of 'Husband Hill'
Click on the image for Descent from the Summit of 'Husband Hill' (QTVR)
In late November 2005 while descending "Husband Hill," NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took the most detailed panorama so far of the "Inner Basin," the rover's next target destination. Spirit acquired the 405 individual images that make up this 360-degree view of the surrounding terrain using five different filters on the panoramic camera. The rover took the images on Martian days, or sols, 672 to 677 (Nov. 23 to 28, 2005 -- the Thanksgiving holiday weekend).
This image is an approximately true-color rendering using camera's 750-, 530-, and 430-nanometer filters. Seams between individual frames have been eliminated from the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see.
"Home Plate," a bright, semi-circular feature scientists hope to investigate, is harder to discern in this image than in earlier views taken from higher up the hill. Spirit acquired this more oblique view, known as the "Seminole panorama," from about halfway down the south flank of Husband Hill, 50 meters (164 feet) or so below the summit. Near the center of the panorama, on the horizon, are "McCool Hill" and "Ramon Hill," named, like Husband Hill, in honor of the fallen astronauts of the space shuttle Columbia. Husband Hill is visible behind the rover, on the right and left sides of the panorama. An arc of rover tracks made while avoiding obstacles and getting into position to examine rock outcrops can be traced over a long distance by zooming in to explore the panorama in greater detail.
Spirit is now significantly farther downhill toward the center of this panorama, en route to Home Plate and other enigmatic soils and outcrop rocks in the quest to uncover the history of Gusev Crater and the "Columbia Hills."
Voir l'image PIA03640: Descent from the Summit of 'Husband Hill' sur le site de la NASA.PIA05238: Mars Rock Formation Poses Mystery-2
This sharp, close-up image taken by the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's instrument deployment device, or "arm," shows a rock target dubbed "Robert E," located on the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars. Scientists are studying the spherule, or small sphere, in the center of the image that appears to be protruding from the rock formation. This image measures 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across and was taken on the 15th day of Opportunity's journey (Feb. 8, 2004).
Voir l'image PIA05238: Mars Rock Formation Poses Mystery-2 sur le site de la NASA.PIA04190: Busy at 'Lambert'
Annotated image of PIA04190
Busy at 'Lambert'As NASA's Spirit rover stood on the summit of "Husband Hill" to acquire a 360-degree panorama, its front hazard-identification cameras took this image of an area called "Lambert." The rover also used the instruments on its robotic arm to acquire data on an undisturbed soil deposit called "Whymper." Additional data were collected on soils disturbed by the rover's wheels.
The soil is marked by wind-blown ripples and dust deposits, indicating that the summit is a very windy place. The soil composition is similar to that of deposits found in the plains, which suggests that wind has homogenized these materials over long distances.
Voir l'image PIA04190: Busy at 'Lambert' sur le site de la NASA. | | PIA04190: Busy at 'Lambert'
PIA05209.jpg = PIA05209: Mars Under the Microscope (stretched)
This magnified look at the martian soil near the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's landing site, Meridiani Planum, shows coarse grains sprinkled over a fine layer of sand. The image was captured on the 10th day, or sol, of the rover's mission by its microscopic imager, located on the instrument deployment device, or "arm." Scientists are intrigued by the spherical rocks, which can be formed by a variety of geologic processes, including cooling of molten lava droplets and accretion of concentric layers of material around a particle or "seed."
The examined patch of soil is 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across. The circular grain in the lower left corner is approximately 3 millimeters (.12 inches) across, or about the size of a sunflower seed.
This stretched color composite was obtained by merging images acquired with the orange-tinted dust cover open and closed. The varying hints of orange suggest differences in mineral composition. The blue tint at the lower right corner is a tag used by scientists to indicate that the dust cover is closed.
Voir l'image PIA05209: Mars Under the Microscope (stretched) sur le site de la NASA.PIA05097: Spirit Leaves Telling Tracks
Scientists have found clues about the nature of martian soil through analyzing wheel marks from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in this image. The image was taken by Spirit's rear hazard-identification camera just after the rover drove approximately 1 meter (3 feet) northwest off the Columbia Memorial Station (lander platform) early Thursday morning. That the wheel tracks are shallow indicates the soil has plenty of strength to support the moving rover. The well-defined track characteristics suggest the presence of very fine particles in the martian soil (along with larger particles). Scientists also think the soil may have some cohesive properties.
Voir l'image PIA05097: Spirit Leaves Telling Tracks sur le site de la NASA.PIA05503: Rare Glance at "Last Chance"
This three dimensional model shows a region of the outcrop near the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's landing site dubbed "Last Chance." The model was created with images taken by the rover's panoramic camera. The layered rocks were recently the subject of an extensive series of microscopic images.
Voir l'image PIA05503: Rare Glance at "Last Chance" sur le site de la NASA.PIA05162: Opportunity Rocks Again!
This high-resolution image captured by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera highlights a portion of the puzzling rock outcropping that scientists eagerly wait to investigate. Presently, Opportunity is on its lander facing northeast; the outcropping lies to the northwest. These layered rocks measure only 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall and are thought to be either volcanic ash deposits or sediments carried by water or wind. Data from the panoramic camera's near-infrared, blue and green filters were combined to create this approximate true color image.
Voir l'image PIA05162: Opportunity Rocks Again! sur le site de la NASA.PIA05275: "Berries" on the Ground 2 (3-D)
This is the 3-D anaglyph showing a microscopic image taken of soil featuring round, blueberry-shaped rock formations on the crater floor at Meridiani Planum, Mars. This image was taken on the 13th day of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's journey, after the Moessbauer spectrometer, an instrument located on the rover's instrument deployment device, or "arm," was pressed down to measure the soil's iron mineralogy. Note the donut-shaped imprint of the instrument in the lower part of the image. The area in this image is approximately 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across.
Voir l'image PIA05275: "Berries" on the Ground 2 (3-D) sur le site de la NASA.PIA05504: Windows to Meridiani's Water-Soaked Past
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the two holes that allowed scientists to peer into Meridiani Planum's wet past. The rover drilled the holes into rocks in the region dubbed "El Capitan" with its rock abrasion tool. By analyzing the freshly exposed rock with the rover's suite of scientific instruments, scientists gathered evidence that this part of Mars may have once been drenched in water. The lower hole, located on a target called "McKittrick," was made on the 30th martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's journey. The upper hole, located on a target called "Guadalupe" was made on the 34th sol of the rover's mission. This image was taken on the 35th martian day, or sol, by the rover's hazard-avoidance camera. The rock abrasion tool and scientific instruments are located on the rover's robotic arm.
Voir l'image PIA05504: Windows to Meridiani's Water-Soaked Past sur le site de la NASA.PIA05324: Tiny Pebbles
This image taken by the microscopic imager instrument located on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's instrument deployment device, or "arm," shows the crater floor at Meridiani Planum, Mars, before the rover dug a trench on sol 23 (February 16, 2004). Grains of soil on the floor appear sand-sized with millimeter-sized pebbles on top. The area in this image measures approximately 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across.
Voir l'image PIA05324: Tiny Pebbles sur le site de la NASA.PIA05452: Ripples or Dunes?
This approximate true-color image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic camera shows the windblown waves of soil that characterize the rocky surface of Gusev Crater, Mars. Scientists were puzzled about whether these geologic features were "ripples" or "dunes." Ripples are shaped by gentle winds that deposit coarse grains on the tops or crests of the waves. Dunes are carved by faster winds and contain a more uniform distribution of material. Images taken of these features by the rover's microscopic imager on the 41st martian sol, or day, of the rover's mission revealed their identity to be ripples. This information helps scientists better understand the winds that shape the landscape of Mars. This image was taken early in Spirit's mission.
Click on image for larger view
[Image credit: NASA/JPL/ASU]
This diagram illustrates how windblown sediments travel. There are three basic types of particles that undergo different motions depending on their size. These particles are dust, sand and coarse sand, and their sizes approximate flour, sugar, and ball bearings, respectively. Sand particles move along the "saltation" path, hitting the surface downwind. When the sand hits the surface, it sends dust into the atmosphere and gives coarse sand a little shove. Mars Exploration Rover scientists are studying the distribution of material on the surface of Mars to better understand how winds shaped the landscape.
Voir l'image PIA05452: Ripples or Dunes? sur le site de la NASA.PIA05117: Empty Nest
This image mosaic taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rover's landing site, the Columbia Memorial Station, at Gusev Crater, Mars. This spectacular view may encapsulate Spirit's entire journey, from lander to its possible final destination toward the east hills. On its way, the rover will travel 250 meters (820 feet) northeast to a large crater approximately 200 meters (660 feet) across, the ridge of which can be seen to the left of this image. To the right are the east hills, about 3 kilometers (2 miles) away from the lander. The picture was taken on the 16th martian day, or sol, of the mission (Jan. 18/19, 2004). A portion of Spirit's solar panels appear in the foreground. Data from the panoramic camera's green, blue and infrared filters were combined to create this approximate true color image.
Voir l'image PIA05117: Empty Nest sur le site de la NASA.PIA05200: NASA Dedicates Mars Landmarks to Columbia Crew
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe today announced the martian hills, located east of the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover's landing site, would be dedicated to the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 crew.
"These seven hills on Mars are named for those seven brave souls, the final crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The Columbia crew faced the challenge of space and made the supreme sacrifice in the name of exploration," Administrator O'Keefe said.
The Shuttle Columbia was commanded by Rick Husband and piloted by William McCool. The mission specialists were Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark; and the payload specialist was Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon. On February 1, 2003, the Columbia and its crew were lost over the western United States during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere The 28th and final flight of Columbia was a 16-day mission dedicated to research in physical, life and space sciences. The Columbia crew successfully conducted approximately 80 separate experiments during their mission.
This image, taken from Spirit's PanCam looking east, depicts the nearby hills dedicated to the final crew of Space Shuttle Columbia. Arranged alphabetically from left to right - "Anderson Hill" is the most northeast of Spirit's landing site and 3 kilometers away. Next are "Brown Hill" and "Chawla Hill," both 2.9 kilometers distant. Next is "Clark Hill" at 3 kilometers. "Husband Hill" and "McCool Hill," named for Columbia's commander and pilot respectively, are 3.1 and 4.2 kilometers distant. "Ramon Hill" is furthest southeast of Spirit's landing site and 4.4 kilometers away.
NASA will submit the names of the Mars features to the International Astronomical Union for official designation. The organization serves as the internationally recognized authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and their surface features.
The figure below is an image taken by the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera of the Columbia Memorial Station and Columbia Hills.
Click on image for larger view
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Additional information about the project is available on the Internet at: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov.
Voir l'image PIA05200: NASA Dedicates Mars Landmarks to Columbia Crew sur le site de la NASA.
PIA04179: A Whale of a Panorama
Click on the image for
A Whale of a Panorama (QTVR)
More than 1.5 years into their exploration of Mars, both of NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers continue to send a cornucopia of images to Earth. The results are so spectacular that Deputy Project Manager John Callas recently described them as "an embarrassment of riches." Spirit produced this image mosaic, nicknamed the "Whale Panorama," two-thirds of the way to the summit of "Husband Hill," where the rover investigated martian rocks. On the right side of the panorama is a tilted layer of rocks dubbed "Larry's Outcrop," one of several tilted outcrops that scientists examined in April, 2005. They used spatial information to create geologic maps showing the compass orientation and degree of tilting of rock formations in the vicinity. Such information is key to geologic fieldwork because it helps establish if rock layers have been warped since they formed. In this case, scientists have also been studying the mineral and chemical differences, which show that some rocks have been more highly altered than others.
In the foreground, in the middle of the image mosaic, Spirit is shown with the scientific instruments at the end of its robotic arm positioned on a rock target known as "Ahab." The rover was busy collecting elemental chemistry and mineralogy data on the rock at the same time that it was taking 50 individual snapshots with its five panoramic camera filters to create this stunning view of the martian scenery. The twin tracks of the rover's all-terrain wheels are clearly visible on the left.
This mosaic of images spans about 220 degrees from left to right and is an approximate true-color rendering of the Mars terrain acquired through the panoramic camera's 750-, 530-, and 430-nanometer filters. Spirit collected these images from its 497th martian day, or sol, through its 500th sol (May 27 through May 30, 2005).
Voir l'image PIA04179: A Whale of a Panorama sur le site de la NASA.PIA05207: Mars Under the Microscope
This magnified look at the martian soil near the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's landing site, Meridiani Planum, shows coarse grains sprinkled over a fine layer of sand. The image was captured by the rover's microscopic imager on the 10th day, or sol, of its mission. Scientists are intrigued by the spherical rocks, which can be formed by a variety of geologic processes, including cooling of molten lava droplets and accretion of concentric layers of material around a particle or "seed."
The examined patch of soil is 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across. The circular grain in the lower left corner is approximately 3 millimeters (.12 inches) across, or about the size of a sunflower seed.
Voir l'image PIA05207: Mars Under the Microscope sur le site de la NASA.PIA05048: Airbag Trail Dubbed "Magic Carpet"
Click on the image for Airbag Trail Dubbed "Magic Carpet" (QTVR)
Magic Carpet Close-upMagic Carpet Close-up HD
This section of the first color image from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has been further processed to produce a sharper look at a trail left by the one of rover's airbags. The drag mark was made after the rover landed and its airbags were deflated and retracted. Scientists have dubbed the region the "Magic Carpet" after a crumpled portion of the soil that appears to have been peeled away (lower left side of the drag mark). Rocks were also dragged by the airbags, leaving impressions and "bow waves" in the soil. The mission team plans to drive the rover over to this site to look for additional clues about the composition of the martian soil. This image was taken by Spirit's panoramic camera.
This extreme close-up image (see insets above) highlights the martian feature that scientists have named "Magic Carpet" because of its resemblance to a crumpled carpet fold. Scientists think the soil here may have detached from its underlying layer, possibly due to interaction with the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's airbag after landing. This image was taken on Mars by the rover's panoramic camera.
Voir l'image PIA05048: Airbag Trail Dubbed "Magic Carpet" sur le site de la NASA.PIA05484: Opportunity Spies "Endurance" on the Horizon
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows the eastern plains that stretch beyond the small crater where the rover landed. In the distance, the rim of a larger crater dubbed "Endurance" can be seen.
This color mosaic was taken on the 32nd martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission and spans 20 degrees of the horizon. It was taken while Opportunity was parked at the north end of the outcrop, in front of the rock region dubbed "El Capitan" and facing east.
The features seen at the horizon are the near and far rims of "Endurance," the largest crater within about 6 kilometers (4 miles) of the lander. Using orbital data from the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, scientists estimated the crater to be 160 meters (175 yards) in diameter, and about 720 meters (half a mile) away from the lander.
The highest point visible on "Endurance" is the highest point on the far wall of the crater; the sun is illuminating the inside of the far wall.
Between the location where the image was taken at "El Capitan" and "Endurance" are the flat, smooth Meridiani plains, which scientists believe are blanketed in the iron-bearing mineral called hematite. The dark horizontal feature near the bottom of the picture is a small, five-meter (16-feet) crater, only 50 meters (164 feet) from Opportunity's present position. When the rover leaves the crater some 2 to 3 weeks from now, "Endurance" is one of several potential destinations.
Voir l'image PIA05484: Opportunity Spies "Endurance" on the Horizon sur le site de la NASA.PIA05455: The Answer is in the Crests and Troughs -2
This microscopic image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the tops or crests of the waves of windblown soil that characterize the surface of Gusev Crater, Mars. The coarse grains on the crests, combined with the finer grains observed in a similar microscopic image taken of the waves' troughs, indicate that the waves are geologic features known as ripples, and not dunes. Dunes contain a more uniform distribution of material. This information helps scientists better understand the winds that shape the landscape of Mars. The image was taken on the 41st martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission by its microscopic imager. The observed area is 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across.
Voir l'image PIA05455: The Answer is in the Crests and Troughs -2 sur le site de la NASA.PIA05034: America On Board
Nestled atop an electronics module on a lander side petal of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, a miniature American flag accompanies a patch bearing the names and signatures of U.S. officials including President George W. Bush and NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. This image was taken on Mars by the rover's panoramic camera.
Voir l'image PIA05034: America On Board sur le site de la NASA.PIA02689: 'Gibson' Panorama by Spirit at 'Home Plate' (False Color)
Figure 1Figure 2
Layers at Home Plate
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired this high-resolution view of intricately layered exposures of rock while parked on the northwest edge of the bright, semi-circular feature known as "Home Plate." The rover was perched at a 27-degree upward tilt while creating the panorama, resulting in the "U" shape of the mosaic. Figure 1: (a) the northern edge of Home Plate, (b) the coarse-grained lower unit, (c) the fine-grained upper unit.
Spirit acquired 246 separate images of this scene using 6 different filters on the panoramic camera (Pancam) during the rover's Martian days, or sols, 748 through 751 (Feb. 9 through Feb. 12, 2006). The field of view covers 160 degrees of terrain around the rover.
Evidence of Volcanic Explosion
The lower coarse-grained unit shows granular textures toward the bottom of the image and massive textures (figure 2). Also shown is a feature interpreted to be a "bomb sag," which is four centimeters across. This false color image was obtained using Spirit's panoramic camera.
Voir l'image PIA02689: 'Gibson' Panorama by Spirit at 'Home Plate' (False Color) sur le site de la NASA.PIA04989: First Look at Spirit on Mars-2
| | PIA04989: First Look at Spirit on Mars-2
PIA05159.jpg = PIA05159: Shades and Shapes of Mars
This image captured by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera highlights the flat and dark terrain of its landing site at Meridiani Planum. The landscape is in contrast to that of past landing sites on Mars, which show variations in color and topography. For example, the Viking 1 and Viking 2 missions observed rocky, dust-covered surfaces (
PIA00393, PIA00568) much like those observed at Pathfinder's landing site (
PIA02405). Gusev Crater, the landing site of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, is slightly darker in color but flat and speckled with a sparse array of rocks (
PIA05102). Meridiani Planum has even fewer rocks than Gusev Crater and is darkest and cleanest of all the landing sites. This assortment of martian shades and shapes are further revealed in an image of the red planet taken by the Hubble Space Telescope (
PIA03154).
Voir l'image PIA05159: Shades and Shapes of Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA05538: A Deep Dish for Discovery
On the 66th martian day, or sol, of its mission, the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit finished a drive and sent back this navigation camera image mosaic revealing "Bonneville" crater in its entirety.
Spirit has spent more than 60 sols, two thirds of the nominal mission, en route to the rim of the large crater dubbed "Bonneville." The rover stopped on occasion to examine rocks along the way, many of which probably found their resting places after being ejected from the nearly 200-meter-diameter (656-foot) crater.
The science team sent the rover to "Bonneville" to find out more about where the rocks they have examined so far originated. Reaching the rim of this deep dish has been a major priority since day one.
According to science team member Dr. John Grant of Washington D.C.'s National Air and Space Museum, the "Bonneville" crater could be a giant window into the ancient past of the Gusev landing site. He said, "The rocks that we see scattered around our landing site may be ejecta from inside "Bonneville," but we won't know that for sure until we actually investigate the crater. We can look at the rocks' form and chemistry, but we don't know how they fit into the big picture. If we can find their occurrence within the walls of "Bonneville" crater, we'll be one step closer to understanding the processes that shaped the entire Gusev area over time."
Most scientists agree that a fitting prize for this long drive would be to find an outcrop of bedrock material that was not transported, but formed in the crater. When a meteorite slams into the ground and creates a crater, it throws surface debris out to the sides, revealing the older, mostly buried material, a sort of natural "road cut." The real gem would be to find exposed layers of the ancient rock within the "cut" walls of the crater, which would give scientists a peek into how the area formed. "The Gusev landing site is at least partially covered in a layer of ejecta material," said Grant. "As Mars was repeatedly pelted with meteorites, the ejecta kept piling on top of other ejecta leaving a blanket of debris and little trace of what the original surface was. We want to see beneath all that impact debris, into what is really filling the Gusev crater. Hopefully "Bonneville" crater will give us a clue to what the material is at the top of that pile."
Voir l'image PIA05538: A Deep Dish for Discovery sur le site de la NASA.PIA05460: Opportunity's Empty Nest
This image taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rover's now-empty lander, the Challenger Memorial Station, at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The image was acquired on the 24th martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's mission at approximately 13:00 Local Solar Time. This is a mosaic image consisting of 12 color images acquired with the camera's red, green and blue filters. The color balance has been set to approximate the colors that a human eye would see.
Voir l'image PIA05460: Opportunity's Empty Nest sur le site de la NASA.PIA05006: Airbag Trails-2
| | PIA05006: Airbag Trails-2
PIA05311.jpg = PIA05311: Opportunity Trenches Martian Soil
The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity dragged one of its wheels back and forth across the sandy soil at Meridiani Planum to create a hole (bottom left corner) approximately 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) long by 20 centimeters (7.9 inches) wide by 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) deep. The rover's instrument deployment device, or arm, will begin studying the fresh soil at the bottom of this trench later today for clues to its mineral composition and history. Scientists chose this particular site for digging because previous data taken by the rover's miniature thermal emission spectrometer indicated that it contains crystalline hematite, a mineral that sometimes forms in the presence of water. The brightness of the newly-exposed soil is thought to be either intrinsic to the soil itself, or a reflection of the Sun. Opportunity's lander is in the center of the image, and to the left is the rock outcrop lining the inner edge of the small crater that encircles the rover and lander. This mosaic image is made up of data from the rover's navigation and hazard-avoidance cameras.
Voir l'image PIA05311: Opportunity Trenches Martian Soil sur le site de la NASA.PIA05235: Stone Mountain
This color image taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the part of the rock outcrop dubbed Stone Mountain at Meridiani Planum, Mars. Scientists are examining Stone Mountain with the instruments on the rover's instrument deployment device, or "arm," in search of clues about the composition of the rock outcrop.
A Patch of Stone (Figure credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/USGS)
The colorless square in this color image of the martian rock formation called Stone Mountain is one portion of the rock being analyzed with tools on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's instrument deployment device, or "arm." The square area is approximately 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across. Stone Mountain is located within the rock outcrop on Meridiani Planum, Mars. The image was taken by the rover's panoramic camera.
Voir l'image PIA05235: Stone Mountain sur le site de la NASA.PIA05181: No Looking Back
This image shows the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's view of the martian horizon from its new position on the surface of Mars. Engineers received confirmation that Opportunity's six wheels rolled off the lander and onto martian soil at 3:01 a.m. PST, January 31, 2004, on the seventh martian day, or sol, of the mission. The rover is approximately 1 meter (3 feet) in front of the lander, facing north. The image was taken at Meridiani Planum by the rover's front hazard-identification camera.
Voir l'image PIA05181: No Looking Back sur le site de la NASA.PIA05074: Daisy Found on 'Route 66'
This composite image from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit gives an approximately true-color rendering of a daisy-like pattern of brushed circles that Spirit produced on a rock called "Route 66." Spirit used the rock abrasion tool to complete this 6-position "RAT daisy" on sol 99. It took this image on sol 100, April 14, 2004.
The purpose for these large brushings is to create a large enough patch of treated surface area for the miniature thermal emission spectrometer to analyze. Scientists had previously conducted a brushing like this one on the rock "Mazatzal." The brushed area of Route 66 looks very different from the brushed area of Mazatzal, leading scientists to think that the rocks although both light in tone actually have different coating types.
Voir l'image PIA05074: Daisy Found on 'Route 66' sur le site de la NASA.PIA04193: Windblown 'Whymper'
Annotated image of PIA04193
Windblown 'Whymper'NASA's Spirit rover took this mosaic of the undisturbed soil deposit "Whymper" on martian day, or sol 588 (August 29, 2005), using its microscopic imager. A well-defined impression about 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) wide was created when the rover's Moessbauer spectrometer faceplate was gently pushed into the soil. Note that the surface of the soil has been modified into wind streaks.
The ability of the soil to make fine molds of the faceplate suggests the material is a mix of sand and dust. The dust is pushed into the pores of the sand and keeps the material from collapsing. This allows for very detailed impressions of the faceplate.
Voir l'image PIA04193: Windblown 'Whymper' sur le site de la NASA. | | PIA04193: Windblown 'Whymper'
PIA04980.jpg = PIA04980: First Look at Spirit on Mars
| | PIA04980: First Look at Spirit on Mars
PIA02687.jpg = PIA02687: Spirit's 'Paige' Panorama of the Interior of 'Home Plate' (False Color)
On Feb. 19, 2006, the 758th Martian day of exploration of the red planet by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, the rover acquired this panoramic view of the interior of "Home Plate," a circular topographic feature amid the "Columbia Hills." This view, called the "Paige" panorama, is from the top of Home Plate. It shows layered rocks exposed at the edge as well as dark rocks exhibiting both smooth and sponge-like "scoriaceous" textures. To the east from this vantage point, "McCool Hill" looms on the horizon. At the base of McCool Hill is a reddish outcrop called "Oberth," which Spirit may explore during the rapidly approaching Martian winter. "Von Braun" and "Goddard" hills are partially visible beyond the opposite rim of Home Plate.
The limited spatial coverage of this panorama is the result of steadily decreasing power available to the rover for science activities as the Martian winter arrives and the sun traces a lower path across the sky. The rover team anticipates that the north-facing slopes of McCool Hill should sufficiently tilt the rover's solar panels toward the sun to allow Spirit to survive the winter.
The view covers about 230 degrees of terrain around the rover. Spirit's panoramic camera (Pancam) took 72 separate images of this scene with four different Pancam filters. This is a false-color rendering using the Pancam's 75-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters, enhanced to show many subtle color differences in rocks, soils, and hills in the scene. Image-to-image seams have been eliminated from the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see.
Voir l'image PIA02687: Spirit's 'Paige' Panorama of the Interior of 'Home Plate' (False Color) sur le site de la NASA.PIA04194: Windy Summit and Plains in Gusev
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to record this scene on the day the rover arrived at the crest area of "Husband Hill" inside Gusev Crater. That was Spirit's 581st martian day, or sol, on Aug. 21, 2005. The rover had just completed its longest one-sol drive in months, 44.8 meters or 47 feet, before taking this picture. A wind-sculpted ripple of sand or dust dominates the foreground, on top of the hill, while a whirlwind lofts a column of dust above the plain in the distance.
Voir l'image PIA04194: Windy Summit and Plains in Gusev sur le site de la NASA.PIA05073: Hills Still a Distant Goal for Spirit
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this grey-scale panoramic camera image on sol 100, April 14, 2004. It captures Spirit's future destination at the highlands informally named "Columbia Hills." In this image, the hills are approximately 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) to the southeast.
Scientists believe the hills may consist of different and potentially older rock units than the basalts that Spirit has observed so far.
Voir l'image PIA05073: Hills Still a Distant Goal for Spirit sur le site de la NASA.
PIA05240: Spirit Self-motivates
The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit drove itself 1 meter (3 feet) out of 6.4 meters (21 feet) at Gusev Crater, Mars, on Feb. 8, 2004, the 36th sol of its mission. This image shows the tracks it created in the martian soil as it drove straight ahead, then to the left. The rover also drove over Adirondack (seen in image bottom center), the bright rock that was targeted by Spirit's rock abrasion tool, on its way to a rock target called White Boat. This was the first test of the rover's autonomous system, which will be used many times in the days to come.
Voir l'image PIA05240: Spirit Self-motivates sur le site de la NASA.PIA05291: After a U-Turn
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity made its first U-Turn on Mars on Feb. 14, 2004, as the completing move of its longest one-day drive, about 9 meters or 30 feet. This view from the right front hazard identification camera shows the scene in front of Opportunity after the turn, with the selected location for the mission's first trenching operation now directly in front of the rover.
Voir l'image PIA05291: After a U-Turn sur le site de la NASA.PIA05318: Spirit Does a "Jig" at Laguna Hollow
This front hazard-avoidance image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 45 shows Spirit in its new location after a drive totaling about 20 meters (65.6 feet). The circular depression that Spirit is in, dubbed "Laguna Hollow," was most likely formed by a small impact.
Scientists were interested in reaching Laguna Hollow because of the location's abundance of very fine, dust-like soil. The fine material could be atmospheric dust that has settled into the depression, or a salt-based material that causes crusts in the soils and coating on rocks. Either way, scientists hope to be able to characterize the material and broaden their understanding of this foreign world.
To help scientists get a better look at the variations in the fine-grained dust at different depths, controllers commanded Spirit to "jiggle" its wheels in the soil before backing away to a distance that allows the area to be reached with the robotic arm. Spirit will likely spend part of sol 46 analyzing this area with the instruments on its robotic arm.
Voir l'image PIA05318: Spirit Does a "Jig" at Laguna Hollow sur le site de la NASA.PIA04154: Dust Devils at Gusev, Sol 537
This movie clip shows some distant dust devils and one closer one blowing across the floor of Mars' Gusev Crater. It consists of frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the rover's 537th martian day, or sol (July 7, 2005).
Spirit began seeing dust devil activity around the beginning of Mars' spring season. Activity increased as spring continued, but fell off again for about two weeks during a dust storm. As the dust storm faded away, dust devil activity came back. In the mid-afternoons as the summer solstice approached, dust devils were a very common occurrence on the floor of Gusev crater. The early-spring dust devils tended to move southwest-to-northeast, across the dust devil streaks in Gusev seen from orbit. Increasingly as the season progresses, the dust devils are seen moving northwest-to-southeast, in the same direction as the streaks. Scientists are watching for the big dust devils that leave those streaks.
In this clip, contrast has been enhanced for anything in the images that changes from frame to frame, that is, for the dust moved by wind. The total time elapsed during the taking of these frames was 13 minutes, 46 seconds.
Voir l'image PIA04154: Dust Devils at Gusev, Sol 537 sur le site de la NASA.PIA04185: A Great Place to Watch the Weather
In this time of year when Mars is most likely to be covered by global dust storms, NASA's Spirit rover has been experiencing relative calm. In fact, the martian winds have been quite beneficial, clearing dust from the rover's solar panels and increasing the solar energy available for driving to new places and conducting scientific experiments.
Another thing the martian wind has done is send hundreds of dust devils spinning across the surface of the planet. From Spirit's high perch approximately 90 meters (295 feet) above the surrounding plains, as shown in this image taken from the summit of "Husband Hill," three dust devils are clearly visible in the plains of Gusev Crater. Planetary Scientist Ron Greeley of Arizona State University, Tempe, describes the whirling vortices of wind and dust as "vacuum cleaners" that were first seen in images from the Viking Orbiter in 1985, though their existence was predicted as early as 1964.
The most prominent dust devil in this image, visible on the left side of the 360-degree panorama, is one of the closest seen by Spirit. It is about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away from the rover, about 90 meters (295 feet) in diameter at its widest point, and 275 meters (902 feet) tall. Its flux is about 1 kilogram per second, meaning it is picking up about 2 pounds of sediment each second and moving it around.
The smaller dust devil just to the right of the largest one is 2.5 to 3 kilometers (1.6 to 1.9 miles) away and is churning up about 0.5 kilograms (1 pound) per second. Both are north of the rover's position and are moving in an east-southeast direction. On the right side of the mosaic shown here is a third dust devil.
Greeley has calculated that if the number and frequency of dust devils Spirit has encountered are similarly spaced throughout Gusev Crater, the crater probably experiences about 90,000 dust devils per martian day, or sol. Collectively, the whirlwinds lift and redeposit an estimated 4.5 million kilograms (9.9 million U.S. pounds) of sediment per sol.
Spirit took this mosaic of images with its navigation camera on sol 581 (Aug. 22). Straight ahead, just east of the rover, is the summit of "Husband Hill." The 360-degree field of view is presented in a cylindrical projection with geometrical seam correction.
Voir l'image PIA04185: A Great Place to Watch the Weather sur le site de la NASA.PIA04996: Windtails Show Direction of Martian Winds
| | PIA04996: Windtails Show Direction of Martian Winds
PIA02696.jpg = PIA02696: 'Payson' Panorama by Opportunity
Click on the image for 'Payson' Panorama by Opportunity (QTVR)
The panoramic camera aboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity acquired this panorama of the "Payson" outcrop on the western edge of "Erebus" Crater during Opportunity's sol 744 (Feb. 26, 2006). From this vicinity at the northern end of the outcrop, layered rocks are observed in the crater wall, which is about 1 meters (3.3 feet) thick. The view also shows rocks disrupted by the crater-forming impact event and subjected to erosion over time.
To the left of the outcrop, a flat, thin layer of spherule-rich soils overlies more outcrop materials. The rover is currently traveling down this "road" and observing the approximately 25-meter (82-foot) length of the outcrop prior to departing Erebus crater.
The panorama camera took 28 separate exposures of this scene, using four different filters. The resulting panorama covers about 90 degrees of terrain around the rover. This approximately true-color rendering was made using the camera's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer and 423-nanometer filters. Image-to-image seams have been eliminated from the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see.
Voir l'image PIA02696: 'Payson' Panorama by Opportunity sur le site de la NASA.PIA03684: Salty Expression
Figure 1
False-Color Composite
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit spent the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend analyzing a remarkable exposure of bright, loose material. Spirit discovered the material while driving toward "Home Plate" along the floor of the basin south of "Husband Hill" in Gusev Crater. These images from Spirit's panoramic camera (Pancam) show some of the most colorful deposits yet photographed on the surface of Mars.
Spirit uncovered several types of materials distinctive in their color, physical properties and chemistry as a result of accidentally digging a trench 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) wide during a turn at the end of a drive. The white material in this image is brighter than any seen previously by the rover. It has a powdery and cloddy texture and exhibits a high abundance of salts. The materials appear similar in some ways to bright soil deposits seen back at the "Paso Robles" site that Spirit encountered on the rover's Martian day, or sol, 431 (March 20, 2005) while climbing the northern flank of "Husband Hill."
Spirit analyzed the bright, yellowish exposures in the lower left part of the frame using instruments on the rover's robotic arm. Scientists hypothesized and then confirmed that these materials have a salty chemistry dominated by iron-bearing sulfates. These salts may record the past presence of water, as they are most easily mobilized and concentrated in liquid solution. Spirit also examined the unusual, pitted rock about 10 centimeters (4 inches) wide in the lower center of the frame. Scientists continue to study the origin of these rocks and soils and the role that water has played in their formation.
This view is an approximately true-color composite combining images taken with the Pancam's 600-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 480-nanometer filters on Jan. 12, 2006, the rover's 721st sol on Mars. The view in figure 1 is a false-color composite combining images taken with the Pancam's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters on the same day.
Voir l'image PIA03684: Salty Expression sur le site de la NASA.PIA05146: Crater Down Below-3
Scientists believe the circular feature in this image to be a crater near the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The rover landed at Meridiani Planum on Mars at approximately 9:05 p.m. PST on Saturday, Jan. 24. This image was taken at an altitude of 1,404 meters (4,606 feet) by the descent image motion estimation system camera located on the bottom of the rover. The image spans approximately 1.2 kilometers (3/4 of a mile) across the surface of Mars.
Voir l'image PIA05146: Crater Down Below-3 sur le site de la NASA.PIA05197: Moessbauer on Mars
This image taken at Meridiani Planum, Mars, by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rover's Moessbauer spectrometer (circular device in center), located on its instrument deployment device, or "arm." The image was acquired on the ninth martian day or sol of the rover's mission.
Voir l'image PIA05197: Moessbauer on Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA03233: 'East Basin' Panorama
Click on the image for 'East Basin' Panorama (QTVR)
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its panoramic camera to obtain this view of the impact feature called "East Basin" to the northeast of "Husband Hill." The images combined into this mosaic were taken during Spirit's 653rd Martian day, or sol (Nov. 3, 2005), just before Spirit descended eastward onto "Haskin Ridge." The view is about 150 degrees wide. It is an approximately true-color rendering generated using the camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer, and 480-nanometer filters.
Dark features on the far side of the basin, just left of center in this view, are basaltic sand deposits that were emplaced on the lee sides of hills by northwesterly winds. Haskin Ridge is visible along the right margin of the image, capped by a light-toned layer of rock. Spirit investigated the light-toned rock unit after taking this image. The basaltic plains located east of the "Columbia Hills" can be seen in the distance beyond "East Basin." The rim of Thira crater is just visible on the distant horizon some 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) away.
Voir l'image PIA03233: 'East Basin' Panorama sur le site de la NASA.PIA05478: The Texture of El Capitan
This image, taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, shows a close up of the rock dubbed "El Capitan," located in the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars. This image shows fine, parallel lamination in the upper area of the rock, which also contains scattered sphere-shaped objects ranging from 1 to 2 millimeters (.04 to .08 inches) in size. There are also more abundant, scattered vugs, or small cavities, that are shaped like discs. These are about 1 centimeter (0.4 inches) long.
Voir l'image PIA05478: The Texture of El Capitan sur le site de la NASA.PIA05141: Meridiani Planum Soil-2
| | PIA05141: Meridiani Planum Soil-2
PIA05520.jpg = PIA05520: Fleshing out "Flatrock"
This microscopic image of "Flatrock," taken on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's 43rd sol on Mars, is representative of the science team's goal at the rock outcrop under investigation at Meridiani Planum.
Having already studied target areas starting at the extreme east of the outcrop, Opportunity has made its way westward and is now surveying the "Slickrock" neighborhood that includes "Flatrock." The team is using Opportunity's arsenal of scientific instruments to understand two fundamental things that characterize the outcrop: the detailed layering of the rocks and their chemical composition.
In keeping with the mission's objective to expose martian history through a thorough examination of the rocks, this image illustrates the very fine layered nature of "Flatrock," which preserve a record of sediment accumulation that occurred long ago. Layers are only a few millimeters thick and are accentuated by a distinctive mineral composition that makes them more resistant to erosion. The crystal casts, or vugs, seen so prominently in the beds at "El Capitan" do not occur in this rock.
"Flatrock" was chosen as a target for the rock abrasion tool and subsequent detailed chemical analysis to help the science team build a more complete understanding of how the beds exposed in this crater originated. After careful diagnostic analysis of a failure to successfully grind on sol 42, the rock abrasion tool is ready to make its second attempt on "Flatrock."
Voir l'image PIA05520: Fleshing out "Flatrock" sur le site de la NASA.PIA05256: Unparallel Lines Give Unparalleled Clues
Scientists are excited to see new details of layered rocks in Opportunity Ledge. In previous panoramic camera images, geologists saw that some rocks in the outcrop had thin layers, and images sent to Earth on sol 17 (Feb. 10, 2004) now show that the thin layers are not always parallel to each other like lines on notebook paper. Instead, if you look closely at this image from an angle, you will notice that the lines converge and diverge at low angles. These unparallel lines give unparalleled clues that some "moving current" such as volcanic flow, wind, or water formed these rocks. These layers with converging and diverging lines are a significant discovery for scientists who are on route to rigorously test the water hypothesis. The main task for both rovers in coming weeks and months is to explore the areas around their landing sites for evidence in rocks and soils about whether those areas ever had environments that were watery and possibly suitable for sustaining life.
This is a cropped image taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera on sol 16 (Feb. 9, 2004). JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.
Voir l'image PIA05256: Unparallel Lines Give Unparalleled Clues sur le site de la NASA.PIA04153: Gusev Dust Devil, sol 532
This movie clip shows a dust devil seen by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the rover's 532nd martian day, or sol (July 2, 2005). The dust-carrying whirlwind is moving across a plain inside Gusev Crater and viewed from Spirit's vantage point on hills rising from the plain. The clip consists of frames taken by Spirit's navigation camera, processed to enhance contrast for anything in the images that changes from frame to frame. The total elapsed time during the taking of these frames was 8 minutes, 48 seconds.
Spirit began seeing dust devil activity around the beginning of Mars' spring season. Activity increased as spring continued, but fell off again for about two weeks during a dust storm. As the dust storm faded away, dust devil activity came back. In the mid-afternoons as the summer solstice approached, dust devils were a very common occurrence on the floor of Gusev crater. The early-spring dust devils tended to move southwest-to-northeast, across the dust devil streaks in Gusev seen from orbit. Increasingly as the season progresses, the dust devils are seen moving northwest-to-southeast, in the same direction as the streaks. Scientists are watching for the big dust devils that leave those streaks.
Voir l'image PIA04153: Gusev Dust Devil, sol 532 sur le site de la NASA.PIA04182: "Independence" Panorama
Click on the image for "Independence" Panorama (QTVR)
This is the Spirit "Independence" panorama, acquired on martian days, or sols, 536 to 543 (July 6 to 13, 2005), from a position in the "Columbia Hills" near the summit of "Husband Hill." The summit of "Husband Hill" is the peak near the right side of this panorama and is about 100 meters (328 feet) away from the rover and about 30 meters (98 feet) higher in elevation. The rocky outcrops downhill and on the left side of this mosaic include "Larry's Lookout" and "Cumberland Ridge," which Spirit explored in April, May, and June of 2005.
The panorama spans 360 degrees and consists of 108 individual images, each acquired with five filters of the rover's panoramic camera. The approximate true color of the mosaic was generated using the camera's 750-, 530-, and 480-nanometer filters. During the 8 martian days, or sols, that it took to acquire this image, the lighting varied considerably, partly because of imaging at different times of sol, and partly because of small sol-to-sol variations in the dustiness of the atmosphere. These slight changes produced some image seams and rock shadows. These seams have been eliminated from the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see. However, it is often not possible or practical to smooth out such seams for regions of rock, soil, rover tracks or solar panels. Such is the nature of acquiring and assembling large panoramas from the rovers.
Voir l'image PIA04182: "Independence" Panorama sur le site de la NASA.PIA04991: Left Panorama of Spirit's Landing Site
| | PIA04991: Left Panorama of Spirit's Landing Site
PIA05476.jpg = PIA05476: Focus on El Capitan-3
This image, taken by the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, shows a geological region of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars dubbed "El Capitan." The region was in a shadow when the image was acquired. Several images, each showing a different part of this region in good focus, were merged to produce this view. The area in this image, taken on Sol 28 of the Opportunity mission, is approximately 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across.
Voir l'image PIA05476: Focus on El Capitan-3 sur le site de la NASA.PIA05289: Red Marks the Spot
This hematite abundance index map helps geologists choose hematite-rich locations to visit around Opportunity's landing site. Blue dots equal areas low in hematite and red dots equal areas high in hematite.
Why Hematite Geologists are eager to reach the hematite-rich area in the upper left to closely examine the soil, which may reveal secrets about how the hematite got to this location. Knowing how the hematite on Mars was formed may help scientists characterize the past environment and determine whether that environment provided favorable conditions for life.
The Plan Over the next few sols, engineers and scientists plan to drive Opportunity to the hematite-rich area then attempt a "pre-trench" sequence, taking measurements with the Moessbauer spectrometer, alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and microscopic imager. Next, the plan is to trench the hematite rich area by spinning one wheel in place to "dig" a shallow hole. Finally, scientists will aim the instrument arm back at the same area where it pre-trenched to get post-trench data with the same instruments to compare and contrast the levels of hematite and revel how deep the hematite lays in the dirt.
Index Map Details The hematite abundance index map was created using data from the miniature thermal emission instrument. The first layer is a mosaic of panoramic camera images taken prior to egress, when Opportunity was still on the lander. The colored dots represent data collected by the miniature thermal emission spectrometer on sol 11, after Opportunity had rolled off of the lander and the rover was located at the center of the blue semi-circle.
The spectrometer is located on the panoramic camera mast. On sol 11, it took a low-angle 180-degree panorama of the area in front of the rover, indicated by the blue shaded dots. The instrument then raised the angle of its field of view a few degrees higher to sweep around behind the rover, indicated by the red and yellow dots offset at the far sides of the image.
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.
Voir l'image PIA05289: Red Marks the Spot sur le site de la NASA.PIA03241: Opportunity on 'Burns Cliff' (Simulated)
This synthetic image of NASA's Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover inside Endurance Crater was produced using "Virtual Presence in Space" technology. Developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., this technology combines visualization and image processing tools with Hollywood-style special effects. The image was created using a photorealistic model of the rover and an approximately full-color mosaic. The size of the rover in the image is approximately correct and was based on the size of the rover tracks in the mosaic.
Because this synthesis provides viewers with a sense of their own "virtual presence" (as if they were there themselves), such views can be useful to mission teams by enhancing perspective and a sense of scale.
Opportunity captured the underlying view of "Burns Cliff" after driving right to the base of this southeastern portion of the inner wall of "Endurance Crater." The view combines frames taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera between the rover's 287th and 294th martian days (Nov. 13 to 20, 2004).
This is a composite of 46 different images, each acquired in seven different Pancam filters. It is an approximately true-color rendering generated from the panoramic camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters. The mosaic spans more than 180 degrees side to side. Because of this wide-angle view, the cliff walls appear to bulge out toward the camera. In reality the walls form a gently curving, continuous surface. See PIA07110.
Voir l'image PIA03241: Opportunity on 'Burns Cliff' (Simulated) sur le site de la NASA.PIA04998: Spirit's Airbags Leave Trail
| | PIA04998: Spirit's Airbags Leave Trail
PIA05223.jpg = PIA05223: First Grinding of a Rock on Mars
The round, shallow depression in this image resulted from history's first grinding of a rock on Mars. The rock abrasion tool on NASA's Spirit rover ground off the surface of a patch 45.5 millimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter on a rock called Adirondack during Spirit's 34th sol on Mars, Feb. 6, 2004. The hole is 2.65 millimeters (0.1 inch) deep, exposing fresh interior material of the rock for close inspection with the rover's microscopic imager and two spectrometers on the robotic arm. This image was taken by Spirit's panoramic camera, providing a quick visual check of the success of the grinding. The rock abrasion tools on both Mars Exploration Rovers were supplied by Honeybee Robotics, New York, N.Y.
Voir l'image PIA05223: First Grinding of a Rock on Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA05307: What Lies Beneath
The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity dragged one of its wheels back and forth across the sandy soil at Meridiani Planum to create a hole (center) measuring approximately 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) long by 20 centimeters (7.9 inches) wide by 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) deep. The rover's instrument deployment device, or arm, will begin studying the fresh soil at the bottom of the trench later today for clues to its mineral composition and history. Scientists chose this particular site for trenching because previous data taken by the rover's miniature thermal emission spectrometer indicated that it contains crystalline hematite, a mineral that sometimes forms in the presence of water. The brightness of the newly-exposed soil is thought to be either intrinsic to the soil itself, or a reflection of the Sun. This image was taken by the rover's hazard-avoidance camera.
Voir l'image PIA05307: What Lies Beneath sur le site de la NASA.PIA05148: Crater Down Below
Scientists believe the circular feature in this image to be a crater near the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The rover landed at Meridiani Planum on Mars at approximately 9:05 p.m. PST on Saturday, Jan. 24. This image was taken at an altitude of 1,986 meters (6,516 feet) by the descent image motion estimation system camera located on the bottom of the rover. The image spans approximately 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) across the surface of Mars.
Voir l'image PIA05148: Crater Down Below sur le site de la NASA.PIA01894: Opportunity's View, Sol 959 (Cylindrical)
| | PIA01894: Opportunity's View, Sol 959 (Cylindrical)
PIA05199.jpg = PIA05199: As Far as Opportunity's Eye Can See
Click on the image for As Far as Opportunity's Eye Can See (QTVR)
This expansive view of the martian real estate surrounding the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is the first 360 degree, high-resolution color image taken by the rover's panoramic camera. The airbag marks, or footprints, seen in the soil trace the route by which Opportunity rolled to its final resting spot inside a small crater at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The exposed rock outcropping is a future target for further examination. This image mosaic consists of 225 individual frames.
Voir l'image PIA05199: As Far as Opportunity's Eye Can See sur le site de la NASA.PIA03273: Bird's-Eye View of Opportunity at 'Erebus' (Vertical)
This view combines frames taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on the rover's 652nd through 663rd Martian days, or sols (Nov. 23 to Dec. 5, 2005), at the edge of "Erebus Crater." The mosaic is presented as a vertical projection. This type of projection provides a true-to-scale overhead view of the rover deck and nearby surrounding terrain. The view here shows outcrop rocks, sand dunes, and other features out to a distance of about 25 meters (82 feet) from the rover. Opportunity examined targets on the outcrop called "Rimrock" in front of the rover, testing the mobility and operation of Opportunity's robotic arm. The view shows examples of the dunes and ripples that Opportunity has been crossing as the rover drives on the Meridiani plains.
This view is a false-color composite of images taken through the camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters. This kind of false-color scheme emphasizes differences in composition among the different kinds of materials that the rover is exploring.
Voir l'image PIA03273: Bird's-Eye View of Opportunity at 'Erebus' (Vertical) sur le site de la NASA.PIA05216: Shiny and New
This microscopic image shows a cleaned off portion of the rock dubbed Adirondack. In preparation for grinding into the rock, Spirit wiped off a fine coat of dust with a stainless steel brush located on its rock abrasion tool. Some of this dust coating can be seen to the left of the image. Scientists plan to analyze the newly-exposed patch of rock with the rover's suite of science instruments, both before and after the top layer is removed. The image was taken by the rover's microscopic imager. The observed area is 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across.
Voir l'image PIA05216: Shiny and New sur le site de la NASA.PIA05332: "Stucco" Walls-2
This image, taken by the microscopic imager, an instrument located on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity 's instrument deployment device, or "arm," shows the partial "clodding" or cementation of the sand-sized grains within the trench wall. The area in this image measures approximately 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across and makes up half of the projected "Stucco Walls" image.
Voir l'image PIA05332: "Stucco" Walls-2 sur le site de la NASA.PIA05495: Evidence of a Water-Soaked Past
This navigation camera image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on the 36th martian day, or sol, of its mission (March 1, 2004) shows the layered rocks of the "El Capitan" area near the rover's landing site at Meridani Planum, Mars. Visible on two of the rocks are the holes drilled by the rover, which provided scientists with a window to this part of the red planet's water-soaked past.
Scientists used the rover's microscopic imager and two spectrometers to look at the details of the freshly exposed, clean surfaces created by the rover's rock abrasion tool. Seeing beyond the veil of dust and coatings on the surface of the rock, scientists obtained the best views of the chemical composition of the areas. These data indicated that the rocks are made up of types of sulfate that could have only been created by interaction between water and martian rock.
The chemical make-up of the two holes is slightly different, giving scientists an inkling into the geologic history of this area. This history may help to explain the origin of the granular hematite found around the small crater cradling Opportunity and the "El Capitan" rock region.
The sulfates and the other chemicals found in the rocks at this location on Mars also occur on Earth, but only rarely. In places like Rio Tinto, Spain, similar minerals are forming today, and microorganisms live and thrive there.
Analyzing these two clean surfaces created by the rock abrasion tool proves that Mars had interactions between water and rock over extended amounts of time. Life on Earth is sustained by extended interaction between water and the environment. The fact that scientists have now found evidence of a similar relationship between water and rock on Mars does not necessarily mean that life did develop on Mars, but it does bring the possibility one step closer to reality.
Opportunity's wheel tracks can be seen at the bottom left and right sides of this image. The tracks extend to the center of the image, indicating where Opportunity sat when it analyzed the rocks with the instruments on its robotic arm.
Voir l'image PIA05495: Evidence of a Water-Soaked Past sur le site de la NASA.PIA05492: "El Capitan's" Scientific Gems
This mosaic of images taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rock region dubbed "El Capitan," which lies within the larger outcrop near the rover's landing site. "El Capitan" is being studied in great detail using the scientific instruments on the rover's arm; images from the panoramic camera help scientists choose the locations for this compositional work. The millimeter-scale detail of the lamination covering these rocks can be seen. The face of the rock to the right of the mosaic may be a future target for grinding with the rover's rock abrasion tool.
Voir l'image PIA05492: "El Capitan's" Scientific Gems sur le site de la NASA.PIA03274: Intricately Rippled Sand Deposits
Click on the image for Intricately Rippled Sand Deposits (QTVR)
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit welcomed the beginning of 2006 on Earth by taking this striking panorama of intricately rippled sand deposits in Gusev Crater on Mars. This is an approximate true-color rendering of the "El Dorado" ripple field provided by Spirit over the New Year's holiday weekend. The view spans about 160 degrees in azimuth from left to right and consists of images acquired by Spirit's panoramic camera on Spirit's 708th and 710th Martian days, or sols, (Dec. 30, 2005 and Jan. 1, 2006). Spirit used the Pancam's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters to capture the colors on Mars. Scientists have eliminated seams between individual frames in the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see. Spirit spent several days acquiring images, spectral data, and compositional and mineralogical information about these large sand deposits before continuing downhill toward "Home Plate."
Voir l'image PIA03274: Intricately Rippled Sand Deposits sur le site de la NASA.PIA03615: Meteor Search by Spirit, Sol 668
Annotated Meteor Search by Spirit, Sol 668
The panoramic cameras on NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers are about as sensitive as the human eye at night. The cameras can see the same bright stars that we can see from Earth, and the same patterns of constellations dot the night sky. Scientists on the rover team have been taking images of some of these bright stars as part of several different projects. One project is designed to try to capture "shooting stars," or meteors, in the martian night sky. "Meteoroids" are small pieces of comets and asteroids that travel through space and eventually run into a planet. On Earth, we can sometimes see meteoroids become brilliant, long "meteors" streaking across the night sky as they burn up from the friction in our atmosphere. Some of these meteors survive their fiery flight and land on the surface (or in the ocean) where, if found, they are called "meteorites." The same thing happens in the martian atmosphere, and Spirit even accidentally discovered a meteor while attempting to obtain images of Earth in the pre-dawn sky back in March, 2004 (see http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20040311a.html, and Selsis et al. (2005) Nature, vol 435, p. 581). On Earth, some meteors come in "storms" or "showers" at predictable times of the year, like the famous Perseid meteor shower in August or the Leonid meteor shower in November. These "storms" happen when Earth passes through the same parts of space where comets sometimes pass. The meteors we see at these times are from leftover debris that was shed off of these comets.
The same kind of thing is predicted for Mars, as well. Inspired by calculations about Martian meteor storms by meteor scientists from the University of Western Ontario in Canada and the Centre de Recherche en Astrophysique de Lyon in France, and also aided by other meteor research colleagues from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, scientists on the rover team planned some observations to try to detect predicted meteor storms in October and November, 2005. The views shown here are a composite of nine 60-second exposures taken with the panoramic camera on Spirit during night hours of sol 668 (Nov. 18, 2005), during a week when Mars was predicted to pass through a meteor stream associated with Halley's comet. The south celestial pole is at the center of the frame. Many stars can be seen in the images, appearing as short, curved streaks forming arcs around the center point. The star trails are curved because Mars is rotating while the camera takes the images. The brightest stars in this view would be easily visible to the naked eye, but the faintest ones are slightly dimmer than the human eye can detect.
In addition to the star trails, there are several smaller linear streaks, dots and splotches that are the trails left by cosmic rays hitting the camera detectors. Cosmic rays are high-energy particles that are created in the Sun and in other stars throughout our galaxy and travel through space in all directions. Some of them strike Earth or other planets, and ones that strike a digital camera detector can leave little tracks or splotches like those seen in these images. Because they come from all directions, some strike the detector face-on, and others strike at glancing angles. Some even skip across the detector like flat rocks skipped across a pond. These are very common phenomena to astronomers used to working with sensitive digital cameras like those in the Mars rovers, the Hubble Space Telescope, or other space probes, and while they can be a nuisance when taking pictures, they generally do not cause any lasting damage to the cameras. Three of the streaks in the image, including one spanning most of the distance from the left edge of the frame to the center, might be meteor trails or could be the marks of other cosmic rays.
While hunting for meteors on Mars is fun, ultimately the team wants to use the images and results for scientific purposes. These include helping to validate the models and predictions for interplanetary meteor storms, providing information on the rate of impacts of small meteoroids with Mars for comparison with rates for the Earth and Moon, assessing the rate and intensity of cosmic ray impact events in the Martian environment, and looking at whether some bright stars are being dimmed occasionally by water ice or dust clouds occurring at night during different Martian seasons.
Voir l'image PIA03615: Meteor Search by Spirit, Sol 668 sur le site de la NASA.PIA02055: Spirit Says Goodbye to 'Home Plate'
For the past several weeks, Spirit has been examining spectacular layered rocks exposed at "Home Plate." The rover has been driving around the northern and eastern edges of Home Plate, on the way to "McCool Hill." Before departing, Spirit took this image showing some of the most complex layering patterns seen so far at this location.
The layered nature of these rocks presents new questions for the rover team. In addition to their chemical properties, which scientists can study using Spirit's spectrometers, these rocks record a detailed history of the physical properties that formed them. In the center of this image, one group of layers slopes downward to the right. The layers above and below this group are more nearly horizontal. Where layers of different orientations intersect, other layers are truncated. This indicates that there were complex patterns of alternating erosion and deposition occurring when these layers were being deposited. Similar patterns can be found in some sedimentary rocks on Earth. Physical relationships among the various layers exposed at Home Plate are crucial evidence in understanding how these Martian rocks formed. Scientists suspect that the rocks at Home Plate were formed in the aftermath of a volcanic explosion or impact event, and they are investigating the possibility that wind may also have played a role in redistributing materials after such an event.
Images like this one from panoramic camera (Pancam), which shows larger-scale layering, as well as those from the microscopic imager, which reveal the individual sand-sized grains that make up these rocks, are essential to understanding the geologic history of Home Plate.
This view is an approximately true-color rendering that combines separate images taken through the Pancam's 753-nanometer, 535-namometer, and 432-nanometer filters during Spirit's 774th Martian day (March 8, 2006).
Voir l'image PIA02055: Spirit Says Goodbye to 'Home Plate' sur le site de la NASA.PIA04168: Mars Rocks Continue to Fascinate
Proving once again that Mars is a complex and fascinating place, NASA's Opportunity rover has entered new terrain and is providing scientists with more discoveries and puzzles to solve. "One of the things we've been wondering," said principal investigator Steve Squyres, "is whether the rounded concretions we call 'blueberries' are the same everywhere. It turns out they're not. The berries are more numerous here, and some seem to be smaller than any we've ever seen."
This microscopic image of a drill hole cut into a martian rock nicknamed "Ice Cream" by the rover's rock abrasion tool shows cross sections of round concretions 1 to 2 millimeters (0.04 to 0.08 inches) wide. Science team members are debating whether the grayish-looking smudges that are not as round are concretions or some other feature.
Opportunity is now almost 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) south of "Endurance Crater," where the rover spent from May through December of 2004 reading the story of a watery past recorded in the martian rocks. After exiting "Endurance" on martian day, or sol, 316 (Dec. 13, 2004), Opportunity turned south and continued the trek across land where no human has trod, demonstrating that endurance is more than just a name.
Opportunity took this mosaic of images with its microscopic imager on sol 546 (Aug. 6, 2005). The area shown is approximately 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) wide. The shaded portions on the left side of each quadrangle in the mosaic are silhouettes of the rover's robotic arm.
Voir l'image PIA04168: Mars Rocks Continue to Fascinate sur le site de la NASA.PIA04423: Spirit Ascent Movie, Rover's-Eye View
A movie assembled from frames taken by the rear hazard-identification camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the last few days of the rover's ascent to the crest of "Husband Hill" inside Mars' Gusev Crater. The rover was going in reverse. Rover planners often drive Spirit backwards to keep wheel lubrication well distributed. The images in this clip span a timeframe from Spirit's 573rd martian day, or sol (Aug, 13, 2005) to sol 582 (Aug. 22, 2005), the day after the rover reached the crest. During that period, Spirit drove 136 meters (446 feet),
Voir l'image PIA04423: Spirit Ascent Movie, Rover's-Eye View sur le site de la NASA.PIA01879: Mars Exploration Rover Landing Site at Gusev Crater
Area "a"Area "b"Area "c"Area "d"
This image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the landing site of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. The impact crater in the upper left portion of the image is "Bonneville Crater," which was investigated by Spirit shortly after landing. In the lower right portion of the image is "Husband Hill," a large hill that Spirit climbed and spent much of its now nearly three-year mission.
The bright irregularly shaped feature in area "a" of the image is Spirit's parachute, now lying on the Martian surface. Near the parachute is the cone-shaped back shell, which helped protect Spirit's lander during its seven-month journey to Mars. The back shell appears relatively undamaged by its impact with the Martian surface. Wrinkles and folds in the parachute fabric are clearly visible.
Area "b" of the image shows Spirit's lander. The crater in the upper left portion of the image, just northwest of the lander, was informally named "Sleepy Hollow" by the Mars Exploration Rover team.
Area "c" of the image shows Spirit's heat shield at the edge of Bonneville Crater.
Area "d" of the image shows the current location of Spirit. Toward the top of the image is "Home Plate," a plateau of layered rocks that Spirit explored during the early part of its third year on Mars. Spirit itself is clearly seen just southeast of Home Plate. Also visible are the tracks made by the rover before it arrived at its current location.
This image is a small portion of an image (catalogued as PSP_001513_1655) taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on Sept. 29, 2006. The full image is centered at minus 7.8 degrees latitude, 279.5 degrees east longitude. The image is oriented such that north is toward the top. The range to the target site was 297 kilometers (185.6 miles). At this distance the image scale is 29.7 centimeters (11.7 inches) per pixel (with 1 by 1 binning), so objects as small as about 89 centimeters (35 inches) across are resolved. The image was taken at 3:30 p.m. local Mars time. The scene is illuminated from the west with a solar-incidence angle of 59.7 degrees, which means the sun was about 30.3 degrees above the horizon. When the image was taken, the season on Mars was southern winter.
Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu.
For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, http://www.nasa.gov.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.
Voir l'image PIA01879: Mars Exploration Rover Landing Site at Gusev Crater sur le site de la NASA.PIA05081: Spirit is Out the Gate
JPL engineers played Baha Men's "Who Let the Dogs Out" in the control room as they watched new images confirming that the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit successfully rolled off its lander platform early Thursday morning. This image from the rover's front hazard identification camera shows the rover's view of the martian landscape from its new position 1 meter (3 feet) northwest of the lander. One of the rover's next tasks will be to locate the Sun with its panoramic camera and calculate from the Sun's position how to point its main antenna toward Earth.
Voir l'image PIA05081: Spirit is Out the Gate sur le site de la NASA.PIA03035: Spirit Wiggles into Position
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit completed a difficult, rocky ascent en route to reaching a captivating rock outcrop nicknamed "Hillary" at the summit of "Husband Hill." At the end of the climb the robotic geologist was tilted almost 30 degrees. To get the rover on more solid footing for deploying the instrument arm, rover drivers told Spirit to wiggle its wheels one at a time. This animation shows Spirit's position before and after completing the wheel wiggle, during which the rover slid approximately 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) downhill. Rover drivers decided this position was too hazardous for deploying the instrument arm and subsequently directed Spirit to a more stable position before conducting analyses with instruments on the rover's arm.
Spirit took these images with its front hazard-avoidance camera on martian day, or sol, 625 (Oct. 6, 2005).
Voir l'image PIA03035: Spirit Wiggles into Position sur le site de la NASA.PIA05108: Rocks: Windows to History of Mars
This full-resolution image taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit before it rolled off the lander shows the rocky surface of Mars. Scientists are eager to begin examining the rocks because, unlike soil, these "little time capsules" hold memories of the ancient processes that formed them. Data from the camera's red, green and blue filters were combined to create this approximate true color picture.
Voir l'image PIA05108: Rocks: Windows to History of Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA05086: Location of Spirit's Home
This image shows where Earth would set on the martian horizon from the perspective of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit if it were facing northwest atop its lander at Gusev Crater. Earth cannot be seen in this image, but engineers have mapped its location. This image mosaic was taken by the hazard-identification camera onboard Spirit.
Voir l'image PIA05086: Location of Spirit's Home sur le site de la NASA.PIA05218: Adirondack's True Self
This image taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a cleaned off portion of the rock dubbed Adirondack. In preparation for grinding into the rock, Spirit wiped off a fine coat of dust with a brush located on its rock abrasion tool. Scientists plan to analyze the newly-exposed patch of rock with the rover's suite of science instruments, both before and after the top layer is removed.
Voir l'image PIA05218: Adirondack's True Self sur le site de la NASA.PIA03201: 'Mars-shine'
'Mars-shine' Composite
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit continues to take advantage of favorable solar power conditions to conduct occasional nighttime astronomical observations from the summit region of "Husband Hill."
Spirit has been observing the martian moons Phobos and Deimos to learn more about their orbits and surface properties. This has included observing eclipses. On Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's orbit takes it exactly between the Sun and Earth, casting parts of Earth into shadow. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is exactly between the Sun and the Moon, casting the Moon into shadow and often giving it a ghostly orange-reddish color. This color is created by sunlight reflected through Earth's atmosphere into the shadowed region. The primary difference between terrestrial and martian eclipses is that Mars' moons are too small to completely block the Sun from view during solar eclipses.
Recently, Spirit observed a "lunar" eclipse on Mars. Phobos, the larger of the two martian moons, was photographed while slipping into the shadow of Mars. Jim Bell, the astronomer in charge of the rover's panoramic camera (Pancam), suggested calling it a "Phobal" eclipse rather than a lunar eclipse as a way of identifying which of the dozens of moons in our solar system was being cast into shadow.
With the help of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's navigation team, the Pancam team planned instructions to Spirit for acquiring the views shown here of Phobos as it entered into a lunar eclipse on the evening of the rover's 639th martian day, or sol (Oct. 20, 2005) on Mars. This image is a time-lapse composite of eight Pancam images of Phobos moving across the martian sky. The entire eclipse lasted more than 26 minutes, but Spirit was able to observe only in the first 15 minutes. During the time closest to the shadow crossing, Spirit's cameras were programmed to take images every 10 seconds.
In the first three images, Phobos was in sunlight, moving toward the upper right. After a 100-second delay while Spirit's computer processed the first three images, the rover then took the fourth image, showing Phobos just starting to enter the darkness of the martian shadow. At that point, an observer sitting on Phobos and looking back toward the Sun would have seen a spectacular sunset! In the fifth image, Phobos appeared like a crescent, almost completely shrouded in darkness.
In the last three images, Phobos had slipped entirely into the shadow of Mars. However, as with our own Moon during lunar eclipses on Earth, it was not entirely dark. The small amount of light still visible from Phobos is a kind of "Mars-shine" -- sunlight reflected through Mars' atmosphere and into the shadowed region.
Rover scientists took some images later in the sequence to try to figure out if this "Mars-shine" made Phobos colorful while in eclipse, but they'll need more time to complete the analysis because the signal levels are so low. Meanwhile, they will use the information on the timing of the eclipse to refine the orbital path of Phobos. The precise position of Phobos will be important to any future spacecraft taking detailed pictures of the moon or landing on its surface. In the near future it might be possible for one of the rovers to take images of a "Deimal" eclipse to learn more about Mars' other enigmatic satellite, Deimos, as well.
Voir l'image PIA03201: 'Mars-shine' sur le site de la NASA.PIA02686: Spirit Studies Rock Outcrop at 'Home Plate'
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired this false-color image at 11:48 local true solar time on Mars on the rover's 746th Martian day, or sol (Feb. 26, 2006), after using the rock abrasion tool to brush the surfaces of rock targets informally named "Stars" (left) and "Crawfords" (right). Small streaks of dust extend for several centimeters behind the small rock chips and pebbles in the dusty, red soils. Because the rover was looking southwest when this image was taken, the wind streaks indicate that the dominant wind direction was from the southeast.
The targets Stars and Crawfords are on a rock outcrop located on top of "Home Plate." The outcrop is informally named "James 'Cool Papa' Bell," after a Negro Leagues Hall of Famer who played for both the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Kansas City Stars. To some science team members, the two brushed spots resemble the eyes of a face, with rocks below and between the eyes as a nose and layered rocks at the bottom of the image as a mouth.
The image combines frames taken by Spirit's panoramic camera through the camera's 753-nanometer, 535-namometer, and 432-nanometer filters. It is enhanced to emphasize color differences among the rocks, soils and brushed areas. The blue circular area on the left, Stars, was brushed on 761 (Feb. 22, 2006). The one on the right, Crawfords, was brushed on sol 763 (Feb. 25, 2006).
Voir l'image PIA02686: Spirit Studies Rock Outcrop at 'Home Plate' sur le site de la NASA.PIA04195: Opportunity Examines Cracks and Coatings on Mars Rocks
This false-color panoramic image, taken on martian day, or sol, 561 (Aug. 22, 2005) by NASA's Opportunity rover, shows the nature of the outcrop rocks that the rover is encountering on its southward journey across the martian plains to "Erebus Crater." The rocks, similar in make-up to those encountered earlier in the mission, display a clear pattern of cracks as well as rind-like features (identifiable as a light shade of blue to olive in the image) coating the outcrop surface. Prominent in the image are two holes (one on the rock, one on the rind) drilled with the rover's rock abrasion tool to facilitate chemical analysis of the underlying material. The reddish color around the holes is from iron-rich dust produced during the grinding operation. The rind, nicknamed "Lemon Rind," and the underlying rock, nicknamed "Strawberry," have turned out to be similar in overall chemistry and texture. Science team members are working to understand the nature of the relationship between these kinds of rocks and rinds on the Meridiani plains. This false-color composite was generated from a combination of 750-, 530-, and 430-nanometer filter images taken by the Opportunity panoramic camera, an instrument that has acquired more than 36,000 color filter images to date of martian terrain at Meridiani Planum.
Voir l'image PIA04195: Opportunity Examines Cracks and Coatings on Mars Rocks sur le site de la NASA.PIA05072: 'Endurance' Goal Across the Plains
This mosaic image from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera provides an overview of the rover's drive direction toward "Endurance Crater," which is in the upper right corner of image.
The plains appear to be uniform in character from the rovers current position all the way to Endurance Crater. Granules of various sizes blanket the plains. Spherical granules fancifully called blueberries are present some intact and some broken. Larger granules pave the surface, while smaller grains, including broken blueberries, form small dunes. Randomly distributed 1-centimeter (0.4 inch) sized pebbles (as seen just left of center in the foreground of the image) make up a third type of feature on the plains. The pebbles' composition remains to be determined. Scientists plan to examine these in the coming sols.
Examination of this part of Mars by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter revealed the presence of hematite, which led NASA to choose Meridiani Planum as Opportunity's landing site. The rover science conducted on the plains of Meridiani Planum serves to integrate what the rovers are seeing on the ground with what orbital data have shown.
Opportunity will make stop at a small crater called "Fram" (seen in the upper left, with relatively large rocks nearby) before heading to the rim of Endurance Crater.
Voir l'image PIA05072: 'Endurance' Goal Across the Plains sur le site de la NASA.PIA04986: Spirit's Descent to Mars-1433
This image, taken by the descent image motion estimation system camera located on the bottom of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's lander, shows a view of Gusev Crater as the lander descends to Mars. The picture is taken at an altitude of 1433 meters. Numerous small impact craters can be seen on the surface of the planet. These images help the onboard software to minimize the lander's horizontal velocity before its bridal is cut, and it falls freely to the surface of Mars.
Voir l'image PIA04986: Spirit's Descent to Mars-1433 sur le site de la NASA.PIA05241: Inner Adirondack
This close-up image taken by the microscopic imager onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rock dubbed Adirondack after a portion of its surface was ground off by the rover's rock abrasion tool. The observed area is 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across.
Voir l'image PIA05241: Inner Adirondack sur le site de la NASA.PIA05290: Sailing to White Boat
This is a composite red-green-blue image of the rock called White Boat. It is the first rock target that Spirit drove to after finishing a series of investigations on the rock Adirondack. White Boat stood out to scientists due to its light color and more tabular shape compared to the dark, rounded rocks that surround it.
Voir l'image PIA05290: Sailing to White Boat sur le site de la NASA.PIA05319: The Trench Throws a Dirt Clod at Scientists
This picture, obtained by the microscopic imager on NASA's Opportunity rover during sol 24, February 17 PST, shows soil clods exposed in the upper wall of the trench dug by Opportunity's right front wheel on sol 23. The clods were not exposed until the trench was made. The presence of soil clods implies weak bonding between individual soil grains. The chemical agent or mineral that causes the dirt to bind together into a clod, which scientists call the "bonding agent," is currently unknown. Moessbauer and alpha particle X-ray spectrometer measurements of this spot, planned for sol 25, might help explain the bonding, which would ultimately help the rover team understand how geological processes vary across the red planet. In any case, the bonds between soil grains here cannot be very strong because the wheel dug down through this layer with little trouble.
Voir l'image PIA05319: The Trench Throws a Dirt Clod at Scientists sur le site de la NASA.PIA05180: Opportunity and Its Mother Ship
This image captured by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's navigation camera shows the rover and the now-empty lander that carried it 283 million miles to Meridiani Planum, Mars. Engineers received confirmation that Opportunity's six wheels rolled off the lander and onto martian soil at 3:02 a.m. PST, January 31, 2004, on the seventh martian day, or sol, of the mission. The rover, seen at the bottom of the image, is approximately 1 meter (3 feet) in front of the lander, facing north.
Voir l'image PIA05180: Opportunity and Its Mother Ship sur le site de la NASA.PIA04192: Visiting 'Voltaire'
Annotated image of PIA04192
Sitting on 'Voltaire'Spirit's panoramic camera took this mosaic on martian day, or sol, 549 (July 20, 2005), as it approached a suite of layered rocks named "Voltaire." Seven to eight discrete layers can be seen in the bottom portion of the image, running from upper left to lower right. These rock layers are about 20 to 40 centimeters (8 to 16 inches) wide, and extend several meters in length. Spirit visited "Haussmann" and several other rocks within the layered suite to perform close-up imaging, and to obtain measurements from its Moessbauer and alpha particle X-ray spectrometers.
Voir l'image PIA04192: Visiting 'Voltaire' sur le site de la NASA. | | PIA04192: Visiting 'Voltaire'
PIA04981.jpg = PIA04981: First Look Behind Spirit
| | PIA04981: First Look Behind Spirit
PIA05007.jpg = PIA05007: Airbag Trails
| | PIA05007: Airbag Trails
PIA05466.jpg = PIA05466: Heading for Humphrey
This image of the rock called "Humphrey" was taken by the navigational camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during its 54th sol on Mars. The rock's name was inspired by Humphries Peak - the tallest peak in Arizona and part of the San Francisco volcanic complex. Standing approximately .6 meters (about 2 feet) tall, "Humphrey" is one of the largest blocks of what scientists believe is ejected material from one of the rover's long-term targets, the crater dubbed "Bonneville." Likely a basaltic rock, the fractures in "Humphrey" are thought to have been caused by the impact as it was hurled from the crater to its current resting place. Scientists are eager to investigate ejecta rocks, as they give a glimpse of the composition of materials that lie beneath the martian surface. Spirit's engineering and science teams are preparing to brush and then grind "Humphrey" with Spirit's rock abrasion tool. The hope is to remove as much dust as possible so they can examine the coating before grinding, and then study the exposed undersurface after grinding with the cameras and the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.
Voir l'image PIA05466: Heading for Humphrey sur le site de la NASA.PIA05234: Stone Mountain in Context
The colored square in this grayscale image taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity highlights the location of Stone Mountain, located within the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars. Scientists are examining Stone Mountain with the instruments on the rover's instrument deployment device, or "arm," in search of clues about the composition of the rock outcrop.
Voir l'image PIA05234: Stone Mountain in Context sur le site de la NASA.PIA05542: The Rocky Road to the Crater Rim
This image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rocky road the rover traversed to reach its current position 16 meters (52 feet) away from the rim of the crater called "Bonneville." The terrain here slopes upward about five degrees. To the upper right is the rock dubbed "Hole Point," which is about 60 centimeters (two feet) across. This image was taken on the 63rd martian day, or sol, of Spirit's mission.
Voir l'image PIA05542: The Rocky Road to the Crater Rim sur le site de la NASA.PIA03251: Sweeping View of the "Columbia Hills" and Gusev Crater (False Color)
| | PIA03251: Sweeping View of the "Columbia Hills" and Gusev Crater (False Color)
PIA05233.jpg = PIA05233: Opportunity Spies Its Backshell
From its new location at the inner edge of the small crater surrounding it, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was able to look out to the plains where its backshell (left) and parachute (right) landed. Opportunity is currently investigating a rock outcropping with its suite of robotic geologic tools. This approximate true-color image was created by combining data from the panoramic camera's red, green and blue filters.
Voir l'image PIA05233: Opportunity Spies Its Backshell sur le site de la NASA.PIA02688: Spirit's 'Paige' Panorama of the Interior of 'Home Plate'
Click on the image for Spirit's 'Paige' Panorama of the Interior of 'Home Plate' (QTVR)
On Feb. 19, 2006, the 758th Martian day of exploration of the red planet by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, the rover acquired this panoramic view of the interior of "Home Plate," a circular topographic feature amid the "Columbia Hills." This view, called the "Paige" panorama, is from the top of Home Plate. It shows layered rocks exposed at the edge as well as dark rocks exhibiting both smooth and sponge-like "scoriaceous" textures. To the east from this vantage point, "McCool Hill" looms on the horizon. At the base of McCool Hill is a reddish outcrop called "Oberth," which Spirit may explore during the rapidly approaching Martian winter. "Von Braun" and "Goddard" hills are partially visible beyond the opposite rim of Home Plate.
The limited spatial coverage of this panorama is the result of steadily decreasing power available to the rover for science activities as the Martian winter arrives and the sun traces a lower path across the sky. The rover team anticipates that the north-facing slopes of McCool Hill should sufficiently tilt the rover's solar panels toward the sun to allow Spirit to survive the winter.
The view covers about 230 degrees of terrain around the rover. Spirit's panoramic camera (Pancam) took 72 separate images of this scene with four different Pancam filters. This is an approximately true-color rendering using the Pancam's 75-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters. Image-to-image seams have been eliminated from the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see.
Voir l'image PIA02688: Spirit's 'Paige' Panorama of the Interior of 'Home Plate' sur le site de la NASA.PIA05545: 'Bonneville' and Beyond
On the 66th martian day, or sol, of its mission, the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit finished a drive and sent back this navigation camera panorama showing "Bonneville" crater and the rocky plains surrounding it. The rover's solar panels are visible in the foreground, and the to right, the Columbia Hills complex. Zooming into the picture, the rover's parachute can be seen as a tiny white dot at the far left, and just above the far crater rim is the heatsheild, visible as a tiny reflective speck.
Voir l'image PIA05545: 'Bonneville' and Beyond sur le site de la NASA.PIA04988: View From Above Spirit on Mars-2
| | PIA04988: View From Above Spirit on Mars-2
PIA03065.jpg = PIA03065: Dodging the Drifts
This image taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is a portion of a mosaic acquired by the panoramic camera. The picture highlights the light-toned outcrop on the rim of "Erebus Crater" and large, dark, wind-deposited drifts that have filled the center of the crater. Opportunity took this image on the rover's 608th sol (Oct. 9, 2005). The rover is driving west, avoiding the large drifts and crossing the low ripples and outcrop to the right. After traversing to the north of the large drift on the horizon (near the center of the image), Opportunity will drive south to the western rim of the crater.
Voir l'image PIA03065: Dodging the Drifts sur le site de la NASA.PIA05158: Not of this Earth
Right Panoramic Camera (Click on image for larger view)
3D Anaglyph (Click on image for larger view)
This sweeping look at the unusual rock outcropping near the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was captured by the rover's left panoramic camera. Scientists believe the layered rocks are either volcanic ash deposits, or sediments laid down by wind or water. Opportunity landed at Meridiani Planum, Mars on January 24 at 9:05 p.m. PST.
Voir l'image PIA05158: Not of this Earth sur le site de la NASA.PIA05539: Three Stops Ahead
This image taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the view ahead of the rover on the 44th martian day, or sol, if its mission. Directly in front of the rover is the shallow depression dubbed "Laguna Hollow," where it dug a trench with one of its wheels. Further in the distance and to the right is the rock nicknamed "Humphrey," and even further up and to the right is another rock called "Hole Point." These three features line the path the rover is taking to the large crater dubbed "Bonneville." Listed on the picture are the sols on which the rover reached each of these milestones.
Voir l'image PIA05539: Three Stops Ahead sur le site de la NASA.PIA05206: Mars in a Grain of Sand
This image highlights the patch of soil examined by the rover's microscopic imager on the 10th day, or sol, of its mission. The outer image was taken by the rover's navigation camera, the middle image by the panoramic camera and the inner image by the microscopic imager. Opportunity is currently sitting 1 meter (3 feet) away from its now-empty lander in a shallow crater at Meridiani Planum, Mars.
Voir l'image PIA05206: Mars in a Grain of Sand sur le site de la NASA.PIA05049: Mars in Full View
Click on the image for Mars in Full View (QTVR)
This is a medium-resolution version of the first 360-degree panoramic view of the martian surface, taken on Mars by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic camera. Part of the spacecraft can be seen in the lower corner regions. (A higher-resolution image will be made available once it has been processed.)
Voir l'image PIA05049: Mars in Full View sur le site de la NASA.PIA05454: The Answer is in the Crests and Troughs
This microscopic image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the troughs between the waves of windblown soil that characterize the surface of Gusev Crater, Mars. The fine-grained soil in the troughs, combined with the coarse grains observed in a similar microscopic image taken of the waves' crests, indicate that the waves are geologic features known as ripples, and not dunes. Dunes contain a more uniform distribution of material. This information helps scientists better understand the winds that shape the landscape of Mars. The image was taken on the 41st martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission by its microscopic imager. The observed area is 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across.
Voir l'image PIA05454: The Answer is in the Crests and Troughs sur le site de la NASA.PIA03057: Looking Back at Spirit's Trail to the Summit
Before moving on to explore more of Mars, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit looked back at the long and winding trail of twin wheel tracks the rover created to get to the top of "Husband Hill." Spirit spent several days in October 2005 at this location, perched on a lofty, rock-strewn incline next to a precarious outcrop nicknamed "Hillary." Researchers helped the rover make several wheel adjustments to get solid footing before conducting scientific analysis of the rock outcrop. The rock turned out to be similar in appearance and composition to a rock target called "Jibsheet" PIA07979 that the rover had studied several months earlier and hundreds of meters away.
To the west are the slopes of the "Columbia Hills," so named for the astronauts of the Space Shuttle Columbia. Beyond the hills are the flat plains and rim of Gusev Crater.
Spirit took this 360-degree panorama of images with its navigation camera on the 627th Martian day, or sol, (Oct. 7, 2005) of its exploration of Gusev Crater on Mars. This view is presented in a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.
Voir l'image PIA03057: Looking Back at Spirit's Trail to the Summit sur le site de la NASA.PIA05482: Ripples in Rocks Point to Water
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows the rock nicknamed "Last Chance," which lies within the outcrop near the rover's landing site at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The image provides evidence for a geologic feature known as ripple cross-stratification. At the base of the rock, layers can be seen dipping downward to the right. The bedding that contains these dipping layers is only one to two centimeters (0.4 to 0.8 inches) thick. In the upper right corner of the rock, layers also dip to the right, but exhibit a weak "concave-up" geometry. These two features -- the thin, cross-stratified bedding combined with the possible concave geometry -- suggest small ripples with sinuous crest lines. Although wind can produce ripples, they rarely have sinuous crest lines and never form steep, dipping layers at this small scale. The most probable explanation for these ripples is that they were formed in the presence of moving water.
Crossbedding Evidence for Underwater Origin
Interpretations of cross-lamination patterns presented as clues to this martian rock's origin under flowing water are marked on images taken by the panoramic camera and microscopic imager on NASA's Opportunity.
Figure 1Figure 2
The red arrows (Figure 1) point to features suggesting cross-lamination within the rock called "Last Chance" taken at a distance of 4.5 meters (15 feet) during Opportunity's 17th sol (February 10, 2004). The inferred sets of fine layers at angles to each other (cross-laminae) are up to 1.4 centimeters (half an inch) thick. For scale, the distance between two vertical cracks in the rock is about 7 centimeters (2.8 inches). The feature indicated by the middle red arrow suggests a pattern called trough cross-lamination, likely produced when flowing water shaped sinuous ripples in underwater sediment and pushed the ripples to migrate in one direction. The direction of the ancient flow would have been either toward or away from the line of sight from this perspective. The lower and upper red arrows point to cross-lamina sets that are consistent with underwater ripples in the sediment having moved in water that was flowing left to right from this perspective.
The yellow arrows (Figure 2) indicate places in the panoramic camera view that correlate with places in the microscope's view of the same rock.
Figure 3
The microscopic view (Figure 3) is a mosaic of some of the 152 microscopic imager frames of "Last Chance" that Opportunity took on sols 39 and 40 (March 3 and 4, 2004).
Figure 4
Figure 4 shows cross-lamination expressed by lines that trend downward from left to right, traced with black lines in the interpretive overlay. These cross-lamination lines are consistent with dipping planes that would have formed surfaces on the down-current side of migrating ripples. Interpretive blue lines indicate boundaries between possible sets of cross-laminae.
Voir l'image PIA05482: Ripples in Rocks Point to Water sur le site de la NASA.PIA05325: Taking a Deeper Look
This image taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the crater floor at Meridiani Planum, Mars, after the rover dug a trench on sol 23 (February 16, 2004). Scientists used the microscopic imager, an instrument located on the rover's instrument deployment device, or "arm," to take a picture of the small patch of soil in the center of the trench wall. Here, that microscopic image has been overlaid to show where that patch of soil, which measures approximately 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across, is located.
Voir l'image PIA05325: Taking a Deeper Look sur le site de la NASA.PIA05116: The Mystery Soil
Click for larger view
This high-resolution image from the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the region containing the patch of soil scientists examined at Gusev Crater just after Spirit rolled off the Columbia Memorial Station. Scientists examined this patch on the 13th and 15th martian days, or sols, of Spirit's journey. Using nearly all the science instruments located on the rover's instrument deployment device or "arm," scientists yielded some puzzling results including the detection of a mineral called olivine and the appearance that the soil is stronger and more cohesive than they expected. Like detectives searching for clues, the science team will continue to peruse the landscape for explanations of their findings.
Data taken from the camera's red, green and blue filters were combined to create this approximate true color picture, acquired on the 12th martian day, or sol, of Spirit's journey.
The yellow box (see inset above) in this high-resolution image from the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit outlines the patch of soil scientists examined at Gusev Crater just after Spirit rolled off the Columbia Memorial Station.
Voir l'image PIA05116: The Mystery Soil sur le site de la NASA.PIA05505: You Dirty Rat!
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows the rover's rock abrasion tool before and after it ground into a rock at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The red dust coating on the instrument is thought to be a form of the mineral hematite. The image on the left was taken on the 29th martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission, and the image on the right on the 31st sol.
Voir l'image PIA05505: You Dirty Rat! sur le site de la NASA.PIA05164: An Opportunity to Rise
This image shows the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's wheels in their stowed configuration. As of 9:00 a.m. January 28, 2004, the rover had deployed its wheels and completed the first half of the stand-up process. This image was taken at Opportunity's landing site, Meridiani Planum, by the hazard-identification camera.
Voir l'image PIA05164: An Opportunity to Rise sur le site de la NASA.PIA05273: "Berries" on the Ground
This mosaic image shows an extreme close-up of round, blueberry-shaped formations in the martian soil near a part of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum called Stone Mountain. Scientists are studying these curious formations for clues about the area's past environmental conditions. The image, one of the highest resolution images ever taken by the microscopic imager, an instrument located on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's instrument deployment device or "arm."
Voir l'image PIA05273: "Berries" on the Ground sur le site de la NASA.PIA05208: Mars Under the Microscope (color)
This magnified look at the martian soil near the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's landing site, Meridiani Planum, shows coarse grains sprinkled over a fine layer of sand. The image was captured by the rover's microscopic imager on the 10th day, or sol, of its mission and roughly approximates the color a human eye would see. Scientists are intrigued by the spherical rocks, which can be formed by a variety of geologic processes, including cooling of molten lava droplets and accretion of concentric layers of material around a particle or "seed."
The examined patch of soil is 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across. The circular grain in the lower left corner is approximately 3 millimeters (.12 inches) across, or about the size of a sunflower seed.
This color composite was obtained by merging images acquired with the orange-tinted dust cover in both its open and closed positions. The blue tint at the lower right corner is a tag used by scientists to indicate that the dust cover is closed.
Voir l'image PIA05208: Mars Under the Microscope (color) sur le site de la NASA.PIA05096: Spirit Reaches for Closer Look
This image taken by the front hazard-identification camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, shows the rover's robotic arm, or instrument deployment device. The arm was deployed from its stowed position beneath the "front porch" of the rover body early Friday morning. This is the first use of the arm to deploy the microscopic imager, one of four geological instruments located on the arm. The instrument will help scientists analyze and understand martian rocks and soils by taking very high resolution, close-up images.
Voir l'image PIA05096: Spirit Reaches for Closer Look sur le site de la NASA.PIA05502: Rock Dusting Leaves "Mickey Mouse" Mark
This image taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rock dubbed "Humphrey" and the circular areas on the rock that were wiped off by the rover. The rover used a brush on its rock abrasion tool to clean these spots before examining them with its miniature thermal emission spectrometer. Later, the rover drilled into the rock with its rock abrasion tool, exposing fresh rock underneath.
Voir l'image PIA05502: Rock Dusting Leaves "Mickey Mouse" Mark sur le site de la NASA.PIA05163: A Geologist's Treasure Trove
Click on the image for annotated version of
A Geologist's Treasure Trove
Click on the image for In the Far East (QTVR)
This high-resolution image captured by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera highlights the puzzling rock outcropping that scientists are eagerly planning to investigate. Presently, Opportunity is on its lander facing northeast; the outcropping lies to the northwest. These layered rocks measure only 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall and are thought to be either volcanic ash deposits or sediments carried by water or wind. Data from the panoramic camera's near-infrared, blue and green filters were combined to create this approximate, true-color image.
The Outcrop in a Nutshell
Figure 1 highlights various rock targets within the outcrop lining the inner edge of the small crater where the rover landed. Opportunity recently finished examining the rock dubbed "Last Chance," then rolled over to "Wave Ripple," a section of rock in the region nicknamed "The Dells." Tomorrow, March 6, 2004, Sol 41, the rover will take a series of "touch-and-go" microscopic images at "Wave Ripple," before heading to another rock region with targets named "Slick Rock" and "Berry Bowl."
Voir l'image PIA05163: A Geologist's Treasure Trove sur le site de la NASA.PIA05219: Dirty Adirondack
This image taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rock dubbed Adirondack before the rover wiped off a portion of the rock's dust coating with a stainless steel brush located on its rock abrasion tool. Spirit cleaned off the rock in preparation for grinding into it to expose fresh rock underneath.
Voir l'image PIA05219: Dirty Adirondack sur le site de la NASA.PIA03576: Windblown Ripple 'Scylla'
Three-image CompositeNavigation Camera ImageFalse Color Image
These images were acquired by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity using its panoramic camera on sol 644 (Nov. 15, 2005; upper two images) and its navigation camera on sol 645 (Nov. 16, 2005; lower image). The view looks towards the east, covering a large wind-blown ripple called "Scylla" other nearby ripples and patches of brighter rock strewn with dark cobbles. Panoramic camera bands L4 (601-nanometer wavelength), L5 (535 nanometers), and L6 (482 nanometers) correspond to red, green, and blue bands in the false-color image shown in the upper left. The blue-tinted colors associated with the scours and ripple crests are probably due to the presence of basaltic sands mixed with hematite-rich spherules. Color patterns on the larger ripple flanks are caused by different amounts of reddish dust. The larger ripple flanks have an intricate mixture of erosional scours and secondary ripples extending downward from the main ripple crests, suggesting that these ripples have most recently encountered a period of wind erosion and transport of their outer layers. For comparison, the same panoramic camera image is shown here, but in this case rendered as an approximately true-color composite.
Voir l'image PIA03576: Windblown Ripple 'Scylla' sur le site de la NASA.PIA05265: Comparison of a Computer Graphic Model of the Opportunity Lander and Rover with MOC Orbital Image
| | PIA05265: Comparison of a Computer Graphic Model of the Opportunity Lander and Rover with MOC Orbital Image
PIA05513.jpg = PIA05513: "Hole" Lotta Grindin' Going On
The red marks in this image, taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera, indicate holes made by the rover's rock abrasion tool, located on its instrument deployment device, or "arm." The lower hole, located on a target called "McKittrick," was made on the 30th martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's journey. The upper hole, located on a target called "Guadalupe" was made on sol 34 of the rover's mission. The mosaic image was taken using a blue filter at the "El Capitan" region of the Meridiani Planum, Mars, rock outcrop. The image, shown in a vertical-perspective map projection, consists of images acquired on sols 27, 29 and 30 of the rover's mission.
Voir l'image PIA05513: "Hole" Lotta Grindin' Going On sur le site de la NASA.PIA05514: Opportunity's Heatshield on the Horizon
Click on the image for Opportunity's Heatshield on the Horizon (QTVR)
This image mosaic from the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the distant horizon from Opportunity's position inside a small crater at Meridiani Planum, Mars. To the left is a large crater about 700 meters (2,296 feet) away from the landing site and approximately 200 meters (656 feet) in diameter. In the center, Opportunity's heatshield and its impact mark can be seen at a distance of approximately 875 meters (one-half mile) from the landing site. To the right, a string of bounce marks left by the rover's airbags is visible. Near the mark just outside the landing site crater's rim is the largest rock in the area. This rock is about 40 centimeters (16 inches) across and 50 meters (164 feet) from the rover's position. The image is an enhanced color composite acquired on the 35th and 36th martian days, or sols, of Opportunity's journey, using three different wavelength filters.
Voir l'image PIA05514: Opportunity's Heatshield on the Horizon sur le site de la NASA.PIA05175: Adirondack Under the Microscope
This image was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit front hazard-identification camera after the rover's first post-egress drive on Mars Sunday, Jan. 15, 2004. Engineers drove the rover approximately 3 meters (10 feet) from the Columbia Memorial Station toward the first rock target, seen in the foreground. The football-sized rock was dubbed Adirondack because of its mountain-shaped appearance. Scientists have begun using the microscopic imager instrument at the end of the rover's robotic arm to examine the rock and understand how it formed.
Voir l'image PIA05175: Adirondack Under the Microscope sur le site de la NASA.PIA05080: Ready to Roll-2
| | PIA05080: Ready to Roll-2
PIA05109.jpg = PIA05109: Spirit Takes a Turn for Adirondack
This rear hazard-identification camera image looks back at the circular tracks made in the martian soil when the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit drove about 3 meters (10 feet) toward the mountain-shaped rock called Adirondack, Spirit's first rock target. Spirit made a series of arcing turns totaling approximately 1 meter (3 feet). It then turned in place and made a series of short, straightforward movements totaling approximately 2 meters (6.5 feet). The drive took about 30 minutes to complete, including time stopped to take images. The two rocks in the upper left corner of the image are called "Sashimi" and "Sushi." In the upper right corner is a portion of the lander, now known as the Columbia Memorial Station.
Voir l'image PIA05109: Spirit Takes a Turn for Adirondack sur le site de la NASA.PIA05442: Opportunity at El Capitan
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity casts a shadow over the El Capitan area that the rover is examining with tools on its robotic arm. Opportunity took this image with its front hazard-avoidance camera on Feb. 23, 2004, during the rover's 29th martian day, or sol. Opportunity used its rock abrasion tool to grind a small hole into Opportunity Ledge later on sol 29 to prepare for using the other tools on its arm to analyze the freshly exposed rock during subsequent sols.
Voir l'image PIA05442: Opportunity at El Capitan sur le site de la NASA.PIA05493: Vugs Provide Clues to Martian Past
This image, taken by the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, illustrates the shapes of the vugs, or small cavities, located on the region dubbed "El Capitan." The region is part of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars, which the rover is currently examining.
The image provides insight into the nature of the rock matrix -- the rock material surrounding the vugs. Several vugs have disk-like shapes with wide midpoints and tapered ends. This feature is consistent with sulfate minerals that crystallize within a rock matrix, either pushing the matrix grains aside or replacing them. These crystals are then either dissolved in water or eroded by wind activity to produce vugs.
The rock matrix here exhibits a granular texture, delicately enhanced through wind abrasion. The primary sediment particles making up this granular layer are relatively uniform in size, ranging up to 1 millimeter (.04 inches). Note that some of these grains are well rounded, which could result from transport of rock fragments in air or water, or precipitation of mineral grains in water.
Voir l'image PIA05493: Vugs Provide Clues to Martian Past sur le site de la NASA.PIA03275: Still Shining After All This Time (Polar)
This bird's-eye view combines a self-portrait of the spacecraft deck and a panoramic mosaic of the Martian surface as viewed by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. The rover's solar panels are still gleaming in the sunlight, having acquired only a thin veneer of dust two years after the rover landed and commenced exploring the red planet. Spirit captured this 360-degree panorama on the summit of "Husband Hill" inside Mars' Gusev Crater. During the period from Spirit's Martian days, or sols, 583 to 586 (Aug. 24 to 27, 2005), the rover's panoramic camera acquired the hundreds of individual frames for this largest panorama ever photographed by Spirit.
This image is an approximately true-color rendering using the camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 480-nanometer filters for the Martian surface, and the 600-nanometer, 530-nanometer, and 480-nanometer filters for the rover deck. This polar projection is a compromise between a cylindrical projection ( http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20051205a.html; http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03610), which provides the best view of the terrain, and a vertical projection, which provides the best view of the deck but distorts the terrain far from the rover. The view is presented with geometric seam correction.
Voir l'image PIA03275: Still Shining After All This Time (Polar) sur le site de la NASA.PIA03614: 'Algonquin' Outcrop on Spirit's Sol 680
| | PIA03614: 'Algonquin' Outcrop on Spirit's Sol 680
PIA05058.jpg = PIA05058: Hills Over Yonder
Click on the image for Hills Over Yonder (QTVR)
The arrows in this 360-degree panoramic view of the martian surface identify hills and craters on the martian horizon that scientists can easily find with orbiters Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey. The image was taken on Mars by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit.
Voir l'image PIA05058: Hills Over Yonder sur le site de la NASA.PIA03613: Meteor Search by Spirit, Sol 643
Annotated Meteor Search by Spirit, Sol 643
The panoramic cameras on NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers are about as sensitive as the human eye at night. The cameras can see the same bright stars that we can see from Earth, and the same patterns of constellations dot the night sky. Scientists on the rover team have been taking images of some of these bright stars as part of several different projects. One project is designed to try to capture "shooting stars," or meteors, in the Martian night sky. "Meteoroids" are small pieces of comets and asteroids that travel through space and eventually run into a planet. On Earth, we can sometimes see meteoroids become brilliant, long "meteors" streaking across the night sky as they burn up from the friction in our atmosphere. Some of these meteors survive their fiery flight and land on the surface (or in the ocean) where, if found, they are called "meteorites." The same thing happens in the Martian atmosphere, and Spirit even accidentally discovered a meteor while attempting to obtain images of Earth in the pre-dawn sky back in March, 2004 (see http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20040311a.html, and Selsis et al. (2005) Nature, vol 435, p. 581). On Earth, some meteors come in "storms" or "showers" at predictable times of the year, like the famous Perseid meteor shower in August or the Leonid meteor shower in November. These "storms" happen when Earth passes through the same parts of space where comets sometimes pass. The meteors we see at these times are from leftover debris that was shed off of these comets.
The same kind of thing is predicted for Mars, as well. Inspired by calculations about Martian meteor storms by meteor scientists from the University of Western Ontario in Canada and the Centre de Recherche en Astrophysique de Lyon in France, and also aided by other meteor research colleagues from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, scientists on the rover team planned some observations to try to detect predicted meteor storms in October and November, 2005. The views shown here are a composite of nine 60-second exposures taken with the panoramic camera on Spirit during night hours of sol 643 (Oct. 25, 2005), during a week when Mars was predicted to pass through a meteor stream associated with comet P/2001R1 LONEOS. Many stars can be seen in the images, appearing as curved "dash-dot" streaks. The star trails are curved because Mars is rotating while the camera takes the images. The dash-dot pattern is an artifact of taking an image for 60 seconds, then pausing about 10 seconds while the image is processed and stored by the rover's computer, then taking another image for 60 seconds, etc., for a total of about 10 minutes worth of "staring" at the night sky. Many stars from the southern constellations Octans and Pavonis can be seen in the images. The brightest ones in this view would be easily visible to the naked eye, but the faintest ones are slightly dimmer than the human eye can detect.
In addition to the star trails, there are several smaller linear streaks, dots and splotches that are the trails left by cosmic rays hitting the camera detectors. Cosmic rays are high-energy particles that are created in the Sun and in other stars throughout our galaxy and travel through space in all directions. Some of them strike Earth or other planets, and ones that strike a digital camera detector can leave little tracks or splotches like those seen in these images. Because they come from all directions, some strike the detector face-on, and others strike at glancing angles. Some even skip across the detector like flat rocks skipped across a pond. These are very common phenomena to astronomers used to working with sensitive digital cameras like those in the Mars rovers, the Hubble Space Telescope, or other space probes, and while they can be a nuisance when taking pictures, they generally do not cause any lasting damage to the cameras. One streak in the image, crossing at an angle very different from the direction of the stars' "motion," might be a meteor trail or could be the mark of another cosmic ray.
While hunting for meteors on Mars is fun, ultimately the team wants to use the images and results for scientific purposes. These include helping to validate the models and predictions for interplanetary meteor storms, providing information on the rate of impacts of small meteoroids with Mars for comparison with rates for the Earth and Moon, assessing the rate and intensity of cosmic ray impact events in the Martian environment, and looking at whether some bright stars are being dimmed occasionally by water ice or dust clouds occurring at night during different Martian seasons.
Voir l'image PIA03613: Meteor Search by Spirit, Sol 643 sur le site de la NASA.PIA05100: Ready to Rock and Roll
This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit hazard-identification camera shows the rover's perspective just before its first post-egress drive on Mars. On Sunday, the 15th martian day, or sol, of Spirit's journey, engineers drove Spirit approximately 3 meters (10 feet)toward its first rock target, a football-sized, mountain-shaped rock called Adirondack (not pictured). In the foreground of this image are "Sashimi" and "Sushi" - two rocks that scientists considered investigating first. Ultimately, these rocks were not chosen because their rough and dusty surfaces are ill-suited for grinding.
Voir l'image PIA05100: Ready to Rock and Roll sur le site de la NASA.PIA05445: Opportunity Slices into the Surface of Mars
The semi-circular depression on the right side of this microscopic image resulted from Opportunity's first grinding of a rock on Mars. The rock abrasion tool sliced into the surface about 4 millimeters (0.16 inches) deep and ground off a patch 45.5 millimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter on a rock called "McKittrick" during Opportunity's 30th sol on Mars, Feb. 23, 2004. The hole exposed fresh interior material of the rock for close inspection by the rover's microscopic imager and two spectrometers on the robotic arm.
Scientists and engineers got a nice bonus in that two spherical features nicknamed "blueberries" were unexpectedly cut in half within this rock. Team members had noticed the blueberries in earlier pictures on other rocks in the outcrop and had wanted to attempt to cut one in half sometime during the future of the mission. As luck would have it, two blueberries were hidden in the depths of "McKittrick." The one blueberry shown in the bottom right of this picture appears to have been scratched by the grinding wheel, which is further explained in
PIA05446.
The two rectangular boxes in the lower left and upper middle parts of this image are "drop outs," where the data packets inadvertently did not make it back to Earth during the initial communications relay via the Deep Space Network antennas. The missing data packets should be resent to Earth within the next few days. Just above each of the black "drop out" rectangles is another rectangular area filled with a cluster of smaller rectangles in different shades of gray, which are image compression artifacts.
For more information about the "blueberries," please see JPL's Press Release dated
February 9, 2004.For more microscopic images of the results from Opportunity's first use of the rock abrasion tool, please see the
raw images for sol 30.The rock abrasion tools on both Mars Exploration Rovers were supplied by Honeybee Robotics, New York, N.Y.
Voir l'image PIA05445: Opportunity Slices into the Surface of Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA05494: A View of Opportunity's Dance Moves
This rear hazard-avoidance camera image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on the 37th martian day, or sol, of its mission (March 2, 2004) shows the tracks left by the rover during its latest "dance," or series of maneuvers, around the rock outcrop near its landing site. Note the view of the lander to the far left and the light-colored outcrop below the horizon. The rear solar panels, located above the rear hazard-avoidance cameras, are captured in the uppermost part of the image.
Since driving off the lander, Opportunity has traveled along the entire outcrop, trenched, and completed a U-turn to revisit scientifically rich spots. Two of these spots are the rock regions dubbed "El Capitan" and "Last Chance." Scientists have used the instruments on the rover's arm to conclude that this area of Mars was once soaked in water for extended amounts of time, possibly providing an environment favorable for life.
Voir l'image PIA05494: A View of Opportunity's Dance Moves sur le site de la NASA.PIA05333: Wiggling Its Way to Discovery
This image shows the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's view from its new location inside the shallow depression dubbed "Laguna Hollow." To get a better look at the soil making up the hollow, Spirit drove forward a bit, wiggled its wheels, then turned and backed up. The result - a scrape on the floor and a clod of dirt stuck on one of Spirit's wheels - told scientists that the soil is sticky and reminiscent of that observed at the airbag drag mark nicknamed "Magic Carpet." Spirit will further investigate this disturbed patch of soil with its robotic arm beginning today (Feb. 19, 2004). It will also dig a trench at "Laguna Hollow" with one of its wheels. This fish-eye image was taken by the rover's hazard-avoidance camera.
Voir l'image PIA05333: Wiggling Its Way to Discovery sur le site de la NASA.PIA05135: View from above Landing Site
The image on the left is a computer-generated model of Spirit's lander at Gusev Crater as engineers and scientists would have expected to see it from a perfect overhead view. The background is a reprojected image taken by the Spirit panoramic camera on Sol 19 (Jan. 21-22, 2004). The picture on the right is an actual image of the lander on Mars taken Jan. 19, 2004, by the camera on board Mars Global Surveyor. The tops of both images face north.
Voir l'image PIA05135: View from above Landing Site sur le site de la NASA.PIA05306: Peeling Back the Layers of Mars
This is a 3-D model of the trench excavated by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on the 23rd day, or sol, of its mission. An oblique view of the trench from a bit above and to the right of the rover's right wheel is shown. The model was generated from images acquired by the rover's front hazard-avoidance cameras.
Voir l'image PIA05306: Peeling Back the Layers of Mars sur le site de la NASA.PIA05149: A Curious Landscape
This "postcard" from the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the view of the martian landscape southwest of the rover. The image was taken in the late martian afternoon at Meridiani Planum on Mars, where Opportunity landed at approximately 9:05 p.m. PST on Saturday, Jan. 24.
Voir l'image PIA05149: A Curious Landscape sur le site de la NASA.PIA05477: Over Here, Over There
This partial panoramic image from the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the lander in the center of the crater at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The image, taken on sol 34 of Opportunity's journey, was not completely downlinked as of sol 35 of the rover's mission. Note the view of the plains outside the crater, the rover tracks in the center and right of the image, and the airbag bounce marks behind the lander.
Voir l'image PIA05477: Over Here, Over There sur le site de la NASA.PIA05288: Ground Inspection
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit microscopic imager, an instrument located on the rover's instrument deployment device, or arm, shows a patch of soil at the target nicknamed "Squiggle Dunes." The rover imaged this area, which measures 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across, just before it drove 24.4 meters (80.1 feet) on the 39th sol of its journey.
Voir l'image PIA05288: Ground Inspection sur le site de la NASA.PIA03621: Opportunity's 'Olympia' Panorama
Click on the image for Opportunity's 'Olympia' Panorama (QTVR)
This view from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows an outcrop called "Olympia" along the northwestern margin of "Erebus" crater. The view spans about 120 degrees from side to side, generally looking southward. The outcrop exposes a broad expanse of sulfate-rich sedimentary rocks. The rocks were formed predominantly from windblown sediments, but some also formed in environmental conditions from damp to under shallow surface water. After taking the images that were combined into this view, Opportunity drove along along a path between sand dunes to the upper left side of the image, where a cliff in the background can be seen. This is a cliff is known as the "Mogollon Rim." Researchers expect it to expose more than 1 meter (3 feet) of new strata. These strata may represent the highest level observed yet by Opportunity. The image is an approximately true-color rendering generated using the panoramic camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters.
Voir l'image PIA03621: Opportunity's 'Olympia' Panorama sur le site de la NASA.PIA03240: Opportunity Inside 'Endurance Crater' (Simulated)
This synthetic image of NASA's Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover inside Endurance Crater was produced using "Virtual Presence in Space" technology. Developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., this technology combines visualization and image-processing tools with Hollywood-style special effects. The image was created using a photorealistic model of the rover and a false-color mosaic taken on sol 134 (June 9, 2004) by Opportunity's panoramic camera with the 750-, 530- and 430-nanometer filters. See PIA06317. The size of the rover in the image is approximately correct and was based on the size of other features in the image.
Because this synthesis provides viewers with a sense of their own "virtual presence" (as if they were there themselves), such views can be useful to mission teams by enhancing perspective and a sense of scale.
Voir l'image PIA03240: Opportunity Inside 'Endurance Crater' (Simulated) sur le site de la NASA.PIA05479: Focus on Guadalupe
This mosaic image, taken by the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, shows a portion of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars, dubbed "Guadalupe." Several images, each showing a different part of "Guadalupe" in good focus, were merged to produce this view.
Voir l'image PIA05479: Focus on Guadalupe sur le site de la NASA.PIA03232: Special-Effects Spirit Silhouetted on "Jibsheet"
This synthetic image of the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover on top of a rock called "Jibsheet" was produced using "Virtual Presence in Space" technology. Developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., this technology combines visualization and image-processing tools with Hollywood-style special effects. The image was created using a photorealistic model of the rover and a false-color mosaic. The size of the rover in the image is approximately correct and was based on the size of the rover tracks in the mosaic. The mosaic was assembled from frames taken by the panoramic camera on the rover's 489th Martian day, or sol (May 19, 2005); see PIA07997.
Because this synthesis provides viewers with a sense of their own "virtual presence" (as if they were there themselves), such views can be useful to mission teams in planning exploration by enhancing perspective and a sense of scale.
Voir l'image PIA03232: Special-Effects Spirit Silhouetted on "Jibsheet" sur le site de la NASA.PIA05140: Meridiani Planum Soil
| | PIA05140: Meridiani Planum Soil
PIA05521.jpg = PIA05521: Focus on "Flatrock"
This panoramic image of the 3.1 millimeter-deep (just over one-tenth of an inch) hole ground by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's rock abrasion tool in the target called "Mojo 2" on "Flatrock" was taken on the 44th martian day, or sol, of the mission. It will help complete the chemical analysis of the lowest layer of the outcrop in the crater where the rover now resides. After a brief brushing on sol 45, the science team plans to place Opportunity's spectrometers on the hole to collect data vital to their understanding of this impressive outcrop.
Scientists believe that the spherule or "blueberry" in the upper right area of the circular impression was sliced in half by the rock abrasion tool. "Blueberries" are a known obstruction to the grinding tool that cause it to terminate its sequence. Despite the stall, the rock abrasion tool abraded "Flatrock" for one hour and five minutes, producing a cavity ripe for investigation.
Voir l'image PIA05521: Focus on "Flatrock" sur le site de la NASA.PIA04152: Dust Devils at Gusev, Sol 525
This movie clip shows several dust devils moving across the plain inside Mars' Gusev Crater. It consists of frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the rover's 525th martian day, or sol (June 25, 2005).
Spirit began seeing dust devil activity around the beginning of Mars' spring season. Activity increased as spring continued, but fell off again for about two weeks during a dust storm. As the dust storm faded away, dust devil activity came back. In the mid-afternoons as the summer solstice approached, dust devils were a very common occurrence on the floor of Gusev crater. The early-spring dust devils tended to move southwest-to-northeast, across the dust devil streaks in Gusev seen from orbit. Increasingly as the season progresses, the dust devils are seen moving northwest-to-southeast, in the same direction as the streaks. Scientists are watching for the big dust devils that leave those streaks. In this clip, contrast has been enhanced for anything in the images that changes from frame to frame, that is, for the dust moved by wind. The total time elapsed during the taking of these frames was 12 minutes, 25 seconds.
Voir l'image PIA04152: Dust Devils at Gusev, Sol 525 sur le site de la NASA.PIA04183: Postcard Above Tennessee Valley
This "postcard" or mini-panorama was taken by NASA's Spirit rover on martian day, or sol, 582 (August 23, 2005), just as the rover finally completed its intrepid climb up Husband Hill. The summit appears to be a windswept plateau of scattered rocks, little sand dunes and small exposures of outcrop. The breathtaking view here is toward the north, looking down into the drifts and outcrops of the "Tennessee Valley," a region that Spirit was not able to visit during its climb to the top of the hill.
The approximate true-color postcard spans about 90 degrees and consists of images obtained by the rover's panoramic camera during 18 individual pointings. At each pointing, the rover used three of its panoramic filters (600, 530 and 480 nanometers).
Voir l'image PIA04183: Postcard Above Tennessee Valley sur le site de la NASA.PIA02690: 'Gibson' Panorama by Spirit at 'Home Plate'
Click on the image for 'Gibson' Panorama by Spirit at 'Home Plate' (QTVR)
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired this high-resolution view of intricately layered exposures of rock while parked on the northwest edge of the bright, semi-circular feature known as "Home Plate." The rover was perched at a 27-degree upward tilt while creating the panorama, resulting in the "U" shape of the mosaic. In reality, the features along the 1-meter to 2-meter (1-foot to 6.5-foot) vertical exposure of the rim of Home Plate in this vicinity are relatively level. Rocks near the rover in this view, known as the "Gibson" panorama, include "Barnhill," "Rogan," and "Mackey."
Spirit acquired 246 separate images of this scene using 6 different filters on the panoramic camera (Pancam) during the rover's Martian days, or sols, 748 through 751 (Feb. 9 through Feb. 12, 2006). The field of view covers 160 degrees of terrain around the rover. This image is an approximately true-color rendering using Pancam's 753-nanometer, 535-namometer, and 432-nanometer filters. Image-to-image seams have been eliminated from the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see.
Voir l'image PIA02690: 'Gibson' Panorama by Spirit at 'Home Plate' sur le site de la NASA.PIA04155: Gusev Dust Devil, Sol 543
One dust devil scoots across the center of the view in this movie clip showing a few dust devils inside Mars' Gusev Crater. The clip consists of frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the rover's 543rd martian day, or sol (July 13, 2005).
Spirit began seeing dust devil activity around the beginning of Mars' spring season. Activity increased as spring continued, but fell off again for about two weeks during a dust storm. As the dust storm faded away, dust devil activity came back. In the mid-afternoons as the summer solstice approached, dust devils were a very common occurrence on the floor of Gusev crater. The early-spring dust devils tended to move southwest-to-northeast, across the dust devil streaks in Gusev seen from orbit. Increasingly as the season progresses, the dust devils are seen moving northwest-to-southeast, in the same direction as the streaks. Scientists are watching for the big dust devils that leave those streaks.
In this clip, contrast has been enhanced for anything in the images that changes from frame to frame, that is, for the dust moved by wind. The total time elapsed during the taking of these frames was 8 minutes, 21 seconds.
Voir l'image PIA04155: Gusev Dust Devil, Sol 543 sur le site de la NASA.PIA04184: Spirit's Spectacular View from the Summit
Quick Time Movie for PIA04184
View from the Summit Animation
This approximate true-color panorama was taken by NASA's Spirit rover after it successfully trekked to the top of "Husband Hill," in the "Columbia Hills" of Gusev Crater. The "little rover that could" spent the last 14 months climbing the hills in both the forward and reverse directions to reduce wear on its wheels.
This breathtaking view from the summit reveals previously hidden southern terrain called "Inner Basin"(center), where team members hope to direct Spirit in the future. The rover left tracks to the left point toward the west, the direction Spirit arrived from. The peaks of "McCool Hill" and "Ramon Hill," both in the "Columbia Hills," can be seen just to the left and behind Inner Basin.
The mosaic is made up of images taken by the rover's panoramic camera over a period of three days (sols 583 to 585, or August 24 to 26, 2005). It spans about 240 degrees in azimuth, and was acquired using 51 different camera pointings and three camera filters (750, 530 and 480 nanometers). Image-to-image seams have been eliminated from the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate what a person standing on Mars would see.
Voir l'image PIA04184: Spirit's Spectacular View from the Summit sur le site de la NASA.PIA04997: Wind-polished rocks
| | PIA04997: Wind-polished rocks
PIA05147.jpg = PIA05147: Crater Down Below-2
Scientists believe the circular feature in this image to be a crater near the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The rover landed at Meridiani Planum on Mars at approximately 9:05 p.m. PST on Saturday, Jan. 24. This image was taken at an altitude of 1,690 meters (5,545 feet) by the descent image motion estimation system camera located on the bottom of the rover. The image spans approximately 1.4 kilometers (7/8 of a mile) across the surface of Mars.
Voir l'image PIA05147: Crater Down Below-2 sur le site de la NASA.PIA05250: Spirit Spies Wavy Bedforms
Spirit took this front hazard-avoidance camera image on sol 37 (Feb. 9, 2004) after completing the longest drive ever made by a rover on another planet - 21.2 meters (69.6 feet). The wavy feature called a bedform is created when material is transported and deposited by some process - in this case wind. The team is interested in the fact that the crests of this and most other bedforms they've observed through orbital data and rover images are all parallel to each other, indicating uniform wind direction.
Voir l'image PIA05250: Spirit Spies Wavy Bedforms sur le site de la NASA.PIA05196: X-ray Machine on Mars
This image taken at Meridiani Planum, Mars by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rover's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (circular device in center), located on its instrument deployment device, or "arm." The image was acquired on the ninth martian day or sol of the rover's mission.
Voir l'image PIA05196: X-ray Machine on Mars sur le site de la NASA. 
