This left eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 101 (April 15, 2004). It reveals Spirit's view just before a stopping-point dubbed "Missoula Crater." The rover is on its way to the "Columbia Hills."
See PIA05777 for 3-D view and PIA05779 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic.
A rock outcrop with a view of the surrounding landscape beckons NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 203 (July 29, 2004) of its journey of exploration on the red planet. This view is a mosaic of images taken by the rover's navigation camera at a position labeled as Site 80, near the top of the "West Spur" portion of the "Columbia Hills." Directly ahead are rock outcrops that scientists will examine for clues that might indicate the presence of water in the past. In the upper right-hand corner is the so-called "sea of basalt," consisting of lava flows that lapped onto the flanks of the hills. The view is toward the south. The field of view is approximately 170 degrees from right to left and is presented in a cylindrical projection with geometrical seam correction.
Click on the image for Looking Back at 'Eagle Crater' (QTVR)
This is the right-eye version of the first 360-degree view from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's new position outside "Eagle Crater," the small crater where the rover landed about two months ago. Scientists are busy analyzing Opportunity's new view of the plains of Meridiani Planum. The plentiful ripples are a clear indication that wind is the primary geologic process currently in effect on the plains. The rover's tracks can be seen leading away from Eagle Crater. At the far left are two depressions -- each about a meter (about 3.3 feet) across -- that feature bright spots in their centers. One possibility is that the bright material is similar in composition to the rocks in Eagle Crater's outcrop and the surrounding darker material is what's referred to as "lag deposit," or erosional remnants, which are much harder and more difficult to wear away. These twin dimples might be revealing pieces of a larger outcrop that lies beneath. The depression closest to Opportunity is whimsically referred to as "Homeplate" and the one behind it as "First Base." The rover's panoramic camera is set to take detailed images of the depressions today, on Opportunity's 58th sol. The backshell and parachute that helped protect the rover and deliver it safely to the surface of Mars are also visible near the horizon, at the left of the image. This image was taken by the rover's navigation camera.
This 180-degree view from the left navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is the first look inside "Endurance Crater." The view is a cylindrical-perspective projection constructed from four images. The crater is about 130 meters (about 430 feet) in diameter.
See PIA05860 for 3-D view and PIA05862 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This image taken by the hazard-avoidance camera on sol 137 (June 12, 2004) shows the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's rear view from its new position about 5 meters (16 feet) inside "Endurance Crater." The rover is currently investigating a flat rock dubbed "Tennessee," which scientists believe may be made up of the same evaporite-rich materials as those found in "Eagle Crater."
This microscopic imager mosaic taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rock dubbed "Diamond Jenness." It was taken on sol 177 (July 23, 2004) after the rover first ground into the rock with its rock abrasion tool, or "Rat." The rover later ground into the rock a second time. A sliced spherule, or "blueberry," is visible in the upper left corner of the hole.
Opportunity has bored nearly a dozen holes into the inner walls of "Endurance Crater." On sols 177 and 178 (July 23 and July 24, 2004), the rover worked double-duty on Diamond Jenness. Surface debris and the bumpy shape of the rock resulted in a shallow and irregular hole, only about 2 millimeters (0.08 inch) deep. The final depth was not enough to remove all the bumps and leave a neat hole with a smooth floor. This extremely shallow depression was then examined by the rover's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.
On Sol 178, Opportunity's "robotic rodent" dined on Diamond Jenness once again, grinding almost an additional 5 millimeters (about 0.2 inch). The rover then applied its Moessbauer spectrometer to the deepened hole. This double dose of Diamond Jenness enabled the science team to examine the rock at varying layers. Results from those grindings are currently being analyzed.
The image mosaic is about 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) across.
This false-color image shows the area within "Endurance Crater," currently being investigated by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The rover is inspecting a hole it drilled into a flat rock (center) dubbed "Tennessee," which scientists believe may be made up of the same evaporite-rich materials as those found in "Eagle Crater."
The overall geography inside Endurance is more complex than scientists anticipated, with at least three distinct bands of rock visible in front of the rover. Scientists hope to investigate the second and third layers of rock for more clues to Mars' history. This image was taken on sol 133 (June 8, 2004) with the rover's panoramic camera, using the 750-, 530- and 430-nanometer filters.
This image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a trench dug by the rover on its way toward the "Columbia Hills." Measurements taken of the soil contained in the trench by Spirit's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer showed the presence of sulfur and magnesium. Concentrations of those two elements varied in parallel at different locations in the trench, suggesting that they may be paired as a magnesium-sulfate salt. One possible explanation for these findings is that water percolated through underground material and dissolved out minerals, then as the water evaporated near the surface, it left concentrated salts behind.
This image from the microscopic imager instrument on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a feature called "String of Pearls" that resides within the area dubbed "Hanks Hollow." The "string" consists of a set of bright spots. These are the partially exposed interiors of rocks that were broken-up when Spirit's wheels roved across this surface. Scientists believe the rocks exposed in Hank's Hollow may have been generated or modified by water-rich fluids. The image was taken on sol 177 (July 2, 2004).
Click on the image for 'Columbia Hills' at Last! (QTVR)
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took the images that make up this 360-degree panorama with its navigation camera on sol 156 (June 11, 2004). The image highlights Spirit's arrival at the base of the "Columbia Hills." Since landing at Gusev Crater, Spirit has put more than 3.4 kilometers (2.1 miles) on its odometer. Much of this can be attributed to the long drives the rover undertook to reach these interesting landforms.
This false-color image mosaic shows the area inside "Endurance Crater" that the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has been examining. The rover is currently investigating the distinct layers of rock that make up this region. Each layer is defined by subtle color and texture variations and represents a separate chapter in Mars' history. The deeper the layer, the farther back in time the rocks were formed. Scientists are "reading" this history book by systematically studying each layer with the rover's scientific instruments. So far, data from the rover indicates that the top layers are sulfate-rich, like the rocks observed in "Eagle Crater." This image was taken on sol 134 (June 9, 2004) by Opportunity's panoramic camera with the 750-, 530- and 430-nanometer filters.
The rock abrasion tool on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit ground two holes in a relatively soft rock called "Wooly Patch" near the base of the "Columbia Hills" inside Gusev Crater on Mars. This false-color image from the panoramic camera was taken on sol 200 (July 25, 2004) and generated using the camera's 750-, 530-, and 430-nanometer filters. It highlights the material ground up by the rock abrasion tool, grayish-blue in appearance in this image. The color of the material excavated suggests the interior of the rock contains iron minerals that are less oxidized than the dust or possibly weathered coating on the exterior of the rock. Scientists speculate that this relatively soft rock (compared to others analyzed by Spirit) may have been modified by water. Small cracks in the surface outside the drill holes may be the result of interactions with water-rich fluids.
This cylindrical-projection mosaic was assembled from images taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 110 (April 24, 2004) at a region dubbed "site 35." Spirit is sitting approximately 33 meters (100 feet) away from the northeast rim of "Missoula" crater.
This cylindrical-projection mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 101 (April 15, 2004). It reveals Spirit's view just before a stopping-point dubbed "Missoula Crater." The rover is on its way to the "Columbia Hills."
This 360-degree view of the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the 147th martian day of the rover's mission inside Gusev Crater, on June 1, 2004, was assembled from images taken by Spirit's navigation camera. The rover's position is Site A60. The view is presented in a cylindrical projection with geometrical seam correction.
This left eye of a stereo pair of views in a cylindrical-perspective projection was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 124 (May 9, 2004). It reveals Spirit's view as it gets closer to the "Columbia Hills."
See PIA05901 for 3-D view and PIA05903 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
Elemental Trio Found in 'Clovis'
Figure 1 above shows that the interior of the rock dubbed "Clovis" contains higher concentrations of sulfur, bromine and chlorine than basaltic, or volcanic, rocks studied so far at Gusev Crater. The data were taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer after the rover dug into Clovis with its rock abrasion tool. The findings might indicate that this rock was chemically altered, and that fluids once flowed through the rock depositing these elements.
Voir l'image PIA06772: 'Clovis' in Color sur le site de la NASA.
This close-up image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit highlights the nodular nuggets that cover the rock dubbed "Pot of Gold." These nuggets appear to stand on the end of stalk-like features. The surface of the rock is dotted with fine-scale pits. Data from the rover's scientific instruments have shown that Pot of Gold contains the mineral hematite, which can be formed with or without water.
Scientists are planning further observations of this rock, which they hope will yield more insight into the hematite's origins as well as how the enigmatic nuggets formed.
This image was taken by Spirit's microscopic imager on sol 163 (June 18, 2004). The observed area is 3 centimeters by 3 centimeters (1.2 inches by 1.2 inches).
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a bizarre, lumpy rock dubbed "Wopmay" on the inner slopes of "Endurance Crater." Scientists say the rock's unusual texture is unlike any others observed so far at Meridiani Planum. Wopmay measures approximately 1 meter (3.3 feet) across. The image was taken by the rover's panoramic camera on sol 195 (Aug. 11, 2004). Opportunity will likely travel to this or a similar rock in coming sols for a closer look at the alien surface.
This cylindrical-projection mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 121 (May 6, 2004). Continuing its trek toward the "Columbia Hills," Spirit drove 96.8 meters (318 feet) -- half of which was performed in auto-navigation mode -- and broke its record for the longest distance traveled in one sol. That drive brought the mission total to 1,669 meters (1.04 miles), flipping the rover's odometer over the one-mile mark.
A basic tenet of sedimentology, the field of geology that studies sedimentary processes, is that the farther a piece of rock travels from its source, the smaller and rounder in shape it becomes as the materials suffer impacts with other grains during transport by wind or water. Grains that have not traveled as far are more angular and less rounded. A comparison of photographs taken by the microscopic imager on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit suggests that sand that has accumulated in drifts on the plains of Gusev Crater traveled farther from the source rock than similar sand grains in the hills inside Gusev. In a microscopic image taken on the plains of Gusev Crater early in the mission (PIA05288), sand deposits were made up of rounded grains. In contrast, this more recent microscopic image of a sand drift near the top of the "Columbia Hills" shows poorly sorted, more angular grains of sand, which suggests they were transported a relatively short distance from a local source.
This image is of grains in a sand drift informally named "Cliffhanger" because of its proximity to the edge of steep slopes that bound the summit region of "Husband Hill," highest of the Columbia Hills. Spirit took the image with its microscopic imager on the rover's 607th martian day, or sol (Sept. 9, 2005). The photo covers an area 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across. The scale of the image (31 microns or one one-thousandth of an inch per pixel) allows features as small as 0.1 millimeter (four one-thousandths of an inch) to be resolved.
This approximate true-color image mosaic from the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a trench dug by the rover in the vicinity of the "Anatolia" region. Two imprints from the rover's Moessbauer spectrometer instrument were left in the exposed soils. Detailed comparisons between soils exposed at the surface and those found at depth reveal that surface soils have higher levels of hematite while subsurface soils show fine particles derived from basalt. The trench is approximately 11 centimeters deep. This image was taken on sol 81 with the panoramic camera's 430-, 530- and 750-nanometer filters.
Click on the image for 'Santa Anita' Panorama (QTVR)
This color mosaic taken on May 21, 25 and 26, 2004, by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit was acquired from a position roughly three-fourths the way between "Bonneville Crater" and the base of the "Columbia Hills." The area is within a low thermal inertia unit (an area that heats up and cools off quickly) identified from orbit by the Mars Odyssey thermal emission imaging system instrument. The rover was roughly 600 meters (1,968 feet) from the base of the hills.
This mosaic, referred to as the "Santa Anita Panorama," is comprised of 64 pointings, acquired with six of the panoramic camera's color filters, including one designed specifically to allow comparisons between orbital and surface brightness data. A total of 384 images were acquired as part of this panorama. The mosaic is an approximate true-color rendering constructed from images using the camera's 750-, 530- and and 480-nanometer filters, and is presented at the full resolution of the camera.
April 14, 2004
Bringing Out the Color in 'Bounce'
This false-color composite of the rock dubbed "Bounce" shows the rock after the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity drilled into it with its rock abrasion tool.
The drilling of the 7-millimeter-deep (0.3-inch) hole generated a bright powder. The color in this image has been enhanced to show that these tailings are relatively blue when compared with the unaltered rock (to the human eye, the tailings would appear red).
This image was assembled from the infrared (750-nanometer),green (530-nanometer) and violet (430-nanometer) filters of the rover's panoramic camera. It was taken on sol 68.
In Figure 1, the graph shows light signatures, or spectra, taken from five different places on the rock dubbed "Bounce" at Meridiani Planum. The green and yellow spectra are from the bright rock powder and dark rock surface respectively. These spectra show a drop in reflectance near the one-micron wavelength mark, consistent with a less-oxidized, iron-bearing silicate such as olivine or pyroxene. These findings are not inconsistent with this rock being a basaltic rock. The relative brightness of the powder can be explained by particle sizes.
The red spectrum is from the bright dusty soil next to Bounce. The spectrum is dominated by the signature of oxidized "ferric" iron (Fe3+) like that seen in the classic martian dust. The teal spectrum is from the darker Meridiani soils. That spectrum is also dominated by ferric iron, though the reflectivity is lower probably because the grains are coarser in these soils compared to the dust.
The purple spectrum from the larger granules in the Meridiani soil show a fine-grained iron oxide (Fe3+) component. These spectra were taken by the rover's panoramic camera.
This image shows the rock dubbed "Bounce" near the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's landing site at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The two colored spots show where scientists took measurements of the rock with the rover's miniature thermal emission spectrometer. The area on the right is untouched rock and the area on the left is where the rover drilled a hole. This image was taken by the rover's panoramic camera.
This right eye of a stereo pair of views in a cylindrical-perspective projection was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 121 (May 6, 2004). Continuing its trek toward the "Columbia Hills," Spirit drove 96.8 meters (318 feet) -- half of which was performed in auto-navigation mode -- and broke its record for the longest distance traveled in one sol. That drive brought the mission total to 1,669 meters (1.04 miles), flipping the rover's odometer over the one-mile mark.
See PIA05883 for 3-D view and PIA05884 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This cylindrical-perspective projection was constructed from a sequence of three images taken by the left navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The images were acquired on sol 94 (April 29, 2004) of Opportunity's mission to Meridiani Planum. The camera acquired the images at approximately 12:40 local solar time, or around 9:15 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. The images were taken from the rover's new location about 20 meters (65 feet) away from the rim of Opportunity's next target, "Endurance Crater."
See PIA05853 for 3-D view and PIA05855 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
Click on the image for Rock on the Range (QTVR)
This mosaic of images from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity panoramic camera looks to the southeast from inside Eagle Crater. This was among the first peeks out into the plains, revealing the enigmatic dark feature dubbed "Bounce" rock, seen on the left side of the mosaic. This feature is right next to one of the large bounce marks that the airbag-packaged rover made as it was bouncing across the plains during landing. This enhanced color mosaic was made on sol 36 from the camera's the infrared (750 nanometer), green (530 nanometer), and violet (430 nanometer) filters.
This cylindrical-projection view was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 123 (May 8, 2004). Spirit is sitting at site 44. The rover is on the way to the "Columbia Hills," which can be seen on the horizon. To this point, Spirit has driven a total of 1,830 meters (1.14 miles). The hills are less than 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) away, and the rover might reach them by mid-June.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this right eye of a pair of stereo images, projected at a cylindrical perspective, with its navigation camera on sol 156 (June 11, 2004). The image highlights Spirit's arrival at the base of the Columbia Hills. Since landing at Gusev crater, Spirit has put more than 3.4 kilometers (2.1 miles) on its odometer. Much of this can be attributed to the long drives the rover had to undertake to reach these interesting landforms.
See PIA06280 for 3-D view and PIA06281 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
Click on the image for At the Edge of 'Anatolia' (QTVR)
This 360-degree image mosaic was constructed from a sequence of images taken by the navigation camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The mosaic was created from 10 images.
The images were acquired on the 72nd martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's mission to Meridiani Planum. The camera acquired the images at approximately 16:00 local solar time, or just before midnight Pacific Daylight Time on April 6, 2004.
The image was taken from the rover's current position along the edge of the large trough dubbed "Anatolia," located some 150 meters (492 feet) away from "Eagle Crater." Scientists will likely investigate the rocks contained here in coming sols. They are also interested in the area's soil, which -- as evident from the rover's shallow tracks -- appears stronger than that of Eagle Crater. The dark crater behind the trough can be seen from orbit.
Anatolia was named after the Anatolian fault system in Turkey.
Using its rock abrasion tool, otherwise known as "Rat," NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity dotted the slope of "Endurance Crater" with dimples that give scientists a glimpse into its layered geologic history. This image from the rover's navigation camera, taken on sol 169 (July 15, 2004), highlights the prolific work of the robotic "rodent." How many Rat holes can you identify? You will be able to check your answer against an image to be posted soon with all the holes identified.
This left eye in a stereo pair of views was assembled from three navigation camera frames that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity acquired on sol 109, May 15, 2004. It is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection. Opportunity is sitting along the rim of "Endurance Crater" in the Meridiani Planum region.
See PIA05965 for 3-D view and PIA05967 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
Click on the image for 'Bonneville Crater' Panorama (QTVR)
This 360-degree view from a position beside the crater informally named "Bonneville" was assembled from frames taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. Half of this panorama was first released on March 15, 2004. The entire mosaic, recently completed, reveals not only the crater rim and interior, but Spirit's tracks and a glimpse at part of the rover. The images were acquired on sol 68, March 12, 2004, just one day after Spirit reached this location.
The image is a false-color composite made from frames taken with the camera's L2 (750 nanometer), L5 (530 nanometer) and L6 (480 nanometer) filters.
This approximate true-color image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity show the hole drilled into the rock called "Pilbara," which is located in the small crater dubbed "Fram." Spirit drilled into this rock with its rock abrasion tool. The rock appears to be dotted with the same "blueberries," or spherules, found at "Eagle Crater." After analyzing the hole with the rover's scientific instruments, scientists concluded that Pilbara has a similar chemical make-up, and thus watery past, to rocks studied at Eagle Crater. This image was taken with the panoramic camera's 480-, 530- and 600-nanometer filters.
This cylindrical-perspective projection was constructed from a sequence of four images taken by the navigation camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. It was taken with the camera's left eye.
The images were acquired on sol 85 of Opportunity's mission to Meridiani Planum. The camera acquired the images at approximately 14:28 local solar time, or around 6:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, on April 20, 2004.
The view is from the rover's new location, a region dubbed "Fram Crater" located some 450 meters (.3 miles) from "Eagle Crater" and roughly 250 meters (820 feet) from "Endurance Crater" (upper right).
See PIA05783 for 3-D view and PIA05785 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
Click on the image for Opportunity Captures "Lion King" Panorama (QTVR)
This approximate true-color panorama, dubbed "Lion King," shows "Eagle Crater" and the surrounding plains of Meridiani Planum. It was obtained by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera on sols 58 and 60 using infrared (750-nanometer), green (530-nanometer) and blue (430-nanometer) filters.
This is the largest panorama obtained yet by either rover. It was taken in eight segments using six filters per segment, for a total of 558 images and more than 75 megabytes of data. Additional lower elevation tiers were added to ensure that the entire crater was covered in the mosaic.
This panorama depicts a story of exploration including the rover's lander, a thorough examination of the outcrop, a study of the soils at the near-side of the lander, a successful exit from Eagle Crater and finally the rover's next desination, the large crater dubbed "Endurance."
Voir l'image PIA05755: Opportunity Captures "Lion King" Panorama sur le site de la NASA.
This mosaic was assembled from images taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit at a region dubbed "site 31." Spirit is looking at "Missoula Crater." From orbit, the features within the crater appeared to be ejecta from the younger "Bonneville Crater," but Spirit's closer look revealed wind-blown drift deposits, not ejecta, within Missoula Crater.
This right eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 93 (April 7, 2004). It reveals the martian view from Spirit's position during the four-sol flight software update that began on sol 94.
See PIA05765 for 3-D view and PIA05766 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic.
This panel illustrates the transit of the martian moon Phobos across the Sun. It is made up of images taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on the morning of the 45th martian day, or sol, of its mission. This observation will help refine our knowledge of the orbit and position of Phobos. Other spacecraft may be able to take better images of Phobos using this new information. This event is similar to solar eclipses seen on Earth in which our Moon passes in front of the Sun. The images were taken by the rover's panoramic camera.
Voir l'image PIA05554: Martian Moon Eclipses Sun, in Stages sur le site de la NASA.
Taking advantage of extra solar energy collected during the day, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit settled in for an evening of stargazing, photographing the two moons of Mars as they crossed the night sky. This time-lapse composite, acquired the evening of Spirit's martian sol 590 (Aug. 30, 2005) from a perch atop "Husband Hill" in Gusev Crater, shows Phobos, the brighter moon, on the left, and Deimos, the dimmer moon, on the right. In this sequence of images obtained every 170 seconds, Phobos is moving from top to bottom and Deimos is moving from bottom to top. The bright star Aldebaran forms a trail on the right, along with some other stars in the constellation Taurus. Most of the other streaks in the image mark the collision of cosmic rays with pixels in the camera.
Scientists will use images of the two moons to better map their orbital positions, learn more about their composition, and monitor the presence of nighttime clouds or haze. Spirit took the six images that make up this composite using Spirit's panoramic camera with the camera's broadband filter, which was designed specifically for acquiring images under low-light conditions.
This is the left-eye view of a stereo pair showing a 360-degree view of the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the 142nd martian day of the rover's mission inside Gusev Crater, on May 27, 2004. It was assembled from images taken by Spirit's navigation camera. The rover's position is Site A55. The view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometrical seam correction.
See PIA06026 for 3-D view and PIA06028 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
The rock dubbed "Bounce" at Meridiani Planum, Mars, may have been thrown onto the plains during an impact that formed a 25-kilometer-diameter (15.5-mile) crater (arrow) located 50 kilometers (31 miles) southeast of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's landing site (to the right of ellipse center). This infrared Mars Odyssey image taken by the thermal emission imaging system shows the pattern of ejecta, or material, thrown from the large crater. Rays of this rocky material can be seen radiating outward from the crater. The Opportunity landing site is close to one of these rays, as well as other rays of small impact craters seen in high-resolution Mars Odyssey camera images within 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) of the landing site. Bounce rock may be a smaller piece of material ejected onto the plains by this impact event.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 above, infrared images increasing in zoom, taken by the thermal emission imaging system on the Mars Odyssey orbiter at night, show the pattern of ejecta, or material, thrown from the large crater. Large rocks on the surface stay warm at night and produce a bright signature. Rays of this rocky material can be seen radiating outward from the crater.
This image was taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's front hazard avoidance camera during Spirit's 154th martian day, or sol, on June 9, 2004. The "Columbia Hills" appear against the horizon. Directly in front of the rover is the highest of the hills, "Husband Hill," approximately 90 meters (295 feet) tall. The rock in the foreground is larger than other surrounding rocks, approximately 35 centimeters (14 inches) across, but was not an observation target for Spirit. The tread marks in front of the rock are not a trench, but simply evidence that the rover passed by as it continued its journey toward the Columbia Hills.
This is the right-eye half of a stereo pair of 360-degree views assembled from frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during Spirit's 151st martian day, or sol, on June 5, 2004. The view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. The rover sits at site 63, still more than 100 meters (328 feet) from the base of the "Columbia Hills." As suggested by the rover tracks fading off in the distance, Spirit made great progress on this sol, roving 73 meters (240 feet) to get to this point.
See PIA06053 for 3-D view and PIA06054 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
Click on the image for Spirit Tracks on Mars, Sol 151 (QTVR)
This cylindrical projection mosaic was created from navigation camera images acquired by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during Spirit's 151st martian day, or sol, on June 5, 2004. The rover sits at site 63, still more than 100 meters (328 feet) from the base of the "Columbia Hills." As suggested by the rover tracks fading off in the distance, Spirit made great progress on this sol, roving 73 meters (240 feet) to get to this point.
This three-dimensional stereo anaglyph was created from several frames from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. It is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection. The rover acquired these frames during its 115th martian day, or "sol," in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars, on May 21, 2004. The rover was near the edge of "Endurance Crater," which dominates the right half of this view. The crater is about 130 meters (about 430 feet) in diameter.
See PIA05986 for left eye view and PIA05987 for right eye view of this 3-D stereo anaglyph.
Inverted image of two moons
and the Pleiades from Mars
Taking advantage of extra solar energy collected during the day, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit recently settled in for an evening of stargazing, photographing the two moons of Mars as they crossed the night sky. In this view, the Pleiades, a star cluster also known as the "Seven Sisters," is visible in the lower left corner. The bright star Aldebaran and some of the stars in the constellation Taurus are visible on the right. Spirit acquired this image the evening of martian day, or sol, 590 (Aug. 30, 2005). The image on the right provides an enhanced-contrast view with annotation. Within the enhanced halo of light is an insert of an unsaturated view of Phobos taken a few images later in the same sequence.
On Mars, Phobos would be easily visible to the naked eye at night, but would be only about one-third as large as the full Moon appears from Earth. Astronauts staring at Phobos from the surface of Mars would notice its oblong, potato-like shape and that it moves quickly against the background stars. Phobos takes only 7 hours, 39 minutes to complete one orbit of Mars. That is so fast, relative to the 24-hour-and-39-minute sol on Mars (the length of time it takes for Mars to complete one rotation), that Phobos rises in the west and sets in the east. Earth's moon, by comparison, rises in the east and sets in the west. The smaller martian moon, Deimos, takes 30 hours, 12 minutes to complete one orbit of Mars. That orbital period is longer than a martian sol, and so Deimos rises, like most solar system moons, in the east and sets in the west.
Scientists will use images of the two moons to better map their orbital positions, learn more about their composition, and monitor the presence of nighttime clouds or haze. Spirit took the five images that make up this composite with the panoramic camera, using the camera's broadband filter, which was designed specifically for acquiring images under low-light conditions.
This view of the interior slope and rim of "Endurance Crater" comes from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity with an assist from the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter. Opportunity took the three frames that make up this image on the rover's 188th martian day (Aug. 4, 2004), before transmitting this and other data to Mars Express. The orbiter then relayed the data to Earth. Rover wheel tracks are visible in the foreground.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity looks back out at the plains of Meridiani Planum from the rover's first dip inside the rim of "Endurance Crater." Opportunity's rear hazard-avoidance camera took this picture during the rover's 133rd martian day, or sol, on June 8, 2004.
This image shows the approximate size of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in comparison to the impressive impact crater dubbed "Endurance," which is roughly 130 meters (430 feet) across. A model of Opportunity has been superimposed on top of an approximate true-color image taken by the rover's panoramic camera. Scientists are eager to explore Endurance for clues to the red planet's history. The crater's exposed walls provide a window to what lies beneath the surface of Mars and thus what geologic processes occurred there in the past. While recent studies of the smaller crater nicknamed "Eagle" revealed an evaporating body of salty water, that crater was not deep enough to indicate what came before the water. Endurance may be able to help answer this question, but the challenge is getting to the scientific targets: most of the crater's rocks are embedded in vertical cliffs. Rover planners are developing strategies to overcome this obstacle.
This image is a portion of a larger mosaic taken with the panoramic camera's 480-, 530- and 750-nanometer filters on sols 97 and 98.
This approximate true-color image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity show the rock called "Pilbara" located in the small crater dubbed "Fram." The rock appears to be dotted with the same "blueberries," or spherules, found at "Eagle Crater." Spirit drilled into this rock with its rock abrasion tool. After analyzing the hole with the rover's scientific instruments, scientists concluded that Pilbara has a similar chemical make-up, and thus watery past, to rocks studied at Eagle Crater. This image was taken with the panoramic camera's 480-, 530- and 600-nanometer filters.
This 360-degree view of the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was taken on the rover's 171st sol on Mars (July 17, 2004). It was assembled from images taken by the rover's navigation camera at a position referred to as "site 33." Opportunity had driven 11 meters (36 feet) into "Endurance Crater." The view is a cylindrical projection with geometrical seam correction.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took the images that make up this mosaic with its panoramic camera on sol 161 (June 16, 2004). The view is looking southward and shows the etched terrain that makes up this landscape. The wall of Gusev Crater appears light gray and can be seen rising up against the horizon. This image was taken with the panoramic camera's blue (750-nanometer) filter. Its contrast was stretched.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired this microscopic imager view of its capture magnet on sol 92 (April 6, 2004). Both Spirit and the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity are equipped with a number of magnets. The capture magnet, as seen here, has a stronger charge than its sidekick, the filter magnet. The lower-powered filter magnet captures only the most magnetic airborne dust with the strongest charges, while the capture magnet picks up all magnetic airborne dust.
The magnets' primary purpose is to collect the martian magnetic dust so that scientists can analyze it with the rovers' Moessbauer spectrometers. While there is plenty of dust on the surface of Mars, it is difficult to confirm where it came from, and when it was last airborne. Because scientists are interested in learning about the properties of the dust in the atmosphere, they devised this dust-collection experiment.
The capture magnet is about 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter and is constructed with a central cylinder and three rings, each with alternating orientations of magnetization. Scientists have been monitoring the continual accumulation of dust since the beginning of the mission with panoramic camera and microscopic imager images. They had to wait until enough dust accumulated before they could get a Moessbauer spectrometer analysis. The results of that analysis, performed on sol 92, have not been sent back to Earth yet.
This left eye of a stereo pair of views in a cylindrical-perspective projection was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 121 (May 6, 2004). Continuing its trek toward the "Columbia Hills," Spirit drove 96.8 meters (318 feet) -- half of which was performed in auto-navigation mode -- and broke its record for the longest distance traveled in one sol. That drive brought the mission total to 1,669 meters (1.04 miles), flipping the rover's odometer over the one-mile mark.
See PIA05883 for 3-D view and PIA05885 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This cylindrical projection was constructed from a sequence of three images taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The images were acquired on sol 94 (April 29, 2004) of Opportunity's mission to Meridiani Planum. The camera acquired the images at approximately 12:40 local solar time, or around 9:15 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. The images were taken from the rover's new location about 20 meters (65 feet) away from the rim of Opportunity's next target, "Endurance Crater."
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the dunes that line the floor of "Endurance Crater." Small-scale ripples on top of the larger dune waves suggest that these dunes may have been active in geologically recent times. The image was taken by the rover's panoramic camera on sol 198 (August 14, 2004).
This image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a close-up of the rock dubbed "Pot of Gold," located near the base of the "Columbia Hills" in Gusev Crater. The rock's nodules and layered appearance inspired rover team members to investigate the rock's detailed chemistry, which revealed hematite. Further investigation may reveal whether water was involved in the formation of that hematite, or whether the hematite formed in dry conditions. This image was taken on sol 164 (June 19, 2004).
This mosaic of four images from the microscopic imager on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the freshly exposed interior of a rock dubbed "Lion Stone" after the rover's rock abrasion tool ground away a circular patch of the rock's surface. The circle is 45.5 millimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter. Opportunity took the images during its 108th sol (martian day) on Mars, on May 13, 2004.
This 360-degree panorama taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit highlights the bumpy terrain surrounding the rover. Spirit's shadow can be seen in a small hollow lying between the rover and its intended target, the eastern-lying "Columbia Hills." Spirit's longest drive so far covered about 88.5 meters (about 290 feet) and took place on sol 113. This image was taken on sol 112 (April 26, 2004).
This image taken by the front hazard-avoidance camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit demonstrates that the rover successfully completed its second, five-wheeled drive over a distance of 3 meters (9.8 feet). The rover has now traveled a total of 10 meters (32.8 feet) in this fashion. Because Spirit's right front wheel has been showing signs of wear, rover planners will drive it backwards on its remaining five wheels. The sixth wheel will be activated only when it is needed to surmount more demanding terrain. This picture was taken on July 15, 2004, and shows the view from behind the backward-facing rover.
This right eye of a stereo pair of views in a cylindrical-perspective projection was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 124 (May 9, 2004). It reveals Spirit's view as it gets closer to the "Columbia Hills."
See PIA05901 for 3-D view and PIA05902 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This false-color image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a group of darker rocks dubbed "Toltecs," lying to the southeast of the rover's current position. The rocks are believed to be basaltic, or volcanic, in composition because their color and spectral properties resemble those of basaltic rocks studied so far at Gusev Crater. Scientists hope to use these presumably unaltered rocks as a geologic standard for comparison to altered rocks in the area, such as "Clovis." This image was taken by the 750-, 530- and 430-nanometer filters of rover's panoramic camera on sol 220 (August 15, 2004).
This close-up image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit highlights the nodular nuggets that cover the rock dubbed "Pot of Gold." These nuggets appear to stand on the end of stalk-like features. The surface of the rock is dotted with fine-scale pits. Data from the rover's scientific instruments have shown that Pot of Gold contains the mineral hematite, which can be formed with or without water.
Scientists are planning further observations of this rock, which they hope will yield more insight into the hematite's origins as well as how the enigmatic nuggets formed.
This image was taken by Spirit's microscopic imager on sol 162 (June 17, 2004). The observed area is 3 centimeters by 3 centimeters (1.2 inches by 1.2 inches)
This 360-degree view of the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the 142nd martian day of the rover's mission inside Gusev Crater, on May 27, 2004, was assembled from images taken by Spirit's navigation camera. The rover's position is Site A55. The view is presented in a vertical projection with geometrical seam correction.
This approximate true-color image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity highlights a feature called "Burns Cliff" within the impact crater known as "Endurance." Scientists are eager to explore this layered ridge for clues to the red planet's past. The only problem is its location: Burns Cliff is a vertical drop, which poses an interesting challenge for rover planners. Burns Cliff was named after the late scientist Roger Burns, who was one of the first to correctly propose the importance of sulfate and jarosite to the study of Mars' geologic history.
This image is a portion of a larger mosaic taken with the panoramic camera's 480-, 530- and 750-nanometer filters on sols 97 and 98.
This false-color image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rock dubbed "Pot of Gold" (upper left), located near the base of the "Columbia Hills" in Gusev Crater. Scientists are intrigued by this unusual-looking, nodule-covered rock and plan to investigate its detailed chemistry in coming sols. This picture was taken on sol 159 (June 14, 2004).
To the right is a set of rocks referred to as "Rotten Rocks" for their resemblance to rotting loaves of bread. The insides of these rocks appear to have been eroded, while their outer rinds remain more intact. These outer rinds are reminiscent of those found on rocks at Meridiani Planum's "Eagle Crater." This image was captured on sol 158 (June 13, 2004).
This close-up image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit highlights the nobular nuggets that cover the rock dubbed "Pot of Gold." These nuggets appear to stand on the end of stalk-like features. The surface of the rock is dotted with fine-scale pits. Data from the rover's scientific instruments have shown that Pot of Gold contains the mineral hematite, which can be formed with or without water.
Scientists are planning further observations of this rock, which they hope will yield more insight into the hematite's origins as well as how the enigmatic nuggets formed.
This image was taken by Spirit's microscopic imager on sol 163 (June 18, 2004). The observed area is 3 centimeters by 3 centimeters (1.2 inches by 1.2 inches).
The rock abrasion tool on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit ground two holes in a relatively soft rock called "Wooly Patch" near the base of the "Columbia Hills" inside Gusev Crater on Mars. This approximately true-color image from the panoramic camera was taken on sol 200 (July 25, 2004) and generated using the camera's 600-, 530-, and 480-nanometer filters. It shows the natural red and reddish-brown color of the rock. Scientists speculate that this relatively soft rock (compared to others analyzed by Spirit) may have been modified by water. Small cracks in the surface outside the drill holes may be the result of interactions with water-rich fluids.
This 360-degree view of the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the 148th martian day of the rover's mission inside Gusev Crater, on June 2, 2004, was assembled from images taken by Spirit's navigation camera. The rover's position is Site A61. The view is presented in a cylindrical projection with geometrical seam correction.
This cylindrical-projection mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 100 (April 14, 2004). It reveals Spirit's view after a century of sols on the martian surface.
This approximate true-color image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the impact crater known as "Endurance." Scientists are eager to explore Endurance for clues to the red planet's history. The crater's exposed walls provide a window to what lies beneath the surface of Mars and thus what geologic processes occurred there in the past. While recent studies of the smaller crater nicknamed "Eagle" revealed an evaporating body of salty water, that crater was not deep enough to indicate what came before the water. Endurance may be able to help answer this question, but the challenge is getting to the scientific targets: most of the crater's rocks are embedded in vertical cliffs. Rover planners are currently developing strategies to overcome this obstacle.
Presently, Opportunity is perched 40 centimeters (15.7 inches) away from the crater's edge. Endurance is roughly 130 meters (430 feet) across.
This image mosaic was taken by the panoramic camera's 480-, 530- and 750-nanometer filters on sols 97 and 98. It consists of a total of 258 individual images.
Click on the image for Crater of Clues (QTVR)
This is the left-eye view of a stereo pair showing a 360-degree view of the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the 148th martian day of the rover's mission inside Gusev Crater, on June 2, 2004. It was assembled from images taken by Spirit's navigation camera. The rover's position is Site A61. The view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometrical seam correction.
See PIA06037 for 3-D view and PIA06039 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
Click on the image for Approaching the Hills (QTVR)
Spirit's Amazing Trek Continues (sol 190, July 16, 2004)This view from where NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit stood on the rover's 149th martian day, or sol (June 3, 2004), shows terrain the rover has crossed since then. The yellow line traces the path Spirit has taken since arriving at the "Columbia Hills." Labels show the informal names of rocks the rover has studied along the way. Spirit is currently headed east, traversing the flanks of the hills en route to an overlook above a steep valley that is out of view from this perspective. Scientists hope to find more layered rocks that will tell a story of ancient water on Mars. Spirit has traveled 498 meters (more than one-quarter of a mile) and ascended 20 meters (66 feet) above the plains since arriving at the "Columbia Hills" on sol 156 (June 11, 2004). It covered much of that distance driving on only five of its six wheels.
The images used to make this approximately true-color mosaic were taken with Spirit's panoramic camera from about 300 meters (984 feet) away from the base of the hills, using filters centered at wavelengths of 600, 530 and 480 nanometers.
This mosaic image from the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rock abrasion tool target, "London." The image was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on its 149th sol on Mars (June 24, 2004). Scientists "read" the geology of the image from bottom to top, with the youngest material pictured at the bottom of the image and the oldest material in the layers pictured at the top. Millimeter-scale layers run horizontally across the exposed surface, with two sliced sphere-like objects, or "blueberries" on the upper left and upper right sides of the impression. This material is similar to the evaporative material found in "Eagle Crater." However, the intense review of these layers in Endurance Crater is, in essence, deepening the water story authored by ancient Mars.
In Eagle Crater, the effects of water were traced down a matter of centimeters. Endurance Crater's depth has allowed the tracing of water's telltale marks up to meters. Another process that significantly affects martian terrain is muddying the water story a bit. Although it is clear that the layers in Endurance were affected by water, it is also evident that Aeolian, or wind, processes have contributed to the makeup of the crater.
This right eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 101 (April 15, 2004). It reveals Spirit's view just before a stopping-point dubbed "Missoula Crater." The rover is on its way to the "Columbia Hills."
See PIA05777 for 3-D view and PIA05778 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic.
This image, from the panoramic camera, is an approximately true color rendering of the slope of "Endurance Crater," which NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is currently exploring. Between sols 143 and 148 (June 18 to June 23, 2004), the rover's rock abrasion tool ground into three targets: "London" in the "D" layer (top) is 4.5 millimeters (0.18 inches) deep; "Virginia" in the "C" layer (middle) is 4.3 millimeters (0.17 inches) deep; and "Cobble Hill" in the "B" layer (bottom) is 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) deep. The shadow from the rover's camera mast is visible in the lower right corner of the image. This image was captured using the 601-, 535- and 482-nanometer filters.
Using its left navigation camera, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity sought to capture some clouds on its 153rd sol on Mars (June 28, 2004). The presence of morning clouds in the area of Endurance Crater was established by spacecraft orbiting Mars. Mars has three kinds of clouds: dust clouds low in the atmosphere; water clouds near the surface up to heights of 20 kilometers (about 12 miles); and carbon dioxide clouds at very high altitudes.
Just as on Earth, clouds, especially water clouds, are good tracers of the weather. Based on orbital data, more clouds are expected during the martian winter. As this change occurs, the rover's cameras and miniature thermal emission spectrometer will track other changes that occur as the clouds accumulate.
The rovers provide a unique opportunity to examine the lower portion of Mars' atmosphere. The lower atmosphere is difficult to characterize from orbit, but it is critical because that is where the atmosphere interacts with the surface. Since the rovers landed, the science team has been using the rover's miniature thermal emission spectrometer instrument to see the weather at this bottom layer.
This false-color image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rock dubbed "Pot of Gold" (upper left), located near the base of the "Columbia Hills" in Gusev Crater. The rock's nodules and layered appearance have inspired rover team members to investigate the rock's detailed chemistry in coming sols. This picture was taken on sol 158 (June 13, 2004).
This microscopic imager mosaic of the rock called "Diamond Jenness" was snapped on sol 177 before NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity ground into the surface with its rock abrasion tool, or "Rat."
Opportunity has bored nearly a dozen holes into the inner walls of "Endurance Crater." On sols 177 and 178 (July 23 and July 24, 2004), the rover worked double-duty on Diamond Jenness. Surface debris and the bumpy shape of the rock resulted in a shallow and irregular hole, only about 2 millimeters (0.08 inch) deep. The final depth was not enough to remove all the bumps and leave a neat hole with a smooth floor. This extremely shallow depression was then examined by the rover's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer. On Sol 178, Opportunity's "robotic rodent" dined on Diamond Jenness once again, grinding almost an additional 5 millimeters (about 0.2 inch). The rover then applied its Moessbauer spectrometer to the deepened hole. This double dose of Diamond Jenness enabled the science team to examine the rock at varying layers. Results from those grindings are currently being analyzed.
The image mosaic is about 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) across.
This cylindrical-projection view combines several frames from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The rover acquired these frames during its 115th martian day, or "sol," in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars, on May 21, 2004. The rover was near the edge of "Endurance Crater," which dominates the right half of this view. The crater is about 130 meters (about 430 feet) in diameter.
Click on the image for Heatshield on the Horizon (QTVR)
The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired this panoramic camera image mosaic on the 68th martian day, or sol, of its mission (March 12, 2004). The reflective speck about 200 meters (650 feet) away, on the far crater rim, was immediately a point of interest for scientists and engineers alike. They soon were able to identify it as Spirit's protective heatshield.
While the debris is too far away to make out clearly, orbital imagery of the area acquired before and after Spirit landed supports scientists' and engineers' conclusion. Prior to Spirit's landing, the surface at this location appeared undisturbed in orbital images, while post-landing images revealed a large gouge where the heatshield now rests.
The smaller image in the box at the lower left corner provides a closer look at the heatshield, and was taken at a lower compression by the panoramic camera on sol 69 (March 13, 2004). Lower compression results in higher quality images. While both the full panorama and close-up are depicted in approximate true color, their colors vary slightly because different filters were used to acquire them. The close-up image was taken with the 600, 530 and 480 nanometer filters. The large mosaic was taken with the 750, 530 and 480 nanometer filters.
Taking advantage of extra solar energy collected during the day, NASA's Mars Exloration Rover Spirit settled in for an evening of stargazing, photographing the two moons of Mars as they crossed the night sky. Spirit took this succession of images at 150-second intervals from a perch atop "Husband Hill" in Gusev Crater on martian day, or sol, 594 (Sept. 4, 2005), as the faster-moving martian moon Phobos was passing Deimos in the night sky. Phobos is the brighter object on the left and Deimos is the dimmer object on the right. The bright star Aldebaran and some other stars in the constellation Taurus are visible as star trails. Most of the other streaks in the image are the result of cosmic rays lighting up random groups of pixels in the camera.
Scientists will use images of the two moons to better map their orbital positions, learn more about their composition, and monitor the presence of nighttime clouds or haze. Spirit took the five images that make up this composite with its panoramic camera using the camera's broadband filter, which was designed specifically for acquiring images under low-light conditions.
This picture from the rear hazard-avoidance camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a side view of "Endurance Crater." Opportunity took the image on sol 188 (Aug. 4, 2004), before transmitting it and other data to the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter. The orbiter then relayed the data to Earth.
Perched on the edge of "Endurance Crater," NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity prepares to roll all six wheels in and then back out to the rim as an engineering test to ensure that the slope and rock surface meet expectations. The rover executed the maneuver successfully and proceeded farther into the crater the following day. This image was taken by the rover's front hazard-avoidance camera during Opportunity's 133rd martian day, or sol, on June 8, 2004.
Figure 1Figure 2Figure 3Figure 4
Trekking Down 'Endurance' (sol 170, July 16, 2004)In figure 4, the darker blue line in this approximate true-color mosaic from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rover's position as of sol 170 (July 16, 2004). The rover is located at the end of the blue portion of the line, about 10 meters (32.8 feet) into "Endurance Crater." The rover took this image while sitting on the opposite edge of the crater.
The image also shows the "Karatepe" ingress, where the rover began ts traverse down into "Endurance Crater" on sol 159 (July 5, 2004). One of the major goals motivating the rover team to carefully drive the rover further down into the crater is to follow up on clues observed so far involving the element chlorine and the mineral pyroxene. The rover has found that chlorine and pyroxene (a signature of basaltic, or volcanic, rocks) increase in concentration with deepening layers of rock. Scientists also hope to study the dunes, or "ripples," visible at the bottom right of this image. These dunes show strong signatures for basalt and could further develop the history of this area of Meridiani Planum.
The Path into "Endurance" (sol 133, June 8, 2004)Figures 1, 2, and 3 above are images from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity panoramic camera showing the rover's 6-to-7-meter (20-to-23-foot) drive path into the crater called "Endurance," starting near the target called "Karatepe." In figure 1, the yellow line at the top illustrates the first part of the drive, a 1.2-meter (3.9-foot) movement forward just enough to get all six of the rover's wheels into the crater. The rover will then back up the same distance and examine what the wheels did to the rocks. The following day, it will move forward approximately 3.2 meters (10.5 feet).
In figure 2, the yellow line at the top illustrates the second part of the drive, in which the rover drives forward 2.4 meters (7.8 feet) into the crater before backing up to examine the soil and rock it just drove over.
In figure 3, the yellow arrow at the top illustrates the last leg of the drive, a forward movement into the crater, illustrated by the blue circle. The drive began on sol 133 (June 8, 2004).
This is the right-eye view of a stereo pair showing a 360-degree view of the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the 142nd martian day of the rover's mission inside Gusev Crater, on May 27, 2004. It was assembled from images taken by Spirit's navigation camera. The rover's position is Site A55. The view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometrical seam correction.
See PIA06026 for 3-D view and PIA06027 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
Spirit took this panoramic camera image of its wheel tracks on sol 122 (May 7, 2004). This short segment of track represents only a small portion of the long journey Spirit has traveled toward the base of the "Columbia Hills," which still loom approximately 1.7 kilometers (1 mile) away. The tracks will be only a temporary scar on this martian landscape, as winds will eventually wipe them away.
This is the left-eye half of a stereo pair of 360-degree views assembled from frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during Spirit's 151st martian day, or sol, on Junr 5, 2004. The view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. The rover sits at site 63, still more than 100 meters (328 feet) from the base of the "Columbia Hills." As suggested by the rover tracks fading off in the distance, Spirit made great progress on this sol, roving 73 meters (240 feet) to get to this point.
See PIA06053 for 3-D view and PIA06055 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this image with its front hazard-avoidance camera on sol 187 (July 13, 2004). Spirit is currently at a location called "Engineering Flats," where it is has been undergoing a "tune-up." One of the goals for Spirit's time in the "shop" is to lubricate a sticky, right front wheel.
This microscopic imager mosaic of the target area called "Diamond Jenness" was taken after NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity ground into the surface with its rock abrasion tool for a second time.
Opportunity has bored nearly a dozen holes into the inner walls of "Endurance Crater." On sols 177 and 178 (July 23 and July 24, 2004), the rover worked double-duty on Diamond Jenness. Surface debris and the bumpy shape of the rock resulted in a shallow and irregular hole, only about 2 millimeters (0.08 inch) deep. The final depth was not enough to remove all the bumps and leave a neat hole with a smooth floor. This extremely shallow depression was then examined by the rover's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.
On Sol 178, Opportunity's "robotic rodent" dined on Diamond Jenness once again, grinding almost an additional 5 millimeters (about 0.2 inch). The rover then applied its Moessbauer spectrometer to the deepened hole. This double dose of Diamond Jenness enabled the science team to examine the rock at varying layers. Results from those grindings are currently being analyzed.
The image mosaic is about 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) across.
This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's front hazard-avoidance camera focuses on a target called "Goal 5." Goal 5, examined during the "Eagle Crater" soil survey, is a wind-rippled spot on the upper part of the crater , which the miniature thermal emission spectrometer shows is higher in hematite content compared to other soils within the crater. The light soil in the center of the image is referred to as "Lanikai" -- an inspiration from the white sand beaches of Hawaii. The dark soil is referred to as "Punaluu" after the black sand Hawaiian beaches.
This image was taken by the microscopic imager onboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 99 (April 13, 2004). It is a close-up look at a portion of the rock called "Route 66," which was brushed by the rover's rock abrasion tool.
This image intrigues scientists because it looks very different from the microscopic images taken of other brushed rocks at the Gusev Crater location. The surface of Route 66 is very shiny and specularly reflective, which may indicate a glassy surface, or perhaps a very smooth, discontinuous coating. The unique coating appears mottled and may be multi-layered.
Other interesting features in this brushed area of Route 66 are the very thin, arc-shaped lines that are visible in the upper left quadrant of the image. An initial hypothesis suggests that these arcs may have been caused by the rock abrasion tool when the instrument made its initial contact with the surface.
Scientists will use the combined data from the rover's Moessbauer spectrometer and alpha particle X-ray spectrometer along with color versions of this image to try to reach stronger conclusions about what they are seeing and what processes caused the features.
In recent weeks, as NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has driven through the basin south of "Husband Hill," it has been traversing mainly sand and dune deposits. This week, though, Spirit has been maneuvering along the edge of an arc-shaped feature called "Lorre Ridge" and has encountered some spectacular examples of basaltic rocks with striking textures. This panoramic camera (Pancam) image shows a group of boulders informally named "FuYi." These basaltic rocks were formed by volcanic processes and may be a primary constituent of Lorre Ridge and other interesting landforms in the basin.
Spirit first encountered basalts at its landing site two years ago, on a vast plain covered with solidified lava that appeared to have flowed across Gusev Crater. Later, basaltic rocks became rare as Spirit climbed Husband Hill. The basaltic rocks that Spirit is now seeing are interesting because they exhibit many small holes or vesicles, similar to some kinds of volcanic rocks on Earth. Vesicular rocks form when gas bubbles are trapped in lava flows and the rock solidifies around the bubbles. When the gas escapes, it leaves holes in the rock. The quantity of gas bubbles in rocks on Husband Hill varies considerably; some rocks have none and some, such as several here at FuYi, are downright frothy.
The change in textures and the location of the basalts may be signs that Spirit is driving along the edge of a lava flow. This lava may be the same as the basalt blanketing the plains of Spirit's landing site, or it may be different. The large size and frothy nature of the boulders around Lorre Ridge might indicate that eruptions once took place at the edge of the lava flow, where the lava interacted with the rocks of the basin floor. Scientists hope to learn more as Spirit continues to investigate these rocks.
As Earth approaches the Chinese New Year (The Year of the Dog), the Athena science team decided to use nicknames representing Chinese culture and geography to identify rocks and features investigated by Spirit during the Chinese New Year celebration period. In ancient Chinese myth, FuYi was the first great emperor and lived in the east. He explained the theory of "Yin" and "Yang" to his people, invented the net to catch fish, was the first to use fire to cook food, and invented a musical instrument known as the "Se" to accompany his peoples' songs and dances. Other rocks and features are being informally named for Chinese gods, warriors, inventors, and scientists, as well as rivers, lakes, and mountains.
Spirit took this image on the rover's Martian day, or sol, 731 (Jan. 23, 2006). This is an approximate true color rendering combining images taken with the Pancam's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters.
This left eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 93 (April 7, 2004). It reveals the martian view from Spirit's position during the four-sol flight software update that began on sol 94.
See PIA05765 for 3-D view and PIA05767 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic.
This cylindrical-projection 120-degree image mosaic was created from three navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 120 (May 5, 2004). The image highlights a crater approximately 70 meters (230 feet) in diameter that scientists have informally named "Lahontan." This image also reveals a wind-ripple feature in the foreground and a distant look at the Columbia Hills on the Horizon, Spirit's planned final destination.
This picture from the front hazard-avoidance camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows rover wheel tracks on the inner slope of "Endurance Crater." Opportunity took the image on sol 188 (Aug. 4, 2004), before transmitting it and other data to the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter. The orbiter then relayed the data to Earth.
This cylindrical projection was constructed from a sequence of four images taken by the navigation camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.
The images were acquired on sol 85 of Opportunity's mission to Meridiani Planum. The camera acquired the images at approximately 14:28 local solar time, or around 6:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, on April 20, 2004.
The view is from the rover's new location, a region dubbed "Fram Crater" located some 450 meters (.3 miles) from "Eagle Crater" and roughly 250 meters (820 feet) from "Endurance Crater" (upper right).
This image taken by the hazard-avoidance camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 99 shows the rock dubbed "Route 66" and a flower-shaped brush mark made by the rover's rock abrasion tool. The image was taken after a four-day break for flight software updates and confirms that these updates were successful.
This mosaic, featuring the rock target dubbed "Bylot," was acquired by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on sol 194 (Aug. 9, 2004). It consists of four images taken by the rover's microscopic imager. The spherules shown here are less round than the "blueberries" seen previously in "Endurance Crater," perhaps because the minerals coating them are more resistant to erosion. Dark sand is partially covering the rock. The target was in complete shadow when the images were acquired, except for a small area at the upper right, where direct sunlight caused the camera to saturate and excess charge to "bloom" downward into adjacent pixels.
This image mosaic, taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, shows the impact crater known as "Endurance." The rover has been traversing the rim of the crater looking for clues to the crater's formation as well as a suitable entry point to the crater. The image was taken on sol 116 of the rover's journey (May 1, 2004), from "Panoramic Position 2" on the southeast side of the crater.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has been making tracks on Mars for seven months now, well beyond its original 90-day mission. The rover traveled more than 3 kilometers (2 miles) to reach the "Columbia Hills" pictured here. In this 360-degree view of the rolling martian terrain, its wheel tracks can be seen approaching from the northwest (right side of image).
Spirit's navigation camera took the images that make up this mosaic on sols 210 and 213 (Aug. 5 and Aug. 8, 2004). The rover is now conducting scientific studies of the local geology on the "Clovis" outcrop of the "West Spur" region of the "Columbia Hills." The view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometrical seam correction. This is the left-eye view of a stereo pair. Scientists plan for Spirit to take a color panoramic image from this location.
This false-color image shows visible mineral changes between the materials that make up the rim of the impact crater known as "Endurance." The image was taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity using all 13 color filters. The cyan blue color denotes basalts, whereas the dark green color denotes a mixture of iron oxide and basaltic materials. Reds and yellows indicate dusty material containing sulfates. Scientists are very interested in exploring the interior and exterior material around the crater's rim for clues to the processes that formed the crater, as well as the rocks and textures that define the crater.
This mosaic image from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit panoramic camera shows the view acquired after the rover drove 50.2 meters (165 feet) on the martian afternoon of sol 89 (April 3, 2004). The view shows the direction of the rover's future drive destination. In the distance are the eastern-lying "Columbia Hills." This image was assembled from images in the panoramic camera's green (530 nanometer) filter.
Anatolia was named after the Anatolian fault system in Turkey.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's rock abrasion tool, known informally as the "Rat," has nibbled seven holes into the slope of "Endurance Crater." This image from the rover's navigation camera was released previously (PIA06716) without the Rat holes labeled so that viewers could try to find the holes themselves. Here, the holes have been identified. Starting from the uppermost pictured (closest to the crater rim) to the lowest, the Rat hole targets are: "Tennessee," "Cobblehill," "Virginia," "London," "Grindstone," "Kettlestone," and "Drammensfjorden." These holes were drilled on sols 138 (June 13, 2004), 143 (June 18), 145 (June 20), 148 (June 23), 151 (June 26), 153 (June 28) and 161 (July 7), respectively. Each hole is 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter.
This mosaic of five images taken by the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on sol 87 shows the hole drilled by the rover's rock abrasion tool into the rock dubbed "Pilbara." A sliced "blueberry," or spherule, which is darker and harder than the rest of the rock, can be seen near the center of the hole. The rock abrasion process left a pile of rock powder around the side of the hole, and to a lesser degree, inside the hole. The grinding penetrated an area of rock about 7.2 millimeters (about 0.28 inches) deep and 4.5 centimeters (about 1.8 inches) in diameter.
This cylindrical-perspective projection was constructed from a sequence of four images taken by the navigation camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. It was taken with the camera's right eye.
The images were acquired on sol 85 of Opportunity's mission to Meridiani Planum. The camera acquired the images at approximately 14:28 local solar time, or around 6:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, on April 20, 2004.
The view is from the rover's new location, a region dubbed "Fram Crater" located some 450 meters (.3 miles) from "Eagle Crater" and roughly 250 meters (820 feet) from "Endurance Crater" (upper right).
See PIA05783 for 3-D view and PIA05784 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This approximate true-color rendering of an image taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a view of the peak-like outcrop atop "West Spur." Spirit will attempt to drive up the north slope of the "Columbia Hills" to reach similar rock outcrops and investigate the composition of the hills. The image was taken on sol 178 (July 4, 2004) using the camera's 750-, 530- and 430-nanometer filters.
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover's panoramic camera on sol 91 (April 5, 2004) shows the rover's ultimate destination - the eastern-lying "Columbia Hills." The rover will head toward the hills in coming sols, while stopping to investigate rocks and soils along the way. Of particular interest is the light-toned coating seen here on the low-lying rocks. Scientists intend to find out if this coating is the same as that observed on the well-studied rock dubbed "Mazatzal." They believe Mazatzal's coating may have formed by cementation of airborne dust, perhaps in a slightly wetter, past environment. The scientists also plan to determine if the soil here is the same as the somewhat cohesive soil seen near the rover's lander. Like the coatings, this soil may have formed in past moist environments. This image was taken with the panoramic camera's infrared (750 nanometer) filter.
This right eye in a stereo pair of views was assembled from three navigation camera frames that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity acquired on sol 109, May 15, 2004. It is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection. Opportunity is sitting along the rim of "Endurance Crater" in the Meridiani Planum region.
See PIA05965 for 3-D view and PIA05966 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This 360-degree view of the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit was taken on the rover's 189th sol on Mars (July 15, 2004). It was assembled from images taken by the rover's navigation camera at a position referred to as Site 72, which is at the base of the "West Spur" portion of the "Columbia Hills." The view is presented in a cylindrical projection with geometrical seam correction.
This cylindrical-projection mosaic was created from three navigation camera frames that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity acquired at about 4:05 p.m., local solar time on Mars, on sol 108, May 13, 2004. Opportunity is sitting along the rim of "Endurance Crater." NASA has not yet determined whether Opportunity will venture inside the crater, which is about 130 meters (about 430 feet) in diameter.
This image from the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows scoriaceous rocks (rocks containing holes or cavities) on the ground, as well as a transition from rocky terrain (foreground) to smoother terrain (background). Spirit is heading toward the smoother terrain on its way to the "Columbia Hills." The holes in some of the rocks may have resulted from "blisters" formed by water vapor as it escaped lava. This indicates that the rocks were chilled atop an ancient lava flow. Porous rocks such as these, now appearing in abundance, have not been seen since early in the mission. Scientists believe they may have been covered by crater ejecta. This image was taken on sol 110 (April 24, 2004) at a region dubbed "site 35."
Following a long drive, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this backwards glance at its tracks across the landscape on sol 90 of its mission (April 4, 2004). The image is from Spirit's navigation camera.
This view from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's rear hazard-avoidance camera looks back up toward the "Endurance Crater" rim from the deepest point of a dip into the crater during the rover's 134th martian day, or sol, on June 9, 2004. In this image, the rover is pitched forward about 18 degrees and the rear wheels are about 30 centimeters (about 12 inches) below the rim of the crater. The success of this engineering test of the slope and rock surface led rover planners to make plans to proceed into the crater for further scientific investigation.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this panoramic camera image mosaic of the "Columbia Hills" at 4:15 p.m. local solar time on sol 122 (May 7, 2004). Spirit will spend the next 37 sols or more approaching the base of the highest peak seen in this image. Rover controllers and scientists are sending Spirit to this faraway location because the hills there are likely an older unit of rock and may provide insight into the past environment at Gusev Crater.
This stereo anaglyph looking toward the northeast across "Endurance Crater" in Mars' Meridiani Planum region was assembled from frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during the rover's 131st martian day, or sol, on June 6, 2004. That was two sols before Opportunity entered the crater, taking the route nearly straight ahead in this image into the "Karatepe" area of the crater. This view is a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction.
See PIA06058 for left eye view and PIA06059 for right eye view of this 3-D cylindrical-perspective projection.Inverted animation of PIA06340
Two Moons and the Pleiades from MarsAnnotated animation of PIA06340
Two Moons and the Pleiades from Mars
Taking advantage of extra solar energy collected during the day, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit recently settled in for an evening of stargazing, photographing the two moons of Mars as they crossed the night sky. In this view, the Pleiades, a star cluster also known as the "Seven Sisters," is visible in the lower left corner. The bright star Aldebaran and some of the stars in the constellation Taurus are visible on the right. Spirit acquired this image the evening of martian day, or sol, 590 (Aug. 30, 2005). The image on the right provides an enhanced-contrast view with annotation. Within the enhanced halo of light is an insert of an unsaturated view of Phobos taken a few images later in the same sequence.
"It is incredibly cool to be running an observatory on another planet," said planetary scientist Jim Bell of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., lead scientist for the panoramic cameras on Spirit and Opportunity. In the annotated animation (figure 2), both martian moons, Deimos on the left and Phobos on the right, travel across the night sky in front of the constellation Sagittarius. Part of Sagittarius resembles an upside-down teapot. In this view, Phobos moves toward the handle and Deimos moves toward the lid. Phobos is the brighter object on the right; Deimos is on the left. Each of the stars in Sagittarius is labeled with its formal name. The inset shows an enlarged, enhanced view of Phobos, shaped rather like a potato with a hole near one end. The hole is the large impact creater Stickney, visible on the moon's upper right limb.
On Mars, Phobos would be easily visible to the naked eye at night, but would be only about one-third as large as the full Moon appears from Earth. Astronauts staring at Phobos from the surface of Mars would notice its oblong, potato-like shape and that it moves quickly against the background stars. Phobos takes only 7 hours, 39 minutes to complete one orbit of Mars. That is so fast, relative to the 24-hour-and-39-minute sol on Mars (the length of time it takes for Mars to complete one rotation), that Phobos rises in the west and sets in the east. Earth's moon, by comparison, rises in the east and sets in the west. The smaller martian moon, Deimos, takes 30 hours, 12 minutes to complete one orbit of Mars. That orbital period is longer than a martian sol, and so Deimos rises, like most solar system moons, in the east and sets in the west.
Scientists will use images of the two moons to better map their orbital positions, learn more about their composition, and monitor the presence of nighttime clouds or haze. Spirit took the five images that make up this composite with the panoramic camera, using the camera's broadband filter, which was designed specifically for acquiring images under low-light conditions.
This is the right-eye view of a stereo pair created from several frames from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. It is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection. The rover acquired these frames during its 115th martian day, or "sol," in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars, on May 21, 2004. The rover was near the edge of "Endurance Crater," which dominates the right half of this view. The crater is about 130 meters (about 430 feet) in diameter.
See PIA05985 for 3-D view and PIA05986 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This view of rock layers exposed in the upper portion of the inner slope of "Endurance Crater" was captured by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity from the rover's position inside the crater during Opportunity's 134th sol on June 9, 2004. Scientists and engineers are assessing possible targets and routes among these rocks. The view is looking down into the crater, so the layers at the top of the image lie lower in the crater than the rocks in the foreground.
This view from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera is an approximately true color rendering of the first seven holes that the rover's rock abrasion tool dug on the inner slope of "Endurance Crater." The rover was about 12 meters (about 39 feet) down into the crater when it acquired the images combined into this mosaic. The view is looking back toward the rim of the crater, with the rover's tracks visible. The tailings around the holes drilled by the rock abrasion tool, or "Rat," show evidence for fine-grained red hematite similar to what was observed months earlier in "Eagle Crater" outcrop holes.
Starting from the uppermost pictured (closest to the crater rim) to the lowest, the rock abrasion tool hole targets are called "Tennessee," "Cobblehill," "Virginia," "London," "Grindstone," "Kettlestone," and "Drammensfjorden." Opportunity drilled these holes on sols 138 (June 13, 2004), 143 (June 18), 145 (June 20), 148 (June 23), 151 (June 26), 153 (June 28) and 161 (July 7), respectively. Each hole is 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter.
This image was generated using the panoramic camera's 750-, 530-, and 430-nanometer filters. It was taken on sol 173 (July 19).
This left eye of a stereo pair of views in a cylindrical-perspective projection was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 127 (May 12, 2004). Spirit is sitting at site 48. The tracks show the path the rover has traveled so far on its way to the base of the "Columbia Hills." In this image, the hills can be seen silhouetted against the horizon on the far left side. Spirit will reach the base of the hills by sol 160.
See PIA05923 for 3-D view and PIA05925 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
As NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity creeps farther into "Endurance Crater," the dune field on the crater floor appears even more dramatic. This approximate true-color panoramic camera image highlights the reddish-colored dust present throughout the scene.
Sinuous tendrils of sand less than 1 meter (3.3 feet) high extend from the main dune field toward the rover. Scientists hope to send the rover down to one of these tendrils in an effort to learn more about the characteristics of the dunes. Dunes are a common feature across the surface of Mars, and knowledge gleaned from investigating the Endurance dunes close-up may apply to similar dunes elsewhere.
Before the rover heads down to the dunes, rover drivers must first establish whether the slippery slope that leads to them is firm enough to ensure a successful drive back out of the crater. Otherwise, such hazards might make the dune field a true sand trap.
A traverse map for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit traces the path Spirit drove during its prime mission of 90 sols. The base image for this map was taken seconds before landing by Spirit's downward-looking descent image motion estimation system camera.
Click on the image for Spirit's View on Sol 142 (QTVR)
This 360-degree view of the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the 142nd martian day of the rover's mission inside Gusev Crater, on May 27, 2004, was assembled from images taken by Spirit's navigation camera. The rover's position is Site A55. The view is presented in a cylindrical projection with geometrical seam correction.
As NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity creeps farther into "Endurance Crater," the dune field on the crater floor appears even more dramatic. This false-color image taken by the rover's panoramic camera shows that the dune crests have accumulated more dust than the flanks of the dunes and the flat surfaces between them. Also evident is a "blue" tint on the flat surfaces as compared to the dune flanks. This results from the presence of the hematite-containing spherules ("blueberries") that accumulate on the flat surfaces.
Sinuous tendrils of sand less than 1 meter (3.3 feet) high extend from the main dune field toward the rover. Scientists hope to send the rover down to one of these tendrils in an effort to learn more about the characteristics of the dunes. Dunes are a common feature across the surface of Mars, and knowledge gleaned from investigating the Endurance dunes close-up may apply to similar dunes elsewhere.
Before the rover heads down to the dunes, rover drivers must first establish whether the slippery slope that leads to them is firm enough to ensure a successful drive back out of the crater. Otherwise, such hazards might make the dune field a true sand trap.
This is the rightt-eye half of a stereo pair of views looking toward the northeast across "Endurance Crater" in Mars' Meridiani Planum region. It was assembled from frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during the rover's 131st martian day, or sol, on June 6, 2004. That was two sols before Opportunity entered the crater, taking the route nearly straight ahead in this image into the "Karatepe" area of the crater. This view is a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction.
See PIA06057 for 3-D view and PIA06059 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
In recent weeks, as NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has driven through the basin south of "Husband Hill," it has been traversing mainly sand and dune deposits. This week, though, Spirit has been maneuvering along the edge of an arc-shaped feature called "Lorre Ridge" and has encountered some spectacular examples of basaltic rocks with striking textures. This panoramic camera (Pancam) image shows a group of boulders informally named "FuYi." These basaltic rocks were formed by volcanic processes and may be a primary constituent of Lorre Ridge and other interesting landforms in the basin.
Spirit first encountered basalts at its landing site two years ago, on a vast plain covered with solidified lava that appeared to have flowed across Gusev Crater. Later, basaltic rocks became rare as Spirit climbed Husband Hill. The basaltic rocks that Spirit is now seeing are interesting because they exhibit many small holes or vesicles, similar to some kinds of volcanic rocks on Earth. Vesicular rocks form when gas bubbles are trapped in lava flows and the rock solidifies around the bubbles. When the gas escapes, it leaves holes in the rock. The quantity of gas bubbles in rocks on Husband Hill varies considerably; some rocks have none and some, such as several here at FuYi, are downright frothy.
The change in textures and the location of the basalts may be signs that Spirit is driving along the edge of a lava flow. This lava may be the same as the basalt blanketing the plains of Spirit's landing site, or it may be different. The large size and frothy nature of the boulders around Lorre Ridge might indicate that eruptions once took place at the edge of the lava flow, where the lava interacted with the rocks of the basin floor. Scientists hope to learn more as Spirit continues to investigate these rocks.
As Earth approaches the Chinese New Year (The Year of the Dog), the Athena science team decided to use nicknames representing Chinese culture and geography to identify rocks and features investigated by Spirit during the Chinese New Year celebration period. In ancient Chinese myth, FuYi was the first great emperor and lived in the east. He explained the theory of "Yin" and "Yang" to his people, invented the net to catch fish, was the first to use fire to cook food, and invented a musical instrument known as the "Se" to accompany his peoples' songs and dances. Other rocks and features are being informally named for Chinese gods, warriors, inventors, and scientists, as well as rivers, lakes, and mountains.
Spirit took this image on the rover's Martian day, or sol, 731 (Jan. 23, 2006). This is a false-color composite combining images taken with the Pancam's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters.
This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit panoramic camera shows a daisy pattern created by the rover's rock abrasion tool on the surface of "Mazatzal." The pattern was made as the rover brushed dust off enough area on the rock to match the field of view of the rover's miniature thermal emission spectrometer instrument.
Voir l'image PIA05673: Daisy in Full Bloom on "Mazatzal" sur le site de la NASA.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has been making tracks on Mars for seven months now, well beyond its original 90-day mission. The rover traveled more than 3 kilometers (2 miles) to reach the "Columbia Hills" pictured here. In this 360-degree view of the rolling martian terrain, its wheel tracks can be seen approaching from the northwest (right side of image).
Spirit's navigation camera took the images that make up this mosaic on sols 210 and 213 (Aug. 5 and Aug. 8, 2004). The rover is now conducting scientific studies of the local geology on the "Clovis" outcrop of the "West Spur" region of the "Columbia Hills." The view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometrical seam correction. This is the right-eye view of a stereo pair. Scientists plan for Spirit to take a color panoramic image from this location.
This image from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a hillside portion of the "Columbia Hills." Scientists are interested in investigating the large boulders seen scattered on the hillside, as they may reveal clues about how these hills formed. This image was taken approximately 0.4 kilometers (0.25 miles) away from the base of the hills on sol 146 (May 31, 2004).
For related images, see PIA06011 and PIA06012.
Scientists are hunting down the recipe for the "blueberries" they've discovered on Mars with the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. For location of the area dubbed "Berry Bowl" see PIA05563.
To figure out the chemical composition of the blueberries, scientists are currently analyzing the area shown in the microscopic image with the rover's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and Moessbauer spectrometer. The field of view for the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer is about equal to the field of view of the microscopic image and the field of view for the Moessbauer spectrometer is about half the size of the microscopic image, so the spectrometers will observe a mix of sand, rock, and blueberries. The blueberries are too small to analyze alone. Scientists will discern the blueberry spectra from the observed blend of spectra by subtracting out the known sand and rock spectra. Basically, finding the blueberry recipe is like making a recipe in reverse. Chemical measurements of the sand were taken earlier, and a measurement of the same rock in an area clear of the blueberries will be taken with the spectrometers on sol 48.
The "triple berry" seen in the center of the microscopic image is intriguing to scientists because it reveals a clue about how the blueberries formed. Spheres formed from impacts or volcanoes do not tend to mold together like the spheres seen in the microscopic image. Spheres from impacts or craters are usually round or teardrop-shaped from flying in the air and freezing before hitting the ground. Any droplets of magma that combine with other droplets usually grow into a single mass in a spherical, dumbbell, or teardrop shape. In contrast, concretions could form this triple berry shape. Concretions are spherical mineral structures formed by groundwater percolating through porous rocks. On Earth, as concretions grow in close proximity to each other, their outer edges often intersect each other, giving an appearance like a triple soap bubble.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this navigation camera image on sol 33 (February 5, 2004). In the foreground is the lander, and the untouched surface of Mars lies beyond. Spirit has since traversed across this landscape, and as of the morning of sol 105 (April 19, 2004), sits about 500 meters (1640 feet) away on the horizon (red dot).
The elevated crest on the left side of the image is the rim of "Bonneville" crater, which Spirit reached on sol 65. The rover has since descended from the Bonneville rim and is traveling southeast toward the base of the "Columbia Hills" (not visible in this image).
This approximate true-color image mosaic from the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the target nicknamed "Hamersley" within "Fram Crater." The nature of the outcrop material seen in this location is visibly disrupted. Some areas also have layering that may be distinctive from what scientists saw previously in "Eagle Crater." Opportunity is traveling toward a large crater dubbed "Endurance." It may return to Fram for further analysis of its rocks and soils if time permits. The images in this mosaic were taken on sol 87 with the panoramic camera's 480-, 530- and 600-nanometer filters.
This image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rover's ultimate destination -- the "Columbia Hills." It was acquired on sol 89 with the camera's green filter.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its panoramic camera to capture this false-color image of the interior of "Endurance Crater" on the rover's 188th martian day (Aug. 4, 2004). The image data were relayed to Earth by the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter. The image was generated from separate frames using the cameras 750-, 530- and 480-nanometer filters.
Scientists are investigating the ripples and textures seen in this 4-panel mosaic image, taken by the microscopic imager on the instrument deployment device or "robotic arm" of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The images were taken from "Panoramic Position 2" on the southeast side of the rim of "Endurance" Crater. This small set of nearly 150 images was acquired to examine small-scale ripple patterns suggestive of past aqueous processes on Mars.
This approximate true-color image of the rock called "Lion Stone" was acquired by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera on sol 104 (May 9, 2004). The rock stands about 10 centimeters tall (about 4 inches) and is about 30 centimeters long (12 inches). Plans for the coming sols include investigating the rock with the spectrometers on the rover's instrument arm.
This image was generated using the camera's L2 (750-nanometer), L5 (530-nanometer) and L6 (480-nanometer) filters.
This is the right-eye view of a stereo pair showing the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the rover's 189th sol on Mars (July 15, 2004). It was assembled from images taken by the rover's navigation camera at a position referred to as Site 72, which is at the base of the "West Spur" portion of the "Columbia Hills." The 360-degree view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometrical seam correction.
See PIA06711 for 3-D view and PIA06712 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This right eye in a stereo pair of views presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection was created from three navigation camera frames that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity acquired at about 4:05 p.m., local solar time on Mars, on sol 108, May 13, 2004. Opportunity is sitting along the rim of "Endurance Crater." NASA has not yet determined whether Opportunity will venture inside the crater, which is about 130 meters (about 430 feet) in diameter.
See PIA059061 for 3-D view and PIA05962 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity took the images that make up this mosaic with its microscopic imager on sol 139 (June 14, 2004). The target is a rock called "Tennessee," which was drilled into by the rover's rock abrasion tool. This particular grind is the deepest performed so far during the mission. The hole is 8.12 millimeters (0.32 inches) deep and took two hours and four minutes to create. The previous record was a 7.23-millimeter-deep (0.28-inch-deep) hole dug on sol 86 (April 21, 2004) on the feature dubbed "Pilbara," located in Meridiani's "Fram Crater."
This image mosaic from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera was taken from a rover position approximately 70 meters (about 230 feet) from the rim of "Endurance Crater" on the rover's 93rd sol on Mars. The foreground highlights the now familiar ripples and dimples, common on the plains of Meridiani Planum. Some rock outcrop is seen emerging on the hill to the left, indicating that the rover is driving through the eroded remnants of the crater's ejecta blanket and is getting close to its rim. This light-colored outcrop is probably similar to the rocks seen at "Fram Crater" and "Anatolia," and studied in detail at "Eagle Crater." The Eagle Crater rocks are believed to have been deposited in an open body of water. The science team is intrigued by the darker rock on the far side of the crater wall. Just right of the center, on the far crater wall, rocks appear to form thick, massive layers, suggesting they may have been formed by a different geologic processes than the lighter rocks in the foreground. The greater thickness of layered rocks at Endurance Crater will provide the team with a longer record of geologic processes operating at Meridiani Planum.
This left eye of a stereo pair of views in a cylindrical-perspective projection was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 123 (May 8, 2004). Spirit is sitting at site 44. The rover is on the way to the "Columbia Hills," which can be seen on the horizon. To this point, Spirit has driven a total of 1,830 meters (1.14 miles). The hills are less than 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) away, and the rover might reach them by mid-June.
See PIA05895 for 3-D view and PIA05897 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
The rear hazard-avoidance camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity caught this view of the rover's freshly made tracks after a record drive of 100 meters (328 feet) during sol 70 of the rover's mission (April 5, 2004).
This image mosaic made up of four images from the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a contact line between two distinct layers of rock (A and B in figure 1) inside "Endurance Crater." The layers are defined by subtle color and texture variations and represent separate chapters in Mars' history. Contact lines between the layers therefore represent periods of geologic time when significant environmental changes occurred. Data from Opportunity's scientific instruments indicate that both of the shown layers are rich in sulfates. Each microscopic image shows an area of about 3 centimeters by 3 centimeters (1.2 inches by 1.2 inches).
This right eye of a stereo pair of views in a cylindrical-projection projection was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 122 (May 7, 2004). Spirit is sitting at site 43. The rover is on its way to the "Columbia Hills," which can be seen on the horizon. Spirit will spend the next 37 sols or more journeying to the base of these hills with the goal of learning more about Gusev Crater's past.
See PIA05889 for 3-D view and PIA05890 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This enhanced false-color mosaic image from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit panoramic camera shows the view acquired after the rover drove approximately 50.2 meters (165 feet) on the martian afternoon of sol 89 (April 3, 2004). The view shows the direction of the rover's future drive destination. In the distance are the eastern-lying "Columbia Hills." This image was assembled from images in the panoramic camera's near-infrared (750 nanometer), green (530 nanometer), and violet (432 nanometer) filters. The colors have been exaggerated to enhance the differences between cleaner and dustier rocks, and lighter and darker soils.
This cylindrical-projection mosaic was created from three navigation camera frames that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity acquired on sol 109, May 15, 2004. Opportunity is sitting along the rim of "Endurance Crater" in the Meridiani Planum region.
The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity broke its own record for the deepest hole ground into a rock on another planet with a 7.2-millimeter (about 0.28-inch) grind on the rock "Pilbara," on the rover's 86th sol on Mars.
This image is a panoramic camera picture highlighting the hole left by the rock abrasion tool after two hours and 16 minutes of grinding. The hole is 7.2 millimeters (about 0.28 inches) deep and 4.5 centimeters (about 1.8 inches) in diameter. The tool swept the hole clean after grinding, leaving the ring of cuttings around the hole. When this image was taken, the abraded area was mostly shaded by the rover, with the sun peeking through the joint that connects the front solar panel to the body of the rover.
The team has developed a new approach to commanding the rock abrasion tool that allows for more aggressive grinding parameters. The tool is now programmed, in the event of a stall, to retreat from its target and attempt to grind again. This allows the grinder to essentially reset itself instead of aborting its sequence altogether and waiting for further commands from rover planners.
Voir l'image PIA05788: 'RAT' Hole on 'Pilbara' (post-RAT) sur le site de la NASA.
This right eye of a stereo pair of views in a cylindrical-perspective projection was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity acquired on sol 103 (May 8, 2004). Opportunity traversed approximately 13 meters (about 43 feet) farther south along the eastern rim of "Endurance Crater" before reaching the beginning of the "Karatepe" area. Scientists believe this layered band of rock may be a good place to begin studying Endurance because it is less steep and more approachable than the rest of the crater's rocky outcrops.
See PIA05907 for 3-D view and PIA05908 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This view from the microscopic imager on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a type of light-colored, rough-textured spherules scientists are calling "popcorn" in contrast to the darker, smoother spherules called "blueberries." It is the lower-left frame of a four frame mosaic (see PIA06778) taken on sol 199 (Aug. 15, 2004). The red arrows in figure 1 indicate blueberries partially covered with popcorn material. The yellow arrows in figure 2 point to something even more puzzling. These darker toned, irregularly shaped objects might be blueberry fragments emerging from the popcorn material as the pebble weathers away. It is still not clear whether all of the popcorn spherules contain blueberry material.
This mosaic of five images taken by the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on sol 87 shows the hole drilled by the rover's rock abrasion tool into the rock dubbed "Pilbara." A sliced "blueberry," or spherule, which is darker and harder than the rest of the rock, can be seen near the center of the hole. The rock abrasion process left a pile of rock powder around the side of the hole, and to a lesser degree, inside the hole. The hole is 7.2 millimeters (about 0.28 inches) deep and 4.5 centimeters (about 1.8 inches) in diameter.
Because the original images of this hole had areas of bright sunlight as well as shadow, the images making up this mosaic have been arranged to hide as much of the sunlit area as possible. The white spot is one area that could not be covered by other images. It is possible to stretch the image so that features in this white spot are visible, but this makes the rest of the mosaic harder to view. The bright streaks on the bottom part of the hole are most likely reflections from various parts of the robotic arm. The geometric and brightness seams have been corrected in this image.
A Hillside View, released June 2, 2004
This image from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a forward-looking view of a portion of the "Columbia Hills." This portion features "Husband Hill" to the left, "West Spur" in the center, and a talus (rock debris) slope to the right. West Spur is Spirit's planned first stop at the hills. Husband Hill measures approximately 90 meters (295 feet) tall from the base of the hills to its highest peak. Even in this distant shot, taken on sol 135 (May 20, 2004) from approximately 0.7 kilometers (0.4 miles) away from the base of the hills, large boulders can be seen on the hillside. These boulders are of great interest to scientists, as they may reveal clues about how these hills formed.
Based on these and past observations of the hills in comparison to hills on Earth and other celestial bodies, scientists theorize that the Columbia Hills may be one or a combination of the following: a portion of an eroded old crater rim, a wrinkle ridge, the remnants of a former interior crater deposit, a central peak or a volcano.
This cylindrical-projection view was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 124 (May 9, 2004). It reveals Spirit's view as it gets closer to the "Columbia Hills."
This approximate true-color image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a rock outcrop dubbed "Longhorn," and behind it, the sweeping plains of Gusev Crater. On the horizon, the rim of Gusev Crater is clearly visible. The view is to the south of the rover's current position. The image consists of four frames taken by the 750-, 530- and 430-nanometer filters of Spirit's panoramic camera on sol 210 (August 5, 2004).
This is a false-color composite image taken with the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera. It shows part of a rock called "Bylot" in the "Axel Heiberg" outcrop area low inside "Endurance Crater." A mixture of blueberries and the lighter-colored spherules, nicknamed "popcorn," lie on top of the rock. The image shows what appear to be, based on color, partially exposed blueberries inside popcorn spherules. Also visible are several irregular, gray fragments that may be pieces of blueberries scattered over the sand at the bottom of the image. The yellow box in Figure 1 above indicates the portion of this view covered in an image mosaic from the rover's microscopic imager (see PIA06778).
This image was generated using the camera's 750-, 530-, and 430-nanometer filters. It was taken on sol 197 (Aug. 13, 2004).
Voir l'image PIA06777: Two Types of Round Pebbles in 'Endurance' sur le site de la NASA.
Click on the image for Spirit's Destination (panorama) (QTVR)
This panoramic image mosaic from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit panoramic camera, shows the rover's destination toward the hills nicknamed the "Columbia Hills," on the right. The rover's heatshield can be seen on the left as a tiny bright dot in the distance, just under the horizon. Dark drift material can be seen in the image center. The rover is currently positioned outside the view of this image, on the right. This image was taken on sols 68 and 69 of Spirit's mission (March 12 and 13, 2004) from the location the rover first reached on the western rim of the crater. The image is in approximate true color, based on a scaling of data from the red, green and blue (750 nanometers, 530 nanometers, and 480 nanometers) filters.
This is the right-eye view of a stereo pair showing a 360-degree view of the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the 147th martian day of the rover's mission inside Gusev Crater, on June 1, 2004. It was assembled from images taken by Spirit's navigation camera. The rover's position is Site A60. The view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometrical seam correction.
See PIA06032 for 3-D view and PIA06033 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This cylindrical-perspective projection was assembled from images taken by the left navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 110 (April 24, 2004) at a region dubbed "site 35." Spirit is sitting approximately 33 meters (100 feet) away from the northeast rim of "Missoula" crater.
See PIA05815 for 3-D view and PIA05817 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This right eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 100 (April 14, 2004). It reveals Spirit's view after a century of sols on the martian surface.
See PIA05771 for 3-D view and PIA05772 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic.
This cylindrical-projection mosaic was created from navigation camera images acquired by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during Spirit's sol 153, on June 8, 2004. Spirit is pointing toward the base of the "Columbia Hills."
This cylindrical-perspective projection was assembled from images taken by the right navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 107 (April 21, 2004) at a region dubbed "site 32." Spirit is sitting east of "Missoula Crater," no longer in the crater's ejecta field, but on outer plains. Since landing, Spirit has traveled almost exclusively over ejecta fields. This new landscape looks different with fewer angular rocks and more rounded, vesicle-filled rocks. Spirit will continue another 1,900 meters (1.18 miles) along this terrain before reaching the western base of the "Columbia Hills."
See PIA05809 for 3-D view and PIA05811 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This self-portrait of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity comes courtesy of the Sun and the rover's front hazard-avoidance camera. The dramatic snapshot of Opportunity's shadow was taken as the rover continues to move farther into "Endurance Crater." The image was taken on sol 180 (July 26, 2004), a date that marks achievement of fully double the rover's primary 90-sol mission.
This false-color composite panoramic camera image highlights mysterious and sparkly dust-like material that is created when the soil in this region is disturbed. NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this image on sol 165 (June 20, 2004) in "Hank's Hollow," using filters L2, L5 and L7.
This is the left-eye view of a stereo pair showing a 360-degree view of the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the 147th martian day of the rover's mission inside Gusev Crater, on June 1, 2004. It was assembled from images taken by Spirit's navigation camera. The rover's position is Site A60. The view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometrical seam correction.
See PIA06032 for 3-D view and PIA06034 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
A rock outcrop with a view of the surrounding landscape beckons NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 203 (July 29, 2004) of its journey of exploration on the red planet. This view is a mosaic of images taken by the rover's navigation camera at a position labeled as Site 80, near the top of the "West Spur" portion of the "Columbia Hills." Directly ahead are rock outcrops that scientists will examine for clues that might indicate the presence of water in the past. In the upper right-hand corner is the so-called "sea of basalt," consisting of lava flows that lapped onto the flanks of the hills. The view is toward the south. The field of view is approximately 170 degrees from right to left and is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometrical seam correction. This is the left-eye view of a stereo pair.
See PIA06736 for 3-D view and PIA06738 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This enhanced-color panoramic camera image from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity features three holes created by the rock abrasion tool between sols 143 and 148 (June 18 and June 23, 2004) inside "Endurance Crater." The enhanced image makes the red colors a little redder and blue colors a little bluer, allowing viewers to see differences too subtle to be seen without the exaggeration. When compared with an approximately true color image, the tailings from the rock abrasion tool and the interior of the abraded holes are more prominent in this view. Being able to discriminate color variations helps scientists determine rocks' compositional differences and texture variations. This image was created using the 753-, 535- and 432-nanometer filters.
This false-color image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a close-up of the rock dubbed "Pot of Gold" (left), which is located near the base of the "Columbia Hills" in Gusev Crater. Scientists are intrigued by this unusual-looking, nodule-covered rock and plan to investigate its detailed chemistry in coming sols. This picture was taken on sol 159 (June 14, 2004).
This false-color image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity panoramic camera shows a downward view from the rover as it sits at the edge of "Endurance" crater. The gradual, "blueberry"-strewn slope before the rover contains an exposed dark layer of rock that wraps around the upper section of the crater. Scientists suspect that this rock layer will provide clues about Mars' distant past. This mosaic image comprises images taken from 10 rover positions using 750, 530 and 430 nanometer filters, acquired on sol 131 (June 6, 2004).
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit created this 360-degree view of the rolling martian terrain at "Columbia Hills" on sol 204 (July 30, 2004), after traveling more than 3 kilometers (2 miles) across the plains of the 165-kilometer-wide (103-mile-wide) Gusev Crater. This mosaic was created from images taken by Spirit's navigation camera. The view is presented in a cylindrical projection with geometrical seam correction.
Animation software used by engineers for planning rover drives portrays the location of the NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on April 26, 2004, at the successful completion of 90 sols of operating on Mars, the amount of time set in advance for the rover's primary mission. The scene is from the panoramic camera, with the crater dubbed "Endurance" on the horizon, still a few days' drives away.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this left eye of a pair of stereo images, projected at a cylindrical perspective, with its navigation camera on sol 156 (June 11, 2004). The image highlights Spirit's arrival at the base of the Columbia Hills. Since landing at Gusev crater, Spirit has put more than 3.4 kilometers (2.1 miles) on its odometer. Much of this can be attributed to the long drives the rover had to undertake to reach these interesting landforms.
See PIA06280 for 3-D view and PIA06282 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This left eye of a stereo pair of views in a cylindrical-projection projection was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 122 (May 7, 2004). Spirit is sitting at site 43. The rover is on its way to the "Columbia Hills," which can be seen on the horizon. Spirit will spend the next 37 sols or more journeying to the base of these hills with the goal of learning more about Gusev Crater's past.
See PIA05889 for 3-D view and PIA05891 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this gray-scale panoramic camera image of the "Columbia Hills" on sol 107 (April 21, 2004). Spirit is still approximately 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) and 52 sols away from its destination at the western base of the hills.
Once Spirit reaches the base, scientists and rover controllers will re-analyze the terrain and determine whether to send the rover up the mountain. Another option will be to send Spirit south along the base where she may encounter outcrops as indicated by orbital images from the Mars Orbiter Camera on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft.
This is the left-eye view of a stereo pair showing the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the rover's 189th sol on Mars (July 15th, 2004). It was assembled from images taken by the rover's navigation camera at a position referred to as Site 72, which is at the base of the "West Spur" portion of the "Columbia Hills." The 360-degree view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometrical seam correction.
See PIA06711 for 3-D view and PIA06713 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This left eye in a stereo pair of views presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection was created from three navigation camera frames that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity acquired at about 4:05 p.m., local solar time on Mars, on sol 108, May 13, 2004. Opportunity is sitting along the rim of "Endurance Crater." NASA has not yet determined whether Opportunity will venture inside the crater, which is about 130 meters (about 430 feet) in diameter.
See PIA05961 for 3-D view and PIA05963 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
Scientists are investigating the ripples and textures seen in this image, taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The highlighted strip just right of center was taken by the microscopic imager located on the rover's instrument deployment device or "robotic arm." The images were taken from "Panoramic Position 2" on the southeast side of the rim of "Endurance" Crater. This rock target, nicknamed "Pyrrho," shows interesting braided patterns that were investigated in close detail using the microscopic imager.
This right eye of a stereo pair of views in a cylindrical-perspective projection was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 123 (May 8, 2004). Spirit is sitting at site 44. The rover is on the way to the "Columbia Hills," which can be seen on the horizon. To this point, Spirit has driven a total of 1,830 meters (1.14 miles). The hills are less than 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) away, and the rover might reach them by mid-June.
See PIA05895 for 3-D view and PIA05896 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's navigation camera shows the rover's forward view at Meridiani Planum, Mars, on Sol 70 of the mission (April 5, 2004). The crater dubbed "Endurance Crater," a future rover target less than 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) away, can be seen on the far right. On the left is a trough region dubbed "Anatolia," located some 150 meters (492 feet) away from the rover's previous location "Eagle Crater." The shadow of the rover's panoramic camera mast assembly can be seen on the bottom right.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this interesting view of martian topography just below the "West Spur" portion of the "Columbia Hills" on sol 208 (Aug. 2, 2004). The view is looking southwest. The rover's wheel tracks show the contrast between soft martian soil and the harder "Clovis" rock outcrop, which scientists are now studying.
The angle of the horizon indicates the tilt of the rover to be about 20 degrees. On the horizon is a small peak informally named "Grissom Hill," about 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) away. To the right of the peak is the edge of a 2-kilometer-wide (1.2-mile-wide) crater. A few weeks ago, Spirit stopped to conduct scientific studies of rocks in "Hank's Hollow," located on the right side of the image approximately one-third of the way down from the top. This photo was taken with Spirit's right rear hazard-avoidance camera.
Scientists are investigating the ripples and textures seen in these images, taken by cameras on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity from its position on the southeast side of the rim of "Endurance" Crater. The largest image was taken by the rover's navigation camera; the inset was taken by the panoramic camera; and the highlighted strip within the inset was taken by the microscopic imager on the rover's instrument deployment device, or "robotic arm." Scientists are hoping to determine more about the aqueous history that formed the sulfate outcrops seen in "Eagle" Crater, "Fram" Crater and on the rim of Endurance Crater.
This image from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a hillside portion of the "Columbia Hills." Scientists are interested in investigating the large boulders and rock outcrop seen on the hillside, as they may reveal clues about how these hills formed. This image was taken approximately 0.4 kilometers (0.25 miles) away from the base of the hills on sol 146 (May 31, 2004).
For related images, see PIA06010 and PIA06012.
The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity broke its own record for the deepest hole ground into a rock on another planet with a 7.2-millimeter (about 0.28-inch) grind on the rock "Pilbara," on the rover's 86th sol on Mars.
This image is from the rover's panoramic camera and features Pilbara before the rover ground into it with its rock abrasion tool. After careful examination of the rock, the rock abrasion tool engineers determined that the upper left portion (visible in this image) of Pilbara was the safest area to grind. The now familiar "blueberries," or spherules, are present in this rock, however, they do not appear in the same manner as other berries examined during this mission. Reminiscent of a golf tee, the blueberries sit atop a "stem," thus making them even more of an obstacle through which to grind. The left side of the rock is relatively berry-free and proved to be an ideal spot for the procedure.
The team has developed a new approach to commanding the rock abrasion tool that allows for more aggressive grinding parameters. The tool is now programmed, in the event of a stall, to retreat from its target and attempt to grind again. This allows the grinder to essentially reset itself instead of aborting its sequence altogether and waiting for further commands from rover planners.
Voir l'image PIA05787: 'RAT' Hole on 'Pilbara' (pre-RAT) sur le site de la NASA.
The pointy features in this image may only be a few centimeters high and less than 1 centimeter (0.4 inches) wide, but they generate major scientific interest. Dubbed "Razorback," this chunk of rock sticks up at the edge of flat rocks in "Endurance Crater." Based on their understanding of processes on Earth, scientists believe these features may have formed when fluids migrated through fractures, depositing minerals. Fracture-filling minerals would have formed veins composed of a harder material that eroded more slowly than the rock slabs.
Possible examination of these features using the instruments on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity may further explain what these features have to do with the history of water on Mars. This false-color image was taken by the rover's panoramic camera.
This is a forward-looking view of the Meridiani Planum plains that lie between the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity and its primary drive target, "Endurance Crater." The images in this image mosaic were taken by the rover's panoramic camera on sol 88.
This cylindrical-projection view was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 127 (May 12, 2004). Spirit is sitting at site 48. The tracks show the path the rover has traveled so far on its way to the base of the "Columbia Hills." In this image, the hills can be seen silhouetted against the horizon on the far left side. Spirit will reach the base of the hills by sol 160.
This right eye in a stereo pair of views was assembled from three navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 120 (May 5, 2004). The image highlights a crater approximately 70 meters (230 feet) in diameter that scientists have informally named "Lahontan." This image also reveals a wind-ripple feature in the foreground and a distant look at the Columbia Hills on the Horizon, Spirit's planned final destination.
See PIA6022 for 3-D view and PIA06023 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This mosaic was produced from pictures taken with the microscopic imager on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on sol 154 (June 29, 2004). It shows one of a series of holes ground by the rover's rock abrasion tool in "Endurance Crater." This time Opportunity stretched its arm, or instrument deployment device, out to a target called "Kettlestone." Grinding for just over two hours on sol 153, Opportunity successfully created a hole 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter and 4.17 millimeters (.16 inches) deep.
This is the left-eye half of a stereo pair of views looking toward the northeast across "Endurance Crater" in Mars' Meridiani Planum region. It was assembled from frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during the rover's 131st martian day, or sol, on June 6, 2004. That was two sols before Opportunity entered the crater, taking the route nearly straight ahead in this image into the "Karatepe" area of the crater. This view is a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction.
See PIA06057 for 3-D view and PIA06059 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This cylindrical-projection mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 93 (April 7, 2004). It reveals the martian view from Spirit's position during the four-sol flight software update that began on sol 94.
This right eye of a stereo pair of views in a cylindrical-perspective projection was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 127 (May 12, 2004). Spirit is sitting at site 48. The tracks show the path the rover has traveled so far on its way to the base of the "Columbia Hills." In this image, the hills can be seen silhouetted against the horizon on the far left side. Spirit will reach the base of the hills by sol 160.
See PIA059023 for 3-D view and PIA05924 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This left eye in a stereo pair of views was assembled from three navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 120 (May 5, 2004). The image highlights a crater approximately 70 meters (230 feet) in diameter that scientists have informally named "Lahontan." This image also reveals a wind-ripple feature in the foreground and a distant look at the Columbia Hills on the Horizon, Spirit's planned final destination.
See PIA06022 for 3-D view and PIA06024 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This is the right-eye half of a stereo pair of mosaics created from navigation camera images acquired by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during Spirit's sol 153, on June 8, 2004. It is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection. Spirit is pointing toward the base of the "Columbia Hills."
See PIA06049 for 3-D view and PIA06050 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This view from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera is a false-color composite rendering of the first seven holes that the rover's rock abrasion tool dug on the inner slope of "Endurance Crater." The rover was about 12 meters (about 39 feet) down into the crater when it acquired the images combined into this mosaic. The view is looking back toward the rim of the crater, with the rover's tracks visible. The tailings around the holes drilled by the rock abrasion tool, or "Rat," show evidence for fine-grained red hematite similar to what was observed months earlier in "Eagle Crater" outcrop holes.
Last week, viewers were asked to try seeing as many holes as they could from a black-and-white, navigation-camera image (PIA06716). Most viewers will find it far easier to see the seven holes in this exaggerated color image; the same is true for scientists who are studying the holes from millions of miles away.
Starting from the uppermost pictured (closest to the crater rim) to the lowest, the rock abrasion tool hole targets are called "Tennessee," "Cobblehill," "Virginia," "London," "Grindstone," "Kettlestone," and "Drammensfjorden." Opportunity drilled these holes on sols 138 (June 13, 2004), 143 (June 18), 145 (June 20), 148 (June 23), 151 (June 26), 153 (June 28) and 161 (July 7), respectively. Each hole is 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter.
This image was generated using the panoramic camera's 750-, 530-, and 430-nanometer filters. It was taken on sol 173 (July 19).
This is the left-eye view of a stereo pair created from several frames from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. It is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection. The rover acquired these frames during its 115th martian day, or "sol," in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars, on May 21, 2004. The rover was near the edge of "Endurance Crater," which dominates the right half of this view. The crater is about 130 meters (about 430 feet) in diameter.
See PIA05985 for 3-D view and PIA05987 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's front hazard-avoidance camera shows the rover's view of the floor of "Endurance Crater." The image was taken from just inside the rim of the crater during Opportunity's 134th martian day, or sol, on June 9, 2004.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this panoramic camera image during Spirit's 152nd sol, on June 7, 2004. The rock, informally named "Plymouth Rock," is approximately 90 centimeters (35 inches) across and 50 centimeters (20 inches) tall. Spirit did not spend any time studying Plymouth Rock, but rover controllers used it as a guide to maneuver Spirit closer to the "Columbia Hills." Like most of the rocks found at the Gusev crater location, Plymouth is most likely a basalt. The tiny vesicles pitting the rock's surface further indicate its volcanic origin.
This view looking toward the northeast across "Endurance Crater" in Mars' Meridiani Planum region was assembled from frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during the rover's 131st martian day, or sol, on June 6, 2004. That was two sols before Opportunity entered the crater, taking the route nearly straight ahead in this image into the "Karatepe" area of the crater. This view is a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.
This image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is a view across the outcrop informally named "Wooly Patch." It features an up-close look at the outcrop and highlights Spirit's location on sol 193 (July 19, 2004) higher up on the west side of the "Columbia Hills." Seen in the distance is the south rim of Gusev Crater, and, from the right, the "sea of basalt" is visible lapping onto the Columbia Hills.
This is a mosaic assembled from some of the images taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during the rover's 590th sol (Sept. 21, 2005). The view is toward the south and includes rock exposures north of "Erebus Crater," with the crater in the background. The rover will investigate the exposed rocks in the foreground and will take additional panoramic-camera images of Erebus Crater, which is about 300 meters (about 984 feet) across.
Erebus Crater dwarfs the landing-site crater, "Eagle Crater," which measures about 22 meters (72 feet) in diameter. And, it is nearly twice the diameter of "Endurance Crater," which, at 130 meters (430 feet) wide, has been compared to a stadium.
The camera's red filter was used for taking the images in this mosaic. It admits light with a wavelength of 750 nanometers.
This cylindrical-projection mosaic was assembled from images taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 107 (April 21, 2004) at a region dubbed "site 32." Spirit is sitting east of "Missoula Crater," no longer in the crater's ejecta field, but on outer plains. Since landing, Spirit has traveled almost exclusively over ejecta fields. This new landscape looks different with fewer angular rocks and more rounded, vesicle-filled rocks. Spirit will continue another 1,900 meters (1.18 miles) along this terrain before reaching the western base of the "Columbia Hills."
Click on the image for 'Fram' in Color (QTVR)
This view in approximately true color reveals details in an impact crater informally named "Fram" in the Meridian Planum region of Mars. The picture is a mosaic of frames taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during the rover's 88th martian day on Mars, on April 23, 2004. The crater spans about 8 meters (26 feet) in diameter. Opportunity paused beside it while traveling from the rover's landing site toward a larger crater farther east. This view combines images taken using three of the camera's filters for different wavelengths of light: 750 nanometers, 530 nanometers and 430 nanometers.
This panoramic camera image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has been processed using a technique known as a decorrelation stretch to exaggerate the colors. The area in the image includes three holes created inside "Endurance Crater" by Opportunity's rock abrasion tool between sols 143 and 148 (June 18 and June 23, 2004). Because color variations are so subtle in the pictured area, stretched images are useful for discriminating color differences that can alert scientists to compositional and textural variations. For example, without the exaggeration, no color difference would be discernable among the tailings left behind after the grinding of these holes, but in this stretched image, the tailings around "London" (top) appear more red than those of the other holes ("Virginia," middle, and "Cobble Hill," bottom). Scientists believe that is because the rock abrasion tool sliced through two "blueberries," or spherules (visible on the upper left and upper right sides of the circle). When the blades break up these spherules, composed of mostly gray hematite, the result is a bright red powder. In this image, you can see the rock layers that made the team want to grind holes in each identified layer. The top layer is yellowish red, the middle is yellowish green and the lower layer is green. Another advantage to viewing this stretched image is the clear detail of the distribution of the rock abrasion tool tailings (heading down-slope) and the differences in rock texture. This image was created using the 753-, 535- and 432-nanometer filters.
This is the right-eye view of a stereo pair showing a 360-degree view of the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the 148th martian day of the rover's mission inside Gusev Crater, on June 2, 2004. It was assembled from images taken by Spirit's navigation camera. The rover's position is Site A61. The view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometrical seam correction.
See PIA06037 for 3-D view and PIA06038 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This false-color image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a collection of rocks (upper right) at Gusev Crater that have captured the attention of scientists for their resemblance to rotting loaves of bread. The insides of the rocks appear to have been eroded, while their outer rinds remain more intact. These outer rinds are reminiscent of those found on rocks at Meridiani Planum's "Eagle Crater." This image was captured on sol 158 (June 13, 2004).
This cylindrical-perspective projection was assembled from images taken by the left navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 107 (April 21, 2004) at a region dubbed "site 32." Spirit is sitting east of "Missoula Crater," no longer in the crater's ejecta field, but on outer plains. Since landing, Spirit has traveled almost exclusively over ejecta fields. This new landscape looks different with fewer angular rocks and more rounded, vesicle-filled rocks. Spirit will continue another 1,900 meters (1.18 miles) along this terrain before reaching the western base of the "Columbia Hills."
See PIA05809 for 3-D view and PIA05811 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
A rock outcrop with a view of the surrounding landscape beckons NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 203 (July 29, 2004) of its journey of exploration on the red planet. This view is a mosaic of images taken by the rover's navigation camera at a position labeled as Site 80, near the top of the "West Spur" portion of the "Columbia Hills." Directly ahead are rock outcrops that scientists will examine for clues that might indicate the presence of water in the past. In the upper right-hand corner is the so-called "sea of basalt," consisting of lava flows that lapped onto the flanks of the hills. The view is toward the south. The field of view is approximately 170 degrees from right to left and is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometrical seam correction. This is the right-eye view of a stereo pair.
See PIA06736 for 3-D view and PIA06737 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this image with its front hazard-avoidance camera on sol 175 (June 30, 2004). It captures the instrument deployment device in perfect position as the rover uses its microscopic imager to get an up-close look at the rock target "Bread-Basket."
This mosaic of microscopic images (each about two centimeters by two centimeters or .8 inches by .8 inches) from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity illustrates the tremendous variety of soil types and shapes observed by the science team during the recent "Eagle Crater" five-target soil survey. Scientists are working to understand the sorting mechanisms that have distributed the various soil types. The survey was conducted from sol 52 to sol 56.
"Punaluu's" largest particles are similar to those seen in the "Eagle Crater" outcrop (see also PIA05640). There are also some smaller, more irregular rounded particles that have likely been transported by wind. The "Lanikai" target reveals irregularly shaped, light-colored, millimeter-sized (0.04 inch-sized) clasts, or particles, in a fine-grained soil (see also PIA05646). Lanikai's angular, less-rounded clast shapes interested the science team when compared to other soil targets in the crater area studied by the microscopic imager. The image of "Neopolitan" highlights the border between two different soil types - a lighter, finer-grained unit to the left and a darker, coarser-grained to the right (see also PIA05648). Scientists are pondering the unusually distinct border between these different soil types. "Cookies and Cream" (see also PIA05649) is a mixture of light and dark soil units in the "Neopolitan" area. There are several different types of clasts, or particles, held in surrounding fine-grained sands: rounded spherules, angular, irregular fragments (containing what are presumably vesicles or small cavities) and smaller, about one millimeter-sized (0.04 inch-sized), rounded clasts. At "Vanilla," the microscopic images have revealed small grains one millimeter (0.04 inch) or less in size and somewhat lighter in color than those in other soil units observed in the crater (see also PIA05650). "Mudpie" is representative of the soils lower in the crater, a fair distance from the outcrop. It contains spherules and irregularly shaped vesicles held in a dark sand. In the "Black Forest" area at the target referred to as "Brian's Choice" are irregularly shaped clasts, low in hematite content based on miniature thermal emission spectrometer readings. Presumably, the particles in this area are more affected by winds since they are on the outer part of crater and are likely deposited and re-distributed by wind on a fairly frequent basis.NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this microscopic imager picture of the drift dubbed "Serpent" on Spirit's 73rd martian day on Mars after successfully digging into the side of the drift. The image is the first-ever microscopic look inside a drift. It captures only the scuffed interior of the Serpent drift and is dominated by larger pea-shaped particles. These grains are not natural to the inside of the drift, but are crust particles that have tumbled into the scuffed area as a result of the digging. These grains lost their dust cover in the process of falling into the scuff, giving scientists clues about the strength -- or lack of strength -- of the bond between the dust and sand particles.
Most interesting to scientists are the fine grains making up the interior of Serpent drift. The grains of sand found within drifts or dunes on Earth are usually about 200 micrometers (.008 inches) in diameter -- much like sand on a beach. On Earth, dunes are formed when sand particles of this size are bounced across a surface by wind and collect together as drifts. Smaller particles, like the ones making up Serpent drift, would not necessarily collect into a dune on Earth, but would more likely be distributed across the surface like dust. The fine grains making up the interior of Serpent drift are no larger than 50 or 60 micrometers (.002 inches) and can be compared to silt on Earth.
How did this very fine material manage to accumulate into a drift? Earth-based tests that simulate the wind speed and atmospheric density of Mars have found it difficult to reproduce dunes with grain particles as small as those found in the Serpent drift. However, Earth-based tests cannot duplicate the gravity of Mars, which is one-third that of the gravity on Earth. This environmental factor is a likely contributor to the diminutive material making up Serpent drift.
This 360-degree stereo anaglyph of the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the 147th martian day of the rover's mission inside Gusev Crater, on June 1, 2004, was assembled from images taken by Spirit's navigation camera. The rover's position is Site A60. The view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometrical seam correction.
See PIA06033 for left eye view and PIA06034 for right eye view of this 3-D cylindrical-perspective projection.
This cylindrical-perspective projection was assembled from images taken by the right navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 110 (April 24, 2004) at a region dubbed "site 35." Spirit is sitting approximately 33 meters (100 feet) away from the northeast rim of "Missoula" crater.
See PIA05815 for 3-D view and PIA05816 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This left eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 100 (April 14, 2004). It reveals Spirit's view after a century of sols on the martian surface.
See PIA05771 for 3-D view and PIA05773 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic.
This cylindrical-projection view was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity acquired on sol 103 (May 8, 2004). Opportunity traversed approximately 13 meters (about 43 feet) farther south along the eastern rim of "Endurance Crater" before reaching the beginning of the "Karatepe" area. Scientists believe this layered band of rock may be a good place to begin studying Endurance because it is less steep and more approachable than the rest of the crater's rocky outcrops.
This false-color image shows the area inside "Endurance Crater" that the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has been examining. The rover is currently investigating the distinct layers of rock that make up this region. Each layer is defined by subtle color and texture variations and represents a separate chapter in Mars' history. The deeper the layer, the farther back in time the rocks were formed. Scientists are "reading" this history book by systematically studying each layer with the rover's scientific instruments. So far, data from the rover indicates that the top layers are sulfate-rich, like the rocks observed in "Eagle Crater." This image was taken on sol 134 (June 9, 2004) by Opportunity's panoramic camera with the 750-, 530- and 430-nanometer filters.
This cylindrical-projection view was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 122 (May 7, 2004). Spirit is sitting at site 43. The rover is on its way to the "Columbia Hills," which can be seen on the horizon. Spirit will spend the next 37 sols or more journeying to the base of these hills with the goal of learning more about Gusev Crater's past.
Elemental Trio Found in 'Clovis'
Figure 1 above shows that the interior of the rock dubbed "Clovis" contains higher concentrations of sulfur, bromine and chlorine than basaltic, or volcanic, rocks studied so far at Gusev Crater. The data were taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer after the rover dug into Clovis with its rock abrasion tool. The findings might indicate that this rock was chemically altered, and that fluids once flowed through the rock depositing these elements.
This is the left-eye view of a stereo pair showing the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on the rover's 171st sol on Mars (July 17, 2004). It was assembled from images taken by the rover's navigation camera at a position referred to as "site 33." Opportunity had driven 11 meters (36 feet) into "Endurance Crater." The 360-degree view is a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometrical seam correction.
See PIA06702 for 3-D view and PIA06704 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is currently traveling southward over a pavement of outcrop dubbed the "Erebus Highway." "Erebus Crater," the rover's next target, lies less than 100 meters (328 feet) south of its current position. This view is a mosaic produced from from frames taken by the rover's navigation camera during Opportunity's 582nd martian day, or sol (Sept. 13, 2005). It shows fractured blocks of ancient sedimentary rock separated by recent sand dunes. Mars Exploration Rover team scientists are investigating both the composition of the rocks and the processes by which the distinctive fracture pattern arose.
This cylindrical-perspective projection was constructed from a sequence of images taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's navigation camera on the rover's 93rd sol on Mars. The mosaic was created from three images from the camera's left eye. The camera acquired the images at approximately 12:27 Local Solar Time, or around 8:22 AM Pacific Daylight Time on April 28, 2004. On that sol, Opportunity sat about 75 meters (246 feet) away from the rim of "Endurance Crater."
See PIA05849 for 3-D view and PIA05851 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This left eye of a stereo pair of views in a cylindrical-perspective projection was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity acquired on sol 103 (May 8, 2004). Opportunity traversed approximately 13 meters (about 43 feet) farther south along the eastern rim of "Endurance Crater" before reaching the beginning of the "Karatepe" area. Scientists believe this layered band of rock may be a good place to begin studying Endurance because it is less steep and more approachable than the rest of the crater's rocky outcrops.
See PIA05907 for 3-D view and PIA05909 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
This mosaic of images taken by the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the finely-laminated target called "Cobble Hill" at "Endurance Crater." Scientists studying the target have determined that the layers within it are rich in sulfate, like many of the rocks in Endurance and "Eagle Crater" that have been investigated so far. This image comprises four separate microscopic images taken on sol 143 (June 19, 2004). The circle is where the rover's rock abrasion tool cut away the rock's surface to expose the interior. It is 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter.
This is the right-eye view of a stereo pair showing the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on the rover's 171st sol on Mars (July 17, 2004). It was assembled from images taken by the rover's navigation camera at a position referred to as "site 33." Opportunity had driven 11 meters (36 feet) into "Endurance Crater." The 360-degree view is a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometrical seam correction.
See PIA06702 for 3-D view and PIA06703 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection.
