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Search Results: All Fields similar to 'Mars and Rover' and When equal to '2006'
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'McMurdo' Panorama from Spir
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| title |
'McMurdo' Panorama from Spirit's 'Winter Haven' |
| description |
This 360-degree view, called the "McMurdo" panorama, comes from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. From April through October 2006, Spirit has stayed on a small hill known as "Low Ridge." There, the rover's solar panels are tilted toward the sun to maintain enough solar power for Spirit to keep making scientific observations throughout the winter on southern Mars. This view of the surroundings from Spirit's "Winter Haven" is presented in approximately true color. Oct. 26, 2006, marks Spirit's 1,000th sol of what was planned as a 90-sol mission. (A sol is a Martian day, which lasts 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds). The rover has lived through the most challenging part of its second Martian winter. Its solar power levels are rising again. Spring in the southern hemisphere of Mars will begin in early 2007. Before that, the rover team hopes to start driving Spirit again toward scientifically interesting places in the "Inner Basin" and "Columbia Hills" inside Gusev crater. The McMurdo panorama is providing team members with key pieces of scientific and topographic information for choosing where to continue Spirit's exploration adventure. The Pancam began shooting component images of this panorama during Spirit's sol 814 (April 18, 2006) and completed the part shown here on sol 932 (Aug. 17, 2006). The panorama was acquired using all 13 of the Pancam's color filters, using lossless compression for the red and blue stereo filters, and only modest levels of compression on the remaining filters. The overall panorama consists of 1,449 Pancam images and represents a raw data volume of nearly 500 megabytes. It is thus the largest, highest-fidelity view of Mars acquired from either rover. Additional photo coverage of the parts of the rover deck not shown here was completed on sol 980 (Oct. 5 , 2006). The team is completing the processing and mosaicking of those final pieces of the panorama, and that image will be released on the Web shortly to augment this McMurdo panorama view. This beautiful scene reveals a tremendous amount of detail in Spirit's surroundings. Many dark, porous-textured volcanic rocks can be seen around the rover, including many on Low Ridge. Two rocks to the right of center, brighter and smoother-looking in this image and more reflective in infrared observations by Spirit's miniature thermal emission spectrometer, are thought to be meteorites. On the right, "Husband Hill" on the horizon, the rippled "El Dorado" sand dune field near the base of that hill, and lighter-toned "Home Plate" below the dunes provide context for Spirit's travels since mid-2005. Left of center, tracks and a trench dug by Spirit's right-front wheel, which no longer rotates, have exposed bright underlying material. This bright material is evidence of sulfur-rich salty minerals in the subsurface, which may provide clues about the watery past of this part of Gusev Crater. Spirit has stayed busy at Winter Haven during the past, six months even without driving. In addition to acquiring this spectacular panorama, the rover team has also acquired significant new assessments of the elemental chemistry and mineralogy of rocks and soil targets within reach of the rover's arm. The team plans soon to have Spirit drive to a very nearby spot on Low Ridge to access different rock and soil samples while maintaining a good solar panel tilt toward the sun for the rest of the Martian winter. Despite the long span of time needed for acquiring this 360-degree view -- a few images at a time every few sols over a total of 119 sols because the available power was so low -- the lighting and color remain remarkably uniform across the mosaic. This fact attests to the repeatability of wintertime sols on Mars in the southern hemisphere. |
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| Description |
Browse Image | Medium Image (129 kB) | Large (20.4 MB) Hi-Res (NASA's Planetary Photojournal) [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08813 ] |
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2 Years on Mars! Meridiani P
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PIA03691
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
2 Years on Mars! Meridiani Planum Features Investigated by the Rover, Opportunity |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
24 January 2006 Two years ago, the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, landed on Meridiani Planum. The rover marked its first Mars-year (687 Earth Days) anniversary in December 2005. Two pictures are shown here: the one on the right is the same as that on the left, except that key features have been labeled. Both pictures include a colored portion -- a 3-d (stereo) anaglyph which can be viewed using "3-d" glasses with a red left eye and a blue right eye. Figures 2 and 3 are MOC narrow angle non-stereo images. During the landing in January 2004, rockets were fired to slow the final descent, just before the inflated airbags (containing the folded-up lander and rover) were released. The rockets disturbed the sandy surface at the location labeled "blast effects." Following release, the airbags bounced and rolled until coming to rest inside Eagle Crater. The lander, in fact, can be seen as a bright spot near the center of Eagle Crater. Meanwhile, the jettisoned parachute and backshell landed to the southwest of Eagle, and the heatshield fell just southwest of Endurance Crater. Opportunity initially examined sedimentary rock outcrops and sandy, windblown regolith within Eagle Crater. Then it was driven by the rover team out of Eagle and on into Endurance Crater. By the end of 2004, Opportunity had left Endurance and was investigating the site where the heatshield impacted the surface. After that, the rover spent much of the year 2005 driving from the heatshield location down to the shallow Erebus Crater. Long-term plans call for driving Opportunity from Erebus to Victoria Crater, where a substantially thicker sequence of layered rock is expected to be found, relative to previous outcrops examined in the craters Endurance and Eagle. "Location near": 2.0°S, 5.6°W "Image width": 300 m scale bar = 984 ft "Illumination from": left |
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2 Years on Mars! Meridiani P
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PIA03691
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
2 Years on Mars! Meridiani Planum Features Investigated by the Rover, Opportunity |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
24 January 2006 Two years ago, the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, landed on Meridiani Planum. The rover marked its first Mars-year (687 Earth Days) anniversary in December 2005. Two pictures are shown here: the one on the right is the same as that on the left, except that key features have been labeled. Both pictures include a colored portion -- a 3-d (stereo) anaglyph which can be viewed using "3-d" glasses with a red left eye and a blue right eye. Figures 2 and 3 are MOC narrow angle non-stereo images. During the landing in January 2004, rockets were fired to slow the final descent, just before the inflated airbags (containing the folded-up lander and rover) were released. The rockets disturbed the sandy surface at the location labeled "blast effects." Following release, the airbags bounced and rolled until coming to rest inside Eagle Crater. The lander, in fact, can be seen as a bright spot near the center of Eagle Crater. Meanwhile, the jettisoned parachute and backshell landed to the southwest of Eagle, and the heatshield fell just southwest of Endurance Crater. Opportunity initially examined sedimentary rock outcrops and sandy, windblown regolith within Eagle Crater. Then it was driven by the rover team out of Eagle and on into Endurance Crater. By the end of 2004, Opportunity had left Endurance and was investigating the site where the heatshield impacted the surface. After that, the rover spent much of the year 2005 driving from the heatshield location down to the shallow Erebus Crater. Long-term plans call for driving Opportunity from Erebus to Victoria Crater, where a substantially thicker sequence of layered rock is expected to be found, relative to previous outcrops examined in the craters Endurance and Eagle. "Location near": 2.0°S, 5.6°W "Image width": 300 m scale bar = 984 ft "Illumination from": left |
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2 Years on Mars! Meridiani P
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PIA03691
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
2 Years on Mars! Meridiani Planum Features Investigated by the Rover, Opportunity |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
24 January 2006 Two years ago, the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, landed on Meridiani Planum. The rover marked its first Mars-year (687 Earth Days) anniversary in December 2005. Two pictures are shown here: the one on the right is the same as that on the left, except that key features have been labeled. Both pictures include a colored portion -- a 3-d (stereo) anaglyph which can be viewed using "3-d" glasses with a red left eye and a blue right eye. Figures 2 and 3 are MOC narrow angle non-stereo images. During the landing in January 2004, rockets were fired to slow the final descent, just before the inflated airbags (containing the folded-up lander and rover) were released. The rockets disturbed the sandy surface at the location labeled "blast effects." Following release, the airbags bounced and rolled until coming to rest inside Eagle Crater. The lander, in fact, can be seen as a bright spot near the center of Eagle Crater. Meanwhile, the jettisoned parachute and backshell landed to the southwest of Eagle, and the heatshield fell just southwest of Endurance Crater. Opportunity initially examined sedimentary rock outcrops and sandy, windblown regolith within Eagle Crater. Then it was driven by the rover team out of Eagle and on into Endurance Crater. By the end of 2004, Opportunity had left Endurance and was investigating the site where the heatshield impacted the surface. After that, the rover spent much of the year 2005 driving from the heatshield location down to the shallow Erebus Crater. Long-term plans call for driving Opportunity from Erebus to Victoria Crater, where a substantially thicker sequence of layered rock is expected to be found, relative to previous outcrops examined in the craters Endurance and Eagle. "Location near": 2.0°S, 5.6°W "Image width": 300 m scale bar = 984 ft "Illumination from": left |
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2 Years on Mars! Meridiani P
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PIA03691
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
2 Years on Mars! Meridiani Planum Features Investigated by the Rover, Opportunity |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
24 January 2006 Two years ago, the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, landed on Meridiani Planum. The rover marked its first Mars-year (687 Earth Days) anniversary in December 2005. Two pictures are shown here: the one on the right is the same as that on the left, except that key features have been labeled. Both pictures include a colored portion -- a 3-d (stereo) anaglyph which can be viewed using "3-d" glasses with a red left eye and a blue right eye. Figures 2 and 3 are MOC narrow angle non-stereo images. During the landing in January 2004, rockets were fired to slow the final descent, just before the inflated airbags (containing the folded-up lander and rover) were released. The rockets disturbed the sandy surface at the location labeled "blast effects." Following release, the airbags bounced and rolled until coming to rest inside Eagle Crater. The lander, in fact, can be seen as a bright spot near the center of Eagle Crater. Meanwhile, the jettisoned parachute and backshell landed to the southwest of Eagle, and the heatshield fell just southwest of Endurance Crater. Opportunity initially examined sedimentary rock outcrops and sandy, windblown regolith within Eagle Crater. Then it was driven by the rover team out of Eagle and on into Endurance Crater. By the end of 2004, Opportunity had left Endurance and was investigating the site where the heatshield impacted the surface. After that, the rover spent much of the year 2005 driving from the heatshield location down to the shallow Erebus Crater. Long-term plans call for driving Opportunity from Erebus to Victoria Crater, where a substantially thicker sequence of layered rock is expected to be found, relative to previous outcrops examined in the craters Endurance and Eagle. "Location near": 2.0°S, 5.6°W "Image width": 300 m scale bar = 984 ft "Illumination from": left |
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Closing in on 'Victoria Crat
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PIA08731
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Closing in on 'Victoria Crater' |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Figure 1 The team managing NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity had set 'Victoria Crater' as a long-term destination even before the rover climbed out of 'Endurance Crater' in December 2004. As of early September 2006, Opportunity has driven more than 7.2 kilometers (4.5 miles) since leaving Endurance and is approaching Victoria. Victoria is the large crater near the bottom of this map made from images taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. The gold line traces Opportunity's path eastward then southward from "Eagle Crater," where it landed, to Endurance Crater, where it spent six months, and nearly to Victoria. The south end of the line indicates Opportunity's location as of the rover's 930th Martian day, or sol, (Sept. 5, 2006). Victoria is about 750 meters (0.47 mile) in diameter, or about six times wider than Endurance and about 35 times wider than Eagle. The scale bar at lower right shows the length of 800 meters (0.50 mile). North is up. |
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Closing in on 'Victoria Crat
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PIA08731
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Closing in on 'Victoria Crater' |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Figure 1 The team managing NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity had set 'Victoria Crater' as a long-term destination even before the rover climbed out of 'Endurance Crater' in December 2004. As of early September 2006, Opportunity has driven more than 7.2 kilometers (4.5 miles) since leaving Endurance and is approaching Victoria. Victoria is the large crater near the bottom of this map made from images taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. The gold line traces Opportunity's path eastward then southward from "Eagle Crater," where it landed, to Endurance Crater, where it spent six months, and nearly to Victoria. The south end of the line indicates Opportunity's location as of the rover's 930th Martian day, or sol, (Sept. 5, 2006). Victoria is about 750 meters (0.47 mile) in diameter, or about six times wider than Endurance and about 35 times wider than Eagle. The scale bar at lower right shows the length of 800 meters (0.50 mile). North is up. |
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'Victoria' on Opportunity's
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PIA08447
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
'Victoria' on Opportunity's Horizon (Orbital View) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This image from the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor highlights the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's approach toward "Victoria Crater." North is to the left. Opportunity's location at sol 804 (April 29, 2006) is marked, as are the left and right edges of Victoria's rim from the rover's point of view. The labeled "promontory" is a bright spot that scientists believe is an outcrop on the far side of the crater. Marked in light purple is a small, 35-meter (115-foot) crater. Victoria Crater is 750 meters (nearly half a mile) in diameter, about six times wider than "Endurance Crater," where Opportunity spent several months in 2004 examining rock layers affected by ancient water. This image is an uncalibrated version that the rover team uses for planning. It has been reprojected and stretched in some places and isn't used for scientific purposes. |
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Intricately Rippled Sand Dep
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PIA03274
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Intricately Rippled Sand Deposits |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
"" Click on the image for Intricately Rippled Sand Deposits (QTVR) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit welcomed the beginning of 2006 on Earth by taking this striking panorama of intricately rippled sand deposits in Gusev Crater on Mars. This is an approximate true-color rendering of the "El Dorado" ripple field provided by Spirit over the New Year's holiday weekend. The view spans about 160 degrees in azimuth from left to right and consists of images acquired by Spirit's panoramic camera on Spirit's 708th and 710th Martian days, or sols, (Dec. 30, 2005 and Jan. 1, 2006). Spirit used the Pancam's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters to capture the colors on Mars. Scientists have eliminated seams between individual frames in the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see. Spirit spent several days acquiring images, spectral data, and compositional and mineralogical information about these large sand deposits before continuing downhill toward "Home Plate." |
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Spirit Beholds Bumpy Boulder
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PIA08439
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Spirit Beholds Bumpy Boulder (False Color) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
As NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit began collecting images for a 360-degree panorama of new terrain, the rover captured this view of a dark boulder with an interesting surface texture. The boulder sits about 40 centimeters (16 inches) tall on Martian sand about 5 meters (16 feet) away from Spirit. It is one of many dark, volcanic rock fragments -- many pocked with rounded holes called vesicles -- littering the slope of "Low Ridge." The rock surface facing the rover is similar in appearance to the surface texture on the outside of lava flows on Earth. Spirit took this false-color image with the panoramic camera on the rover's 810th sol, or Martian day, of exploring Mars (April 13, 2006). This image is a false-color rendering using camera's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters. |
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Spirit Beholds Bumpy Boulder
PIA08440
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Spirit Beholds Bumpy Boulder |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
As NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit began collecting images for a 360-degree panorama of new terrain, the rover captured this view of a dark boulder with an interesting surface texture. The boulder sits about 40 centimeters (16 inches) tall on Martian sand about 5 meters (16 feet) away from Spirit. It is one of many dark, volcanic rock fragments -- many pocked with rounded holes called vesicles -- littering the slope of "Low Ridge." The rock surface facing the rover is similar in appearance to the surface texture on the outside of lava flows on Earth. Spirit took this approximately true-color image with the panoramic camera on the rover's 810th sol, or Martian day, of exploring Mars (April 13, 2006), using the camera's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters. |
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View Northward from Spirit's
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PIA08527
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
View Northward from Spirit's Winter Roost |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
One part of the research program that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is conducting while sitting at a favorable location for wintertime solar energy is the most detailed panorama yet taken on the surface of Mars. This view is a partial preliminary product from the continuing work on the full image, which will be called the "McMurdo Panorama." Spirit's panoramic camera (Pancam) began taking exposures for the McMurdo Panorama on the rover's 814th Martian day (April 18, 2006). The rover has accumulated more than 900 exposures for this panorama so far, through all of the Pancam mineralogy filters and using little or no image compression. Even with a tilt toward the winter sun, the amount of energy available daily is small, so the job will still take one to two more months to complete. This portion of the work in progress looks toward the north. "Husband Hill," which Spirit was climbing a year ago, is on the horizon near the center. "Home Plate" is a between that hill and the rover's current position. Wheel tracks imprinted when Spirit drove south from Home Plate can be seen crossing the middle distance of the image from the center to the right. This is an approximate true-color rendering combining exposures taken through three of the panoramic camera's filters. The filters used are centered on wavelengths of 750 nanometers, 530 nanometers and 430 nanometers. |
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Opportunity Takes a Last Loo
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PIA08700
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Opportunity Takes a Last Look at Rock Exposure Before Heading to 'Victoria Crater' |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recently stopped to analyze an exposure of rock near "Beagle Crater," on a target nicknamed "Baltra." Nearly 100 sols, or Martian days, had passed since Opportunity had last analyzed one of the now-familiar rock exposures seen on the Plains of Meridiani. The rover ground a 3-millimeter-deep (0.12-inch-deep) hole in the rock using the rock abrasion tool on sol 893 (July 29, 2006) while stationed about 25 meters (82 feet) from the southwest rim of Beagle Crater. Scientists wanted to analyze the outcrop one more time before driving the rover onto the ring of smooth material surrounding "Victoria Crater." Opportunity's analysis showed the rock to be very similar in its elemental composition to other exposures encountered during the rover's southward trek across Meridiani Planum. Opportunity acquired the image data shown here shortly after noon on Mars on sol 896 (Aug. 1, 2006) with the panoramic camera (Pancam), after backing up 1 meter (3.3 feet) from Baltra to assure that the target was in sunlight. This is an approximately true-color Pancam image, generated from mathematical combinations of calibrated left-eye images using filters ranging from 432-nanometer to 753-nanometer wavelengths. |
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Opportunity Takes a Last Loo
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PIA08699
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Opportunity Takes a Last Look at Rock Exposure Before Heading to 'Victoria Crater' (False Color) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recently stopped to analyze an exposure of rock near "Beagle Crater," on a target nicknamed "Baltra." Nearly 100 sols, or Martian days, had passed since Opportunity had last analyzed one of the now-familiar rock exposures seen on the Plains of Meridiani. The rover ground a 3-millimeter-deep (0.12-inch-deep) hole in the rock using the rock abrasion tool on sol 893 (July 29, 2006) while stationed about 25 meters (82 feet) from the southwest rim of Beagle Crater. Scientists wanted to analyze the outcrop one more time before driving the rover onto the ring of smooth material surrounding "Victoria Crater." Opportunity's analysis showed the rock to be very similar in its elemental composition to other exposures encountered during the rover's southward trek across Meridiani Planum. Opportunity acquired the image data shown here shortly after noon on Mars on sol 896 (Aug. 1, 2006) with the panoramic camera (Pancam), after backing up 1 meter (3.3 feet) from Baltra to assure that the target was in sunlight. This is a false-color image, made using the Pancam's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters. The false color emphasizes differences in rock and soil materials. |
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Opportunity Traverse Map, 'E
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PIA08811
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Opportunity Traverse Map, 'Eagle' to 'Victoria' |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Annotated Image NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity reached the rim of "Victoria Crater" on Sept. 27, 2006, during the 951st Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work in the Meridian Planum region of Mars. Opportunity drove 9.28 kilometers (5.77 miles) in the explorations that took it from "Eagle Crater," where it landed in January 2004, eastward to "Endurance Crater," which it investigated for about half of 2004, then southward to Victoria. This map of Opportunity's trek so far is overlaid onto images taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. Victoria is about 800 meters (one-half mile) in diameter, or about five times wider than Endurance and 40 times wider than Eagle. The scale bar at lower right shows the length of 800 meters (0.50 mile). North is up. The Martian sol dates in the annotated image are as follows: sol 58 was March 24, 2004 sol 315 was December 12, 2004 sol 446 was April 26, 2005 sol 654 was November 25, 2005 sol 833 was May 28, 2006 sol 898 was August 3, 2006 sol 952 was September 28, 2006 |
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Mars Rover at Victoria Crate
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| Title |
Mars Rover at Victoria Crater Imaged from Orbit |
| Explanation |
An unusual spot has been found on Mars that scientists believe is not natural in origin. The spot appears mobile and is now hypothesized to be a robot [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot ] created by an intelligent species [ http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,989714,00.html ] alien to Mars. In fact, the spot appears to be NASA's robotic Opportunity rover currently rolling across Mars. The ability to see the Martian rover from orbit has recently been demonstrated by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ ] on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Reconnaissance_Orbiter ] (MRO). The new spacecraft achieved orbit around Mars in 2006 March. Last week, MRO imaged the location of Victoria Crater [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061002.html ] and the rover Opportunity [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051214.html ] that had just arrived there. In the above image [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08816 ] at spectacularly high resolution [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060410.html ], objects about one meter in size are resolved, and this includes the rolling rover. Such images may help scientists better determine if any safe path exists for Opportunity to enter large crater. In the inset image [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08813 ] on the upper left, the whole of Victoria Crater [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_crater ] was also imaged by MRO. |
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Victoria Crater' at Meridian
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| title |
Victoria Crater' at Meridiani Planum |
| date |
10.06.2006 |
| description |
This image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows "Victoria crater," an impact crater at Meridiani Planum, near the equator of Mars. The crater is approximately 800 meters (half a mile) in diameter. It has a distinctive scalloped shape to its rim, caused by erosion and downhill movement of crater wall material. Layered sedimentary rocks are exposed along the inner wall of the crater, and boulders that have fallen from the crater wall are visible on the crater floor. The floor of the crater is occupied by a striking field of sand dunes. Since January 2004, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has been operating at Meridiani Planum. Five days before this image was taken, Opportunity arrived at the rim of Victoria crater, after a drive of more than 9 kilometers (over 5 miles). The rover can be seen in this image, at roughly the "ten o'clock" position along the rim of the crater. This view is a portion of an image taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on Oct. 3, 2006. The complete image is centered at minus7.8 degrees latitude, 279.5 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 297 kilometers (185.6 miles). At this distance the image scale is 29.7 centimeters (12 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects about 89 centimeters (35 inches) across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 centimeters (10 inches) per pixel and north is up. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:30 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 59.7 degrees, thus the sun was about 30.3 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 113.6 degrees, the season on Mars is northern summer. This is an enhanced-color view generated from images acquired by the HiRISE camera using its red filter and blue-green filter. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mroor http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/UA |
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Low Sun from 'Low Ridge'
PIA08423
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Low Sun from 'Low Ridge' |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
A spectacular field of Martian sand ripples separates NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit from the slopes of "Husband Hill." It has been 200 Martian days, or sols, since the rover started a descent from the top of the peak to the rover's current position on "Low Ridge." Looking back to the north on sol 813 (April 17, 2006), Spirit acquired this blue-filter (436-nanometer) view with the right panoramic camera (Pancam) while the Sun was low in the sky late in the afternoon. Because of the low-angle lighting (sunlight is coming from the left), images like this provide superb views of subtle textures in the topography both near and far. Husband Hill, where the rover was perched late last summer, rises prominently just left of center in this view. A 150-meter wide (500 foot) field of curving sand ripples named "El Dorado" lies at the base of Husband Hill. By collecting photos like this at different times of day, when lighting comes from different directions, scientists can distinguish surface properties such as color and reflectivity from topography and roughness. By separating these components they can map more details of the geologic terrain, providing new clues about the geologic history of Gusev Crater. |
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Disturbed Soil Along the Pat
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PIA08495
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Disturbed Soil Along the Path from 'Tyrone' (Close-Up) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This view shows tracks created by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit while traveling from the bright soil deposit seen in the upper right, informally named "Tyrone," to the vehicle's current location, dubbed "Winter Haven." Spirit parked at "Winter Haven" on a small north-facing slope to maximize solar energy input during the Martian winter. This stayover presents an opportunity to do more intensive, long-term investigations of the rover's surroundings than are typically possible during warmer seasons when the vehicle spends more time driving from place to place. One of these activities is assessing the influence of wind by monitoring surface changes. Experience from the Viking Landers of the 1970s suggests that wind-related surface changes are more likely to occur in recently disturbed soil. Shortly after arriving at Winter Haven, Spirit obtained this high-resolution view of disturbed soil for comparison with future images to help reveal any wind-related surface changes. The view is a mosaic of images of the rover's tracks, obtained through the 750-nanomater filter in the left eye of Spirit's panoramic camera on the rover's 835th Martian day, or sol (May 9, 2006). |
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Opportunity Approaches the B
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PIA08631
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Opportunity Approaches the Bowl of Beagle Crater (False Color) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity acquired this false-color image of the rim of the 35-meter (115-foot) diameter Beagle Crater on Martian day, or sol, 894 (July 30, 2006) using the panoramic camera's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters. At the time the rover was about 25 meters (82 feet) from Beagle Crater, looking east-southeast. The image reveals ejecta blocks near the rover, the largest of which is about 50 centimeters (20 inches) across. The image also shows a portion of the eastern interior rim of Beagle Crater, which appears composed of jumbled, angular blocks of brighter and darker outcrop rocks. The rover will drive to the rim of Beagle and acquire an extensive color panorama of the crater rim and interior in the coming sols. |
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Rock Abrasion Tool Exhibits
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PIA08625
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Rock Abrasion Tool Exhibits the Deep Red Pigment of Mars |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
During recent soil-brushing experiments, the rock abrasion tool on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit became covered with dust, as shown here. An abundance of iron oxide minerals in the dust gave the device a reddish-brown veneer. Investigators were using the rock abrasion tool to uncover successive layers of soil in an attempt to reveal near-surface stratigraphy. Afterward, remnant dirt clods were visible on both the bit and the brush of the tool. Designers of the rock abrasion tool at Honeybee Robotics and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory developed a plan to run the brush on the rock abrasion tool in reverse to dislodge the dirt and return the tool to normal operation. Subsequent communications with the rover revealed that the procedure is working and the rock abrasion tool remains healthy. Spirit acquired this approximately true-color image with the panoramic camera on the rover's 893rd sol, or Martian day (July 8, 2006). The image combines exposures taken through three of the camera's filters, centered on wavelengths of 750 nanometers, 530 nanometers, and 430 nanometers. |
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Spirit Greets New Terrain, N
…
PIA08096
Sol (our sun)
Navigation Camera
| Title |
Spirit Greets New Terrain, New Season on Mars |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
In time to survive the Martian winter, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has driven to and parked on a north-facing slope in the "Columbia Hills." This vantage point will optimize solar power during the upcoming winter season and maximize the vehicle's ability to communicate with the NASA Odyssey orbiter. Top science priorities for the coming months are a detailed, 360-degree panorama using all 13 filters of the panoramic camera, a study of surface and subsurface soil properties, and monitoring of the atmosphere and its changes. The planned subsurface soil experiments will be a first for the Mars Exploration Rover mission. To conduct the study, Spirit will use the brush on the rock abrasion tool to carefully sweep away soil, much the way an archaeologist uses a brush to uncover artifacts. At each level, Spirit will measure the mineral and chemical properties and assess the physical nature (such as grain size, texture, hardness) of the material, using the Athena science instruments on the robotic arm. Of particular interest are vertical variations in soil characteristics that may indicate water-related deposition of sulfates and other minerals. Panoramic images will provide important information about the nature and origin of surrounding rocks and soils. Spirit will also study the mineralogy of the surrounding terrain using the thermal emission spectrometer and search for surface changes caused by high winds. After the winter solstice in August, depending on energy levels, scientists may direct the rover to pivot around the disabled, right front wheel to get different targets within reach of the arm. When the winter season is over and solar energy levels rise again, scientists will direct Spirit to leave its winter campaign site and continue examining the "Columbia Hills." Spirit acquired the images in this mosaic with the navigation camera on the rover's 807th Martian day, or sol, of exploring Gusev Crater on Mars (April 11, 2006). Approaching from the east are the rover's tracks, including a shallow trench created by the dragging front wheel. On the horizon, in the center of the panorama, is "McCool Hill." This view is presented in a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction. |
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Stack of Layers at 'Payson'
…
PIA08065
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Stack of Layers at 'Payson' in Meridiani Planum |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The stack of fine layers exposed at a ledge called "Payson" on the western edge of "Erebus Crater" in Mars' Meridiani Planum shows a diverse range of primary and secondary sedimentary textures formed billions of years ago. These structures likely result from an interplay between windblown and water-involved processes. The panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity acquired the exposures for this image on the rover's 749th Martian day (March 3, 2006) This view is an approximately true-color rendering mathematically generated from separate images taken through all of the left Pancam's 432-nanometer to 753-nanometer filters. |
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Stretched View Showing 'Vict
…
PIA08446
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Stretched View Showing 'Victoria' |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Stretched View Showing 'Victoria' This pair of images from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity served as initial confirmation that the two-year-old rover is within sight of "Victoria Crater," which it has been approaching for more than a year. Engineers on the rover team were unsure whether Opportunity would make it as far as Victoria, but scientists hoped for the chance to study such a large crater with their roving geologist. Victoria Crater is 800 meters (nearly half a mile) in diameter, about six times wider than "Endurance Crater," where Opportunity spent several months in 2004 examining rock layers affected by ancient water. When scientists using orbital data calculated that they should be able to detect Victoria's rim in rover images, they scrutinized frames taken in the direction of the crater by the panoramic camera. To positively characterize the subtle horizon profile of the crater and some of the features leading up to it, researchers created a vertically-stretched image (top) from a mosaic of regular frames from the panoramic camera (bottom), taken on Opportunity's 804th Martian day (April 29, 2006). The stretched image makes mild nearby dunes look like more threatening peaks, but that is only a result of the exaggerated vertical dimension. This vertical stretch technique was first applied to Viking Lander 2 panoramas by Philip Stooke, of the University of Western Ontario, Canada, to help locate the lander with respect to orbiter images. Vertically stretching the image allows features to be more readily identified by the Mars Exploration Rover science team. The bright white dot near the horizon to the right of center (barely visible without labeling or zoom-in) is thought to be a light-toned outcrop on the far wall of the crater, suggesting that the rover can see over the low rim of Victoria. In figure 1, the northeast and southeast rims are labeled in bright green. Finally, the light purple lines and arrow highlight a small crater. |
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Stretched View Showing 'Vict
…
PIA08446
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Stretched View Showing 'Victoria' |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Stretched View Showing 'Victoria' This pair of images from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity served as initial confirmation that the two-year-old rover is within sight of "Victoria Crater," which it has been approaching for more than a year. Engineers on the rover team were unsure whether Opportunity would make it as far as Victoria, but scientists hoped for the chance to study such a large crater with their roving geologist. Victoria Crater is 800 meters (nearly half a mile) in diameter, about six times wider than "Endurance Crater," where Opportunity spent several months in 2004 examining rock layers affected by ancient water. When scientists using orbital data calculated that they should be able to detect Victoria's rim in rover images, they scrutinized frames taken in the direction of the crater by the panoramic camera. To positively characterize the subtle horizon profile of the crater and some of the features leading up to it, researchers created a vertically-stretched image (top) from a mosaic of regular frames from the panoramic camera (bottom), taken on Opportunity's 804th Martian day (April 29, 2006). The stretched image makes mild nearby dunes look like more threatening peaks, but that is only a result of the exaggerated vertical dimension. This vertical stretch technique was first applied to Viking Lander 2 panoramas by Philip Stooke, of the University of Western Ontario, Canada, to help locate the lander with respect to orbiter images. Vertically stretching the image allows features to be more readily identified by the Mars Exploration Rover science team. The bright white dot near the horizon to the right of center (barely visible without labeling or zoom-in) is thought to be a light-toned outcrop on the far wall of the crater, suggesting that the rover can see over the low rim of Victoria. In figure 1, the northeast and southeast rims are labeled in bright green. Finally, the light purple lines and arrow highlight a small crater. |
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Viking 2's 30th!
PIA08723
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Viking 2's 30th! |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
3 September 2006 Viking 2 landed 30 years ago today, on 3 September 1976. It was the second of the two Viking landings on Mars. Viking 1 touched down on 20 July 1976. Since the Viking missions of the 1970s, only 3 additional spacecraft have successfully landed and conducted their scientific investigations: Mars Pathfinder (1997), Mars Exploration Rover Spirit (2004-present), and Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity (2004-present). Two new U.S. Mars landed missions are currently in the works: Phoenix, launching in August 2007, and MSL (Mars Science Laboratory), launching in 2009. As with the 30th anniversary of the Viking 1 landing in July (see PIA08616 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08616 ]), for the Viking 2 30th anniversary, we show here the best Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) view of the landing site. On that day 30 years ago, Viking 2 landed in Utopia Planitia, west of Mie Crater, near 48.0°N, 225.7°W. At the time, it was considered that this might be a good place to look for evidence of life in the martian regolith. This middle north latitude site is often obscured by clouds in the winter and dust hazes in the spring. The surface was observed by the lander to be dusted by thin coatings of frost during the winter months. The exact location of the Viking 2 lander was uncertain until MOC obtained the high resolution view, shown above, in 2004. These images were previously released by the MOC team on 5 May 2005, along with what was then considered to be the best candidate for the Mars Polar Lander site (see "MGS Finds Viking 2 Lander and Mars Polar Lander (Maybe)" [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/05/05/ ]). The candidate Polar Lander site was further imaged in 2005 and found not to be the lander (see PIA03044 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03044 ]). Figure 1 shows (A) a mosaic of Viking Orbiter images obtained in the 1970s at a resolution of 75 m/pixel, (B) a typical MGS MOC narrow angle camera view at about 3 meters/pixel (25x higher resolution than the Viking images), and (C, D) sections of a MOC image obtained at ~0.5 m/pixel. Figure 2 shows an extreme enlargement of the feature identified as Viking Lander 2, compared to a schematic drawing of the lander in the orientation determined during the Viking mission. |
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Viking 2's 30th!
PIA08723
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Viking 2's 30th! |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
3 September 2006 Viking 2 landed 30 years ago today, on 3 September 1976. It was the second of the two Viking landings on Mars. Viking 1 touched down on 20 July 1976. Since the Viking missions of the 1970s, only 3 additional spacecraft have successfully landed and conducted their scientific investigations: Mars Pathfinder (1997), Mars Exploration Rover Spirit (2004-present), and Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity (2004-present). Two new U.S. Mars landed missions are currently in the works: Phoenix, launching in August 2007, and MSL (Mars Science Laboratory), launching in 2009. As with the 30th anniversary of the Viking 1 landing in July (see PIA08616 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08616 ]), for the Viking 2 30th anniversary, we show here the best Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) view of the landing site. On that day 30 years ago, Viking 2 landed in Utopia Planitia, west of Mie Crater, near 48.0°N, 225.7°W. At the time, it was considered that this might be a good place to look for evidence of life in the martian regolith. This middle north latitude site is often obscured by clouds in the winter and dust hazes in the spring. The surface was observed by the lander to be dusted by thin coatings of frost during the winter months. The exact location of the Viking 2 lander was uncertain until MOC obtained the high resolution view, shown above, in 2004. These images were previously released by the MOC team on 5 May 2005, along with what was then considered to be the best candidate for the Mars Polar Lander site (see "MGS Finds Viking 2 Lander and Mars Polar Lander (Maybe)" [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/05/05/ ]). The candidate Polar Lander site was further imaged in 2005 and found not to be the lander (see PIA03044 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03044 ]). Figure 1 shows (A) a mosaic of Viking Orbiter images obtained in the 1970s at a resolution of 75 m/pixel, (B) a typical MGS MOC narrow angle camera view at about 3 meters/pixel (25x higher resolution than the Viking images), and (C, D) sections of a MOC image obtained at ~0.5 m/pixel. Figure 2 shows an extreme enlargement of the feature identified as Viking Lander 2, compared to a schematic drawing of the lander in the orientation determined during the Viking mission. |
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Viking 2's 30th!
PIA08723
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Viking 2's 30th! |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
3 September 2006 Viking 2 landed 30 years ago today, on 3 September 1976. It was the second of the two Viking landings on Mars. Viking 1 touched down on 20 July 1976. Since the Viking missions of the 1970s, only 3 additional spacecraft have successfully landed and conducted their scientific investigations: Mars Pathfinder (1997), Mars Exploration Rover Spirit (2004-present), and Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity (2004-present). Two new U.S. Mars landed missions are currently in the works: Phoenix, launching in August 2007, and MSL (Mars Science Laboratory), launching in 2009. As with the 30th anniversary of the Viking 1 landing in July (see PIA08616 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08616 ]), for the Viking 2 30th anniversary, we show here the best Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) view of the landing site. On that day 30 years ago, Viking 2 landed in Utopia Planitia, west of Mie Crater, near 48.0°N, 225.7°W. At the time, it was considered that this might be a good place to look for evidence of life in the martian regolith. This middle north latitude site is often obscured by clouds in the winter and dust hazes in the spring. The surface was observed by the lander to be dusted by thin coatings of frost during the winter months. The exact location of the Viking 2 lander was uncertain until MOC obtained the high resolution view, shown above, in 2004. These images were previously released by the MOC team on 5 May 2005, along with what was then considered to be the best candidate for the Mars Polar Lander site (see "MGS Finds Viking 2 Lander and Mars Polar Lander (Maybe)" [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/05/05/ ]). The candidate Polar Lander site was further imaged in 2005 and found not to be the lander (see PIA03044 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03044 ]). Figure 1 shows (A) a mosaic of Viking Orbiter images obtained in the 1970s at a resolution of 75 m/pixel, (B) a typical MGS MOC narrow angle camera view at about 3 meters/pixel (25x higher resolution than the Viking images), and (C, D) sections of a MOC image obtained at ~0.5 m/pixel. Figure 2 shows an extreme enlargement of the feature identified as Viking Lander 2, compared to a schematic drawing of the lander in the orientation determined during the Viking mission. |
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Looking for Changes in Soil
…
PIA08455
Sol (our sun)
Microscopic Imager
| Title |
Looking for Changes in Soil over Time |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The grinding teeth have worn away on the rock abrasion tool of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit (after exposing interiors of five time more rock targets than its design goal of three rocks) but the tool still has useful wire bristles for brushing targets. In this image, a figure-eight-like imprint in the Martian soil marks the spot where Spirit has begun examining subsurface deposits layer by layer. The circular indentations resulted from brushing by the rock abrasion tool, one of several instruments on the rover's robotic arm. As an effective brushing tool it is now fulfilling a soil profiling experiment on a target called "Progress." The experiment is a multi-step process of carefully brushing away fine layers of soil and then using the Moessbauer and alpha particle X-ray spectrometers, microscopic imager, and panoramic camera to examine the exposed surfaces during the long Martian winter. This view is a mosaic of exposures taken by Spirit's microscopic imager during the rover's 830th Martian day (May 4, 2006). The total area shown is about 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) square. |
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Paved Path for Opportunity
PIA08084
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Paved Path for Opportunity |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
As NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity continues a southward trek from "Erebus Crater" toward "Victoria Crater," the terrain consists of large sand ripples and patches of flat-lying rock outcrops, as shown in this image. Whenever possible, rover planners keep Opportunity on the "pavement" for best mobility. This false-color image mosaic was assembled using images acquired by the panoramic camera on Opportunity's 784th sol (April 8, 2006) at about 11:45 a.m. local solar time. The camera used its 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer and 432-nanometer filters. This view shows a portion of the outcrop named "Bosque," including rover wheel tracks, fractured and finely-layered outcrop rocks and smaller, dark cobbles littered across the surface. |
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Opportunity's Outcrop Outing
PIA08480
Sol (our sun)
Navigation Camera
| Title |
Opportunity's Outcrop Outing |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This composite of three images from the navigation camera shows the view from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity toward the southeast, in the direction of "Victoria Crater," on the rover's 817th Martian day, or sol (May 12, 2006). To reach Victoria Crater, still about 1,100 meters (two-thirds of a mile) from this location, the rover must navigate among the large ripples visible on the left and ahead in the distance. On this sol, Opportunity was preparing to deploy its arm instrument suite to analyze a rock on the outcrop pavement. At upper right is a small depression that was the target of further imaging on sols 825 and 826 (May 20 and 21, 2006). |
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'McMurdo' Panorama from Spir
…
PIA01906
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
'McMurdo' Panorama from Spirit's 'Winter Haven' (False Color) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Spirit has stayed busy at Winter Haven during the past six months even without driving. In addition to acquiring this spectacular panorama, the rover team has also acquired significant new assessments of the elemental chemistry and mineralogy of rocks and soil targets within reach of the rover's arm. The team plans soon to have Spirit drive to a very nearby spot on Low Ridge to access different rock and soil samples while maintaining a good solar panel tilt toward the sun for the rest of the Martian winter. Despite the long span of time needed for acquiring this 360-degree view -- a few images at a time every few sols over a total of 119 sols because the available power was so low -- the lighting and color remain remarkably uniform across the mosaic. This fact attests to the repeatability of wintertime sols on Mars in the southern hemisphere. This is the time of year when Mars is farthest from the sun, so there is much less dust storm and dust devil activity than at other times of the year. This is a false-color, red-green-blue composite panorama generated from images taken through the Pancam's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters., This 360-degree view, called the "McMurdo" panorama, comes from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. From April through October 2006, Spirit has stayed on a small hill known as "Low Ridge." There, the rover's solar panels are tilted toward the sun to maintain enough solar power for Spirit to keep making scientific observations throughout the winter on southern Mars. This view of the surroundings from Spirit's "Winter Haven" is presented in exaggerated color to enhance color differences among rocks, soils and sand. Oct. 26, 2006, marks Spirit's 1,000th sol of what was planned as a 90-sol mission. (A sol is a Martian day, which lasts 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds). The rover has lived through the most challenging part of its second Martian winter. Its solar power levels are rising again. Spring in the southern hemisphere of Mars will begin in early 2007. Before that, the rover team hopes to start driving Spirit again toward scientifically interesting places in the "Inner Basin" and "Columbia Hills" inside Gusev crater. The McMurdo panorama is providing team members with key pieces of scientific and topographic information for choosing where to continue Spirit's exploration adventure. The Pancam began shooting component images of this panorama during Spirit's sol 814 (April 18, 2006) and completed the part shown here on sol 932 (Aug. 17, 2006). The panorama was acquired using all 13 of the Pancam's color filters, using lossless compression for the red and blue stereo filters, and only modest levels of compression on the remaining filters. The overall panorama consists of 1,449 Pancam images and represents a raw data volume of nearly 500 megabytes. It is thus the largest, highest-fidelity view of Mars acquired from either rover. Additional photo coverage of the parts of the rover deck not shown here was completed on sol 980 (Oct. 5 , 2006). The team is completing the processing and mosaicking of those final pieces of the panorama, and that image will be released on the Web shortly to augment this McMurdo panorama view. This beautiful scene reveals a tremendous amount of detail in Spirit's surroundings. Many dark, porous-textured volcanic rocks can be seen around the rover, including many on Low Ridge. Two rocks to the right of center, brighter and smoother-looking in this image and more reflective in infrared observations by Spirit's miniature thermal emission spectrometer, are thought to be meteorites. On the right, "Husband Hill" on the horizon, the rippled "El Dorado" sand dune field near the base of that hill, and lighter-toned "Home Plate" below the dunes provide context for Spirit's travels since mid-2005. Left of center, tracks and a trench dug by Spirit's right-front wheel, which no longer rotates, have exposed bright underlying material. This bright material is evidence of sulfur-rich salty minerals in the subsurface, which may provide clues about the watery past of this part of Gusev Crater. |
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'McMurdo' Panorama from Spir
…
PIA01905
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
'McMurdo' Panorama from Spirit's 'Winter Haven' (Color Stereo) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This 360-degree view, called the "McMurdo" panorama, comes from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. From April through October 2006, Spirit has stayed on a small hill known as "Low Ridge." There, the rover's solar panels are tilted toward the sun to maintain enough solar power for Spirit to keep making scientific observations throughout the winter on southern Mars. This view of the surroundings from Spirit's "Winter Haven" is presented as a stereo anaglyph to show the scene three-dimensionally when viewed through red-blue glasses (with the red lens on the left). Oct. 26, 2006, marks Spirit's 1,000th sol of what was planned as a 90-sol mission. (A sol is a Martian day, which lasts 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds). The rover has lived through the most challenging part of its second Martian winter. Its solar power levels are rising again. Spring in the southern hemisphere of Mars will begin in early 2007. Before that, the rover team hopes to start driving Spirit again toward scientifically interesting places in the "Inner Basin" and "Columbia Hills" inside Gusev crater. The McMurdo panorama is providing team members with key pieces of scientific and topographic information for choosing where to continue Spirit's exploration adventure. The Pancam began shooting component images of this panorama during Spirit's sol 814 (April 18, 2006) and completed the part shown here on sol 932 (Aug. 17, 2006). The panorama was acquired using all 13 of the Pancam's color filters, using lossless compression for the red and blue stereo filters, and only modest levels of compression on the remaining filters. The overall panorama consists of 1,449 Pancam images and represents a raw data volume of nearly 500 megabytes. It is thus the largest, highest-fidelity view of Mars acquired from either rover. Additional photo coverage of the parts of the rover deck not shown here was completed on sol 980 (Oct. 5 , 2006). The team is completing the processing and mosaicking of those final pieces of the panorama, and that image will be released on the Web shortly to augment this McMurdo panorama view. This beautiful scene reveals a tremendous amount of detail in Spirit's surroundings. Many dark, porous-textured volcanic rocks can be seen around the rover, including many on Low Ridge. Two rocks to the right of center, brighter and smoother-looking in this image and more reflective in infrared observations by Spirit's miniature thermal emission spectrometer, are thought to be meteorites. On the right, "Husband Hill" on the horizon, the rippled "El Dorado" sand dune field near the base of that hill, and lighter-toned "Home Plate" below the dunes provide context for Spirit's travels since mid-2005. Left of center, tracks and a trench dug by Spirit's right-front wheel, which no longer rotates, have exposed bright underlying material. This bright material is evidence of sulfur-rich salty minerals in the subsurface, which may provide clues about, the watery past of this part of Gusev Crater. Spirit has stayed busy at Winter Haven during the past six months even without driving. In addition to acquiring this spectacular panorama, the rover team has also acquired significant new assessments of the elemental chemistry and mineralogy of rocks and soil targets within reach of the rover's arm. The team plans soon to have Spirit drive to a very nearby spot on Low Ridge to access different rock and soil samples while maintaining a good solar panel tilt toward the sun for the rest of the Martian winter. Despite the long span of time needed for acquiring this 360-degree view -- a few images at a time every few sols over a total of 119 sols because the available power was so low -- the lighting and color remain remarkably uniform across the mosaic. This fact attests to the repeatability of wintertime sols on Mars in the southern hemisphere. This is the time of year when Mars is farthest from the sun, so there is much less dust storm and dust devil activity than at other times of the year. The left-eye and right-eye mosaics combined into this anaglyph were generated using the Pancam's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 480-nanometer filters from the left camera and the 750-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters from the right camera, color balanced in such a way so that when the combination is fused by the viewer's eye and brain, the scene is perceived in three dimensions in natural or approximately true color. |
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'McMurdo' Panorama from Spir
…
PIA01904
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
'McMurdo' Panorama from Spirit's 'Winter Haven' (Stereo) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This 360-degree view, called the "McMurdo" panorama, comes from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. From April through October 2006, Spirit has stayed on a small hill known as "Low Ridge." There, the rover's solar panels are tilted toward the sun to maintain enough solar power for Spirit to keep making scientific observations throughout the winter on southern Mars. This view of the surroundings from Spirit's "Winter Haven" is presented as a stereo anaglyph to show the scene three-dimensionally when viewed through red-blue glasses (with the red lens on the left). Oct. 26, 2006, marks Spirit's 1,000th sol of what was planned as a 90-sol mission. (A sol is a Martian day, which lasts 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds). The rover has lived through the most challenging part of its second Martian winter. Its solar power levels are rising again. Spring in the southern hemisphere of Mars will begin in early 2007. Before that, the rover team hopes to start driving Spirit again toward scientifically interesting places in the "Inner Basin" and "Columbia Hills" inside Gusev crater. The McMurdo panorama is providing team members with key pieces of scientific and topographic information for choosing where to continue Spirit's exploration adventure. The Pancam began shooting component images of this panorama during Spirit's sol 814 (April 18, 2006) and completed the part shown here on sol 932 (Aug. 17, 2006). The panorama was acquired using all 13 of the Pancam's color filters, using lossless compression for the red and blue stereo filters, and only modest levels of compression on the remaining filters. The overall panorama consists of 1,449 Pancam images and represents a raw data volume of nearly 500 megabytes. It is thus the largest, highest-fidelity view of Mars acquired from either rover. Additional photo coverage of the parts of the rover deck not shown here was completed on sol 980 (Oct. 5 , 2006). The team is completing the processing and mosaicking of those final pieces of the panorama, and that image will be released on the Web shortly to augment this McMurdo panorama view. This beautiful scene reveals a tremendous amount of detail in Spirit's surroundings. Many dark, porous-textured volcanic rocks can be seen around the rover, including many on Low Ridge. Two rocks to the right of center, brighter and smoother-looking in this image and more reflective in infrared observations by Spirit's miniature thermal emission spectrometer, are thought to be meteorites. On the right, "Husband Hill" on the horizon, the rippled "El Dorado" sand dune field near the base of that hill, and lighter-toned "Home Plate" below the dunes provide context for Spirit's travels since mid-2005. Left of center, tracks and a trench dug by Spirit's right-front wheel, which no longer rotates, have exposed bright underlying material. This bright material is evidence of sulfur-rich salty minerals in the subsurface, which may provide clues about, the watery past of this part of Gusev Crater. Spirit has stayed busy at Winter Haven during the past six months even without driving. In addition to acquiring this spectacular panorama, the rover team has also acquired significant new assessments of the elemental chemistry and mineralogy of rocks and soil targets within reach of the rover's arm. The team plans soon to have Spirit drive to a very nearby spot on Low Ridge to access different rock and soil samples while maintaining a good solar panel tilt toward the sun for the rest of the Martian winter. Despite the long span of time needed for acquiring this 360-degree view -- a few images at a time every few sols over a total of 119 sols because the available power was so low -- the lighting and color remain remarkably uniform across the mosaic. This fact attests to the repeatability of wintertime sols on Mars in the southern hemisphere. This is the time of year when Mars is farthest from the sun, so there is much less dust storm and dust devil activity than at other times of the year. The left-eye and right-eye mosaics combined into this anaglyph were generated from a hybrid combination of the Pancam's near-infrared and blue filters to bring out details that are otherwise visible only in some of the filters. |
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Opportunity Rolls Free Again
…
PIA08531
Sol (our sun)
Hazard-Avoidance Camera
| Title |
Opportunity Rolls Free Again (Left Front Wheel) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This animated piece illustrates the recent escape of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity from dangerous, loose material on the vast plains leading to the rover's next long-term target, "Victoria Crater." A series of images of the rover's left front wheel, taken by the front hazard-avoidance camera, make up this brief movie. It chronicles the challenge Opportunity faced to free itself from a ripple dubbed "Jammerbugt." The rover's wheels became partially embedded in the ripple at the end of a drive on Opportunity's 833rd Martian day, or sol (May 28, 2006). The images in this clip were taken on sols 836 through 841 (May 31 through June 5, 2006). Scientists and engineers who had been elated at the meters of progress the rover had been making in earlier drives were happy for even centimeters of advance per sol as they maneuvered their explorer through the slippery material of Jammerbugt. The wheels reached solid footing on a rock outcrop on the final sol of this sequence. The science and engineering teams appropriately chose the ripple's informal from name the name of a bay on the north coast of Denmark. Jammerbugt, or Jammerbugten, loosely translated, means Bay of Lamentation or Bay of Wailing. The shipping route from the North Sea to the Baltic passes Jammerbugt on its way around the northern tip of Jutland. This has always been an important trade route and many ships still pass by the bay. The prevailing wind directions are typically northwest to southwest with the strongest winds and storms tending to blow from the northwest. A northwesterly wind will blow straight into the Jammerbugt, towards shore. Therefore, in the age of sail, many ships sank there during storms. The shore is sandy, but can have strong waves, so running aground was very dangerous even though there are no rocks. Fortunately, Opportunity weathered its "Jammerbugt" and is again on its way toward Victoria Crater. |
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Opportunity Rolls Free Again
…
PIA08530
Sol (our sun)
Hazard-Avoidance Camera
| Title |
Opportunity Rolls Free Again (Right Front Wheel) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This animated piece illustrates the recent escape of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity from dangerous, loose material on the vast plains leading to the rover's next long-term target, "Victoria Crater." A series of images of the rover's right front wheel, taken by the front hazard-avoidance camera, make up this brief movie. It chronicles the challenge Opportunity faced to free itself from a ripple dubbed "Jammerbugt." The rover's wheels became partially embedded in the ripple at the end of a drive on Opportunity's 833rd Martian day, or sol (May 28, 2006). The images in this clip were taken on sols 836 through 841 (May 31 through June 5, 2006). Scientists and engineers who had been elated at the meters of progress the rover had been making in earlier drives were happy for even centimeters of advance per sol as they maneuvered their explorer through the slippery material of Jammerbugt. The wheels reached solid footing on a rock outcrop on the final sol of this sequence. The science and engineering teams appropriately chose the ripple's informal from name the name of a bay on the north coast of Denmark. Jammerbugt, or Jammerbugten, loosely translated, means Bay of Lamentation or Bay of Wailing. The shipping route from the North Sea to the Baltic passes Jammerbugt on its way around the northern tip of Jutland. This has always been an important trade route and many ships still pass by the bay. The prevailing wind directions are typically northwest to southwest with the strongest winds and storms tending to blow from the northwest. A northwesterly wind will blow straight into the Jammerbugt, towards shore. Therefore, in the age of sail, many ships sank there during storms. The shore is sandy, but can have strong waves, so running aground was very dangerous even though there are no rocks. Fortunately, Opportunity weathered its "Jammerbugt" and is again on its way toward Victoria Crater. |
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Spirit Scans Winter Haven (F
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PIA08094
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Spirit Scans Winter Haven (False Color) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
At least three different kinds of rocks await scientific analysis at the place where NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit will likely spend several months of Martian winter. They are visible in this picture, which the panoramic camera on Spirit acquired during the rover's 809th sol, or Martian day, of exploring Mars (April 12, 2006). Paper-thin layers of light-toned, jagged-edged rocks protrude horizontally from beneath small sand drifts, a light gray rock with smooth, rounded edges sits atop the sand drifts, and several dark gray to black, angular rocks with vesicles (small holes) typical of hardened lava lie scattered across the sand. This view is a false-color rendering that combines images taken through the panoramic camera's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters. |
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Spirit Scans Winter Haven
PIA08095
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Spirit Scans Winter Haven |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
At least three different kinds of rocks await scientific analysis at the place where NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit will likely spend several months of Martian winter. They are visible in this picture, which the panoramic camera on Spirit acquired during the rover's 809th sol, or Martian day, of exploring Mars (April 12, 2006). Paper-thin layers of light-toned, jagged-edged rocks protrude horizontally from beneath small sand drifts, a light gray rock with smooth, rounded edges sits atop the sand drifts, and several dark gray to black, angular rocks with vesicles (small holes) typical of hardened lava lie scattered across the sand. This view is an approximately true-color rendering that combines images taken through the panoramic camera's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters. |
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Oblique View of Columbia Hil
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PIA09087
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Oblique View of Columbia Hills |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Annotated Version This perspective view looking toward the northeast shows part of the Columbia Hills range inside Gusev Crater. At the center is the winter campaign site of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. On its 805th Martian day, or sol, (April 8, 2006), Spirit was parked on a slope tilting 11 degrees to the north to maximize sunlight on the solar panels during the southern winter season. Science observations were formulated to take advantage of the long time during which the rover was parked. The plan focused on two tasks: tracking atmospheric and surface dynamics by periodically surveying the surface and atmosphere, and extensively examining surrounding terrains, rocks and soils using the panoramic camera and the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, coupled with long duration measurements using the alpha particle X-ray and Moessbauer spectrometers of rock and soil targets. For reference, the feature known as "Home Plate" is approximately 90 meters (295 feet) wide. An image from Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbital Camera, catalogued as E03_00012 and courtesy Malin Space Science Systems, was used as the base image for this figure. The perspective was generated using elevation data generated from analyses of the camera's stereo images by the U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz. |
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Oblique View of Columbia Hil
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PIA09087
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Oblique View of Columbia Hills |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Annotated Version This perspective view looking toward the northeast shows part of the Columbia Hills range inside Gusev Crater. At the center is the winter campaign site of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. On its 805th Martian day, or sol, (April 8, 2006), Spirit was parked on a slope tilting 11 degrees to the north to maximize sunlight on the solar panels during the southern winter season. Science observations were formulated to take advantage of the long time during which the rover was parked. The plan focused on two tasks: tracking atmospheric and surface dynamics by periodically surveying the surface and atmosphere, and extensively examining surrounding terrains, rocks and soils using the panoramic camera and the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, coupled with long duration measurements using the alpha particle X-ray and Moessbauer spectrometers of rock and soil targets. For reference, the feature known as "Home Plate" is approximately 90 meters (295 feet) wide. An image from Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbital Camera, catalogued as E03_00012 and courtesy Malin Space Science Systems, was used as the base image for this figure. The perspective was generated using elevation data generated from analyses of the camera's stereo images by the U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz. |
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Panorama from 'Cape Verde' (
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PIA09103
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Panorama from 'Cape Verde' (False Color) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured this vista of "Victoria Crater" from the viewpoint of "Cape Verde," one of the promontories that are part of the scalloped rim of the crater. Opportunity drove onto Cape Verde shortly after arriving at the rim of Victoria in September 2006. The view combines hundreds of exposures taken by the rover's panoramic camera (Pancam). The camera began taking the component images during Opportunity's 970th Martian day, or sol, on Mars (Oct. 16, 2006). Work on the panorama continued through the solar conjunction period, when Mars was nearly behind the sun from Earth's perspective and communications were minimized. Acquisition of images for this panorama was completed on Opportunity's 991st sol (Nov. 7, 2006). The top of Cape Verde is in the immediate foreground at the center of the image. To the left and right are two of the more gradually sloped bays that alternate with the cliff-faced capes or promontories around the rim of the crater. "Duck Bay," where Opportunity first reached the rim, is to the right. Beyond Duck Bay counterclockwise around the rim, the next promontory is "Cabo Frio," about 150 meters (500 feet) from the rover. On the left side of the panorama is "Cape St. Mary," the next promontory clockwise from Cape Verde and about 40 meters (130 feet) from the rover. The vantage point atop Cape Verde offered a good view of the rock layers in the cliff face of Cape St. Mary, which is about 15 meters or 50 feet tall. By about two weeks after the Pancam finished collecting the images for this panorama, Opportunity had driven to Cape St. Mary and was photographing Cape Verde's rock layers. The far side of the crater lies about 800 meters (half a mile) away, toward the southeast. This view combines images taken through three of the Pancam's filters, admitting light with wavelengths centered at 750 nanometers (near infrared), 530 nanometers (green) and 430 nanometers (violet). It is presented in false color to emphasize differences among materials in the rocks and soils. |
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Panorama from 'Cape Verde'
PIA09104
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Panorama from 'Cape Verde' |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured this vista of "Victoria Crater" from the viewpoint of "Cape Verde," one of the promontories that are part of the scalloped rim of the crater. Opportunity drove onto Cape Verde shortly after arriving at the rim of Victoria in September 2006. The view combines hundreds of exposures taken by the rover's panoramic camera (Pancam). The camera began taking the component images during Opportunity's 970th Martian day, or sol, on Mars (Oct. 16, 2006). Work on the panorama continued through the solar conjunction period, when Mars was nearly behind the sun from Earth's perspective and communications were minimized. Acquisition of images for this panorama was completed on Opportunity's 991st sol (Nov. 7, 2006). The top of Cape Verde is in the immediate foreground at the center of the image. To the left and right are two of the more gradually sloped bays that alternate with the cliff-faced capes or promontories around the rim of the crater. "Duck Bay," where Opportunity first reached the rim, is to the right. Beyond Duck Bay counterclockwise around the rim, the next promontory is "Cabo Frio," about 150 meters (500 feet) from the rover. On the left side of the panorama is "Cape St. Mary," the next promontory clockwise from Cape Verde and about 40 meters (130 feet) from the rover. The vantage point atop Cape Verde offered a good view of the rock layers in the cliff face of Cape St. Mary, which is about 15 meters or 50 feet tall. By about two weeks after the Pancam finished collecting the images for this panorama, Opportunity had driven to Cape St. Mary and was photographing Cape Verde's rock layers. The far side of the crater lies about 800 meters (half a mile) away, toward the southeast. This approximately true-color view combines images taken through three of the Pancam's filters, admitting light with wavelengths centered at 750 nanometers (near infrared), 530 nanometers (green) and 430 nanometers (violet). |
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Stretched View Showing 'Beag
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PIA08565
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Stretched View Showing 'Beagle Crater' |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Figure 1 This imagery from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the outcrop-rimmed "Beagle Crater" appearing on the horizon as Opportunity approaches it. The top version is vertically stretched to make horizon details easier to see. The lower version has normal proportions. The image is a mosaic of frames taken during Opportunity's 855th Martian day, or sol (June 20, 2006). Beagle Crater is 35 meters (115 feet) in diameter. The Opportunity science and engineering teams hope to have the rover visit it on the way to "Victoria Crater." Beagle Crater was 310 meters (1,107 feet) away from Opportunity when this picture was taken. Even at this distance, blocks of ejecta can be seen around the prominent, raised rim of Beagle crater, suggesting that it may be among the youngest craters visited by Opportunity. When scientists using orbital data calculated that they should be able to detect Victoria's rim in rover images, they scrutinized frames taken in the direction of the crater by the panoramic camera. To positively characterize the subtle horizon profile of the crater and some of the features leading up to it, researchers created this vertically-stretched image (top). The stretched image makes mild nearby dunes look like more threatening peaks, but that is only a result of the exaggerated vertical dimension. This vertical stretch technique was first applied to Viking Lander 2 panoramas by Philip Stooke, of the University of Western Ontario, Canada, to help locate the lander with respect to orbiter images. Vertically stretching the image allows features to be more readily identified by the Mars Exploration Rover science team. The bright white dot on the horizon near the upper left corner of the panorama, labeled "Outcrop Promontory," was thought to be a light-toned outcrop on the far wall of Victoria, based on a single azimuth measurement on sol 804 (April 28, 2006), suggesting that the rover was seeing over the low rim of Victoria. But comparing the azimuth angle of this feature in the sol 855 panorama and the angle of the same feature in the sol 804 panoramic image, PIA08447 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08447 ] (a process known as triangulation) revealed that this outcrop must instead be on the near rim of the crater. The southeast rim of Victoria is labeled in bright green. The northeast rim is beyond the left edge of this panorama. The salmon-color lines and arrows highlight two small craters on the dark "annulus," or ring, around Victoria Crater. |
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Stretched View Showing 'Beag
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PIA08565
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Stretched View Showing 'Beagle Crater' |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Figure 1 This imagery from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the outcrop-rimmed "Beagle Crater" appearing on the horizon as Opportunity approaches it. The top version is vertically stretched to make horizon details easier to see. The lower version has normal proportions. The image is a mosaic of frames taken during Opportunity's 855th Martian day, or sol (June 20, 2006). Beagle Crater is 35 meters (115 feet) in diameter. The Opportunity science and engineering teams hope to have the rover visit it on the way to "Victoria Crater." Beagle Crater was 310 meters (1,107 feet) away from Opportunity when this picture was taken. Even at this distance, blocks of ejecta can be seen around the prominent, raised rim of Beagle crater, suggesting that it may be among the youngest craters visited by Opportunity. When scientists using orbital data calculated that they should be able to detect Victoria's rim in rover images, they scrutinized frames taken in the direction of the crater by the panoramic camera. To positively characterize the subtle horizon profile of the crater and some of the features leading up to it, researchers created this vertically-stretched image (top). The stretched image makes mild nearby dunes look like more threatening peaks, but that is only a result of the exaggerated vertical dimension. This vertical stretch technique was first applied to Viking Lander 2 panoramas by Philip Stooke, of the University of Western Ontario, Canada, to help locate the lander with respect to orbiter images. Vertically stretching the image allows features to be more readily identified by the Mars Exploration Rover science team. The bright white dot on the horizon near the upper left corner of the panorama, labeled "Outcrop Promontory," was thought to be a light-toned outcrop on the far wall of Victoria, based on a single azimuth measurement on sol 804 (April 28, 2006), suggesting that the rover was seeing over the low rim of Victoria. But comparing the azimuth angle of this feature in the sol 855 panorama and the angle of the same feature in the sol 804 panoramic image, PIA08447 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08447 ] (a process known as triangulation) revealed that this outcrop must instead be on the near rim of the crater. The southeast rim of Victoria is labeled in bright green. The northeast rim is beyond the left edge of this panorama. The salmon-color lines and arrows highlight two small craters on the dark "annulus," or ring, around Victoria Crater. |
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Intricately Rippled Sand Dep
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PIA03274
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Intricately Rippled Sand Deposits |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
"" Click on the image for Intricately Rippled Sand Deposits (QTVR) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit welcomed the beginning of 2006 on Earth by taking this striking panorama of intricately rippled sand deposits in Gusev Crater on Mars. This is an approximate true-color rendering of the "El Dorado" ripple field provided by Spirit over the New Year's holiday weekend. The view spans about 160 degrees in azimuth from left to right and consists of images acquired by Spirit's panoramic camera on Spirit's 708th and 710th Martian days, or sols, (Dec. 30, 2005 and Jan. 1, 2006). Spirit used the Pancam's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters to capture the colors on Mars. Scientists have eliminated seams between individual frames in the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see. Spirit spent several days acquiring images, spectral data, and compositional and mineralogical information about these large sand deposits before continuing downhill toward "Home Plate." |
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'Beagle Crater' on Opportuni
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PIA08564
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
'Beagle Crater' on Opportunity's Horizon (Orbital View) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This image from the Mars Orbiter Camera aboard NASA's Mars Global Surveyor highlights the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's approach toward "Beagle Crater." North is to the left. Opportunity's locations at sols 804 (April 29, 2006) and 855 (June 20, 2006) are marked, as are the left and right edges of the rim of "Victoria Crater" from the rover's point of view. The labeled "promontory" is a bright spot that scientists originally thought was an outcrop on the far side of the crater, based on the single azimuth measurement on sol 804 (see PIA08447 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08447 ]). But comparing the azimuth angle of this feature in the sol 855 panorama and the angle of the same feature in the sol 804 panoramic image (a process known as triangulation) revealed that this outcrop must instead be on the near rim of the crater. Marked in salmon are two small craters beyond Beagle crater that are on the dark "annulus," or ring, around Victoria Crater. Victoria Crater is 730 meters to 750 meters (nearly half a mile) in diameter, about six times wider than "Endurance Crater," where Opportunity spent several months in 2004 examining rock layers affected by ancient water. This image is an uncalibrated version that the rover team uses for planning. It has been reprojected and stretched in some places and isn't used for scientific purposes. |
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Opportunity Rolls Free Again
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PIA08532
Sol (our sun)
Hazard-Avoidance Camera
| Title |
Opportunity Rolls Free Again (Four Wheels) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This animated piece illustrates the recent escape of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity from dangerous, loose material on the vast plains leading to the rover's next long-term target, "Victoria Crater." A series of images from the front and rear hazard-avoidance cameras make up this brief movie chronicling the challenge Opportunity faced to free itself from the ripple dubbed "Jammerbugt." Each quadrant shows one of the rover's four corner wheels: left front wheel in upper left, right front wheel in upper right, rear wheels in the lower quadrants. The wheels became partially embedded in the ripple at the end of a drive on Opportunity's 833rd Martian day, or sol (May 28, 2006). The images in this clip were taken on sols 836 through 841 (May 31 through June 5, 2006). Scientists and engineers who had been elated at the meters of progress the rover had been making in earlier drives were happy for even centimeters of advance per sol as they maneuvered their explorer through the slippery material of Jammerbugt. The wheels reached solid footing on a rock outcrop on the final sol of this sequence. The science and engineering teams appropriately chose the ripple's informal from name the name of a bay on the north coast of Denmark. Jammerbugt, or Jammerbugten, loosely translated, means Bay of Lamentation or Bay of Wailing. The shipping route from the North Sea to the Baltic passes Jammerbugt on its way around the northern tip of Jutland. This has always been an important trade route and many ships still pass by the bay. The prevailing wind directions are typically northwest to southwest with the strongest winds and storms tending to blow from the northwest. A northwesterly wind will blow straight into the Jammerbugt, towards shore. Therefore, in the age of sail, many ships sank there during storms. The shore is sandy, but can have strong waves, so running aground was very dangerous even though there are no rocks. Fortunately, Opportunity weathered its "Jammerbugt" and is again on its way toward Victoria Crater. |
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Possible Meteorite in 'Colum
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PIA08529
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Possible Meteorite in 'Columbia Hills' on Mars |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The rock in the center foreground of this picture is suspected of being an iron meteorite. The panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this image during the rover's 809th Martian day (April 12, 2006). The foreground rock, informally named "Allan Hills," and a similar rock called "Zhong Shan," just out of the field of view to the left, have a smoother texture and lighter tone than other rocks in the area. The texture and glossiness of this pair reminded some members of the rover science team of a rock called "Heat Shield Rock," which was observed by Opportunity, Spirit's twin, in the Meridiani region of Mars more than a year ago. Examination of that rock's composition confirmed it to be an iron meteorite (see PIA07269 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07269 ]). Observations of Allan Hills and Zhong Shan with Spirit's miniature thermal emission spectrometer indicate that they are very reflective, like Heat Shield Rock. They are the first likely meteorites found by Spirit. Rocks in the vicinity of Spirit's winter station are being assigned informal names honoring Antarctic research stations. Zhong Shan is an Antarctic base established by China in 1989. Allan Hills is a site where meteorites are frequently collected because they are relatively easy to see as dark rocks on the bright Antarctic ice. The most famous Allan Hills meteorite from Antarctica actually came from Mars and landed on Earth. If the Zhong Chang and Allan Hills rocks seen by Spirit do turn out to be iron-rich meteorites, they may have originated from an asteroid and landed on Mars. This view is an approximately true-color rendering that combines images taken through the panoramic camera's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters. It is a portion of an image previously released (see PIA08095 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08095 ]). |
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Possible Meteorite in 'Colum
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PIA08528
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Possible Meteorite in 'Columbia Hills' on Mars (False Color) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The rock in the center foreground of this picture is suspected of being an iron meteorite. The panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this image during the rover's 809th Martian day (April 12, 2006). The foreground rock, informally named "Allan Hills," and a similar rock called "Zhong Shan," just out of the field of view to the left, have a smoother texture and lighter tone than other rocks in the area. The texture and glossiness of this pair reminded some members of the rover science team of a rock called "Heat Shield Rock," which was observed by Opportunity, Spirit's twin, in the Meridiani region of Mars more than a year ago. Examination of that rock's composition confirmed it to be an iron meteorite (see PIA07269 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07269 ]). Observations of Allan Hills and Zhong Shan with Spirit's miniature thermal emission spectrometer indicate that they are very reflective, like Heat Shield Rock. They are the first likely meteorites found by Spirit. Rocks in the vicinity of Spirit's winter station are being assigned informal names honoring Antarctic research stations. Zhong Shan is an Antarctic base established by China in 1989. Allan Hills is a site where meteorites are frequently collected because they are relatively easy to see as dark rocks on the bright Antarctic ice. The most famous Allan Hills meteorite from Antarctica actually came from Mars and landed on Earth. If the Zhong Chang and Allan Hills rocks seen by Spirit do turn out to be iron-rich meteorites, they may have originated from an asteroid and landed on Mars. This view is a false-color rendering to emphasize differences among rock and soil materials. It combines images taken through the panoramic camera's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters. It is a portion of an image previously released (see PIA08094 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08094 ]). |
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