This Martian vista [ http://photojournal…] is only part of one of the greatest panoramic views of Mars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] that has ever been attempted. The expansive mosaic is helping to keep the robotic Spirit rover [ http://en.wikipedia…] busy over the energy draining winter in the southern hemisphere of Mars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. During the winter, Spirit is constrained to stay on the side of McCool Hill [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in order to keep its solar panels [ http://www.eere.ene…] pointed toward the Sun [ http://en.wikipedia…]. The panorama has so far involved over 800 exposures, very little digital compression [ http://en.wikipedia…], and will take over a month to complete. The view shown is toward Husband Hill [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], a hill that Spirit climbed last year. A careful inspection of the above image [ http://photojournal…] shows tracks crossing [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] from the center to the right.
Explanation
This Martian vista [ http://photojournal…] is only part of one of the greatest panoramic views of Mars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] that has ever been attempted. The expansive mosaic is helping to keep the robotic Spirit rover [ http://en.wikipedia…] busy over the energy draining winter in the southern hemisphere of Mars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. During the winter, Spirit is constrained to stay on the side of McCool Hill [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in order to keep its solar panels [ http://www.eere.ene…] pointed toward the Sun [ http://en.wikipedia…]. The panorama has so far involved over 800 exposures, very little digital compression [ http://en.wikipedia…], and will take over a month to complete. The view shown is toward Husband Hill [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], a hill that Spirit climbed last year. A careful inspection of the above image [ http://photojournal…] shows tracks crossing [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] from the center to the right.
