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Mars Exploration Rover (MER) of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from 2004
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Vice President Dick Cheney V
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Vice President Dick Cheney a
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1/14/04
Empty Nest
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Empty Nest |
| date |
01.18.2004 |
| description |
This image mosaic taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rover's landing site, the Columbia Memorial Station, at Gusev Crater, Mars. This spectacular view may encapsulate Spirit's entire journey, from lander to its possible final destination toward the east hills. On its way, the rover will travel 250 meters (820 feet) northeast to a large crater approximately 200 meters (660 feet) across, the ridge of which can be seen to the left of this image. To the right are the east hills, about 3 kilometers (2 miles) away from the lander. The picture was taken on the 16th martian day, or sol, of the mission (Jan. 18/19, 2004). A portion of Spirit's solar panels appear in the foreground. Data from the panoramic camera's green, blue and infrared filters were combined to create this approximate true color image. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL/Cornell |
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Photo Op
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Photo Op |
| date |
01.25.2004 |
| description |
This image is one of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's first breathtaking views of the martian landscape after its successful landing at Meridiani Planum on Mars. On the left, the rover's mast can be seen in a stowed position. Opportunity landed Saturday, Jan. 24, 2004 at about 9:05 PST. The image was taken by the rover's navigation camera. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL |
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Leaving Earth
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Leaving Earth |
| date |
06.10.2003 |
| description |
This spectacular shot of solid rocket motors separating from a Delta II rocket over Florida was captured during the June 10 liftoff of the Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit. The rover and its twin, Opportunity, will arrive at Mars in January 2004. |
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Martian Meteorite
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Martian Meteorite |
| description |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has found an iron meteorite, the first meteorite of any type ever identified on another planet. The pitted, basketball-size object is mostly made of iron and nickel according to readings from spectrometers on the rover. Only a small fraction of the meteorites fallen on Earth are similarly metal-rich. Others are rockier. As an example, the meteorite that blasted the famous Meteor Crater in Arizona is similar in composition. "This is a huge surprise, though maybe it shouldn't have been," said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for the science instruments on Opportunity and its twin, Spirit. The meteorite, dubbed "Heat Shield Rock," sits near debris of Opportunity's heat shield on the surface of Meridiani Planum, a cratered flatland that has been Opportunity's home since the robot landed on Mars nearly one year ago. "I never thought we would get to use our instruments on a rock from someplace other than Mars," Squyres said. "Think about where an iron meteorite comes from: a destroyed planet or planetesimal that was big enough to differentiate into a metallic core and a rocky mantle." Rover-team scientists are wondering whether some rocks that Opportunity has seen atop the ground surface are rocky meteorites. "Mars should be hit by a lot more rocky meteorites than iron meteorites," Squyres said. "We've been seeing lots of cobbles out on the plains, and this raises the possibility that some of them may in fact be meteorites. We may be investigating some of those in coming weeks. The key is not what we'll learn about meteorites -- we have lots of meteorites on Earth -- but what the meteorites can tell us about Meridiani Planum." The numbers of exposed meteorites could be an indication of whether the plain is gradually eroding away or being built up. NASA Chief Scientist Dr. Jim Garvin said, "Exploring meteorites is a vital part of NASA's scientific agenda, and discovering whether there are storehouses of them on Mars opens new research possibilities, including further incentives for robotic and then human-based sample-return missions. Mars continues to provide unexpected science 'gold,' and our rovers have proven the value of mobile exploration with this latest finding." Initial observation of Heat Shield Rock from a distance with Opportunity's miniature thermal emission spectrometer suggested a metallic composition and raised speculation last week that it was a meteorite. The rover drove close enough to use its Moessbauer and alpha particle X-ray spectrometers, confirming the meteorite identification over the weekend. Opportunity and Spirit successfully completed their primary three-month missions on Mars in April 2004. NASA has extended their missions twice because the rovers have remained in good condition to continue exploring Mars longer than anticipated. They have found geological evidence of past wet environmental conditions that might have, been hospitable to life. Opportunity has driven a total of 2.10 kilometers (1.30 miles). Minor mottling from dust has appeared in images from the rover's rear hazard-identification camera since Opportunity entered the area of its heat-shield debris, said Jim Erickson of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., rover project manager. The rover team plans to begin driving Opportunity south toward a circular feature called "Vostok" within about a week. Spirit has driven a total of 4.05 kilometers (2.52 miles). It has been making slow progress uphill toward a ridge on "Husband Hill" inside Gusev Crater. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Spirit's Shadow
| title |
Spirit's Shadow |
| date |
02.22.2004 |
| description |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit casts a shadow over the trench that the rover is examining with tools on its robotic arm. Spirit took this image with its front hazard-avoidance camera on Feb. 21, 2004, during the rover's 48th martian day, or sol. It dug the trench with its left front wheel the preceding sol. Plans call for Spirit to finish examining the trench on sol 50. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL |
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Eyeing Eagle Crater
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Eyeing Eagle Crater |
| description |
This image mosaic, compiled from navigation and panoramic camera images during the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's 33rd, 35th, and 36th sols on Mars, shows a panoramic view of the crater where the rover had been exploring since its dramatic arrival in late January 2004. The crater, now informally referred to as "Eagle Crater," is approximately 22 meters (72 feet) in diameter. Opportunity's lander is visible in the center of the image. Track marks reveal the rover's progress. The rover cameras recorded this view as Opportunity climbed close to the crater rim as part of a soil survey campaign. *Image credit*: NASA/JPL/Cornell |
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Earth From Mars
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Earth From Mars |
| date |
03.08.2004 |
| description |
This is the first image ever taken of Earth from the surface of a planet beyond the Moon. It was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit one hour before sunrise on the 63rd Martian day, or sol, of its mission. The image is a mosaic of images taken by the rover's navigation camera showing a broad view of the sky, and an image taken by the rover's panoramic camera of Earth. The contrast in the panoramic camera image was increased two times to make Earth easier to see.The inset shows a combination of four panoramic camera images zoomed in on Earth. The arrow points to Earth. Earth was too faint to be detected in images taken with the panoramic camera's color filters. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Texas A&M |
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Looking Back
| title |
Looking Back |
| date |
03.26.2004 |
| description |
NASA's Opportunity rover looks back at the crater where it landed and spent the first two months of its mission exploring exposed bedrock. This area may have been the shore of a shallow sea. The image is the first 360-degree view from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's new position outside "Eagle Crater," the small crater where the rover landed about two months ago. Scientists are busy analyzing Opportunity's new view of the plains of Meridiani Planum. The plentiful ripples are a clear indication that wind is the primary geologic process currently in effect on the plains. The rover's tracks can be seen leading away from Eagle Crater. At the far left are two depressions - each about a meter (about 3.3 feet) across - that feature bright spots in their centers. One possibility is that the bright material is similar in composition to the rocks in Eagle Crater's outcrop and the surrounding darker material is what's referred to as "lag deposit," or erosional remnants, which are much harder and more difficult to wear away. These twin dimples might be revealing pieces of a larger outcrop that lies beneath. The depression closest to Opportunity is whimsically referred to as "Homeplate" and the one behind it as "First Base." The backshell and parachute that helped protect the rover and deliver it safely to the surface of Mars are also visible near the horizon, at the left of the image. This image was taken by the rover's navigation camera. *Image Credi*: NASA/JPL |
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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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Mars Exploration Rover "Spir
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| title |
Mars Exploration Rover "Spirit" Launches |
| date |
06.10.2003 |
| description |
Amid billows of smoke and steam, the Delta II rocket with its Mars Exploration Rover (MER-A) payload lifts off the pad on time at 1:58 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. MER-A, known as "Spirit," is the first of two rovers being launched to Mars. When the two rovers arrive at the red planet in 2004, they will bounce to airbag-cushioned landings at sites offering a balance of favorable conditions for safe landings and interesting science. The rovers see sharper images, can explore farther and examine rocks better than anything that has ever landed on Mars. The designated site for the MER-A mission is Gusev Crater, which appears to have been a crater lake. The second rover, MER-B, is scheduled to launch June 25. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Columbia Memorial
| title |
Columbia Memorial |
| date |
01.06.2004 |
| description |
The landing site of the Mars Spirit rover in honor of the astronauts who died in the tragic accident of the Space Shuttle Columbia in February. The area in the vast flatland of the Gusev Crater where Spirit landed this weekend will be called the Columbia Memorial Station. Since its historic landing, Spirit has been sending extraordinary images of its new surroundings on the red planet over the past few days. Among them, an image of a memorial plaque placed on the spacecraft to Columbia's astronauts and the STS-107 mission. The plaque is mounted on the back of Spirit's high-gain antenna, a disc-shaped tool used for communicating directly with Earth. The plaque is aluminum and approximately six inches in diameter. The memorial plaque was attached March 28, 2003, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Chris Voorhees and Peter Illsley, Mars Exploration Rover engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., designed the plaque. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Spirit Celebration
| title |
Spirit Celebration |
| date |
01.03.2004 |
| description |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover team reacts after getting the first signals from the Spirit rover on the surface of Mars. Spirit landed at Mars' Gusev Carter at 8:52 p.m. (PST) on Saturday, Jan. 3. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Spirit Descent
| title |
Spirit Descent |
| date |
01.03.2004 |
| description |
This image, taken by the descent image motion estimation system camera located on the bottom of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's lander, shows a view of Gusev Crater as the lander descends to Mars. The picture is taken at an altitude of 1400 meters. Numerous small impact craters can be seen on the surface of the planet. These images help the onboard software to minimize the lander's horizontal velocity before its bridal is cut, and it falls freely to the surface of Mars. See more Spirit images in the Mars Exploration Rover Image Gallery. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Spirit's View of Mars
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Spirit's View of Mars |
| date |
01.03.2004 |
| description |
Only hours after landing, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit sent back its first black and white images of Mars. This mosaic image taken by Spirit's navigation has been further processed, significantly improving the 360 degree panoramic view of the rover on the surface of Mars. See more images in the Mars Exploration Rover Image Gallery. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Six Wheels on Mars
| title |
Six Wheels on Mars |
| date |
01.15.2004 |
| description |
This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's rear hazard identification camera shows the rover's hind view of the lander platform, its nest for the past 12 sols, or martian days. The rover is approximately 1 meter (3 feet) in front of the airbag-cushioned lander, facing northwest. Note the tracks left in the martian soil by the rovers' wheels, all six of which have rolled off the lander. This is the first time the rover has touched martian soil. *Image Credit*: NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
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Spirit Reaches Out
| title |
Spirit Reaches Out |
| date |
01.16.2004 |
| description |
This animation, composed of four images taken by the front hazard-identification camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, shows the rover stretching out its robotic arm, or instrument deployment device. This is the first use of the arm on Mars to deploy the microscopic imager, one of four geological instruments located on the arm. The first frame shows a clear view of the martian surface in front of the rover before the arm was successfully deployed early Friday morning. The subsequent frames show the arm emerging from its stowed position beneath the "front porch" of the rover body, reaching out, and using the microscopic imager to take close-up images of the martian soil. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL/US Geological Survey |
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Making Tracks on Mars
| title |
Making Tracks on Mars |
| date |
01.31.2004 |
| description |
This image captured by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's rear hazard-identification camera shows the now-empty lander that carried the rover 283 million miles to Meridiani Planum, Mars. Engineers received confirmation that Opportunity's six wheels successfully rolled off the lander and onto martian soil at 3:01 a.m. PST, January 31, 2004, on the seventh martian day, or sol, of the mission. The rover is approximately 1 meter (3 feet) in front of the lander, facing north. Immediate science results from the rover indicated that the site does indeed have a type of mineral, crystalline hematite, that was the principal reason the site was selected for exploration. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL |
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Spirit Launch
| title |
Spirit Launch |
| date |
06.10.2003 |
| description |
A trail of smoke is all that identifies the Delta II rocket with the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit aboard as it hurtles into space. Liftoff occurred on time at 1:58 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Spirit was the first of two rovers launched to Mars in the summer of 2003. Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, landed on opposite sides of the planet in January 2004. The rovers see sharper images, can explore farther and examine rocks better than anything that has ever landed on Mars. Spirit's destination was Gusev Crater, which appears to have been a crater lake. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Mars Exploration Rover
| title |
Mars Exploration Rover |
| date |
12.15.2003 |
| description |
An artist's concept portrays a NASA Mars Exploration Rover on the surface of Mars. Two rovers, Spirit and Opportunitylanded on Mars in January 2004. Each has the mobility and toolkit to function as a robotic geologist. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL/Cornell University/Maas Digital |
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Endurance Crater
| title |
Endurance Crater |
| description |
This navigation camera mosaic, created from images taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on sols 115 and 116 (May 21 and 22, 2004) provides a dramatic view of "Endurance Crater." The rover engineering team carefully plotted the safest path into the football field-sized crater, eventually easing the rover down the slopes around sol 130 (June 12, 2004). To the upper left of the crater sits the rover's protective heatshield, which sheltered Opportunity as it passed through the martian atmosphere. The 360-degree view is presented in a cylindrical projection, with geometric and radiometric seam correction. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL |
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Rover Tracks on Mars
| title |
Rover Tracks on Mars |
| description |
New imaging techniques enabled Mars Global Surveyor to capture the incredibly detailed images from orbit of the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover's tracks on the surface of Mars. The orbiter entered its third mission extension in September 2004 after seven years of orbiting Mars. The spacecraft entered Mars orbit on Sept. 12, 1997. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Still Going
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Still Going |
| date |
09.26.2004 |
| description |
This frame from Spirit's panoramic camera is the 50,000th image from NASA's pair of Mars Exploration Rovers. It shows the camera's calibration target, the most photographed subject on Mars, with a glimpse past it to rocks and soil at the location in the "Columbia Hills" where Spirit was examining soil during its 260th martian day, or sol (Sept. 25, 2004). The outer circle of the calibration target is 8 centimeters (3.15 inches) in diameter. The target includes reference colors and a shadow-casting post. Most days when the panoramic camera is used, it takes a series of images of the calibration target through different filters to aid in accurate interpretation of the other images it takes. This frame was taken by the left eye of the camera's stereo pair, through a red-orange filter admitting light with wavelengths centered at 600 nanometers. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL/Cornell |
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Above Spirit
| title |
Above Spirit |
| date |
01.03.2004 |
| description |
A mosaic image taken by Spirit's navigation camera shows the Mars Exploration Rover sitting on its landing platform only hours after touching down on Gusev Crater. The image has been reprocessed to imove the view. See more Spirit images in the Mars Exploration Rover Image Gallery. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Burns Cliff Anaglyph
| Title |
Burns Cliff Anaglyph |
| Explanation |
Get out your red/blue glasses and gaze across Burns Cliff [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08578 ] along the inner wall of Endurance crater [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Endurance_%28crater%29 ] on Mars! The view from the perspective of Mars rover Opportunity is a color anaglyph [ http://faxmentis.org/html/ana-howto.html ] - two different images are presented to the left and right eyes by color filters to produce the 3D effect. Scroll the picture to the right to see the full 180 degree panorama. Still returning science data and images, both Spirit [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060703.html ] and Opportunity rovers completed 2 years of Mars exploration in January. Opportunity spent the month [ http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/traverse_maps.html ] of July on the road to Victoria [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060605.html ] crater. The stereo pair of images used to create this view are based on image data recorded in November 2004 [ http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1312.html ]. |
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Name This Martian Robot
| Title |
Name This Martian Robot |
| Explanation |
NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/ ] will launch two robots to Mars [ http://www.nineplanets.org/mars.html ] next year and you can help name them. The Mars Exploration Rovers [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/overview/index.html ] are scheduled for launch [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/mission/tl_launch.html ] on or near this coming June, when Mars and Earth are relatively close [ http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Solar/action?sys=-Si ] in their orbits. The landing craft [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/mission/spacecraft_edl_lander.html ] are expected to touch down on Mars [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] in January 2004 and deploy the robot rovers [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/spotlight/marsrover01.html ] shortly thereafter. Rovers [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/mission/spacecraft_surface_rover.html ] have the capability to crawl [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/mission/tl_surface_nav.html ] about 100 meters each day of their planned [ http://athena.cornell.edu/home/index.html ] 90-day mission. The mission's scientific purpose [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/science/ ] is to seek out and inspect interesting rocks [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991030.html ] and terrain [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000514.html ] that could give clues to the past of Mars [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/why.html ]. Suggestions for names should be sent here [ http://www.lego.com/rovers/ ], accompanied by a short essay, by 2003 January 31. ("Eds. Note: "The contest is only open to school children in grades K-12.) |
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Five to Mars
| Title |
Five to Mars |
| Explanation |
Come December 2003 - January 2004, an armada of five new invaders [ http://www.planetary.org/rrgtm/missions5.html ] from Earth should arrive on the shores of the Red Planet -- the Japanese ( ISAS [ http://www.isas.ac.jp/ ]) Nozomi [ http://www.isas.ac.jp/e/enterp/missions/nozomi/ index.html ] orbiter, the European Space Agency's Mars Express [ http://sci.esa.int/home/marsexpress/ ] orbiter carrying the Beagle 2 [ http://www.beagle2.com/index.htm ] lander, and NASA's own two Mars Exploration [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/ ] Rovers. While Nozomi began [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980904.html ] its interplanetary voyage in 1998, the other spacecraft are scheduled for launch windows beginning this June. Clearly, earthdwellers remain intensely curious about Mars and the tantalizing [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030221.html ] possibility of past or present martian life [ http://cmex-www.arc.nasa.gov/SiteCat/sitecat2/ stratex.htm ], with these robotic missions focussing on investigating the planet's atmosphere and the search for water [ http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Sept98/GusevMars.html ]. This mosaic [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/caption/ marsglobe2.txt ] of over 100 Viking 1 orbiter images of Mars [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/ photogallery-mars.html ] was recorded in 1980 and is projected to show the perspective seen from an approaching spacecraft at a distance of 2,000 kilometers. Exceptional [ http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/ article_929_1.asp ] views of Mars will be possible from earthbound telescopes in August and September. |
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Springtime on Mars
| Title |
Springtime on Mars |
| Explanation |
Vast canyons, towering volcanoes, sprawling fields of ice, deep craters, and high clouds can all be seen in this image of the Solar System [ http://www.nineplanets.org/overview.html ]'s fourth planet: Mars [ http://www.nineplanets.org/mars.html ]. The orbiting robot Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/overvu/overview.html ] took the above mosaic of images [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/04/04/may02/index.html ] as springtime dawned [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021224.html ] in Northern Mars in 2002 May. Sprawled across the image bottom is Valles Marinaris [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020827.html ], a canyon three times the length of Earth's Grand Canyon [ http://www.nps.gov/grca/ ], and four times as deep. On the left are several volcanoes including Olympus Mons [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981019.html ], a volcano three times higher than Earth's Mt. Everest [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020723.html ]. At the top is the North Polar Cap [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981216.html ] made of thawing water and carbon-dioxide [ http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/chemweek/CO2/CO2.html ] based ice. Swirling white clouds [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010417.html ] and circular impact craters [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990315.html ] are also visible around Mars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010626.html ]. Two rovers [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/ ] will be launched to Mars this summer and should arrive in 2004 January. |
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Dust Storm Over Northern Mar
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| Title |
Dust Storm Over Northern Mars |
| Explanation |
Almost on cue [ http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_998_1.asp ], as Mars nears its closest approach to planet Earth in recorded history, ominous seasonal [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/06/28/ index.html ] dust storms are beginning to kick up. Observers [ http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/online.bks/mars/ chap15.htm ] worry that the activity may presage the development of a planet wide dust storm [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap011017.html ], frustrating attempts to view Mars in the coming months, a situation similar to the Red Planet's uncooperative behavior [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010727.html ] in 2001. In this example [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/05/28/ index.html ], recorded in mid-May by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft camera, a dust storm the size of a continent sweeps north and east (toward the upper right) across Mars' northern Acidalia Planitia. Meanwhile [ http://humbabe.arc.nasa.gov/mgcm/fun/mars_chro.html ], interplanetary robotic explorers Mars Express [ http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/ index.cfm?fareaid=9 ]/ Beagle 2 [ http://www.beagle2.com/index.htm ], Nozomi [ http://www.isas.ac.jp/e/enterp/missions/nozomi/ index.html ], and the twin Mars Exploration Rovers [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/ ] Opportunity and Spirit, are all bound for Mars and should arrive by early January 2004. |
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95-degree Position at JPL Te
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| Title |
95-degree Position at JPL Testbed |
| Description |
This image shows a test rover in a near-final turned position on the lander in the JPL In-Situ Instruments Laboratory, or "testbed." This is where engineers tested the rover's three-point turn before completing the manuever with the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on Mars. At this point, the test rover has turned 95 degrees, with 115 degrees being its goal position. This picture looks remarkably similar to the image taken by the rover's hazard avoidance camera while in the same position on Mars. |
| Date |
01.14.2004 |
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Martian Eclipses: Deimos and
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| Title |
Martian Eclipses: Deimos and Phobos |
| Description |
[figure removed for brevity, see original site] [figure removed for brevity, see original site] [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Deimos [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Phobos This panel combines the first photographs of solar eclipses by Mars' two moons. The panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured the images as the first in a planned series of eclipse observations by Opportunity and Spirit. The Deimos image was taken at 03:04 Universal Time on March 4, 2004. This irregularly shaped moon is only 15 kilometers (9 miles) across in its longest dimension. It appears as just a speck in front of the disc of the Sun. The Phobos image was taken as that moon grazed the edge of the solar disc at 02:46 Universal Time on March 7, 2004. Phobos is 27 kilometers (17 miles) in its longest dimension. Its apparent size relative to Deimos is even greater because it orbits much closer to Mars' surface than Deimos does. |
| Date |
03.08.2004 |
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Martian Moon Eclipses Sun, i
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| Title |
Martian Moon Eclipses Sun, in Stages |
| Description |
This panel illustrates the transit of the martian moon Phobos across the Sun. It is made up of images taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on the morning of the 45th martian day, or sol, of its mission. This observation will help refine our knowledge of the orbit and position of Phobos. Other spacecraft may be able to take better images of Phobos using this new information. This event is similar to solar eclipses seen on Earth in which our Moon passes in front of the Sun. The images were taken by the rover's panoramic camera. |
| Date |
03.13.2004 |
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Martian Sunsets More Than Ju
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| Title |
Martian Sunsets More Than Just Pretty |
| Description |
This image shows the Sun as it appears on Mars throughout the day. Scientists monitor the dimming of the setting Sun to assess how much dust is in the martian atmosphere. The pictures were taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic camera. |
| Date |
01.10.2004 |
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Artist's Concept of Rover on
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| Title |
Artist's Concept of Rover on Mars |
| Description |
An artist's concept portrays a NASA Mars Exploration Rover on the surface of Mars. Two rovers have been built for 2003 launches and January 2004 arrival at two sites on Mars. Each rover has the mobility and toolkit to function as a robotic geologist. |
| Date |
02.19.2003 |
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Right on Target
| Title |
Right on Target |
| Description |
This map shows the estimated location of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit within Gusev Crater, Mars. Engineers targeted Spirit for the center of the blue ellipse. Measurements taken during the rover's descent by the Deep Space Network predicted its landing site to be the spot marked with a black dot. Later measurements taken on the ground by both the Deep Space Network and the orbiter Mars Odyssey narrowed the predicted landing site to a spot marked with a white dot. When initially choosing a landing site for the rover, engineers avoided hazardous terrain outlined here in yellow and red. This map consists of data from Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor. |
| Date |
01.13.2004 |
|
Right on Target-2
| Title |
Right on Target-2 |
| Description |
This map shows a close-up look at the estimated location of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit within Gusev Crater, Mars. Measurements taken during the rover's descent by the Deep Space Network predicted its landing site to be the spot marked with a black dot. Later measurements taken on the ground by both the Deep Space Network and the orbiter Mars Odyssey narrowed the predicted landing site to a spot marked with a white dot. When initially choosing a landing site for the rover, engineers avoided hazardous craters outlined here in yellow and red. This map consists of data from Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor. |
| Date |
01.13.2004 |
|
Right on Target-3
| Title |
Right on Target-3 |
| Description |
This map shows the estimated location of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit within Gusev Crater, Mars. Measurements taken during the rover's descent by the Deep Space Network predicted its landing site to be the spot marked with a black cross. Later measurements taken on the ground by both the Deep Space Network and the orbiter Mars Odyssey narrowed the predicted landing site to a spot marked with a white cross. When initially choosing a landing site for the rover, engineers avoided hazardous craters outlined here in yellow and red. This map consists of data taken during Spirit's descent by the descent image motion estimation system located at the bottom of the rover. |
| Date |
01.13.2004 |
|
Roll-Off Dress Rehearsal at
…
| Title |
Roll-Off Dress Rehearsal at JPL |
| Description |
This image shows a test rover as it attempts a complete 115-degree turn on the lander in the JPL In-Situ Instruments Laboratory, or "testbed." This is where engineers tested the rover's three-point turn before completing the manuever with the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit at Gusev Crater on Mars. At this point, the test rover has turned 95 degrees, with 115 degrees being its goal position. |
| Date |
01.14.2004 |
|
Hills Over Yonder
| Title |
Hills Over Yonder |
| Description |
[figure removed for brevity, see original site]*Click on the image for Hills Over Yonder (QTVR)* The arrows in this 360-degree panoramic view of the martian surface identify hills and craters on the martian horizon that scientists can easily find with orbiters Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey. The image was taken on Mars by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. |
| Date |
01.13.2004 |
|
Rover Tracks Seen from Orbit
| title |
Rover Tracks Seen from Orbit |
| Description |
Wheel tracks left by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, and even the rover itself, are visible in this image from the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. North is up in this image. The tracks and rover are in the area south of a crater informally named "Bonneville," which is just southeast of the center of the image. The orbiter captured this image with use of an enhanced-resolution technique called compensated pitch and roll targeted observation. It took the picture on March 30, 2004, 85 martian days, or sols, after Spirit landed on Mars. The rover had driven from its landing site to the rim of Bonneville and was examining materials around the crater's rim. In this portion of the plains inside the much larger Gusev Crater, Spirit created wheel tracks darker than the undisturbed surface, as seen in the rover's own images showing the tracks (for example, http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05450 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05450 ]). The contrast allows the tracks to show up in the image obtained from orbit. Also visible are Spirit's lander, backshell and parachute, and the scar where its heat shield hit the ground. The full image covers an area 3 kilometers (2 miles) wide, at 14.8 degrees south latitude and 184.6 degrees west longitude. Pixel size is about 1.5 meters (5 feet) by one-half meter (1.6 feet). Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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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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Seasonal Trend in Water Vapo
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PIA07102
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Spectromete
…
| Title |
Seasonal Trend in Water Vapor Seen from Orbit |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The seasonal trend in the amount of water vapor in Mars' atmosphere, as observed by thermal emission spectrometer on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter, varies by latitude. This plot starts near the beginning of fall in the southern hemisphere for the year before the Mars Exploration Rover mission began and ends on August 30, 2004, slightly more than one martian year later. Purple represents no water while red represents about 50 precipitable micrometers, which is about 10,000 times less than on Earth. The units of time along the horizontal axis are given in longitude of the Sun (Ls) as measured in a Mars-centered coordinate system, a way to reflect the elliptical nature of Mars' orbit. On this scale, Mars is farthest from the Sun at about 74, which also corresponds to late fall in the southern hemisphere. During the period when Mars is farthest from the Sun, the migration of water vapor from the northern polar region combines with lowered atmospheric temperatures to produce conditions that allow formation of clouds such as seen in the image at PIA07105 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07105 ]. Opportunity is further north than Spirit is, so there is a distinct difference in the amount of water vapor available to form water-ice clouds over the two sites. To date, Spirit has not seen any discrete, cirrus-like clouds such as Opportunity has photographed. Although water vapor is expected to reach a maximum abundance for the Opportunity and Spirit sites near spring equinox (Ls 180 or about March 2005), the atmospheric temperatures will very likely have warmed sufficiently to prevent formation of the type of clouds that Opportunity has observed recently. |
|
Looking into "London
PIA06383
Sol (our sun)
Microscopic Imager
| Title |
Looking into "London |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This mosaic image from the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rock abrasion tool target, "London." The image was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on its 149th sol on Mars (June 24, 2004). Scientists "read" the geology of the image from bottom to top, with the youngest material pictured at the bottom of the image and the oldest material in the layers pictured at the top. Millimeter-scale layers run horizontally across the exposed surface, with two sliced sphere-like objects, or "blueberries" on the upper left and upper right sides of the impression. This material is similar to the evaporative material found in "Eagle Crater." However, the intense review of these layers in Endurance Crater is, in essence, deepening the water story authored by ancient Mars. In Eagle Crater, the effects of water were traced down a matter of centimeters. Endurance Crater's depth has allowed the tracing of water's telltale marks up to meters. Another process that significantly affects martian terrain is muddying the water story a bit. Although it is clear that the layers in Endurance were affected by water, it is also evident that Aeolian, or wind, processes have contributed to the makeup of the crater. |
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Martian Eclipses: Deimos and
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PIA05518
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Martian Eclipses: Deimos and Phobos |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This panel combines the first photographs of solar eclipses by Mars' two moons. The panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured the images as the first in a planned series of eclipse observations by Opportunity and Spirit. The Deimos image was taken at 03:04 Universal Time on March 4, 2004. This irregularly shaped moon is only 15 kilometers (9 miles) across in its longest dimension. It appears as just a speck in front of the disc of the Sun. The Phobos image was taken as that moon grazed the edge of the solar disc at 02:46 Universal Time on March 7, 2004. Phobos is 27 kilometers (17 miles) in its longest dimension. Its apparent size relative to Deimos is even greater because it orbits much closer to Mars' surface than Deimos does. |
|
Martian Eclipses: Deimos and
…
PIA05518
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Martian Eclipses: Deimos and Phobos |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This panel combines the first photographs of solar eclipses by Mars' two moons. The panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured the images as the first in a planned series of eclipse observations by Opportunity and Spirit. The Deimos image was taken at 03:04 Universal Time on March 4, 2004. This irregularly shaped moon is only 15 kilometers (9 miles) across in its longest dimension. It appears as just a speck in front of the disc of the Sun. The Phobos image was taken as that moon grazed the edge of the solar disc at 02:46 Universal Time on March 7, 2004. Phobos is 27 kilometers (17 miles) in its longest dimension. Its apparent size relative to Deimos is even greater because it orbits much closer to Mars' surface than Deimos does. |
|
Martian Eclipses: Deimos and
…
PIA05518
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Martian Eclipses: Deimos and Phobos |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This panel combines the first photographs of solar eclipses by Mars' two moons. The panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured the images as the first in a planned series of eclipse observations by Opportunity and Spirit. The Deimos image was taken at 03:04 Universal Time on March 4, 2004. This irregularly shaped moon is only 15 kilometers (9 miles) across in its longest dimension. It appears as just a speck in front of the disc of the Sun. The Phobos image was taken as that moon grazed the edge of the solar disc at 02:46 Universal Time on March 7, 2004. Phobos is 27 kilometers (17 miles) in its longest dimension. Its apparent size relative to Deimos is even greater because it orbits much closer to Mars' surface than Deimos does. |
|
Martian Eclipses: Deimos and
…
PIA05518
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Martian Eclipses: Deimos and Phobos |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This panel combines the first photographs of solar eclipses by Mars' two moons. The panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured the images as the first in a planned series of eclipse observations by Opportunity and Spirit. The Deimos image was taken at 03:04 Universal Time on March 4, 2004. This irregularly shaped moon is only 15 kilometers (9 miles) across in its longest dimension. It appears as just a speck in front of the disc of the Sun. The Phobos image was taken as that moon grazed the edge of the solar disc at 02:46 Universal Time on March 7, 2004. Phobos is 27 kilometers (17 miles) in its longest dimension. Its apparent size relative to Deimos is even greater because it orbits much closer to Mars' surface than Deimos does. |
|
Martian Eclipses: Deimos and
…
PIA05518
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Martian Eclipses: Deimos and Phobos |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This panel combines the first photographs of solar eclipses by Mars' two moons. The panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured the images as the first in a planned series of eclipse observations by Opportunity and Spirit. The Deimos image was taken at 03:04 Universal Time on March 4, 2004. This irregularly shaped moon is only 15 kilometers (9 miles) across in its longest dimension. It appears as just a speck in front of the disc of the Sun. The Phobos image was taken as that moon grazed the edge of the solar disc at 02:46 Universal Time on March 7, 2004. Phobos is 27 kilometers (17 miles) in its longest dimension. Its apparent size relative to Deimos is even greater because it orbits much closer to Mars' surface than Deimos does. |
|
2 Years on Mars! Meridiani P
…
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 |
|
2 Years on Mars! Meridiani P
…
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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