Opportunity
Spies Crater on Horizon
This image taken by the Mars
Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows the eastern
plains that stretch beyond the small crater where the rover landed.
The features seen at the horizon are the near and far rims of
"Endurance," the largest crater within about 6 kilometers
(4 miles) of the lander. Using orbital data from the Mars Orbiter
Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, scientists
estimated the crater to be 160 meters (175 yards) in diameter,
and about 720 meters (half a mile) away from the lander. The
highest point visible on "Endurance" is the highest
point on the far wall of the crater; the sun is illuminating
the inside of the far wall.
Between the location where the
image was taken at "El Capitan" and "Endurance"
are the flat, smooth Meridiani plains, which scientists believe
are blanketed in the iron-bearing mineral called hematite. The
dark horizontal feature near the bottom of the picture is a small,
five-meter (16-feet) crater, only 50 meters (164 feet) from Opportunity's
present position.
When the rover leaves the crater
some 2 to 3 weeks from now, "Endurance" is one of several
potential destinations.
A smaller version
of this photo was included in the article:
NASA Announces Strong Evidence
Mars Had Water - March 2, 2004
Contents copyright 2004 MarsLander.com -- Images courtesy
NASA/JPL/Cornell/MSSS
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