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Press Release Images: Opportunity
7-June-2013
Mars Rover Opportunity Trekking Toward More Layers
Press Release
Opportunity's Traverse Through 112 Months
Opportunity's Traverse Through 112 Months

This map shows the 22.553-mile (36.295-kilometer) route driven by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity from the site of its landing, inside Eagle crater at the upper left, to its location more than 112 months later, in late May 2013, departing the "Cape York" section of the rim of Endeavour crater.

The gold line covers traverses through the 3,323rd Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's work on Mars (May 30, 2013). The base image for the map is a mosaic of images taken by the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The scale bar is 5 kilometers (1.24 miles).

Opportunity completed its three-month prime missions in April 2004 and has continued operations in bonus extended missions. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reached Mars in 2006, completed its prime mission in 2010, and is also working in an extended mission.

This traverse map was made at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, Albuquerque. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates the orbiter's Context Camera.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/NMMNHS

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Southbound  Opportunity, June 2013
Southbound Opportunity, June 2013

This map of a portion of the western rim of Endeavour Crater on Mars shows the path of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity as the rover is driving from the "Cape York" segment of the rim to its next destination, the "Solander Point" segment.

The gold line traces Opportunity's traverse from when it approached Cape York from the west, in summer 2011, to the rover's position near "Nobbys Head" after a drive of 102 meters on the mission's 3,328th Martian day, or sol (June 4, 2013).�

The base image for this map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The scale bar at upper right is 500 meters (about one-third of a mile).

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

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Opportunity's Exploration of
Opportunity's Exploration of "Cape York"

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity drove onto the "Cape York" segment of the rim of Endeavour Crater in August 2011 and departed Cape York in May 2013. The inset map at upper left shows the full path taken by the rover at Cape York and the location of the "Matijevic Hill" area, which is magnified in the main map. The location of a rock target called "Esperance" is indicated in the main map. Opportunity found evidence of clay-mineral composition at Esperance, indicating a history of alteration by water that was not strongly acidic.

North is to the top in both maps. The scale bar in the main map is 10 meters (33 feet). The scale bar in the inset is ten times longer. The base imagery for the maps is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Opportunity's route enters the inset map from the left (west) and leaves at the bottom (south).

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

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'Esperance' Target Examined by Opportunity
'Esperance' Target Examined by Opportunity

This image from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a pale rock called "Esperence," which was inspected by the rover in May 2013. At the specific target point "Esperance6," Opportunity used its rock abrasion tool (RAT) to remove some surface material and then used its alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) to identify chemical elements in the rock. The APXS data showed that Esperance's composition is higher in aluminum and silica, and lower in calcium and iron, than other rocks Opportunity has examined in more than nine years on Mars. Preliminary interpretation points to clay mineral content due to intensive alteration by water.

This image shows an area about 28 inches (70 centimeters) wide. It is a composite of three exposures taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera (Pancam) through different filters during the 3,230th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Feb. 23, 2013). The view is presented in false color to make some differences between materials easier to see.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.

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Chemistry of Martian Rock
Chemistry of Martian Rock "Esperance"

This triangle plot shows the relative concentrations of some of the major chemical elements in the Martian rock "Esperance." Some elements are summed together. For example, a rock containing calcium, sodium and/or potassium, but no aluminum and no iron or magnesium, would plot in the lower left corner of this diagram. Silicate minerals that plot below the dashed line tend to be igneous, while ones that plot above it are typically dominated by clays.

The compositions of average Martian crust and of montmorillonite, a common clay mineral, are shown. Also shown, in yellow, are measurements made on Esperance. Some Esperance measurement locations were contaminated with soil or other materials, and so they plot close to average Martian crust. The target location "Esperance6", however, was abraded with Opportunity's rock abrasion tool (RAT) and was relatively uncontaminated. Esperance6 plots close to montmorillonite, providing strong evidence for the presence of clay minerals.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/Max Planck Institute/University of Guelph

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Perspective View of 'Botany Bay' and Surroundings, With Vertical Exaggeration
Perspective View of 'Botany Bay' and Surroundings, With Vertical Exaggeration

A stereo pair of images from taken from Mars orbit were used to generate a digital elevation model that is the basis for this simulated perspective view of "Cape York," "Botany Bay," and "Solander Point" on the western rim of Endeavour Crater. The view is from the crater interior looking toward the southwest, and the vertical exaggeration is fivefold.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity investigated the Cape York segment of Endeavour's rim from August 2011 to May 2013 and then drove away from Cape York toward Solander Point. A white line labeled "Opportunity" indicates the rover's traverse from a target called "Esperance" on Cape York to the rover's location on 3,327th sol (Martian day) of the rover's mission on Mars (June 3, 2013).

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took the images used for creating this elevation model and simulated perspective view.

For reference, the highest elevation on Solander Point is approximately 180 feet (55 meters) above the surrounding plains. Opportunity is on the way to the northern tip of Solander Point to spend the upcoming winter season. That location has a north-facing slope favorable for electrical output by Opportunity's solar panels during the Mars southern-hemisphere winter. Researchers expect that tens of yards, or meters, of ancient strata uplifted by or deposited during the formation of Endeavour Crater will be exposed for detailed measurements.

An unannotated version of this simulated view is also available.

Ohio State University, Columbus, generated the digital elevation model using HiRISE frames catalogued as PSP_018701_1775_red.jp2 and PSP_018846_1775_red. jp2. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter projects for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UA/OSU

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Opportunity's View Leaving 'Cape York'
Opportunity's View Leaving 'Cape York'

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to acquire this view looking toward the southwest on the mission's 3,315th Martian day, or sol (May 21, 2013). The scene includes tilted rocks at the edge of a bench surrounding "Cape York," with Burns formation rocks exposed in "Botany Bay." The rover was located at the southwestern portion of Cape York, a segment of the western rim of Endeavour Crater. Isolated Endeavour rim segments "Sutherland Point" and "Nobbys Head" can be seen in the distance.

Opportunity automatically stopped when onboard sensors showed that its tilt reached a maximum allowable value of 20 degrees on the drive across the bench surface, serendipitously providing end-of-drive images of the transition between bench and Botany Bay strata. Bench strata represent the oldest sedimentary rocks deposited on the eroded rim of Endeavour and are overlain by Burns formation rocks.

An unannotated version is also available.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Opportunity's view of 'Solander Point'
Opportunity's view of 'Solander Point'

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its panoramic camera (Pancam) to acquire this view of "Solander Point" during the mission's 3,325th Martian day, or sol (June 1, 2013). The southward-looking scene, presented in false color, shows Solander Point on the center horizon, "Botany Bay" in the foreground, and "Cape Tribulation" in the far background at left.

Botany Bay is a topographic saddle exposing sedimentary rocks that are part of the Burns formation, a geological unit Opportunity examined during earlier years of the mission. At Botany Bay, the Burns formation is exposed between isolated remnants of Endeavour Crater's rim. Solander Point and Cape Tribulation are rim segments south of Botany Bay. Opportunity is on the way to Solander Point to spend the upcoming winter season on northerly tilted surfaces. Extensive rock strata are evident on the northern side of Solander Point, and these ancient rocks and surrounding bench materials will be investigated in detail by Opportunity as part of the winter science campaign.

The image combines three exposures taken through Pancam filters centered at wavelengths of 753 nanometers, 535 nanometers and 432 nanometers, displayed as red, green and blue colors. This false-color version makes some differences among geological materials easier to distinguish. Unannotated versions of the same scene are also available in approximately true color and in false color.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.

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