Self-Portrait by Freshly Cleaned Opportunity Mars Rover, False Color

April 17, 2014

This self-portrait of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows effects of wind events that had cleaned much of the accumulated dust off the rover's solar panels. It combines multiple frames taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera (Pancam) through three different color filters March 22 through March 24, 2014, the 3,611th through 3,613th Martian days, or sols, of Opportunity's work on Mars.

This image is presented in false color to make differences in surface materials more easily visible, and as a vertical projection. The mast on which the Pancam is mounted does not appear in the image, though its shadow does. A version of this self-portrait in approximately true color is online at: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA18079 .

With the cleaner arrays and lengthening winter days, Opportunity's solar arrays are generating more than 620 watt-hours per day in mid-April 2014, compared to less than 375 watt-hours per day in January 2014.