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| Press Release Images: Opportunity |
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12-Feb-2004
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Student Programs Tap Into Mars Rover Adventures
Full Press Release
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Opportunity's Path
This Long Term Planning graphic was created from
a mosaic of navigation camera images overlain by a polar coordinate
grid with the center point as Opportunity's original landing site.
The blue dots represent the rover position at various locations.
The red dots represent the center points of the target areas for the
instruments on the rover mast (the panoramic camera and miniature
thermal emission spectrometer). Opportunity visited Stone Mountain on
Feb. 5. Stone Mountain was named after the southernmost point of the
Appalachian Mountains outside of Atlanta, Ga. On Earth, Stone
Mountain is the last big mountain before the Piedmont flatlands, and
on Mars, Stone Mountain is at one end of Opportunity Ledge. El
Capitan is a target of interest on Mars named after the second highest
peak in Texas in Guadaloupe National Park, which is one of the most
visited outcrops in the United States by geologists. It has been a
training ground for students and professional geologists to understand
what the layering means in relation to the formation of Earth, and
scientists will study this prominent point of Opportunity Ledge to
understand what the layering means on Mars.
The yellow lines show the midpoint where the panoramic camera has
swept and will sweep a 120-degree area from the three waypoints on the
tour of the outcrop. Imagine a fan- shaped wedge from left to right
of the yellow line.
The white contour lines are one meter apart, and each drive has been
roughly about 2-3 meters in length over the last few sols. The large
white blocks are dropouts in the navigation camera data.
Opportunity is driving along and taking a photographic panorama of the
entire outcrop. Scientists will stitch together these images and use
the new mosaic as a "base map" to decide on geology targets of
interest for a more detailed study of the outcrop using the
instruments on the robotic arm. Once scientists choose their targets
of interest, they plan to study the outcrop for roughly five to
fifteen sols. This will include El Capitan and probably one to two
other areas.
Blue Dot Dates:
Sol 7 / Jan 31 = Egress & first soil data collected by instruments on
the arm
Sol 9 / Feb 2 = Second Soil Target
Sol 12 / Feb 5 = First Rock Target
Sol 16 / Feb 9 = Alpha Waypoint
Sol 17 / Feb 10 = Bravo Waypoint
Sol 19 or 20 / Feb 12 or 13 = Charlie Waypoint
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Inspector Gadget
This image is a still from a computer-generated animation showing the Mars Exploration Rover inspecting the rock dubbed Stone Mountain with its instrument deployment device, or arm.
Image credit: NASA/JPL
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Martian Microscope
The microscopic imager (circular device in center) is in clear view above the surface at Meridiani Planum, Mars, in this approximate true-color image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The image was taken on the 9th sol of the rover's journey. The microscopic imager is located on the rover's instrument deployment device, or arm. The arrow is pointing to the lens of the instrument. Note the dust cover, which flips out to the left of the lens, is open. This approximated color image was created using the camera's violet and infrared filters as blue and red.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Texas A&M
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"Berries" on the Ground
This mosaic image shows an extreme close-up of round, blueberry-shaped formations in the martian soil near a part of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum called Stone Mountain. Scientists are studying these curious formations for clues about the area's past environmental conditions. The image, one of the highest resolution images ever taken by the microscopic imager, an instrument located on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's instrument deployment device or "arm."
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/USGS
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"Berries" on the Ground 2 (3-D)
This is the 3-D anaglyph showing a microscopic image taken of soil featuring round, blueberry-shaped rock formations on the crater floor at Meridiani Planum, Mars. This image was taken on the 13th day of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's journey, before the Mössbauer spectrometer, an instrument located on the rover's instrument deployment device, or "arm," was pressed down to take measurements. The area in this image is approximately 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/USGS/Texas A&M
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"Berries" on the Ground 2 (3-D)
This is the 3-D anaglyph showing a microscopic image taken of soil featuring round, blueberry-shaped rock formations on the crater floor at Meridiani Planum, Mars. This image was taken on the 13th day of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's journey, after the Mössbauer spectrometer, an instrument located on the rover's instrument deployment device, or "arm," was pressed down to measure the soil's iron mineralogy. Note the donut-shaped imprint of the instrument in the lower part of the image. The area in this image is approximately 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/USGS/Texas A&M
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