Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Follow this link to skip to the main content
Images
Press Release Images
Spirit
Opportunity
All Raw Images
Spirit
Opportunity
Panoramas
Spirit
Opportunity
3-D Images
Spirit
Opportunity
Spacecraft
Mars Artwork
Landing Sites
Press Release Images: Opportunity
05-May-2006
 
 
This pair of images from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity served as initial confirmation that the two-year-old rover is within sight of 'Victoria Crater,' which it has been approaching for more than a year.
Stretched View Showing 'Victoria'

This pair of images from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity served as initial confirmation that the two-year-old rover is within sight of "Victoria Crater," which it has been approaching for more than a year.

Engineers on the rover team were unsure whether Opportunity would make it as far as Victoria, but scientists hoped for the chance to study such a large crater with their roving geologist. Victoria Crater is 800 meters (nearly half a mile) in diameter, about six times wider than "Endurance Crater," where Opportunity spent several months in 2004 examining rock layers affected by ancient water.

When scientists using orbital data calculated that they should be able to detect Victoria's rim in rover images, they scrutinized frames taken in the direction of the crater by the panoramic camera. To positively characterize the subtle horizon profile of the crater and some of the features leading up to it, researchers created a vertically-stretched image (top) from a mosaic of regular frames from the panoramic camera (bottom), taken on Opportunity's 804th Martian day (April 29, 2006).

The streched image makes mild nearby dunes look like more threatening peaks, but that is only a result of the exaggerated vertical dimension. This vertical stretch technique was first applied to Viking Lander 2 panoramas by Philip Stooke, of the University of Western Ontario, Canada, to help locate the lander with respect to orbiter images. Vertically stretching the image allows features to be more readily identified by the Mars Exploration Rover science team.

The bright white dot near the horizon to the right of center, labeled "Outcrop Promontory," (barely visible without labeling or zoom-in) is thought to be a light-toned outcrop on the far wall of the crater, suggesting that the rover can see over the low rim of Victoria. The northeast and southeast rims are labeled in bright green. Finally, the light purple lines and arrow highlight a small crater.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Cornell University
Browse Image | Medium Image (433 kB) | Large (2 MB)
 
This pair of images from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity served as initial confirmation that the two-year-old rover is within sight of 'Victoria Crater,' which it has been approaching for more than a year.
Stretched View Showing 'Victoria' (Unlabeled)

This pair of images from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity served as initial confirmation that the two-year-old rover is within sight of "Victoria Crater," which it has been approaching for more than a year.

Engineers on the rover team were unsure whether Opportunity would make it as far as Victoria, but scientists hoped for the chance to study such a large crater with their roving geologist. Victoria Crater is 800 meters (nearly half a mile) in diameter, about six times wider than "Endurance Crater," where Opportunity spent several months in 2004 examining rock layers affected by ancient water.

When scientists using orbital data calculated that they should be able to detect Victoria's rim in rover images, they scrutinized frames taken in the direction of the crater by the panoramic camera. To positively characterize the subtle horizon profile of the crater and some of the features leading up to it, researchers created a vertically-stretched image (top) from a mosaic of regular frames from the panoramic camera (bottom), taken on Opportunity's 804th Martian day (April 29, 2006).

The streched image makes mild nearby dunes look like more threatening peaks, but that is only a result of the exaggerated vertical dimension. This vertical stretch technique was first applied to Viking Lander 2 panoramas by Philip Stooke, of the University of Western Ontario, Canada, to help locate the lander with respect to orbiter images. Vertically stretching the image allows features to be more readily identified by the Mars Exploration Rover science team.

The bright white dot near the horizon to the right of center (barely visible without labeling or zoom-in) is thought to be a light-toned outcrop on the far wall of the crater, suggesting that the rover can see over the low rim of Victoria.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Cornell University
Browse Image | Medium Image (329 kB) | Large (1.4 MB)
This image from the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor highlights the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's approach toward 'Victoria Crater.'
'Victoria' on Opportunity's Horizon (Orbital View)

This image from the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor highlights the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's approach toward "Victoria Crater."

North is to the left. Opportunity's location at sol 804 (April 29, 2006) is marked, as are the left and right edges of Victoria's rim from the rover's point of view. The labeled "promontory" is a bright spot that scientists believe is an outcrop on the far side of the crater. Marked in light purple is a small, 35-meter (115-foot) crater.

Victoria Crater is 800 meters (nearly half a mile) in diameter, about six times wider than "Endurance Crater," where Opportunity spent several months in 2004 examining rock layers affected by ancient water.

This image is an uncalibrated version that the rover team uses for planning. It has been reprojected and stretched in some places and isn't used for scientific purposes.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Browse Image | Medium Image (159 kB) | Large (9.6 MB)

JPL Image Use Policy

USA.gov
PRIVACY   I   IMAGE POLICY   I   FAQ   I   SITEMAP   I   CREDITS