Panoramas: Opportunity

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29-Dec-2008	Mars Rovers Near Five Years of Science and Discovery Full Press Release
	View from Southwest of Victoria Crater This mosaic of frames from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity gives a view to the northeast from the rover's position on its 1,687th Martian day, or sol (Oct. 22, 2008). By that date, Opportunity had driven southwestward from Victoria Crater, beginning a long trek toward a larger crater, Endeavour. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Browse Image | Medium Image (192 kB) | Large (1 MB) Full-Res (NASA's Planetary Photojournal)
	Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1687 NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings on the 1,687th Martian day, or sol, of its surface mission (Oct. 22, 2008). Opportunity had driven 133 meters (436 feet) that sol, crossing sand ripples up to about 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall. The tracks visible in the foreground are in the east-northeast direction. Opportunity's position on Sol 1687 was about 300 meters southwest of Victoria Crater. The rover was beginning a long trek toward a much larger crater, Endeavour, about 12 kilometers (7 miles) to the southeast. This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Browse Image | Medium Image (153 kB) | Large (1 MB) Full-Res (NASA's Planetary Photojournal)
	Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1687 (Stereo) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this stereo, 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings on the 1,687th Martian day, or sol, of its surface mission (Oct. 22, 2008). The view appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses. Opportunity had driven 133 meters (436 feet) that sol, crossing sand ripples up to about 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall. The tracks visible in the foreground are in the east-northeast direction. Opportunity's position on Sol 1687 was about 300 meters southwest of Victoria Crater. The rover was beginning a long trek toward a much larger crater, Endeavour, about 12 kilometers (7 miles) to the southeast. This panorama combines right-eye and left-eye views presented as cylindrical-perspective projections with geometric seam correction. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Browse Image | Medium Image (187 kB) | Large (1.1 MB) Full-Res (NASA's Planetary Photojournal)
	Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1687 (Left Eye) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings on the 1,687th Martian day, or sol, of its surface mission (Oct. 22, 2008). Opportunity had driven 133 meters (436 feet) that sol, crossing sand ripples up to about 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall. The tracks visible in the foreground are in the east-northeast direction. Opportunity's position on Sol 1687 was about 300 meters southwest of Victoria Crater. The rover was beginning a long trek toward a much larger crater, Endeavour, about 12 kilometers (7 miles) to the southeast. This view is the left-eye member of a stereo pair, presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Browse Image | Medium Image (184 kB) | Large (1.2 MB) Full Resolution (17.2 MB)
	Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1687 (Right Eye) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings on the 1,687th Martian day, or sol, of its surface mission (Oct. 22, 2008). Opportunity had driven 133 meters (436 feet) that sol, crossing sand ripples up to about 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall. The tracks visible in the foreground are in the east-northeast direction. Opportunity's position on Sol 1687 was about 300 meters southwest of Victoria Crater. The rover was beginning a long trek toward a much larger crater, Endeavour, about 12 kilometers (7 miles) to the southeast. This view is the right-eye member of a stereo pair, presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Browse Image | Medium Image (176 kB) | Large (1.1 MB) Full Resolution (17.2 MB)
24-Jan-2008
	'Lyell' Panorama inside Victoria Crater During four months prior to the fourth anniversary of its landing on Mars, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity examined rocks inside an alcove called "Duck Bay" in the western portion of Victoria Crater. The main body of the crater appears in the upper right of this panorama, with the far side of the crater lying about 800 meters (half a mile) away. Bracketing that part of the view are two promontories on the crater's rim at either side of Duck Bay. They are "Cape Verde," about 6 meters (20 feet) tall, on the left, and "Cabo Frio," about 15 meters (50 feet) tall, on the right. The rest of the image, other than sky and portions of the rover, is ground within Duck Bay. Opportunity's targets of study during the last quarter of 2007 were rock layers within a band exposed around the interior of the crater, about 6 meters (20 feet) from the rim. Bright rocks within the band are visible in the foreground of the panorama. The rover science team assigned informal names to three subdivisions of the band: "Steno," "Smith," and "Lyell." This view combines many images taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera (Pancam) from the 1,332nd through 1,379th Martian days, or sols, of the mission (Oct. 23 to Dec. 11, 2007). Images taken through Pancam filters centered on wavelengths of 753 nanometers, 535 nanometers and 432 nanometers were mixed to produce an approximately true-color panorama. Some visible patterns in dark and light tones are the result of combining frames that were affected by dust on the front sapphire window of the rover's camera. Opportunity landed on Jan. 25, 2004, Universal Time, (Jan. 24, Pacific Time) inside a much smaller crater about 6 kilometers (4 miles) north of Victoria Crater, to begin a surface mission designed to last 3 months and drive about 600 meters (0.4 mile). Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University Browse Image | Medium Image (452 kB) | Large (29.1 MB) Full-Res (NASA's Planetary Photojournal)
	'Lyell' Panorama inside Victoria Crater (False Color) During four months prior to the fourth anniversary of its landing on Mars, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity examined rocks inside an alcove called "Duck Bay" in the western portion of Victoria Crater. The main body of the crater appears in the upper right of this panorama, with the far side of the crater lying about 800 meters (half a mile) away. Bracketing that part of the view are two promontories on the crater's rim at either side of Duck Bay. They are "Cape Verde," about 6 meters (20 feet) tall, on the left, and "Cabo Frio," about 15 meters (50 feet) tall, on the right. The rest of the image, other than sky and portions of the rover, is ground within Duck Bay. Opportunity's targets of study during the last quarter of 2007 were rock layers within a band exposed around the interior of the crater, about 6 meters (20 feet) from the rim. Bright rocks within the band are visible in the foreground of the panorama. The rover science team assigned informal names to three subdivisions of the band: "Steno," "Smith," and "Lyell." This view combines many images taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera (Pancam) from the 1,332nd through 1,379th Martian days, or sols, of the mission (Oct. 23 to Dec. 11, 2007). Images taken through Pancam filters centered on wavelengths of 753 nanometers, 535 nanometers and 432 nanometers were mixed to produce this view, which is presented in a false-color stretch to bring out subtle color differences in the scene. Some visible patterns in dark and light tones are the result of combining frames that were affected by dust on the front sapphire window of the rover's camera. Opportunity landed on Jan. 25, 2004, Universal Time, (Jan. 24, Pacific Time) inside a much smaller crater about 6 kilometers (4 miles) north of Victoria Crater, to begin a surface mission designed to last 3 months and drive about 600 meters (0.4 mile). Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University Browse Image | Medium Image (645 kB) | Large (20.2 MB) Full-Res (NASA's Planetary Photojournal)
	'Lyell' Panorama inside Victoria Crater (Stereo) During four months prior to the fourth anniversary of its landing on Mars, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity examined rocks inside an alcove called "Duck Bay" in the western portion of Victoria Crater. The main body of the crater appears in the upper right of this stereo panorama, with the far side of the crater lying about 800 meters (half a mile) away. Bracketing that part of the view are two promontories on the crater's rim at either side of Duck Bay. They are "Cape Verde," about 6 meters (20 feet) tall, on the left, and "Cabo Frio," about 15 meters (50 feet) tall, on the right. The rest of the image, other than sky and portions of the rover, is ground within Duck Bay. Opportunity's targets of study during the last quarter of 2007 were rock layers within a band exposed around the interior of the crater, about 6 meters (20 feet) from the rim. Bright rocks within the band are visible in the foreground of the panorama. The rover science team assigned informal names to three subdivisions of the band: "Steno," "Smith," and "Lyell." This view incorporates many images taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera (Pancam) from the 1,332nd through 1,379th Martian days, or sols, of the mission (Oct. 23 to Dec. 11, 2007). It combines a stereo pair so that it appears three-dimensional when seen through blue-red glasses. Some visible patterns in dark and light tones are the result of combining frames that were affected by dust on the front sapphire window of the rover's camera. Opportunity landed on Jan. 25, 2004, Universal Time, (Jan. 24, Pacific Time) inside a much smaller crater about 6 kilometers (4 miles) north of Victoria Crater, to begin a surface mission designed to last 3 months and drive about 600 meters (0.4 mile). Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University Browse Image | Medium Image (368 kB) | Large (16.5 MB) Full-Res (NASA's Planetary Photojournal)
02-Jan-2008
	D-Star Panorama by Opportunity NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers have been getting smarter as they get older. This view from Opportunity shows the tracks left by a drive executed with more onboard autonomy than has been used on any other drive by a Mars rover. Opportunity made the curving, 15.8-meter (52-foot) drive during its 1,160th Martian day, or sol (April 29, 2007). It was testing a navigational capability called "Field D-star," which enables the rover to plan optimal long-range drives around any obstacles in order to travel the most direct safe route to the drive's designated destination. Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, did not have this capability until the third year after their January 2004 landings on Mars. Earlier, they could recognize hazards when they approached them closely, then back away and try another angle, but could not always find a safe route away from hazards. Field D-Star and several other upgrades were part of new onboard software uploaded from Earth in 2006. The Sol 1,160 drive by Opportunity was a Martian field test of Field D-Star and also used several other features of autonomy, including visual odometry to track the rover's actual position after each segment of the drive, avoidance of designated keep-out zones, and combining information from two sets of stereo images to consider a wide swath of terrain in analyzing the route. Two days later, on Sol 1,162, (May 1, 2007), Opportunity was still at the location it reached during that drive, and the rover's panoramic camera (Pancam) took the exposures combined into this image. Victoria Crater is in the background, at the top of the image. The Sol 1,160 drive began at the place near the center of the image where tracks overlap each other. Tracks farther away were left by earlier drives nearer to the northern rim of the crater. For scale, the distance between the parallel tracks left by the rover's wheels is about 1 meter (39 inches) from the middle of one track to the middle of the other. The rocks in the center foreground are roughly 7 to 10 centimeters (3 to 4 inches) tall. The rover could actually drive over them easily, but for this test, Settings in the onboard hazard-detection software were adjusted to make these smaller rocks be considered dangerous to the rover. The patch of larger rocks to the right was set as a keep-out zone. The location from which this image was taken is where the rover stopped driving to communicate with Earth. A straight line from the starting point to the destination would be 11 meters (36 feet). Opportunity plotted and followed a smoothly curved, efficient path around the rocks, always keeping the rover in safe areas. This view combines separate images taken through the Pancam filters centered on wavelengths of 753 nanometers, 535 nanometers and 432 nanometers to produce an approximately true-color panorama. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University Browse Image | Medium Image (377 kB) | Large (16.8 MB) Full-Res (NASA's Planetary Photojournal)
	D-Star Panorama by Opportunity (False Color) NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers have been getting smarter as they get older. This view from Opportunity shows the tracks left by a drive executed with more onboard autonomy than has been used on any other drive by a Mars rover. Opportunity made the curving, 15.8-meter (52-foot) drive during its 1,160th Martian day, or sol (April 29, 2007). It was testing a navigational capability called "Field D-star," which enables the rover to plan optimal long-range drives around any obstacles in order to travel the most direct safe route to the drive's designated destination. Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, did not have this capability until the third year after their January 2004 landings on Mars. Earlier, they could recognize hazards when they approached them closely, then back away and try another angle, but could not always find a safe route away from hazards. Field D-Star and several other upgrades were part of new onboard software uploaded from Earth in 2006. The Sol 1,160 drive by Opportunity was a Martian field test of Field D-Star and also used several other features of autonomy, including visual odometry to track the rover's actual position after each segment of the drive, avoidance of designated keep-out zones, and combining information from two sets of stereo images to consider a wide swath of terrain in analyzing the route. Two days later, on Sol 1,162, (May 1, 2007), Opportunity was still at the location it reached during that drive, and the rover's panoramic camera (Pancam) took the exposures combined into this image. Victoria Crater is in the background, at the top of the image. The Sol 1,160 drive began at the place near the center of the image where tracks overlap each other. Tracks farther away were left by earlier drives nearer to the northern rim of the crater. For scale, the distance between the parallel tracks left by the rover's wheels is about 1 meter (39 inches) from the middle of one track to the middle of the other. The rocks in the center foreground are roughly 7 to 10 centimeters (3 to 4 inches) tall. The rover could actually drive over them easily, but for this test, Settings in the onboard hazard-detection software were adjusted to make these smaller rocks be considered dangerous to the rover. The patch of larger rocks to the right was set as a keep-out zone. The location from which this image was taken is where the rover stopped driving to communicate with Earth. A straight line from the starting point to the destination would be 11 meters (36 feet). Opportunity plotted and followed a smoothly curved, efficient path around the rocks, always keeping the rover in safe areas. This view combines separate images taken through the Pancam filters centered on wavelengths of 753 nanometers, 535 nanometers and 432 nanometers. It is presented in a false-color stretch to bring out subtle color differences in the scene. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University Browse Image | Medium Image (645 kB) | Large (25.2 MB) Full-Res (NASA's Planetary Photojournal)