PIA03233: 'East Basin' Panorama


‘East Basin’ Panorama

Caption:

Click on the image for 'East Basin' Panorama (QTVR)
Click on the image for 'East Basin' Panorama (QTVR)

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its panoramic camera to obtain this view of the impact feature called "East Basin" to the northeast of "Husband Hill." The images combined into this mosaic were taken during Spirit's 653rd Martian day, or sol (Nov. 3, 2005), just before Spirit descended eastward onto "Haskin Ridge." The view is about 150 degrees wide. It is an approximately true-color rendering generated using the camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer, and 480-nanometer filters.

Dark features on the far side of the basin, just left of center in this view, are basaltic sand deposits that were emplaced on the lee sides of hills by northwesterly winds. Haskin Ridge is visible along the right margin of the image, capped by a light-toned layer of rock. Spirit investigated the light-toned rock unit after taking this image. The basaltic plains located east of the "Columbia Hills" can be seen in the distance beyond "East Basin." The rim of Thira crater is just visible on the distant horizon some 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) away.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
Instrument Host Spirit (MER-A)
Host Type Rover
Instrument Panoramic Camera (Pancam)
Detector
Extra Keywords Color, Crater, Impact
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2005-11-21
Date in Caption 2005-11-03
Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03233
Identifier PIA03233