PIA07986: Slow Progress in Dune (Left Rear Wheel)


Slow Progress in Dune (Left Rear Wheel)

Caption:

The left rear wheel of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity makes slow but steady progress through soft dune material in this movie clip of frames taken by the rover's rear hazard identification camera over a period of several days. The sequence starts on Opportunity's 460th martian day, or sol (May 10, 2005) and ends 11 days later. In eight drives during that period, Opportunity advanced a total of 26 centimeters (10 inches) while spinning its wheels enough to have driven 46 meters (151 feet) if there were no slippage. The motion appears to speed up near the end of the clip, but that is an artifact of individual frames being taken less frequently.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
Instrument Host Opportunity (MER-B)
Host Type Rover
Instrument Hazard Camera (Hazcam)
Detector
Extra Keywords Dune, Grayscale, Movie, Rotation
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2005-05-24
Date in Caption 2005-05-10
Image Credit NASA/JPL
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07986
Identifier PIA07986