NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this panoramic camera image on sol 91 (April 5, 2004). Spirit is looking to the southeast, and through the martian haze has captured the rim of Gusev Crater approximately 80 kilometers (49.7 miles) away on the horizon.
The right side of this image reveals the portion of the crater edge that descends into the mouth of Ma'adim Vallis, a channel that opens into Gusev Crater. Spirit is currently traveling toward the informally named "Columbia Hills," which lie to the left of the region pictured here.
This image is similar to a panoramic camera image taken on sol 68, but Gusev's ridge is more visible here because the atmospheric dust caused by winter dust storms has settled. Scientists expect to get even clearer images than this one in upcoming sols.
This image has been modified to make the crater rim more visible.
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 | Atmosphere, Crater, Dust, Grayscale, Haze, Storm | |
Acquisition Date | ||
Release Date | 2004-04-07 | |
Date in Caption | 2004-04-05 | |
Image Credit | NASA/JPL/Cornell | |
Source | photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05717 | |
Identifier | PIA05717 |