PIA06719: Opportunity Leaves a Trail of 'Rat' Holes


Opportunity Leaves a Trail of ‘Rat’ Holes

Caption:

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's rock abrasion tool, known informally as the "Rat," has nibbled seven holes into the slope of "Endurance Crater." This image from the rover's navigation camera was released previously (PIA06716) without the Rat holes labeled so that viewers could try to find the holes themselves. Here, the holes have been identified. Starting from the uppermost pictured (closest to the crater rim) to the lowest, the Rat hole targets are: "Tennessee," "Cobblehill," "Virginia," "London," "Grindstone," "Kettlestone," and "Drammensfjorden." These holes were drilled on sols 138 (June 13, 2004), 143 (June 18), 145 (June 20), 148 (June 23), 151 (June 26), 153 (June 28) and 161 (July 7), respectively. Each hole is 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter.

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 Navigation Camera (Navcam)
Detector
Extra Keywords Color, Crater
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2004-07-23
Date in Caption 2004-06-13
Image Credit NASA/JPL
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06719
Identifier PIA06719