In late November 2005 while descending "Husband Hill," NASA's Mars
Exploration Rover Spirit took the most detailed panorama so far of the
"Inner Basin," the rover's next target destination. Spirit acquired the
405 individual images that make up this 360-degree view of the surrounding
terrain using five different filters on the panoramic camera. The rover
took the images on Martian days, or sols, 672 to 677 (Nov. 23 to 28, 2005
-- the Thanksgiving holiday weekend).
This image is a false-color rendering using camera's 750-, 530-, and
430-nanometer filters, emphasizing some colors more than others to
enhance striking but subtle color differences among rocks, soils, hills,
and plains.
"Home Plate," a bright, semi-circular feature scientists hope to
investigate, is harder to discern in this image than in earlier views
taken from higher up the hill. Spirit acquired this more oblique view,
known as the "Seminole panorama," from about halfway down the south flank
of Husband Hill, 50 meters (164 feet) or so below the summit. Near the
center of the panorama, on the horizon, are "McCool Hill" and "Ramon
Hill," named, like Husband Hill, in honor of the fallen astronauts of the
space shuttle Columbia. Husband Hill is visible behind the rover, on the
right and left sides of the panorama. An arc of rover tracks made while
avoiding obstacles and getting into position to examine rock outcrops can
be traced over a long distance by zooming in to explore the panorama in
greater detail.
Spirit is now significantly farther downhill toward the center of this
panorama, en route to Home Plate and other enigmatic soils and outcrop
rocks in the quest to uncover the history of Gusev Crater and the
"Columbia Hills."
