Click on the image for
A Whale of a Panorama (QTVR)
More than 1.5 years into their exploration of Mars, both of NASA's Mars
Exploration Rovers continue to send a cornucopia of images to Earth. The
results are so spectacular that Deputy Project Manager John Callas
recently described them as "an embarrassment of riches." Spirit produced
this image mosaic, nicknamed the "Whale Panorama," two-thirds of the way
to the summit of "Husband Hill," where the rover investigated martian
rocks. On the right side of the panorama is a tilted layer of rocks dubbed
"Larry's Outcrop," one of several tilted outcrops that scientists examined
in April, 2005. They used spatial information to create geologic maps
showing the compass orientation and degree of tilting of rock formations
in the vicinity. Such information is key to geologic fieldwork because it
helps establish if rock layers have been warped since they formed. In this
case, scientists have also been studying the mineral and chemical
differences, which show that some rocks have been more highly altered
than others.
In the foreground, in the middle of the image mosaic, Spirit is shown with
the scientific instruments at the end of its robotic arm positioned on a
rock target known as "Ahab." The rover was busy collecting elemental
chemistry and mineralogy data on the rock at the same time that it was
taking 50 individual snapshots with its five panoramic camera filters to
create this stunning view of the martian scenery. The twin tracks of the
rover's all-terrain wheels are clearly visible on the left.
This mosaic of images spans about 220 degrees from left to right and is an
approximate true-color rendering of the Mars terrain acquired through the
panoramic camera's 750-, 530-, and 430-nanometer filters. Spirit collected
these images from its 497th martian day, or sol, through its 500th sol
(May 27 through May 30, 2005).
