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| Press Release Images: Opportunity |
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28-Jun-2007
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NASA Mars Rover Ready For Descent Into Crater
Full Press Release
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Opportunity Gets Ready to Roll
This image shows the site where NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity will carefully roll down into Victoria Crater on Mars. This particular alcove, nicknamed "Duck Bay," has gradual slopes of about 15 to 20 degrees and exposed bedrock, making it the safest place for the rover to enter the crater. Rover drivers plan to avoid a rippled portion of terrain near the rim of the crater, and to steer Opportunity down the smoothest bedrock with the gentlest slopes.
This enhanced-color view was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on Oct. 3, 2006. It was previously released (see PIA08812).
Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
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Rover Tracks at Crater's Edge
Tracks left by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity as it traveled along the rim of Victoria Crater can be seen clearly in this image taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.
This is a subframe of a larger image that the camera acquired on June 26, 2007. The larger image will be released as HiRISE catalogue number PSP_004289_1780 after geometric processing.
Opportunity first approached Victoria Crater at an alcove informally named "Duck Bay" (see tracks at left). It then drove along the crater's sinuous edge in a clockwise direction before heading back to Duck Bay, where it is expected to enter the crater in early July 2007.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
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Band of Bright Rock
This image captured by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows "Cape St. Vincent," one of the many promontories that jut out from the walls of Victoria Crater, Mars. The material at the top of the promontory consists of loose, jumbled rock, then a bit further down into the crater, abruptly transitions to solid bedrock. This transition point is marked by a bright band of rock, visible around the entire crater.
Scientists say this bright band represents what used to be the surface of Mars before it was impacted to form Victoria Crater. As Opportunity begins to descend into the crater in early July 2007, it will examine the band carefully at an accessible location with a gentle slope. These investigations might help determine if the band's brighter appearance is the result of ancient interactions with the Martian atmosphere.
This image was taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera on sol 1167 (May 6, 2007). It is presented in approximately true color.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
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Band of Bright Rock (False Color)
This image captured by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows "Cape St. Vincent," one of the many promontories that jut out from the walls of Victoria Crater, Mars. The material at the top of the promontory consists of loose, jumbled rock, then a bit further down into the crater, abruptly transitions to solid bedrock. This transition point is marked by a bright band of rock, visible around the entire crater.
Scientists say this bright band represents what used to be the surface of Mars just before an impact formed Victoria Crater. After Opportunity begins to descend into the crater in early July 2007, it will examine the band carefully at an accessible location with a gentle slope. These investigations might help determine if the band's brighter appearance is the result of ancient interactions with the Martian atmosphere.
This image was taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera on sol 1167 (May 6, 2007). It is presented in false color to accentuate differences in surface materials.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
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Band at Duck Bay
This image shows "Duck Bay," an alcove in the rim of Victoria Crater. NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity will roll down the slopes of Duck Bay in early July 2007 and investigate the rocks inside the crater. One of its first targets will be the bright band of bedrock seen here lining the upper portion of the crater walls.
This band appears to be unlike anything encountered before at Opportunity's landing site. Scientists say it marks the spot where the ground surface used to lie just before an impace formed Victoria Crater. Future investigations with Opportunity might help determine whether the band's brighter appearance is the result of ancient interactions with the Martian atmosphere.
This false-color view, taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera, was previously released as part of a larger picture (see PIA09103).
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell
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Opportunity's Path, Sol 1,215
The route followed by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity from its landing site through the 1,215th Martian day (or sol) of its mission (June 24, 2007), is marked on this map. The underlying image is from the Mars Observer Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/MSSS/Ohio State University
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Opportunity's Rim Path, Sol 1,215
The route followed by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during its exploration partway around the rim of Victoria Crater is marked on this map. The rover first reached the edge of the crater on it's 951st Martian day, or sol (Sept. 26, 2006). This map shows travels through sol 1,215 (June 24, 2007). The underlying image is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/University of Arizona/Ohio State University
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Opportunity's Long Road to Victoria
This movie maps out the travels of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, from is landing site at Eagle Crater to the rim of Victoria Crater about six miles (9.7 kilometers) away. The rover, which landed on the red planet more than three years ago, spent 21 months trekking across the plains of Meridiani Planum from Endurace Crater to reach Victoria Crater on sol 951 (Sept. 26, 2006).
Victoria is the largest crater encountered by Opportunity yet, at 800 meters (half a mile) across. Once there, the rover began to explore the rim of the crater, working around its sharp cliffs and gentle bays in a clockwise direction. It examined the cliffs' rock layers visible from rim viewpoints and it assessed the bays for a possible entry route. Opportunity then headed back to its original arrival point at Victoria, an alcove informally named "Duck Bay," where it is expected to roll into the crater in early July 2007.
The images making up the first map in this movie are from the Mars Observer Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, while the second map uses an image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/MSSS/Univ. of Ariz.
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QuickTime 482 kB
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Surveying the Scene Above Opportunity (Simulation)
This animation shows a hypothetical flyover above Victoria Crater, where NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is perched on a rim. The rover is expected to begin rolling down into the crater in early July 2007.
The first part of the movie is based on data taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera. A simulated rover is shown at the site where Opportunity will enter the crater, an alcove nicknamed "Duck Bay." The movie then transitions to a panoramic view of Victoria Crater taken from the top of Duck Bay by Opportunity's panoramic camera.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Univ. of Ariz./US Geological Survey
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QuickTime 16 MB
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Rolling into Victoria Crater (Simulation)
This animation shows a simulated rover descending into Victoria Crater via the rock-paved slopes of an alcove informally named "Duck Bay." NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is expected to make a similar drive in early July 2007, on its way to examine older rocks deeper in the crater that might hold clues to Mars' wet past. The actual rover travels much more slowly and will make the trip in short segments, rather than in one long drive. Duck Bay has slopes of about 15 to 20 degrees and exposed bedrock, making it the safest site for Opportunity to enter the crater.
This movie is based on data taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
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QuickTime 7.7 MB
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