Spirit Rover Studies Rock Outcrop at ‘Home Plate’

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired this false-color image on Mars during the rover's 746th Martian day, or sol, after using the rock abrasion tool to brush the surfaces of rock targets informally named "Stars" (left) and "Crawfords" (right). Small streaks of dust extend for several centimeters behind the small rock chips and pebbles in the dusty, red soils. Because the rover was looking southwest when this image was taken, the wind streaks indicate that the dominant wind direction was from the southeast.

Stars and Crawfords are on a rock outcrop located on top of "Home Plate." The outcrop is informally named "James 'Cool Papa' Bell," after a Negro League Baseball Hall of Famer who played for both the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Kansas City Stars. To some science team members, the two brushed spots resemble the eyes of a face, with rocks below and between the eyes as a nose and layered rocks at the bottom of the image as a mouth.