Opportunity Rover Sends Stunning 3-D Images of Endurance Crater
Posted on: Tuesday, 4 May 2004, 06:00 CDT
By ANDREW BRIDGES
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- NASA released Monday a sweeping 180-degree view of a broad crater punched in the surface of Mars that was photographed by the space agency's Opportunity rover as it perched on the rim of the 430-foot-wide depression.
"I don't think it's disappointed anybody," mission manager Matt Wallace said of the first peek into Endurance crater.
Members of the $830 million mission immediately began making plans to circumnavigate the 1,350-foot perimeter of the crater and, if feasible, send the rover rolling down into it.
"The big question is, if we can get down, can we get back out?" Wallace said.
Opportunity arrived at the crater on Friday. It has sat and soaked in the view since then, snapping multiple images of its rocky walls and dune-covered floor.
In the new panorama, stitched together from four separate images, portions of the crater's more gentle slopes appeared to be almost paved with flat rocks, which could smooth the descent for Opportunity, Wallace said. In other areas, steep walls could be seen lining the crater.
Scientists planned for Opportunity to "toe dip" at several locations around the crater's rim to test the soil and measure the steepness of its slopes.
On the opposite side of Mars, Opportunity's twin continued its trek toward a distant cluster of hills. The Spirit rover completed on Monday its longest one-day drive yet, covering just shy of 305 feet.
NASA sent the twin rovers to Mars to prospect for geologic evidence of past water on the now dry and dusty planet.
About the Mars Exploration Rovers
NASA's twin robot geologists, the Mars Exploration Rovers, launched toward Mars on June 10 and July 7, 2003, in search of answers about the history of water on Mars. They are scheduled to land on Mars January 3 and January 24 PST (January 4 and January 25 UTC).
The Mars Exploration Rover mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the red planet.
Primary among the mission's scientific goals is to search for and characterize a wide range of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity on Mars.
The spacecraft are targeted to sites on opposite sides of Mars that appear to have been affected by liquid water in the past. The landing sites are at Gusev Crater, a possible former lake in a giant impact crater, and Meridiani Planum, where mineral deposits (hematite) suggest Mars had a wet past.
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