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Spirit's View From Troy
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 21, 2009 This scene combines seven frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the 1,891st Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's mission on Mars (April 28, 2009). It covers a vista from south-southeast on the left to northeast on the right. This view is from the position Spirit reached with a drive that moved the rover only about 14 centimeters (5.5 inches) earlier on Sol 1891. Spirit's wheels had started to sink into local soil on Sol 1886 (April 23, 2009). After Sol 1891, the rover team attempted five more drives with Spirit through Sol 1899 (May 6, 2009), moving the rover only a few centimeters in all, and detecting wheel slippage in excess of 99 percent before deciding to suspend further driving by Spirit until potential maneuvers had been thoroughly evaluated with a test rover on Earth. The site from which Spirit obtained this view has been informally named "Troy." Layers of differently hued soil uncovered by the sinking wheels became the subject of intense analysis by the instruments on Spirit's robotic arm. On the horizon at the left edge of this view is a mound capped with light-toned rock and called "Von Braun," a possible destination for Spirit to investigate in the future. Between Von Braun and the center of the image is a ridge called "Tsiolkovsky." The hill on the horizon to the right is Husband Hill, where Spirit reached the summit in 2005. Tracks receding toward the north were created as Spirit drove southward toward Troy, driving backward and dragging its right-front wheel, which has been inoperable for more than three years. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches). This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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An Opportunity To Go Backwards Makes For An Interesting ViewPasadena CA (JPL) Jul 16, 2009 NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings on the 1,850th Martian day, or sol, of its surface mission (April 7, 2009). Opportunity had driven 62.5 meters (205 feet) that sol, southward away from an outcrop called "Penrhyn," which the rover had been examining for a few sols, and towar ... read more |
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