Press Release Images: Spirit

Unable to view Large images? 06-Mar-2006     'Gibson' Panorama by Spirit at 'Home Plate' (False Color) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired this high-resolution view of intricately layered exposures of rock while parked on the northwest edge of the bright, semi-circular feature known as "Home Plate." The rover was perched at a 27-degree upward tilt while creating the panorama, resulting in the "U" shape of the mosaic. In reality, the features along the 1-meter to 2-meter (3-foot to 6-foot) vertical exposure of the rim of Home Plate in this vicinity are relatively level. Rocks near the rover in this view, known as the "Gibson" panorama, include "Barnhill," "Rogan," and "Mackey." Spirit took this panorama of 246 separate images using 6 different filters on the Pancam on martian days, or sols, 748-751 (Feb. 9-12, 2006). The field of view in this cylindrical projection covers 160 degrees of terrain from side to side. This image is a false-color rendering using using Pancam's 753-nanometer, 535-namometer, and 432-nanometer filters, but presented to enhance the many striking but subtle color differences between rocks and soils in the scene. Image-to-image seams have been eliminated from the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS/Cornell Browse Image | Medium Image (529 kB) | Large (34.8 MB)   'Gibson' Panorama by Spirit at 'Home Plate' NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired this high-resolution view of intricately layered exposures of rock while parked on the northwest edge of the bright, semi-circular feature known as "Home Plate." The rover was perched at a 27-degree upward tilt while creating the panorama, resulting in the "U" shape of the mosaic. In reality, the features along the 1-meter to 2-meter (3-foot to 6-foot) vertical exposure of the rim of Home Plate in this vicinity are relatively level. Rocks near the rover in this view, known as the "Gibson" panorama, include "Barnhill," "Rogan," and "Mackey." Spirit took this panorama of 246 separate images using 6 different filters on the Pancam on martian days, or sols, 748-751 (Feb. 9-12, 2006). The field of view in this cylindrical projection covers 160 degrees of terrain from side to side. This image is an approximate true-color rendering using Pancam's 753-nanometer, 535-namometer, and 432-nanometer filters. Image-to-image seams have been eliminated from the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS/Cornell Browse Image | Medium Image (428 kB) | Large (23.1 MB)   Spirit's 'Paige' Panorama of the Interior of 'Home Plate' (False Color) On Feb. 19, 2006, the 758th Martian day of exploration of the red planet by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, the rover acquired this panoramic view of the interior of "Home Plate," a circular topographic feature amid the "Columbia Hills." This view, called the "Paige" panorama, is from the top of Home Plate. It shows layered rocks exposed at the edge as well as dark rocks exhibiting both smooth and sponge-like "scoriaceous" textures. To the east from this vantage point, "McCool Hill" looms on the horizon. At the base of McCool Hill is a reddish outcrop called "Oberth," which Spirit may explore during the rapidly approaching Martian winter. "Von Braun" and "Goddard" hills are partially visible beyond the opposite rim of Home Plate. The limited spatial coverage of this panorama is the result of steadily decreasing power available to the rover for science activities as the Martian winter arrives and the sun traces a lower path across the sky. The rover team anticipates that the north-facing slopes of McCool Hill should sufficiently tilt the rover's solar panels toward the sun to allow Spirit to survive the winter. This panorama consists of 72 separate images from 4 different Pancam filters, and covers about 230 degrees of terrain around the rover. The slightly upturned edges of the mosaic result from the rover's tilt of 17 degrees toward the interior of "Home Plate" when the images were acquired. This is a false-color rendering of a cylindrical projection using the Pancam's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters, enhanced to show the many striking but subtle color differences between rocks, soils, and hills in the scene. Image-to-image seams have been eliminated from the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS/Cornell Browse Image | Medium Image (378 kB) | Large (24.2 MB)   Spirit's 'Paige' Panorama of the Interior of 'Home Plate' On Feb. 19, 2006, the 758th Martian day of exploration of the red planet by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, the rover acquired this panoramic view of the interior of "Home Plate," a circular topographic feature amid the "Columbia Hills." This view, called the "Paige" panorama, is from the top of Home Plate. It shows layered rocks exposed at the edge as well as dark rocks exhibiting both smooth and sponge-like "scoriaceous" textures. To the east from this vantage point, "McCool Hill" looms on the horizon. At the base of McCool Hill is a reddish outcrop called "Oberth," which Spirit may explore during the rapidly approaching Martian winter. "Von Braun" and "Goddard" hills are partially visible beyond the opposite rim of Home Plate. The limited spatial coverage of this panorama is the result of steadily decreasing power available to the rover for science activities as the Martian winter arrives and the sun traces a lower path across the sky. The rover team anticipates that the north-facing slopes of McCool Hill should sufficiently tilt the rover's solar panels toward the sun to allow Spirit to survive the winter. This panorama consists of 72 separate images from 4 different Pancam filters, and covers about 230 degrees of terrain around the rover. The slightly upturned edges of the mosaic result from the rover's tilt of 17 degrees toward the interior of "Home Plate" when the images were acquired. This is an approximate true-color rendering of a cylindrical projection using the Pancam's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters. Image-to-image seams have been eliminated from the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS/Cornell Browse Image | Medium Image (307 kB) | Large (18.7 MB) Studies Rock Outcrop at 'Home Plate' NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired this false-color image at 11:48 local true solar time on Mars on the rover's 746th Martian day, or sol (Feb. 26, 2006), after using the rock abraision 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. The targets 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 Leagues 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. The image combines frames taken by Spirit's panoramic camera through the camera's 753-nanometer, 535-namometer, and 432-nanometer filters. It is enhanced to emphasize color differences among the rocks, soils and brushed areas. The blue circular area on the left, Stars, was brushed on 761 (Feb. 22, 2006). The one on the right, Crawfords, was brushed on sol 763 (Feb. 25, 2006). Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS/Cornell Browse Image | Medium Image (233 kB) | Large (1.6 MB)

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