A Close Up or Martian Soil
Explanation:
Make your background the closest image of Mars yet.
The
Spirit Rover currently rolling on
Mars
has taken the highest resolution image to date of another planet.
The
above black and white image spans only about 1.5 centimeters across,
with details smaller than 1/10 of a millimeter visible.
A microscope attached to the Spirit rover's instrument arm took the image.
Up close, the
Martian soil appears to planetary geologists to have clumping properties similar
to cocoa powder.
As
more images come in and as the Spirit Rover continues to explore Mars, more
information about the unusual floor of
Gusev Crater are likely to emerge.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
