McMurdo Panorama from Mars
Explanation:
This was Spirit's view on Martian-day 1,000 of its 90-Martian-day mission.
The
robotic Spirit rover
has stayed alive so long on Mars that it needed a place to wait out the cold and
dim Martian winter.
Earth scientists selected Low Ridge hill, a place with sufficient slant to give Spirit's
solar panels enough
sunlight to keep powered up and making scientific observations.
From its
Winter Haven, Spirit has been able to build
up the
above 360-degree
panorama, which has been digitally altered to
exaggerate colors
and compressed horizontally to
fit your screen.
The long winter is finally ending in the south of
Mars,
and with the increasing sunlight plans are now being made for Spirit to further explore
the rocky
Columbia Hills inside intriguing
Gusev crater.
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.
