This image shows the view from Spirit looking east from its position at the base of a low plateau called “Home Plate” (rising to the right). Loose soil and the loss of one of its six wheels has been posing a difficulty for the rover, and it has spent the past several days trying to…
Tag: rover
Eye in the Sky
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this photo of the Opportunity rover traversing the sand dunes of Meridiani Plain from its position in orbit, 172 miles away. The rover’s tracks can be seen extending away up and right in this image. (North is up.) Click the photo above to see the original cut shot. Opportunity is…
Sailing a Dune Sea
Opportunity’s tracks roll away over the crests of windswept dunes in this image, combined from two photos taken on February 13, 2009 (mission day – “Sol” – 1791). The original images were greyscale. I edited them to somewhat resemble true color. (Click the image for a full-size version.) Opportunity is currently traveling across the Meridiani…
A Distant Horizon
Still one of the most compelling images taken by the Spirit exploration rover, this photo of the Sun setting behind distant mountains was taken on May 19, 2005. (In reality the “mountains” are actually the rim of a large crater.) The color here is pretty close to what a person would see were they…
Lights in the Dark 