01 January 2011
This image, taken on the surface of Mars, by NASA’s robotic rover Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, shows wonderful Martian terrain, dominated by a 90-meter-wide crater, informally known as "Santa Maria". On its 2,451st day on Mars, Opportunity applied one of its cameras, to obtain the frames used to produce this 360-degree view. South is at center. North is at both sides.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
On 16 December 2010, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, operating on the surface of Mars, as a six-wheeled robotic geologist, reached a 90-meter-wide crater. A mosaic of images obtained by Opportunity's navigation camera, on 16 December, shows the crater's sharp rim and rocks ejected from the impact that had created the crater.
Opportunity’s science team plans to apply cameras and spectrometers, during the coming weeks, to examine rocks exposed at the crater, informally named "Santa Maria."
Opportunity landed on Mars on 25 January 2004. Its twin rover, known as Spirit, operates on the opposite side of Mars, and landed on the Red Planet on 4 January 2004. Opportunity accomplished its three-month prime Martian mission, in April 2004, and has been working on successful extended missions, since then. After studying the Santa Maria Crater, Opportunity will move to the rim of Endeavour Crater, which is about 22 km in diameter.
References
NASA
www.nasa.gov/
Further Reading
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov
Aymen Mohamed Ibrahem
Senior Astronomy Specialist