Mars Panoramas http://en.mars.bartal.org/ Mars map and select 360 panoramas. Leverages the Google Maps API to present panoramas acquired by NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity. tamas@bartal.org (Tamas Bartal) tamas@bartal.org (Tamas Bartal) en Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:46:52 +0100 Phoenix landing site panorama http://en.mars.bartal.org/?p=17 http://en.mars.bartal.org/?p=17
The full-circle panorama in approximately true color shows the polygonal patterning of ground at the landing area, similar to patterns in permafrost areas on Earth. The center of the image is the westward part of the scene. Trenches where Phoenix's robotic arm has been exposing subsurface material are also visible. The spacecraft's meteorology mast, topped by the telltale wind gauge, extends into the sky portion of the panorama.

Visible near the horizon at full resolution are the backshell and parachute (a bright speck above the right edge of the left solar array, about 300 m distant) and the heat shield and its bounce mark (two end-to-end dark streaks above the center of the left solar array, about 150 m distant).

Phoenix Mars Mission project website
Wikipedia article]]> Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:34:49 +0100 Lyell Panorama inside Victoria Crater http://en.mars.bartal.org/?p=16 http://en.mars.bartal.org/?p=16
Opportunity's targets of study during the last quarter of 2007 were rock layers within a band exposed around the interior of the crater, about 6 meters (20 feet) from the rim. Bright rocks within the band are visible in the foreground of the panorama. The rover science team assigned informal names to three subdivisions of the band: "Steno," "Smith," and "Lyell."

This view combines many images taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera (Pancam) from the 1,332nd through 1,379th Martian days, or sols, of the mission (Oct. 23 to Dec. 11, 2007). Images taken through Pancam filters centered on wavelengths of 753 nanometers, 535 nanometers and 432 nanometers were mixed to produce an approximately true-color panorama. Some visible patterns in dark and light tones are the result of combining frames that were affected by dust on the front sapphire window of the rover's camera.]]> Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:04:00 +0100 Spirit's McMurdo Winter Panorama (Labeled) http://en.mars.bartal.org/?p=15 http://en.mars.bartal.org/?p=15 Winter Haven," where the robotic geologist spent several months parked on a north-facing slope in order to keep its solar panels pointed toward the sun. During that time, while the rover spent the daylight hours conducting as much scientific research as possible, science team members assigned informal names to rock outcrops, boulders, and patches of soil commemorating exploration sites in Antarctica and the southernmost islands of South America. Antarctic bases are places where researchers, like the rovers on Mars, hunker down for the winter in subzero temperatures. During the past Martian winter, Spirit endured temperatures lower than minus 100 degrees Celsius (minus 148 degrees Fahrenheit).

This full-color mosaic of images acquired by the rover's panoramic camera shows the various features of the landscape near Spirit's "Winter Haven" and the informal names used to identify them. With Martian spring just around the corner and solar power levels on the rise, Spirit has been driving again. Scientists hope to return to the circular, plateau-like feature known as "Home Plate," though it will take some weeks to get there with a dragging right front wheel after visiting other points of scientific interest along the way.]]> Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:04:00 +0100 Mars Pathfinder 360-degree Color Panorama http://en.mars.bartal.org/?p=14 http://en.mars.bartal.org/?p=14 NASA's Mars Pathfinder over the course of Sols 8, 9, and 10 of its mission. Different regions were imaged at different times over the three Martian days to acquire consistent lighting and shadow conditions for all areas of the panorama.

At left is a Lander petal and a metallic mast which is a portion of the low-gain antenna. On the horizon the double "Twin Peaks" are visible, about 1-2 kilometers away. The rock "Couch" is the dark, curved rock at right of Twin Peaks. Another Lander petal is at left-center, showing the fully deployed forward ramp at far left, and rear ramp at right, which rover Sojourner used to descend to the surface of Mars on July 5, 1997. Immediately to the left of the rear ramp is the rock "Barnacle Bill", which scientists found be andesitic, possibly indicating that it is a volcanic rock (a true andesite) or a physical mixture of particles. Just beyond Barnacle Bill, rover tracks lead to Sojourner, shown using its Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument to study the large rock "Yogi". Yogi, low in quartz content, appears to be more primitive than Barnacle Bill, and appears more like the common basalts found on Earth.

The tracks and circular pattern in the soil leading up to Yogi were part of Sojourner's soil mechanics experiments, in which varying amounts of pressure were applied to the wheels in order to determine physical properties of the soil. During its traverse to Yogi the rover stirred the soil and exposed material from several centimeters in depth. During one of the turns to deploy Sojourner's Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer, the wheels dug particularly deeply and exposed white material. Spectra of this white material show it is virtually identical to the rock "Scooby Doo", and such white material may underlie much of the site. Deflated airbags are visible at the perimeter of all three Lander petals.]]> Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:08:00 +0100 Beagle - Of Craters and Erosion http://en.mars.bartal.org/?p=13 http://en.mars.bartal.org/?p=13 Opportunity's last stops on the surface of Meridiani Planum before reaching different terrains associated with the very large Victoria Crater. In the center of the mosaic is Beagle Crater, an impact crater about 35 meters (115 feet) wide. On the far left and wrapping around to the far right, Opportunity's tracks are visible approaching the crater.

Though it looks relatively fresh in orbital images, from a closer vantage point Beagle Crater appears moderately eroded. The crater walls are slumped and the middle of the crater bowl is filled with rippled sand. However, a slightly raised crater rim remains, and in a few places (for instance, on the inside left wall), cliffs of outcrop appear to be preserved in the crater. Ejected rocks from Beagle Crater surround the rover, many with the distinctive, fine-grained layering commonly seen in the rocks of Meridiani Planum. Many of these rocks have surfaces smoothed by wind erosion. Wind erosion also formed the sand drifts nestled among the rocks.

Beagle Crater takes its unofficial name from a great ship of exploration, the HMS Beagle, whose most famous passenger was British naturalist Charles Darwin. During the Beagle expedition around the world, Darwin conducted many of the observations that led to his theory of natural selection. Scientists have unofficially named many rocks and features in the area of Beagle Crater after the Galápagos Islands and the varieties of finches Darwin observed there. The name Beagle Crater also commemorates the ill-fated British lander, Beagle 2.

Opportunity took the mosaic of images that make up this 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings with the panoramic camera on the rover's 901st through 904th sols (6 August through 9 August, 2006) of the mission. This is an approximate true-color image combining exposures taken through the panoramic camera's 753-nanometer, 535-namometer, and 432-nanometer filters.]]> Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:28:45 +0100