3-D Images: Spirit

2004   |   2005   |   2006   |   2007   |   2008   |   2009 Unable to view Large images? 03-Apr-2009     Spirit's View Beside 'Home Plate' on Sol 1823 (Stereo) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images that have been combined into this stereo, 180-degree view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,823rd Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's surface mission (Feb. 17, 2009). This view combines images from the left-eye and right-eye sides of the navigation camera. It appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. The center of the view is toward the south-southwest. The rover had driven 7 meters (23 feet) eastward earlier on Sol 1823, part of maneuvering to get Spirit into a favorable position for climbing onto the low plateau called "Home Plate." However, after two driving attempts with negligible progress during the following three sols, the rover team changed its strategy for getting to destinations south of Home Plate. The team decided to drive Spirit at least partway around Home Plate, instead of ascending the northern edge and taking a shorter route across the top of the plateau. Layered rocks forming part of the northern edge of Home Plate can be seen near the center of the image. Rover wheel tracks are visible at the lower edge. This view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Browse Image | Medium Image (324 kB) | Large (578 kB) Full Resolution (14.7 MB)   Time for a Change; Spirit's View on Sol 1843 (Stereo) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images that have been combined into this stereo, full-circle view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,843rd Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's surface mission (March 10, 2009). South is in the middle. North is at both ends. This view combines images from the left-eye and right-eye sides of the navigation camera. It appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. The rover had driven 36 centimeters downhill earlier on Sol 1854, but had not been able to get free of ruts in soft material that had become an obstacle to getting around the northeastern corner of the low plateau called "Home Plate." The Sol 1854 drive, following two others in the preceding four sols that also achieved little progress in the soft ground, prompted the rover team to switch to a plan of getting around Home Plate counterclockwise, instead of clockwise. The drive direction in subsequent sols was westward past the northern edge of Home Plate. This view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Browse Image | Medium Image (204 kB) | Large (1.0 MB) Full Resolution (25.7 MB)   View Ahead After Spirit's Sol 1861 Drive (Stereo) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this stereo, 210-degree view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,861st to 1,863rd Martian days, or sols, of Spirit's surface mission (March 28 to 30, 2009). This view combines images from the left-eye and right-eye sides of the navigation camera. It appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. The center of the scene is toward the south-southwest. East is on the left. West-northwest is on the right. The rover had driven 22.7 meters (74 feet) southwestward on Sol 1861 before beginning to take the frames in this view. The drive brought Spirit past the northwestern corner of Home Plate. In this view, the western edge of Home Plate is on the portion of the horizon farthest to the left. A mound in middle distance near the center of the view is called "Tsiolkovsky" and is about 40 meters (about 130 feet) from the rover's position. This view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Browse Image | Medium Image (240 kB) | Large (619 kB) Full Resolution (17.2 MB) 26-Mar-2009     Dust Devil in Spirit's View Ahead on Sol 1854 (Stereo) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images that have been combined into this stereo, 180-degree view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,854th Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's surface mission (March 21, 2009). This view combines images from the left-eye and right-eye sides of the navigation camera. It appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. The rover had driven 13.79 meters (45 feet) westward earlier on Sol 1854. West is at the center, where a dust devil is visible in the distance. North on the right, where Husband Hill dominates the horizon; Spirit was on top of Husband Hill in September and October 2005. South is on the left, where lighter-toned rock lines the edge of the low plateau called "Home Plate." This view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Browse Image | Medium Image (282 kB) | Large (557 kB) Full Resolution (14.7 MB)   New Record Five-Wheel Drive, Spirit's Sol 1856 (Stereo) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images that have been combined into this stereo, 180-degree view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,856th Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's surface mission (March 23, 2009). The center of the view is toward the west-southwest. This view combines images from the left-eye and right-eye sides of the navigation camera. It appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. The rover had driven 25.82 meters (84.7 feet) west-northwestward earlier on Sol 1856. This is the longest drive on Mars so far by a rover using only five wheels. Spirit lost the use of its right-front wheel in March 2006. Before Sol 1856, the farthest Spirit had covered in a single sol's five-wheel drive was 24.83 meters (81.5 feet), on Sol 1363 (Nov. 3, 2007). The Sol 1856 drive made progress on a route planned for taking Spirit around the western side of the low plateau called "Home Plate." A portion of the northwestern edge of Home Plate is prominent in the left quarter of this image, toward the south. This view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Browse Image | Medium Image (326 kB) | Large (633 kB) Full Resolution (14.9 MB) 13-Feb-2009     Spirit Beside 'Home Plate,' Sol 1809 (Stereo) NASA Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images assembled into this stereo, 120-degree view southward after a short drive during the 1,809th Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's mission on the surface of Mars (February 3, 2009). By combining images from the left-eye and right-eye sides of the navigation camera, the view appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. Spirit had driven about 2.6 meters (8.5 feet) that sol, continuing a clockwise route around a low plateau called "Home Plate." In this image, the rocks visible above the rovers' solar panels are on the slope at the northern edge of Home Plate. This view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Browse Image | Medium Image (416 kB) | Large (425 kB) Full Resolution (9.6 MB) 02-Feb-2009     Spirit Near "Stapledon" on Sol 1802 (Stereo) NASA Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera for the images assembled into this stereo, full-circle view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,802nd Martian day, or sol, (January 26, 2009) of Spirit's mission on the surface of Mars. South is at the center; north is at both ends. This view combines images from the left-eye and right-eye sides of the navigation camera. It appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. Spirit had driven down off the low plateau called "Home Plate" on Sol 1782 (January 6, 2009) after spending 12 months on a north-facing slope on the northern edge of Home Plate. The position on the slope tilted Spirit's solar panels toward the sun, enabling the rover to generate enough electricity to survive its third Martian winter. Tracks on the right-hand side of this panorama can be seen leading back to that "Winter Haven 3" site from the Sol 1802 position about 10 meters (33 feet) away. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about one meter (40 inches). Where the receding tracks bend to the left, a circular pattern resulted from Spirit turning in place at a soil target informally named "Stapledon" after William Olaf Stapledon, a British philosopher and science-fiction author who lived from 1886 to 1950. Scientists on the rover team suspected that the soil in that area might have a high concentration of silica, resembling a high-silica soil patch discovered east of Home Plate in 2007. Bright material visible in the track furthest to the right was examined with Spirit's alpha partical X-ray spectrometer and found, indeed, to be rich in silica. The team laid plans to drive Spirit from this Sol 1802 location back up onto Home Plate, then southward for the rover's summer field season. This view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Browse Image | Medium Image (223 kB) | Large (1.2 MB) Full Resolution (26.4 MB)

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