Press Release Images: Spirit

11-Apr-2006 NASA Mars Rovers Head for New Sites after Studying Layers Full Press Release Coarse Layering at 'Home Plate' This image shows coarse-grained layers from around the edge of a low plateau called "Home Plate" inside Mars' Gusev Crater. One possible origin is material falling to the ground after being thrown aloft by an explosion such as a volcanic eruption or meteorite impact. The panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired the exposures for this image on Spirit's 749th Martian day (Feb. 10, 2006). This view is an approximately true-color rendering mathematically generated from separate images taken through all of the left Pancam's 432-nanometer to 753-nanometer filters. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell Browse Image | Medium Image (55 kB) | Large (260 kB) 'Home Plate' Evidence for an Explosive Past This view of layers around the edge of a low plateau called "Home Plate" inside Mars' Gusev Crater includes a feature that may be what geologists call a "bomb sag" and interpret as evidence of an explosive event, such as a volcanic eruption. The layers seen here are generally straight and parallel except in the lower right, where they dip around a greyish rock that is about 4 centimeters (about 1.5 inches) in diameter. When layered deposits are struck by a falling rock while the layers are still soft, this type of pattern can be created. The rock might have been lofted by a volcanic burst or as part of the material ejected by the crater-forming impact of a meteorite. The panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired the exposures for this image on Spirit's 754th Martian day (Feb. 15, 2006). This view is an approximately true-color rendering mathematically generated from separate images taken through all of the left Pancam's 432-nanometer to 753-nanometer filters. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell Browse Image | Medium Image (37 kB) | Large (289 kB)

JPL Image Use Policy