3-D Images: Spirit

2004   |   2005   |   2006   |   2007   |   2008   |   2008 Unable to view Large images? 22-Dec-2005     Sweeping View of the "Columbia Hills" and Gusev Crater (3-D) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit obtained this stereo panorama of the surrounding Martian terrain in Gusev Crater from two positions about 10 meters (33 feet) apart. This is much greater separation than the 30-centimeter (11.8-inch) distance between the left and right "eyes" of the panoramic camera. The effect of increasing the separation distance of a stereo image is to greatly increase the apparent (visual) depth, allowing scientists and engineers to see details in terrain that are too far away for the standard baseline. Stereo images such as these enable planetary scientists to derive detailed information about slopes and topography, map the terrain, and select routes for the rover. Spirit is now descending from "Haskin Ridge," on the left, down the slopes of "Husband Hill" toward the "Inner Basin," a low region between Husband Hill and "McCool Hill" to the south. Scientists speculate that, on the way, Spirit may drive over successive rock layers or deeper exposures of the bedrock in the "Columbia Hills." They hope to reach the conspicuous circular feature (just to the right of the center of the image), nicknamed "Home Plate," before the Martian winter, in search of layered rock outcrops that may provide additional information about the geology of the Columbia Hills. Current long-range plans are for Spirit to cross the lowest part of the basin and approach Home Plate within 50 to 60 Martian days, or sols. After investigating Home Plate, mission planners will possibly direct Spirit to the sunny, north-facing slopes of McCool Hill, placing the rover in view of the sun as it sinks lower toward the northern horizon. This would put the rover in position to soak up enough rays of solar energy to continue operating through the coming southern-hemisphere winter on Mars. It took seven days, from sols 591 to 597 (Sept. 1 to Sept. 7, 2005) of its exploration of Mars, for Spirit's panoramic camera to acquire all the images combined into this mosaic. This panorama covers a field of view just under 180 degrees from left to right. This stereo view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. The stereo image may be viewed with standard blue and red 3-D glasses. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Browse Image | Medium Image (276 kB) | Large (15.3 MB) 21-Oct-2005     Looking Back at Spirit's Trail to the Summit (Stereo) Before moving on to explore more of Mars, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit looked back at the long and winding trail of twin wheel tracks the rover created to get to the top of "Husband Hill." Spirit spent several days in October 2005 at this location, perched on a lofty, rock-strewn incline next to a precarious outcrop nicknamed "Hillary." Researchers helped the rover make several wheel adjustments to get solid footing before conducting scientific analysis of the rock outcrop. The rock turned out to be similar in appearance and composition to a rock target called "Jibsheet" that the rover had studied several months earlier and hundreds of meters away. To the west are the slopes of the "Columbia Hills," so named for the astronauts of the Space Shuttle Columbia. Beyond the hills are the flat plains and rim of Gusev Crater. Spirit took this 360-degree panorama of images with its navigation camera on the 627th Martian day, or sol, (Oct. 7, 2005) of its exploration of Gusev Crater on Mars. This stereo view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Browse Image | Medium Image (197 kB) | Large (7.4 MB)   After Conquering 'Husband Hill,' Spirit Moves On (Stereo) The first explorer ever to scale a summit on another planet, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has begun a long trek downward from the top of "Husband Hill" to new destinations. As shown in this 180-degree panorama from east of the summit, Spirit's earlier tracks are no longer visible. They are off to the west (to the left in this view). Spirit's next destination is "Haskin Ridge," straight ahead along the edge of the steep cliff on the right side of this panorama. The scene is a mosaic of images that Spirit took with the navigation camera on the rover's 635th Martian day, or sol, (Oct. 16, 2005) of exploration of Gusev Crater on Mars. This stereo view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Browse Image | Medium Image (262 kB) | Large (3.2 MB) 01-Sep-2005     A Great Place to Watch the Weather (3-D) In this time of year when Mars is most likely to be covered by global dust storms, NASA's Spirit rover has been experiencing relative calm. In fact, the martian winds have been quite beneficial, clearing dust from the rover's solar panels and increasing the solar energy available for driving to new places and conducting scientific experiments. Another thing the martian wind has done is send hundreds of dust devils spinning across the surface of the planet. From Spirit's high perch approximately 90 meters (295 feet) above the surrounding plains, as shown in this image taken from the summit of "Husband Hill," three dust devils are clearly visible in the plains of Gusev Crater. Planetary Scientist Ron Greeley of Arizona State University, Tempe, describes the whirling vortices of wind and dust as "vacuum cleaners" that were first seen in images from the Viking Orbiter in 1985, though their existence was predicted as early as 1964. The most prominent dust devil in this image, visible on the left side of the 360-degree panorama, is one of the closest seen by Spirit. It is about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away from the rover, about 90 meters (295 feet) in diameter at its widest point, and 275 meters (902 feet) tall. Its flux is about 1 kilogram per second, meaning it is picking up about 2 pounds of sediment each second and moving it around. The smaller dust devil just to the right of the largest one is 2.5 to 3 kilometers (1.6 to 1.9 miles) away and is churning up about 0.5 kilograms (1 pound) per second. Both are north of the rover's position and are moving in an east-southeast direction. On the right side of the mosaic shown here is a third dust devil. Greeley has calculated that if the number and frequency of dust devils Spirit has encountered are similarly spaced throughout Gusev Crater, the crater probably experiences about 90,000 dust devils per martian day, or sol. Collectively, the whirlwinds lift and redeposit an estimated 4.5 million kilograms (9.9 million U.S. pounds) of sediment per sol. Spirit took this mosaic of images with its navigation camera on sol 581 (Aug. 22). Straight ahead, just east of the rover, is the summit of "Husband Hill." The 360-degree field of view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometrical seam correction. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Browse Image | Medium Image (198 kB) | Large (7.1 MB) 20-May-2005     Spirit's 'Lookout Panorama' in 3-D This is a stereoscopic version of the Spirit panoramic camera's "Lookout" panorama, acquired on the rover's 410th to 413th martian days, or sols (Feb. 27 to Mar. 2, 2005). The view is from a position known informally as "Larry's Lookout" along the drive up "Husband Hill." The summit of Husband Hill is the far peak near the center of this panorama and is about 200 meters (656 feet) away from the rover and about 45 meters (148 feet) higher in elevation. The bright rocky outcrop near the center of the panorama is part of the "Cumberland Ridge," and beyond that and to the left is the "Tennessee Valley." Spirit's tracks leading back from the "West Spur" region can be seen on the right side of the panorama. The region just beyond the area where the tracks made their last zig-zag is the area known as "Paso Robles", where Spirit discovered rock and soil deposits with very high sulfur abundances. This stereo anaglyph is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with special "untilt" processing. The tilt of the rover (roll -14 degrees, pitch +13 degrees) has been removed by special processing of the images, resulting in a flat horizon (thus a more "natural" view) with very little vertical disparity. (Vertical disparity is one of the main things that gives you a headache when looking at stereo images.) Geometric and brightness corrections have been applied. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell Browse Image | Medium Image (300 kB) | Large (10.2 MB) 28-Feb-2005     Spirit 360-Degree View, Sol 388 (3-D) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this stereo, 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings on Spirit's 388th martian day, or sol (Feb. 4, 2005). Spirit had driven about 13 meters (43 feet) uphill toward "Cumberland Ridge" on this sol. This location is catalogued as Spirit's Site 102, Position 513. The view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric and brightness seam correction. Image credit: NASA/JPL Browse Image | Medium Image (318 kB) | Large (6.8 MB) Animation (1.1 MB) 22-Feb-2005     Spirit's View on Sol 399 (3-D) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to capture this stereo view during the rover's 399th martian day, or sol, (Feb. 15, 2005). An attempted drive on that sol did not gain any ground toward nearby "Larry's Lookout" because of slippage that churned the soil on the slope. Spirit used its alpha particle X-ray spectrometer to examine the churned soil. This stereo view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. Image credit: NASA/JPL Browse Image | Medium Image (486 kB) | Large (5.3 MB) 10-Feb-2005   Spirit's View on Sol 390 (3-D) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to capture this three-dimensional view during the rover's 390th martian day, or sol, (Feb. 6, 2005). The rover advanced about 13 meters (43 feet) driving backwards uphill on that sol. The view is uphill toward "Cumberland Ridge" on "Husband Hill." It is a stereo anaglyph presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. Image credit: NASA/JPL Browse Image | Medium Image (112 kB) | Large (2.3 MB) 13-Jan-2005     Spirit's Surroundings on 'West Spur,' Sol 305 (3-D) This 360-degree stereo panorama shows the terrain surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit as of the rover's 305th martian day, or sol, (Nov. 11, 2004). At that point, Spirit was climbing the "West Spur" of the "Columbia Hills." The rover had just finished inspecting a rock called "Lutefisk" and was heading uphill toward an area called "Machu Picchu." Spirit used its navigational camera to take the images combined into this mosaic. The rover's location when the images were taken is catalogued as the mission's site 89, position 205. The stereo-anaglyph view presented here is a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction. Image credit: NASA/JPL Browse Image | Medium Image (455 kB) | Large (8.9 MB) 12-Jan-2005     Meandering Tracks on "Husband Hill" (3-D) This 360-degree, stereo panorama of a section of the "Columbia Hills" shows meandering, crisscrossing wheel tracks that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit left behind while using its scientific instruments to analyze a new class of rocks in Gusev Crater on Mars. Because Spirit has been experiencing a high rate of slip on the sandy, sloped terrain on this flank of "Husband Hill," scientists are directing the rover to check its progress often to avoid getting a rock stuck in one of its wheel wells. Rocks in this region are higher in phosphorus than other rocks that Spirit has examined. This view is a mosaic of frames that Spirit took with its navigation camera during the rover's 358th and 359th martian days, or sols, (Jan. 3 and 4, 2005). It is presented here in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. Image credit: NASA/JPL Browse Image | Medium Image (297 kB) | Large (3.5 MB)

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