Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Press Release Images: Spirit


	+ Mars Home + Rovers Home

Press Release Images

	Spirit
	Opportunity

All Raw Images

	Spirit
	Opportunity

Panoramas

	Spirit
	Opportunity

3-D Images

	Spirit
	Opportunity

Special-Effects Images

	Spirit
	Opportunity

Spacecraft

Mars Artwork

Landing Sites

Press Release Images: Spirit

06-Oct-2007

In this black-and-white image, two of the rovers antennas and triangular portions of its solar panels are seen at the bottom. Rising behind the rover is hilly terrain, with multiple dips and rises. Toward the back of the image, large, dark, boulder-sized rocks rise up toward the sky. Closer in are flatter, but multi-layered rocks. With the slopes and different kinds of rocks, the picture emphasizes how treacherous the terrain can appear.

Spirit Looks Ahead to a Third Martian Winter

At the end of a long day of exploration, rugged terrain can be mighty daunting. On Mars, NASA's Spirit rover has encountered boulder-strewn slopes, while having less energy due to dust-coated solar panels. Having endured two Martian winters (May-September, 2004 and April-November, 2006), Spirit's handler's have already started scouting out potential locations within driving distance where the rover might survive another southern-hemisphere Martian winter (March-October, 2008). Getting there will take some careful navigating since many of the slopes leading down from the top of "Home Plate" are too steep for the rover to cross safely with its dragging right front wheel.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell

Browse Image | Medium Image (237 kB) | Large (445 kB)

JPL Image Use Policy