| NASA Center: |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
|---|
| Image # : |
PIA00752 |
|---|
| Date : |
07/18/1997
|
|---|
|
Title
360 Degree Panorama Mars Pathfinder Landing Site
Full Description
This is the first contiguous, uniform 360-degree color panorama taken
by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) over the course of sols 8, 9,
and 10 (Martian days). 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.
Immediately to the left of the rear ramp is the rock Barnacle Bill,
which scientists found to 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 appeared 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.
The IMP is a stereo imaging system with color capability provided by 24
selectable filters, twelve filters per "eye." Its red, green, and blue
filters were used to take this image. The IMP, in its fully deployed
configuration, stands 1.8 meters above the Martian surface, and has a
resolution of two millimeters at a range of two meters.
Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost
spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder
mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an
operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of
Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter
Smith is the Principal Investigator.
Keywords
Imager for Mars Pathfinder IMP Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer APXS Sojourner Discovery Program Jet Propulsion Laboratory JPL Peter Smith University of Arizona
Subject Category
Viking-Pathfinder-Sojourner, Planet-Mars,
Reference Numbers
- Center:
JPL
- Center Number:
PIA00752
- GRIN DataBase Number:
GPN-2000-000461
Source Information
- Creator/Photographer: NASA
- Original Source: DIGITAL
| Resolution | Format | Width
(Pixels) | Height
(Pixels) | Size
(KBytes) |
Thumbnail |
.jpg |
95 |
39 |
15 |
Small |
.jpg |
1341 |
276 |
362 |
Medium |
.jpg |
3142 |
646 |
1,790 |
Large |
.jpg |
6283 |
1292 |
6,072 |
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Updated October 31, 2002
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