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Press Release Images: Spirit
19-Feb-2004
Opportunity Examines Trench As Spirit Prepares To Dig One
Full Press Release
Wiggling Its Way to Discovery
Wiggling Its Way to Discovery

This image shows the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's view from its new location inside the shallow depression dubbed "Laguna Hollow." To get a better look at the soil making up the hollow, Spirit drove forward a bit, wiggled its wheels, then turned and backed up. The result - a scrape on the floor and a clod of dirt stuck on one of Spirit's wheels - told scientists that the soil is sticky and reminiscent of that observed at the airbag drag mark nicknamed "Magic Carpet." Spirit will further investigate this disturbed patch of soil with its robotic arm beginning today (Feb. 19, 2004). It will also dig a trench at "Laguna Hollow" with one of its wheels. This fish-eye image was taken by the rover's hazard-avoidance camera.

Image credit: NASA/JPL
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Halfway There
Halfway There

This map shows the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's travels since arriving on the red planet Jan. 3, 2004 PST. Spirit is on its way to a large crater nicknamed "Bonneville." On the 45th day, or sol, of its mission (Feb.18, 2004), it stopped off at the shallow depression dubbed "Laguna Hollow" to investigate the fine-grained soil contained there. The rover is not far from Bonneville's ejecta, the blanket of material expelled from the crater when it was hit by whatever celestial object created it. So far, Spirit has traveled about 120 meters from its lander. Data within the yellow box represent a digital map made of images taken by rover's panoramic and navigation cameras. Data outside this box are a composite of images from the rover's descent image motion estimation system camera and the orbiter Mars Global Surveyor.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/MSSS/OSU /New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
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Sampling the Varying Textures of Mars
Sampling the Varying Textures of Mars

This image shows the shallow depression dubbed "Laguna Hollow" before the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit drove into it to sample its bed of fine sediments on the 45th sol or day, of its mission (Feb. 18, 2004). The hollow provides scientists with a laboratory for studying the atmospheric processes that shaped Mars because, in contrast to surrounding rocky terrain, it contains windblown dust and possibly salty clumps of soil. Spirit is scheduled to dig a trench at the bottom of "Laguna Hollow" on sol 47. The image was taken by the rover's panoramic camera.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
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'Laguna Hollow' Undisturbed
'Laguna Hollow' Undisturbed

This image shows the patch of soil at the bottom of the shallow depression dubbed "Laguna Hollow" where the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit will soon begin trenching. Scientists are intrigued by the clustering of small pebbles and the crack-like fine lines, which indicate a coherent surface that expands and contracts. A number of processes can cause materials to expand and contract, including cycles of heating and cooling; freezing and thawing; and rising and falling of salty liquids within a substance. This false-color image was created using the blue, green and infrared filters of the rover's panoramic camera. Scientists chose this particular combination of filters to enhance the heterogeneity of the martian soil.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
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