The Best of Mars Spirit Lander Images

Summit Panorama with Rover Deck
The panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took the hundreds of images combined into this 360-degree view, the "Husband Hill Summit" panorama. The images were acquired on Spirit's sols 583 to 586 (Aug. 24 to 27, 2005), shortly after the rover reached the crest of "Husband Hill" inside Mars' Gusev Crater. This is the largest panorama yet acquired from either Spirit or Opportunity. The panoramic camera shot 653 separate images in 6 different filters, encompassing the rover's deck and the full 360 degrees of surface rocks and soils visible to the camera from this position. This is the first time the camera has been used to image the entire rover deck and visible surface from the same position. Stitching together of all the images took significant effort because of the large changes in resolution and parallax across the scene.

The image is an approximately true-color rendering using the 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 480-nanometer filters for the surface, and the 600-nanometer and 480-nanometer filters for the rover deck. Image-to-image seams have been eliminated from the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see.

This panorama provided the team's first view of the "Inner Basin" region (center of the image), including the enigmatic "Home Plate" feature seen from orbital data. After investigating the summit area, Spirit drove downhill to get to the Inner Basin region. Spirit arrived at the summit from the west, along the direction of the rover tracks seen in the middle right of the panorama. The peaks of "McCool Hill" and "Ramon Hill" can be seen on the horizon near the center of the panorama. The summit region itself is a broad, windswept plateau. Spirit spent more than a month exploring the summit region, measuring the chemistry and mineralogy of soils and rocky outcrops at the peak of Husband Hill for comparison with similar measurements obtained during the ascent. (Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell)

Sailing to White Boat
This is a composite red-green-blue image of the rock called White Boat. It is the first rock target that Spirit drove to after finishing a series of investigations on the rock Adirondack. White Boat stood out to scientists due to its light color and more tabular shape compared to the dark, rounded rocks that surround it. (Courtesy NASA/JPL/Cornell

Flaky "Mimi"
This color image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic camera on Sol 40 is centered on an unusually flaky rock called Mimi. Mimi is only one of many features in the area known as "Stone Council," but looks very different from any rock that scientists have seen at the Gusev crater site so far. Mimi's flaky appearance leads scientists to a number of hypotheses. Mimi could have been subjected to pressure either through burial or impact, or may have once been a dune that was cemented into flaky layers, a process that sometimes involves the action of water. (Courtesy NASA/JPL/Cornell

Empty Nest
This image mosaic taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rover's landing site, the Columbia Memorial Station, at Gusev Crater, Mars. This spectacular view may encapsulate Spirit's entire journey, from lander to its possible final destination toward the east hills. On its way, the rover will travel 250 meters (820 feet) northeast to a large crater approximately 200 meters (660 feet) across, the ridge of which can be seen to the left of this image. To the right are the east hills, about 3 kilometers (2 miles) away from the lander. The picture was taken on the 16th martian day, or sol, of the mission (Jan. 18/19, 2004). A portion of Spirit's solar panels appear in the foreground. Data from the panoramic camera's green, blue and infrared filters were combined to create this approximate true color image. (Courtesy NASA/JPL/Cornell)

The Mystery Soil
This high-resolution image from the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the region containing the patch of soil scientists examined at Gusev Crater just after Spirit rolled off the Columbia Memorial Station. Scientists examined this patch on the 13th and 15th martian days, or sols, of Spirit's journey. Using nearly all the science instruments located on the rover's instrument deployment device or "arm," scientists yielded some puzzling results including the detection of a mineral called olivine and the appearance that the soil is stronger and more cohesive than they expected. Like detectives searching for clues, the science team will continue to peruse the landscape for explanations of their findings.

Data taken from the camera's red, green and blue filters were combined to create this approximate true color picture, acquired on the 12th martian day, or sol, of Spirit's journey. (Courtesy NASA/JPL/Cornell)

They of the Great Rocks
This approximate true color image taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows "Adirondack," the rover's first target rock. Spirit traversed the sandy martian terrain at Gusev Crater to arrive in front of the football-sized rock on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2004, just three days after it successfully rolled off the lander. The rock was selected as Spirit's first target because its dust-free, flat surface is ideally suited for grinding. Clean surfaces also are better for examining a rock's top coating. Scientists named the angular rock after the Adirondack mountain range in New York. The word Adirondack is Native American and means "They of the great rocks. (Courtesy NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Rocks: Windows to History of Mars
This full-resolution image taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit before it rolled off the lander shows the rocky surface of Mars. Scientists are eager to begin examining the rocks because, unlike soil, these "little time capsules" hold memories of the ancient processes that formed them. The lander's deflated airbags can be seen in the foreground. Data from the camera's red, green and blue filters were combined to create this approximate true color picture. (Courtesy NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Spirit Looks Back
This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's rear hazard identification camera shows the rover's hind view of the lander platform, its nest for the past 12 sols, or martian days. The rover is approximately 1 meter (3 feet) in front of the airbag-cushioned lander, facing northwest. Note the tracks left in the martian soil by the rovers' wheels, all six of which have rolled off the lander. This is the first time the rover has touched martian soil. (Courtesy NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Spirit Is Out the Gate
JPL engineers played Baha Men's "Who Let the Dogs Out" in the control room as they watched new images confirming that the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit successfully rolled off its lander platform early Thursday morning. This image from the rover's front hazard identification camera shows the rover's view of the martian landscape from its new position 1 meter (3 feet) northwest of the lander. One of the rover's next tasks will be to locate the Sun with its panoramic camera and calculate from the Sun's position how to point its main antenna toward Earth. (Courtesy NASA/JPL/Cornell)

360 Degree Color Panorama
This is a medium-resolution version of the first 360-degree panoramic view of the martian surface, taken on Mars by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic camera. Part of the spacecraft can be seen in the lower corner regions. The color panorama is a mosaic stitched from 225 frames taken by Spirit's panoramic camera. It spans 75 frames across, three frames tall, with color information from shots through three different filters. (Courtesy NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Martian Surface at an Angle
This latest color "postcard from Mars," taken on Sol 5 by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, looks to the north. The apparent slope of the horizon is due to the several-degree tilt of the lander deck. On the left, the circular topographic feature dubbed Sleepy Hollow can be seen along with dark markings that may be surface disturbances caused by the airbag-encased lander as it bounced and rolled to rest. A dust-coated airbag is prominent in the foreground, and a dune-like object that has piqued the interest of the science team with its dark, possibly armored top coating, can be seen on the right. (Courtesy NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Airbag Trails
This segment of the first color image from the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rover's airbag trails. These depressions in the soil were made when the airbags were deflated and retracted after landing. (Courtesy NASA/JPL/Cornell)

First Color Image from Spirit
This is the first color image of Mars taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. It is the highest resolution image ever taken on the surface of another planet. (Courtesy NASA/JPL)

View From Above Spirit on Mars-2
This mosaic image taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has been reprocessed to project a clear overhead view of the rover on the surface of Mars. (Courtesy NASA/JPL)

First Look at Spirit on Mars-2
This mosaic image taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has been further processed, resulting in a significantly improved 360 degree panoramic view of the rover on the surface of Mars. (Courtesy NASA/JPL)