Opportunity's Panoramas of Martian Crater Thrill Scientists

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Mars Rover Enlightens With Crater Photos
After a 21-month journey, NASA's Mars rover Opportunity sends back its first clear images of a large Martian crater. Scientists believe the images will provide a tremendous amount of information about the history and nature of the planet.

The Mars rover Opportunity yesterday sent back its first color panorama of the large Martian crater it reached last week after a 21-month trek, and NASA scientists could barely contain their excitement about what they saw.

The dramatic pictures of sharp rock faces marked the beginning of an exploration that NASA scientists believe will be among the most fruitful ever in learning about the history of Mars. Victoria Crater, where Opportunity is now poised, is five times the size of any of the craters the rovers had previously visited -- more than half a mile wide and up to 200 feet deep.

At a news briefing yesterday, rover scientist James F. Bell III of Cornell University said: "It's like going to the Grand Canyon and seeing what you can from several different overlooks before you walk down. What we see so far just adds to the excitement."

The depth of the crater excites Mars scientists because the many visible layers of exposed rock are likely to yield new insights into the planet's past, especially when it may have had liquid water.

The Mars robot Opportunity and its twin Spirit landed on Mars in early 2004 and were expected to last about 90 days. More than 900 days later, Opportunity is now sending back the most dramatic images of its voyage.

The high-resolution color images taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera since it arrived at the rim of Victoria Crater on Sept. 27 show previously unseen patterns in the layers, the researchers said.

"There are distinct variations in the sedimentary layering as you look farther down in the stack," said lead investigator Steven W. Squyres, also of Cornell. "That tells us environmental conditions were not constant."

Also yesterday, NASA displayed new pictures taken by the Mars Reconnaissance satellite orbiting overhead that included a photo of Victoria Crater and, remarkably, Opportunity as well.

"It is so good to see that rover again," Squyres said. "I've got to say that image with that little rover 200 million miles away, parked at the top of that cliff, that's just one of the most evocative images I've ever seen in the planetary program . . . it's just beautiful."

"The combination of the ground-level and aerial view is much more powerful than either alone," Squyres said. "If you were a geologist driving up to the edge of a crater in your Jeep, the first thing you would do would be to pick up the aerial photo you brought with you and use it to understand what you're seeing from ground level. That's exactly what we're doing here."

Opportunity found geological evidence soon after landing that Mars once had liquid water. (Today, the only detectable water is in the form of ice at the poles.) But scientists hope the layers of rock in Victoria will provide new clues about whether that wet period was persistent, fleeting or cyclical.

"The bottom line is it gives us a window into the past of the planet, and that's incredibly important in understanding why it is the way it is and understanding relationships potentially to other rocky planets in the solar system," said Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars exploration.

Opportunity took its new high-resolution color panoramas at a relatively level area of the crater's rim, which scientists named Duck Bay. They will be moving the rover to another rocky promontory that projects into the crater that they dubbed Cape Verde.

"We're extremely excited to see changes in the layering that we see in the outcrops, because changes in layering mean changes in the environment," Bell said. "For me, this week has sort of felt like opening a book, like a mystery novel, where you read the first few pages and you're hooked. We've just opened the book on the story of Victoria Crater at Mars."

Although Opportunity has already lasted 10 times as long as was initially expected, it is apparently still going strong. "Opportunity shows a few signs of aging but is in good shape for undertaking exploration of Victoria Crater," said John Callas, project manager for the rovers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Because the sun is about to come between Earth and Mars, the NASA team will not be able to communicate with the rover for several weeks.