8 January 2009

Early Birthday Present from Opportunity

Posted by Ryan Anderson

The Opportunity rover will be celebrating its 5th birthday on Mars later this month, but as an early treat a shiny new panorama was just released. This panorama was taken in late November while the sun was between Mars and the Earth, cutting off communications. It shows the beautiful layered bedrock and undulating ripples that Opportunity is studying on its way to the giant crater Endeavor.

Click the images below for full-res versions. The top is approximate true color, the bottom is a false color composite that brings out a lot of the details. (Note: if you get a “broken” image icon and an error, it’s probably because the image is too large for your browser to display. In that case, download the file by right clicking and selecting “Save link as…” and then open the picture on your computer.)

NASA/JPL/Cornell
NASA/JPL/Cornell