Mars Orbiter Snaps Rover's Crater Progress : Big Pic
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March 9, 2011 -- Nearly three-months after the HiRISE camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) snapped Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Opportunity investigating the western ridge of a crater nicknamed "Santa Maria," HiRISE has checked back in with the wheeled robot, spotting it from orbit once again. This time, Opportunity's solar panels can be seen on the eastern rim of the 90 meter-wide crater in a color photo of the region.
Since Dec. 2010, Opportunity has been carrying out scientific investigations around impact crater, most recently taking close-up photos of a rock called "Ruiz Garcia."
Santa Maria is a relatively new impact crater, so Opportunity has been collecting data to better understand how craters form and how they are weathered by erosional processes on the Martian surface.
The veteran rover landed on Mars in 2004 has since had its mission extended to allow it to make the 19 kilometer (12 mile) marathon trek from Victoria crater (in 2008) to Endeavour crater, stopping off at Santa Maria crater along the way.
-- by Ian O'Neill
Image (top): Opportunity investigates Santa Maria crater. Image (below): Comparison between the HiRISE image taken on Dec. 31, 2010 and March 9 2011. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona.
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