This full-circle view from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars
Exploration Rover Spirit shows the terrain surrounding the location called
"Troy," where Spirit became embedded in soft soil during the spring of
2009. The hundreds of images combined into this view were taken beginning
on the 1,906th Martian day (or sol) of Spirit's mission on Mars (May 14,
2009) and ending on Sol 1943 (June 20, 2009).
North is at the center; south at both ends. The western edge of the low
plateau called Home Plate dominates the right half of the panorama. At the
far right is a bright-topped mound called "Von Braun," a possible future
destination for Spirit's exploration. Near the center of the panorama, in
the distance, lies Husband Hill, where Spirit recorded views from the
summit in 2005. The ridge on the left, near the rover tracks leading to
Troy from the north, is called "Tsiolkovsky." For scale, the parallel
tracks are about 1 meter (39 inches) apart. The track on the right is more
evident because Spirit was driving backwards, dragging its right-front
wheel, which no longer rotates.
The bright soil in the center foreground is soft material in which Spirit
became embedded after the wheels on that side cut through a darker top
layer. The composition of different layers in the soil at the site became
the subject of intense investigation by tools on Spirit's robotic arm.
The Pancam team named this scene the camera's Calypso Panorama. This
version is a false-color, red-green-blue composite panorama generated from
images taken through the Pancam's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and
430-nanometer filters. The false color enhances visibility of differences
among the types of rock and soil material in the image.
Spirit has been investigating a region within Mars' Gusev Crater for more
than 67 months in what was originally planned as a three-month mission.