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PIA05156: Tracks 'Seam' Like Airbags
Bearing a striking resemblance to a cluster of paper lanterns, these inflated airbags show a pattern of seams exactly like those left in the martian soil by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during landing at Meridiani Planum, Mars.
 Mission:  Mars Exploration Rover (MER) 
 Spacecraft:  Opportunity
 Product Size:  506 x 509 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  JPL 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA05156.tif (682.6 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA05156.jpg (31.72 kB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

Bearing a striking resemblance to a cluster of paper lanterns, these inflated airbags show a pattern of seams exactly like those left in the martian soil by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during landing at Meridiani Planum, Mars. This image was taken during airbag testing at NASA's Plum Brook Station, located about 50 miles west of Cleveland in Sandusky, Ohio and operated by NASA's Glenn Research Center.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Cornell

Image Addition Date:
2004-01-28