PIA05161: Airbag Tracks on Mars
Circular shapes seen on the martian surface in these images are 'footprints' left by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's airbags during landing as the spacecraft gently rolled to a stop.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Exploration Rover (MER) 
 Spacecraft:  Opportunity
 Instrument:  Panoramic Camera 
 Product Size:  2098 x 1024 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Cornell University 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA05161.tif (2.151 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA05161.jpg (508.7 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:
The circular shapes seen on the martian surface in these images are "footprints" left by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's airbags during landing as the spacecraft gently rolled to a stop. Opportunity landed at approximately 9:05 p.m. PST on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2004, Earth-received time. The circular region of the flower-like feature on the right is about the size of a basketball. Scientists are studying the prints for more clues about the makeup of martian soil. The images were taken at Meridiani Planum, Mars, by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.
Image Credit:
JPL/NASA/Cornell

Image Addition Date:
2004-01-28