PDS logoPlanetary Data System
PDS Information
Find a Node - Use these links to navigate to any of the 8 publicly accessible PDS Nodes.

This bar indicates that you are within the PDS enterprise which includes 6 science discipline nodes and 2 support nodes which are overseen by the Project Management Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Each node is led by an expert in the subject discipline, supported by an advisory group of other practitioners of that discipline, and subject to selection and approval under a regular NASA Research Announcement.
Click here to return to the Photojournal Home Page Click here to view a list of Photojournal Image Galleries Photojournal_inner_header
Latest Images  |  Spacecraft & Technology  |  Animations  |  Space Images App  |  Feedback  |  Photojournal Search  

PIA05500: Humphrey on the Inside
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
 Spacecraft:  Spirit
 Instrument:  Microscopic Imager
Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) 
 Product Size:  1024 x 1024 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA05500.tif (1.05 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA05500.jpg (237.7 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:


Figure 1 (Click on image for larger view)

This image taken by the microscopic imager onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a close-up look at the rock dubbed "Humphrey." The image was taken after the rover drilled into the rock with its rock abrasion tool, exposing fresh rock underneath. Scientists are examining "Humphrey" for clues to its past with the rover's suite of scientific instruments, located on the rover's arm along with its rock abrasion tool. This image was taken on the 60th martian day, or sol, of Spirit's mission. The rover is on its way to a large crater nicknamed "Bonneville."

Natural or Manmade?
The circled areas in Figure 1 above represent features that scientists have identified as being either natural or induced by grinding processes. The yellow circle shows a natural mark; the green and blue circles highlights droppings thought to be left by the rover's Moessbauer spectrometer; and the red circle contains a natural indentation. The image was taken on the 60th martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Cornell/USGS

Image Addition Date:
2004-03-05