The View toward Husband Hill on Mars
This Martian vista is only part of one of the
greatest panoramic views of Mars
that has ever been attempted.
The expansive mosaic is helping to keep the
robotic Spirit rover
busy over the energy draining winter in the
southern hemisphere of Mars.
During the winter, Spirit is constrained to stay on the side of
McCool Hill in order to keep its
solar panels pointed toward the
Sun.
The panorama has so far involved over 800 exposures, very little
digital compression, and will take over a month to complete.
The view shown is toward
Husband Hill, a hill that Spirit climbed last year.
A careful inspection of the
above image shows
tracks crossing from the center to the right.