Spirit Pan from Bonneville Crater's Edge
Scroll right and follow
this
breathtaking view of the martian
surface from the southern edge of a small crater dubbed Bonneville.
NASA's Spirit rover recorded the sharp 180-degree panorama
on sols 68 and 69 of its stay
on the Red Planet, following the completion of a
300+ meter journey from its
landing site
within Mars' expansive Gusev
Crater region.
Bonneville crater itself is about 200 meters across.
Rocks
scattered about the area are potentially "ejecta" from Bonneville,
debris blasted from below the martian surface by the impact
which created the crater.
Researchers are eager
to confirm this scenario since such material
could be a guide to the
geological history of the area.
So what's that shiny patch on the left, just beyond the
crater's far rim?
It's the Spirit lander's heat shield.