[ninty]

Please note some of these pics are very large

OPPORTUNITY:


'Burns Cliff' Color Panorama
[url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20041213a/Burns_Cliff_L257T-B313R1.jpg:18cfb]38MB Super Hi Res[/url:18cfb]

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured this view of "Burns Cliff" after driving right to the base of this southeastern portion of the inner wall of "Endurance Crater." The view combines frames taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera between the rover's 287th and 294th martian days (Nov. 13 to 20, 2004).

This is a composite of 46 different images, each acquired in seven different Pancam filters. It is an approximately true-color rendering generated from the panoramic camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters. The mosaic spans more than 180 degrees side to side. Because of this wide-angle view, the cliff walls appear to bulge out toward the camera. In reality the walls form a gently curving, continuous surface.

[url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20041213a/merb_sol290_clouds-B313R1.jpg:18cfb]Clouds over 'Endurance' on Sol 290[/url:18cfb]

Clouds add drama to the sky above "Endurance Crater" in this mosaic of frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity at about 9:30 a.m. on the rover's 290th sol (Nov. 16, 2004). The view spans an arc from east on the left to the southwest on the right.

These clouds are part of a band that forms near the equator when Mars is near the part of its orbit that is farthest from the Sun. For Opportunity (and Spirit and the rest of the southern hemisphere), this occurs in late fall and early winter. During this period, atmospheric temperatures and the amount of water vapor combine to form large-scale clouds. These clouds look like Earth's cirrus clouds and share other similarities with cirrus clouds in that they are believed to be composed entirely of water-ice particles with sizes on the order of several micrometers (a few ten-thousandths of an inch).

The images that are combined to produce this view have been processed to remove geometrical distortion associated with the camera's 45-degree field of view. In addition, special image processing has been applied to enhance the clouds and make them visible across the entire mosaic. The rim of Endurance was processed using the same technique, illustrating how much enhancement was done. Glare from the Sun washed out the clouds on the left in the original images; this glare was removed.

[url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20041213a/merb_sol291_clouds-B313R1.jpg:18cfb]Clouds over 'Endurance' on Sol 291[/url:18cfb]

Clouds appear in the martian sky above "Endurance Crater" in this mosaic of frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during the morning of the rover's 291st sol (Nov. 17, 2004). The view spans an arc from the east on the left to the southwest on the right.

Opportunity has observed differences in cloudiness from one sol to the next, a reminder that Mars, like Earth, has daily weather as well as longer-term seasonal changes.

The images that are combined to produce this view have been processed to remove geometrical distortion associated with the camera's 45-degree field of view. In addition, special image processing has been applied to the original images to enhance the clouds and make them visible across the entire mosaic. Glare from the Sun washed out the clouds on the left in the original images; this glare was removed. The rim of Endurance has been processed separately and merged back with the sky to better show the context.

[url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20041213a/Front_Hazcam-B316R1.jpg:18cfb]Farewell Glance at 'Endurance'[/url:18cfb]

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity climbed out of "Endurance Crater" during the rover's 315th sol (Dec. 12, 2004), and used its front hazard-avoidance camera to look back across the crater from the rim. The rover spent just over six months inside the stadium-sized crater, examining in detail the tallest stack of bedrock layers ever seen up close on a foreign planet.


[url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20041213a/Rear_hazcam-B316R1.jpg:18cfb]Out of 'Endurance,' Heading South[/url:18cfb]

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity climbed out of "Endurance Crater" during the rover's 315th sol (Dec. 12, 2004), and used its rear hazard-avoidance camera to look out across the plains south of the crater. After Opportunity examines the nearby heat shield that protected it during its descent through Mars' atmosphere, the rover team plans to drive the rover south to a rugged region described as etched terrain.





SPIRIT:

[url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20041213a/2NN332EFF99CYL46P06xxL000M1-A336R1.jpg:18cfb]Spirit Looks Back on Sol 332[/url:18cfb]

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit looked back with its navigation camera during the rover's 332nd martian day, or sol (Dec. 8, 2004), and captured this image. Spirit had driven about 110 meters (120 yards) during the preceding six sols.

The image has been corrected to counteract the tilt at which Spirit was standing when the image was taken.

[url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20041213a/Mossbauer_Clovis-B313R1.jpg:18cfb]Water-Signature Mineral Found by Spirit[/url:18cfb]

This spectrum, taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's Mössbauer spectrometer, shows the presence of an iron-bearing mineral called goethite in a rock called "Clovis" in the "Columbia Hills" of Mars. Goethite contains water in the form of hydroxyl as a part of its structure. By identifying this mineral, the examination of Clovis produced strong evidence for past water activity in the area that Spirit is exploring.

[url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20041213a/sol149_Pancam-A334R1.jpg:18cfb]View of Spirit's Climb from Six Months Earlier[/url:18cfb]

This view from where Spirit stood on its 149th martian day (June 3, 2004) shows, on the hillside at the center of the image, the terrain that the rover is crossing six months later. The view is a mosaic of several frames taken with Spirit's panoramic camera.

[url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20041213a/sol149_PancamLabeled-A334R1.jpg:18cfb]Spirit Journey Continues at "Husband Hill"[/url:18cfb]

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has left the "West Spur" of the "Columbia Hills" and crossed a flatter saddle to the main body of "Husband Hill." The rover's course from the 313th to 330th martian days, or sols, of its mission (Nov. 19 to Dec. 6, 2004) is indicated on a mosaic view made from images taken with Spirit's panoramic camera on sol 149 (June 3, 2004).

[url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20041207a/sol326_fromsol149-A332R1.jpg:18cfb]Spirit's Amazing Trek Continues[/url:18cfb]

This view from where NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit stood on the rover's 149th martian day, or sol (June 3, 2004), shows terrain the rover has crossed since then. The yellow line traces the path Spirit has taken since arriving at the "Columbia Hills." Labels show the informal names of rocks the rover has studied along the way. Spirit is currently headed east, traversing the flanks of the hills en route to an overlook above a steep valley that is out of view from this perspective. Scientists hope to find more layered rocks that will tell a story of ancient water on Mars.

Spirit has traveled 498 meters (more than one-quarter of a mile) and ascended 20 meters (66 feet) above the plains since arriving at the "Columbia Hills" on sol 156 (June 11, 2004). It covered much of that distance driving on only five of its six wheels.

The images used to make this approximately true-color mosaic were taken with Spirit's panoramic camera from about 300 meters (984 feet) away from the base of the hills, using filters centered at wavelengths of 600, 530 and 480 nanometers.



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