RELEASE DATE: February 13, 2004 IMAGE FILE NAME: hem_strip1.jpg SOURCE FILE NAMES: created by Phil Christensen and mini-TES team / multiple panoramic camera images prior to sol 7 overlain by mini-TES data from sol 11 SUMMARY INFO: same as above NAME OF SUBMITTER: Wendy Calvin INSTITUTION: University of Nevada, Reno THEME/TEAM/GROUP: Mini-TES PDL, STG, Athena Team Member SOL OF OBSERVATION: 11 (and 1-6) EARTH DATE OF OBSERVATION: February 4, 2004 TITLE OF IMAGE: Red Marks the Spot CAPTION: Red Marks the Spot This hematite abundance index map helps geologists choose hematite-rich locations to visit around Opportunity's landing site. Blue dots equal areas low in hematite and red dots equal areas high in hematite. On Friday, February 13, Opportunity will aim for the hematite-rich area in the ninth red dot in the upper left side of the image, counting in from the right. Why Hematite Geologists are eager to reach this hematite-rich site to closely examine the soil, which may reveal secrets about how the hematite got to this location. Knowing how the hematite on Mars was formed may help scientists characterize the past environment and determine whether that environment provided favorable conditions for life. The Plan Over the next few sols, engineers and scientists plan to drive Opportunity to the hematite-rich area then attempt a "pre-trench" sequence, taking measurements with the Moessbauer spectrometer (MB), alpha particle x-ray spectrometer (APXS), and microscopic imager (MI). Next, the plan is to trench the hematite rich area by spinning one wheel in place to "dig" a shallow hole. Finally, scientists will aim the instrument arm back at the same area where it pre-trenched to get post-trench data with the same instruments to compare and contrast the levels of hematite and revel how deep the hematite lays in the dirt. Index Map Details The hematite abundance index map was created using data from the mini-TES instrument. The first layer is a mosaic of panoramic camera images taken prior to egress, when Opportunity was still on the lander. The colored dots represent data collected by mini-TES on sol 11, after Opportunity had rolled off of the lander and the rover was located at the center of the blue semi-circle. The mini-TES instrument is located on the panoramic camera mast. On sol 11, mini-TES took a low-angle 180-degree panorama of the area in front of the rover, indicated by the blue shaded dots. Mini-TES then raised the angle of its field of view a few degrees higher to sweep around behind the rover, indicated by the red and yellow dots offset at the far sides of the image. Opportunity needed to raise the mini-TES field of view to prevent collecting data on its own back solar panels, which would have been in the instrument's field of view if the angle was not changed. Each dot represents data collected in an area the size of 20 milliradians, which is technically equal to about the size of area one can see encompassed by the tip of his/her thumb from a distance of an arm's length away. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell Approved by: Wendy Calvin / cell 775-240-3204 Outreach writer: Christine Johnson / cell 818/667-7853
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