Spirit Sol 71 Daily Image Caption Release Date: March 16, 2004 Image File Name: x_pubeng_rim_nav_mosaic.tif x_pubeng_rim_nav_mosaic.jpg Source File Name: Summary Information: Navigation Camera Mosaic taken by Spirit on Sol 71 of the "Serpent Dune" site. Submitter: Jeff Moersch Institution: Sol of Observation: 071 Earth Date of Observation: 03-15-04 Title of Image Drifts of Dust or Something Else? Caption: While the interior and far walls of the crater dubbed "Bonneville" can be seen in the background, the most interesting features in this 180-degree navigation camera mosaic are the wind deposited drifts of dust or sand. NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit completed this mosaic on sol 71, March 15, 2004 from its newest location at the rim of Bonneville crater. Scientists are interested in these formations in-part because they might give insight into the processes that formed some of the material within the crater named "Bonneville." Thermal emission spectra from the rover indicate that the dark material just below the far rim of this crater is spectrally similar to rocks that scientists have analyzed along their journey to this location. They want to know why this soil-like material has a spectrum that more closely resembles rocks rather than other soils examined so far. The drifts seen in the foreground of this mosaic just might have the answer. Scientists hypothesize that these drifts might consist of wind-deposited particles that are the same as the dark material found against the back wall of the crater. If this is the case, Spirit can spend time studying the material and hopefully help scientists uncover the mystery of why it is different from all the other fine-grained material seen at Gusev so far. The drifts appear to be lighter in color than the dark material deposited on the back wall of the crater. They might be covered by a thin deposit of martian dust, or perhaps, the drift is like other drifts seen during Spirit's journey and is just a collection of martian dust. To find out, the Spirit will spend some of sol 72 digging its wheels into the drift to uncover its interior. After backing up a bit, Spirit will use the panoramic camera and mini thermal emission spectrometer to analyze the scuffed area. If the interior material has a similar spectrum to the dark deposit in the crater, then Spirit will most likely stay here a little longer to study the drift with the instruments on its robotic arm. If the material is uniform - that is, dusty all the way down, Spirit will most likely move off to another target. Credit: NASA/JPL _________________________________________________________________________ Email: jmoersch@utk.edu Cell: 865-406-0293
USERNAME: shlieven Image created by: Gary Yagi MIPL/OPGS