Astronomy Picture of the Day
    


A Close Up or Martian Soil
<< Yesterday 17.01.2004 Tomorrow >>
A Close Up or Martian Soil
Credit & Copyright: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA
Explanation: Make your background the closest image of Mars yet. The Spirit Rover currently rolling on Mars has taken the highest resolution image to date of another planet. The above black and white image spans only about 1.5 centimeters across, with details smaller than 1/10 of a millimeter visible. A microscope attached to the Spirit rover's instrument arm took the image. Up close, the Martian soil appears to planetary geologists to have clumping properties similar to cocoa powder. As more images come in and as the Spirit Rover continues to explore Mars, more information about the unusual floor of Gusev Crater are likely to emerge.

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
 < January 2004  >
Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su



1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Based on Astronomy Picture Of the Day

Publications with keywords: Mars - Spirit rover
Publications with words: Mars - Spirit rover
See also:
All publications on this topic >>