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'Gibson' Panorama by Spirit at 'Home Plate' (False Color)

March 6, 2006
This image shows finely layered rocks interspersed with sand sloping downward and inward toward the center of the panorama from either side. Here and there on the outcrop, a chunk of rock has become displaced and lies at an angle on the surface.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired this high-resolution view of intricately layered exposures of rock while parked on the northwest edge of the bright, semi-circular feature known as "Home Plate." The rover was perched at a 27-degree upward tilt while creating the panorama, resulting in the "U" shape of the mosaic. In reality, the features along the 1-meter to 2-meter (1-foot to 6.5-foot) vertical exposure of the rim of Home Plate in this vicinity are relatively level. Rocks near the rover in this view, known as the "Gibson" panorama, include "Barnhill," "Rogan," and "Mackey."

Spirit acquired 246 separate images of this scene using 6 different filters on the panoramic camera (Pancam) during the rover's Martian days, or sols, 748 through 751 (Feb. 9 through Feb. 12, 2006). The field of view covers 160 degrees of terrain around the rover. This image is a false-color rendering using using Pancam's 753-nanometer, 535-namometer, and 432-nanometer filters, presented to enhance many subtle color differences between rocks and soils in the scene. Image-to-image seams have been eliminated from the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see.

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