Visiting 'Voltaire'

Spirit's panoramic camera took this mosaic on martian day, or sol, 549 (July 20, 2005), as it approached a suite of layered rocks named "Voltaire." Seven to eight discrete layers can be seen in the bottom portion of the image, running from upper left to lower right. These rock layers are about 20 to 40 centimeters (8 to 16 inches) wide, and extend several meters in length. Spirit visited "Haussmann" and several other rocks within the layered suite to perform close-up imaging, and to obtain measurements from its Moessbauer and alpha particle X-ray spectrometers.