At Base of 'Burns Cliff'

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured this view from the base of "Burns Cliff" during the rover's 280th martian day (Nov. 6, 2004). This cliff in the inner wall of "Endurance Crater" displays multiple layers of bedrock for the rover to examine with its panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer. The rover team has decided that the farthest Opportunity can safely advance along the base of the cliff is close to the squarish white rock near the center of this image. After examining the site for a few days from that position, the rover will turn around and head out of the crater. The view is a mosaic of frames taken by Opportunity's navigation camera. The rover was on ground with a slope of about 30 degrees when the pictures were taken, and the view is presented here in a way that corrects for that tilt of the camera.