Attacking Mars
Explanation:
The
Spirit rover attacked Mars again late last month.
What might look, above, like a military attack, though, was once again just a scientific
one - Spirit was instructed to closely inspect some interesting rocks near
Columbia
Hills.
Spirits Front Hazard Avoidance Camera
captured the rover's Instrument Deployment Device above as it guided the Microscopic
Imager to get a closer look at a
rock dubbed
Breadbox.
Images taken by the Microscopic Imager show a rock surface
consistent with
basalt corroded by ancient
groundwater.
Structures with similar origins can be found, for example, in the
Western Desert of
Egypt on
Earth.
The
above picture taken on June 30, the 175th
Martian day that the Spirit rover has been on the
red planet.
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.
