Sol 1 Postcard, Pancam's "First Look"

        This mosaic was acquired by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on Sol 001 (January 3, 2004). On Sol 1 (January 4, 2004) Pancam took a quick look behind Spirit to send a first postcard back to Earth. Only a few frames of the intended 12-frame mosaic were acquired, so on Sol 5 the sequence was rerun to complete the aft postcard. Pancam's 753nm, 535nm, and 482nm filters were used in this mosaic.  Two versions are available below at full resolution: an approximate true color rendering, and a false color stretch to enhance the subtle color differences in the scene.

Jim Bell
Pancam Instrument Lead
January 8, 2009