Cape Verde, Victoria Crater

         This image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the view of Victoria Crater from Cape Verde. Since reaching Victoria Crater on Sol 951 (September 27, 2006) Opportunity has been making its way around the rim in a clockwise direction. Victoria Crater is roughly 800 meters (one-half mile) wide - about five times wider than Endurance Crater, and 40 times as wide as Eagle crater. The south face of the 15 meter (50 foot) tall Cape St. Mary is visible in the left portion of this image. On the right is Duck Bay, and beyond that, the north face of the 15 meter (50 foot) tall stack of layered rocks called Cabo Frio can be seen on the inner crater wall.

         This mosaic was taken over the conjunction time period, from Sols 970 to 991 (October 16 - November 6, 2006). It was generated from Pancam's 753 nm, 535 nm, and 432 nm filters. Three versions are available at full resolution: an approximate true color rendering, a false color stretch to enhance subtle color differences in the scene, and a stereo anaglyph to simulate the scene in 3D (when viewed through red-blue glasses, with the red lens on the left).

Jim Bell
Pancam Instrument Lead
December 29, 2006