Spirit's First Complete Postcard

        The twelve frames in this view make up the mission's first complete color mosaic of Mars, acquired on Sol 2 (January 4, 2004) by the Spirit rover. The scene rises from near the edge of the lander platform to the sky. Near the platform, evidence of the airbag retraction is preserved in the surface. Pancam's 753nm, 535 nm, and 482 nm filters were used in this mosaic. Spirit also acquired a partial postcard view aft of the rover on Sol 1, and a full aft postcard on Sol 5.   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
November 17, 2010