Tracks

         The Spirit rover acquired these images of tracks on Sol 1213 (June 2, 2007). Over the course of the mission, Spirit's right front wheel has stopped turning, forcing drivers to adapt to a five wheeled vehicle. One unanticipated advantage of dragging the wheel has been its tendency to dredge up fresh soil along drives. This is effectively like the trenches we dug earlier in the mission, except that they are now a result of driving naturally. The light toned soil in this mosaic was discovered this way, and turned out to be of particular interest to the team for its high Silica content. The area was referred to as "Gertrude Weise," and lies close to Home Plate in the Columbia Hills.
         This mosaic was acquired in Pancam's 753-nm, 535-nm, and 432-nm filters. Two versions are offered here at full resolution: an approximately true color rendering, and a false color stretch to bring out subtle color differences in the scene.