Wheel Ruts

        This mosaic was acquired by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on Sol 1559 (June 12, 2008). This was taken during Opportunity's traverse around the rim of Victoria crater. This mosaic covers some ruts that the rover wheels left in the soil from its previous drive. This was taken in color to look at the compositional differences between the surface and subsurface soils, and to inspect soil properties. Dust on the front windows of the camera partially explains the seams and some of the brightness variations in this mosaic.  Pancam's 753nm, 535nm, and 432nm 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
September 4, 2009