Santa Maria Crater

         This mosaic was acquired by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on Sols 2512-2517 (February 16-21, 2011).  Opportunity took a detour to Santa Maria Crater on the long trek to Endeavour Crater. The crater is about 100 meters in diameter. Orbital images from HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) aboard MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) showed evidence of bright soil or outcrop along the southeast portion of the Santa Maria's rim, which warranted investigation. In addition to making measurements on the bright materials, there was interest in creating stereo images of the crater structure from several vantage points. This short-baseline mosaic was acquired while Opportunity was parked with the IDD (Instrument Deployment Device) on a rock target named Luis de Torres, after a crewmember on the ship Santa Maria. In addition to this mosaic, long-baseline stereo mosaics were acquired from Position One on the west side of Santa Maria at a vantage point named Palos, and from Position Two on the east side of the crater. Pancam's 753 nm, 535 nm, and 432 nm filters were used in making this mosaic.  Two versions are provided at full resolution: an approximate true color rendering, and a false color rendering which enhances the subtle color differences in the scene.

Jim Bell
Pancam Instrument Lead
April 2, 2011