Lander Trench

         This is an approximate true color rendering of a merged Navcam and Pancam mosaic of a trench dug by the Opportunity rover wheels into the sandy soils of Eagle crater. The trench was dug on Sol 55 (March 20, 2004) to explore the nature of small wind ripples near the center of the crater, right next to the Opportunity lander. The trench cross-cuts the rover's first "footprint" wheel tracks. The white material at the top is the fabric ramp that the rover drove off of from the lander. The soil at the end of the ramp was compressed and disturbed by the weight of the rover as it drove down the ramp. The robotic arm instruments, glistening in the martian sunlight, are preparing to make measurements inside the trench.

Jim Bell
Pancam Instrument Lead
March 7, 2006