Scientists are excited to see new details of layered rocks in Opportunity Ledge. In previous panoramic camera images, geologists saw that some rocks in the outcrop had thin layers, and images sent to Earth on sol 17 (Feb. 10, 2004) now show that the thin layers are not always parallel to each other like lines on notebook paper. Instead, if you look closely at this image from an angle, you will notice that the lines converge and diverge at low angles. These unparallel lines give unparalleled clues that some "moving current" such as volcanic flow, wind, or water formed these rocks. These layers with converging and diverging lines are a significant discovery for scientists who are on route to rigorously test the water hypothesis. The main task for both rovers in coming weeks and months is to explore the areas around their landing sites for evidence in rocks and soils about whether those areas ever had environments that were watery and possibly suitable for sustaining life.
This is a cropped image taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera on sol 16 (Feb. 9, 2004). JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.

This Long Term Planning graphic was created from a mosaic of navigation camera images overlain by a polar coordinate grid with the center point as Opportunity's original landing site. The blue dots represent the rover position at various locations.
The red dots represent the center points of the target areas for the instruments on the rover mast (the panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer). Opportunity visited Stone Mountain on Feb. 5. Stone Mountain was named after the southernmost point of the Appalachian Mountains outside of Atlanta, Ga. On Earth, Stone Mountain is the last big mountain before the Piedmont flatlands, and on Mars, Stone Mountain is at one end of Opportunity Ledge. El Capitan is a target of interest on Mars named after the second highest peak in Texas in Guadaloupe National Park, which is one of the most visited outcrops in the United States by geologists. It has been a training ground for students and professional geologists to understand what the layering means in relation to the formation of Earth, and scientists will study this prominent point of Opportunity Ledge to understand what the layering means on Mars.

The yellow lines show the midpoint where the panoramic camera has swept and will sweep a 120-degree area from the three waypoints on the tour of the outcrop. Imagine a fan-shaped wedge from left to right of the yellow line.

The white contour lines are one meter apart, and each drive has been roughly about 2-3 meters in length over the last few sols. The large white blocks are dropouts in the navigation camera data.

Opportunity is driving along and taking a photographic panorama of the entire outcrop. Scientists will stitch together these images and use the new mosaic as a "base map" to decide on geology targets of interest for a more detailed study of the outcrop using the instruments on the robotic arm. Once scientists choose their targets of interest, they plan to study the outcrop for roughly five to fifteen sols. This will include El Capitan and probably one to two other areas.

Blue Dot Dates Sol 7 / Jan 31 = Egress & first soil data collected by instruments on the arm
Sol 9 / Feb 2 = Second Soil Target
Sol 12 / Feb 5 = First Rock Target
Sol 16 / Feb 9 = Alpha Waypoint
Sol 17 / Feb 10 = Bravo Waypoint
Sol 19 or 20 / Feb 12 or 13 = Charlie Waypoint

This animation is created from still images taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during its approximately 21.2-meter (69.6-foot) drive across the pebbly ground at Gusev Crater, Mars, on the 37th day, or sol, of its mission (Feb. 9, 2004). Two sols later, Spirit drove another 24 meters (78.7 feet) toward a rock target called White Boat. The images were captured by the rover's front hazard-avoidance camera after it began the autonomous portion of its drive.

The microscopic imager (circular device in center) is in clear view above the surface at Meridiani Planum, Mars, in this approximate true-color image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The image was taken on the 9th sol of the rover's journey. The microscopic imager is located on the rover's instrument deployment device, or arm. The arrow is pointing to the lens of the instrument. Note the dust cover, which flips out to the left of the lens, is open. This approximated color image was created using the camera's violet and infrared filters as blue and red.

This mosaic image shows an extreme close-up of round, blueberry-shaped formations in the martian soil near a part of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum called Stone Mountain. Scientists are studying these curious formations for clues about the area's past environmental conditions. The image, one of the highest resolution images ever taken by the microscopic imager, an instrument located on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's instrument deployment device or "arm".

This sharp, high-resolution image shows a rock target dubbed "Robert E," on a rock called Stone Mountain at Meridiani Planum, Mars. It is one of the highest-resolution images ever taken while looking at a rock on another planet. Scientists are studying this area, which measures 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across, for clues about how the rock formed. The image was created by merging five separate images taken at varying distances from the target by the microscopic imager, an instrument located on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's instrument deployment device, or "arm".

This color image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic camera on Sol 40 is centered on an unusually flaky rock called Mimi. Mimi is only one of many features in the area known as "Stone Council," but looks very different from any rock that scientists have seen at the Gusev crater site so far. Mimi's flaky appearance leads scientists to a number of hypotheses. Mimi could have been subjected to pressure either through burial or impact, or may have once been a dune that was cemented into flaky layers, a process that sometimes involves the action of water

This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit microscopic imager, an instrument located on the rover's instrument deployment device, or arm, shows a patch of soil at the target nicknamed "Squiggle Dunes." The rover imaged this area, which measures 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across, just before it drove 24.4 meters (80.1 feet) on the 39th sol of its journey.

This hematite abundance index map helps geologists choose hematite-rich locations to visit around Opportunity's landing site. Blue dots equal areas low in hematite and red dots equal areas high in hematite.
Why Hematite
Geologists are eager to reach the hematite-rich area in the upper left to closely examine the soil, which may reveal secrets about how the hematite got to this location. Knowing how the hematite on Mars was formed may help scientists characterize the past environment and determine whether that environment provided favorable conditions for life.

The Plan
Over the next few sols, engineers and scientists plan to drive Opportunity to the hematite-rich area then attempt a "pre-trench" sequence, taking measurements with the Moessbauer spectrometer, alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and microscopic imager. Next, the plan is to trench the hematite rich area by spinning one wheel in place to "dig" a shallow hole. Finally, scientists will aim the instrument arm back at the same area where it pre-trenched to get post-trench data with the same instruments to compare and contrast the levels of hematite and revel how deep the hematite lays in the dirt.

Index Map Details
The hematite abundance index map was created using data from the miniature thermal emission instrument. The first layer is a mosaic of panoramic camera images taken prior to egress, when Opportunity was still on the lander. The colored dots represent data collected by the miniature thermal emission spectrometer on sol 11, after Opportunity had rolled off of the lander and the rover was located at the center of the blue semi-circle.

The spectrometer is located on the panoramic camera mast. On sol 11, it took a low-angle 180-degree panorama of the area in front of the rover, indicated by the blue shaded dots. The instrument then raised the angle of its field of view a few degrees higher to sweep around behind the rover, indicated by the red and yellow dots offset at the far sides of the image.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.