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This image shows the rocky road the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit will travel to reach its ultimate destination - the Columbia Hills. The hills, seen here in the background, are located 2.3 kilometers (1.4 miles) away in the southeast direction. Rover planners estimate the journey will take about two months, or 60 sols, including stops at interesting targets along the way. As of sol 81 (March 26, 2004), Spirit has traveled 492 meters (1614 feet).

This image shows the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's view on its 56th sol on Mars, before it left its landing-site crater. To the right, the rover tracks are visible at the original spot where the rover attempted unsuccessfully to exit the crater. After a one-sol delay, Opportunity took another route to the plains of Meridiani Planum. This image was taken by the rover's navigation camera.

This hazard-avoidance camera image was taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 79 after completing a two-location brushing on the rock dubbed "Mazatzal." A coating of fine, dust-like material was successfully removed from targets named "Illinois" (right) and "New York" (left), revealing clean rock underneath. In this image, Spirit's panoramic camera mast assembly, or camera head, can be seen shadowing Mazatzal's surface. The center of the two brushed spots are approximately 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) apart and were aggressively analyzed by the instruments on the robotic arm on sol 80. On sol 81, the rover drilled into the New York target to expose the original rock underneath.

This map shows the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's past and future routes across the Gusev Crater floor. The solid red line shows where the rover has traveled so far, from lander to the rim of the large crater dubbed "Bonneville." The dotted red line indicates proposed future paths to the Columbia Hills. Rover team members have not yet decided which direction Spirit will travel across Bonneville's ejecta (the blanket of material expelled from it during formation) and toward the hills, as illustrated by the two diverging dotted lines. Along the way, Spirit will stop to investigate interesting targets, including craters and plain deposits. The journey to the hills is estimated to about two months, or 60 sols. The underlying image in this map was taken by the camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter.

This figure shows spectra, or light signatures, taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's Moessbauer spectrometer at various spots in "Eagle Crater." From top to bottom, the spectra represent soil measurements taken from the center of the crater and out to the rim. The top spectrum taken on sol 56 near the center of the crater shows a basaltic mineral composition and only minor amounts of hematite. Basalts are volcanic minerals and hematite is an iron-bearing mineral often formed in water. Moving closer to the rim, the spectra show increasing amounts of hematite with the "Punaluu" site containing the highest amounts seen to date on Mars. Only minor basaltic components are seen in this sample.
The corresponding microscopic image of Punaluu shows a high density of "blueberries," indicating that these sphere-like grains are responsible for the observed high levels of hematite.

This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's front hazard-avoidance camera focuses on a target called "Goal 5." Goal 5, examined during the "Eagle Crater" soil survey, is a wind-rippled spot on the upper part of the crater , which the miniature thermal emission spectrometer shows is higher in hematite content compared to other soils within the crater. The light soil in the center of the image is referred to as "Lanikai" - an inspiration from the white sand beaches of Hawaii. The dark soil is referred to as "Punaluu" after the black sand Hawaiian beaches.

This three-centimeter by three-centimeter (1.2-inch by 1.2-inch) microscopic image of the soil survey target informally called "Lanikai" was taken on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's 52nd sol, or day, on Mars. Named after Hawaii's white sand beaches, this target reveals irregularly shaped, light-colored, millimeter-sized (0.04 inch) clasts, or particles, in a fine-grained soil. Lanikai's angular, less-rounded clast shapes interested the science team when compared to other soil targets in the crater area examined by the microscopic imager.

This three-centimeter by three-centimeter (1.2-inch by 1.2-inch) image of the soil target, informally called "Punaluu" after the black sand beaches of Hawaii, was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's microscopic imager during the rover's "Eagle Crater" soil survey. The largest particles are similar to those seen in the crater outcrop. There are also some smaller, more irregular rounded particles that have likely been transported by wind. The Moessbauer spectrometer's study of this target pushed some of the particles into the surrounding fine-grained sand.

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This panoramic camera image of the soil target whimsically called "Neopolitan" from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's "Eagle Crater" soil survey highlights the border between two different soil types - a lighter, finer-grained unit to the left and a darker, coarser-grained to the right. Scientists are pondering the unusually distinct border between these different soil types. To the lower left and partially hidden by the shadow of the mast is an airbag bounce mark.

This three-centimeter by three-centimeter (1.2-inch by 1.2-inch) microscopic image from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's "Eagle Crater" soil survey displays a mixture of light and dark soil units at the target called "Cookies and Cream" in the "Neopolitan" area. There are several different types of clasts, or particles, held in surrounding fine-grained sands: rounded spherules, angular, irregular fragments (containing what are presumably vesicles or small cavities) and small, rounded clasts about one millimeter (.04 inch) in size.

This mosaic of microscopic images (each about two centimeters by two centimeters or .8 inches by .8 inches) from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity illustrates the tremendous variety of soil types and shapes observed by the science team during the recent "Eagle Crater" five-target soil survey. Scientists are working to understand the sorting mechanisms that have distributed the various soil types. The survey was conducted from sol 52 to sol 56.
"Punaluu's" largest particles are similar to those seen in the "Eagle Crater" outcrop (see also PIA05640). There are also some smaller, more irregular rounded particles that have likely been transported by wind. The "Lanikai" target reveals irregularly shaped, light-colored, millimeter-sized (0.04 inch-sized) clasts, or particles, in a fine-grained soil (see also PIA05646). Lanikai's angular, less-rounded clast shapes interested the science team when compared to other soil targets in the crater area studied by the microscopic imager. The image of "Neopolitan" highlights the border between two different soil types - a lighter, finer-grained unit to the left and a darker, coarser-grained to the right (see also PIA05648). Scientists are pondering the unusually distinct border between these different soil types. "Cookies and Cream" (see also PIA05649)is a mixture of light and dark soil units in the "Neopolitan" area. There are several different types of clasts, or particles, held in surrounding fine-grained sands: rounded spherules, angular, irregular fragments (containing what are presumably vesicles or small cavities) and smaller, about one millimeter-sized (0.04 inch-sized), rounded clasts. At "Vanilla," the microscopic images have revealed small grains one millimeter (0.04 inch) or less in size and somewhat lighter in color than those in other soil units observed in the crater (see also PIA05650). "Mudpie" is representative of the soils lower in the crater, a fair distance from the outcrop. It contains spherules and irregularly shaped vesicles held in a dark sand. In the "Black Forest" area at the target referred to as "Brian's Choice" are irregularly shaped clasts, low in hematite content based on miniature thermal emission spectrometer readings. Presumably, the particles in this area are more affected by winds since they are on the outer part of crater and are likely deposited and re-distributed by wind on a fairly frequent basis.