This
is a more recent 'geometrically improved, colour enhanced' version of the
360-degree 'Gallery Pan', the first contiguous, uniform panorama taken by
the Imager for Mars (IMP) over the course of Sols 8, 9, and 10. Different
regions were imaged at different times over the three Martian days to acquire
consistent lighting and shadow conditions for all areas of the panorama.
In this version of the panorama, much of the discontinuity that was due
to parallax has been corrected, particularly along the lower tiers of the
mosaic containing the Lander features. Distortion due to a 2.5 degree tilt
in the IMP camera mast has been removed.
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At
left is a Lander petal and a metallic mast which is a portion of the low-gain
antenna. On the horizon the double 'Twin Peaks'
are visible, about 1-2 kilometers away. The rock 'Couch' is the dark, curved
rock at right of Twin Peaks. Another Lander petal is at left-center, showing
the fully deployed forward ramp at far left, and rear ramp at right, which
rover Sojourner used to descend to the surface of Mars on July 5. Immediately
to the left of the rear ramp is the rock 'Barnacle
Bill', which scientists found be andesitic, possibly indicating that
it is a volcanic rock (a true andesite) or a physical mixture of particles.
Just beyond Barnacle Bill, rover tracks lead to Sojourner, shown using its
Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument to study the large rock
'Yogi'. Yogi, low in quartz content,
appears to be more primitive than Barnacle Bill, and appears more like the
common basalts found on Earth. |
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The
tracks and circular pattern in the soil leading up to Yogi were part of
Sojourner's soil mechanics experiments, in which varying amounts of pressure
were applied to the wheels in order to determine physical properties of
the soil. During its traverse to Yogi the rover stirred the soil and exposed
material from several centimeters in depth. During one of the turns to deploy
Sojourner's Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer, the wheels dug particularly
deeply and exposed white material. Spectra of this white material show it
is virtually identical to the rock 'Scooby
Doo', and such white material may underlie much of the site. Deflated
airbags are visible at the perimeter of all three Lander petals.
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