Starship Asterisk*

The best part of the rovers' pictures is their closeness and sense of action.

That said, the caption is incorrect:

Spirit's Panoramic Camera captured the rover's Instrument Deployment Device above as moved to get a closer look at an outcrop of rocks named Hillary.

From the low elevation and fisheye view, you can tell this image was actually taken by the front hazard avoidance cam, which is mounted on the lower part of the body. The Pancam sits 3-4 feet higher up on top of the mast and has a slightly zoomed in lens.

Actually the hazcam's are black-and-white, so this was probably colorized with data from the Pancam, but the angle definitely gives away the source.

I also noticed on the rover homepage today an announcement that Opportunity had surpassed 10,000 meters (6.2 miles) of driving. One of the original mission goals was for each rover to cover 600 meters (3/8 mile). Rock onward, righteous robot dude!

iamlucky13 wrote:The best part of the rovers' pictures is their closeness and sense of action.

That said, the caption is incorrect:

Spirit's Panoramic Camera captured the rover's Instrument Deployment Device above as moved to get a closer look at an outcrop of rocks named Hillary.

From the low elevation and fisheye view, you can tell this image was actually taken by the front hazard avoidance cam, which is mounted on the lower part of the body. The Pancam sits 3-4 feet higher up on top of the mast and has a slightly zoomed in lens.

Actually the hazcam's are black-and-white, so this was probably colorized with data from the Pancam, but the angle definitely gives away the source.

I also noticed on the rover homepage today an announcement that Opportunity had surpassed 10,000 meters (6.2 miles) of driving. One of the original mission goals was for each rover to cover 600 meters (3/8 mile). Rock onward, righteous robot dude!

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070313.html

Yes, I was looking at the 'tread' on the wheel to see how worn it looked.
It looks fine to me, no need for a retread just yet.
The rovers really have been amazing value for money IMO.

Though I can't find the text at the moment, I thought there was a reference to the rover being angled at approx 20deg at the time the image was taken. It also appears that the ARM is coming off the rover on the left side indicating that the front is to the left and that the right side is the point of view. If both these are fact then eithet there is a side hazard cam or the image is in fact taken from the PAN CAM.

The robotic arm is, in fact, mounted slightly to the left of the front haz-cam, which itself is a stereo camera with left and right lenses.

You can see this really well in a good photo-render of the CAD model.

I don't think the pancam itself can't even see the rovers wheels. They're too far down and probably blocked by the solar panels, too.

I spent too much time studying these guys and all the pictures they were cranking out when they first landed...