ASTRONOMY PICTURE

OF THE DAY

EXPLANATION

What’s inside Victoria Crater? Now that the dust has settled from the regional Martian dust storms that immobilized the rolling Martian rovers, the task ahead has become clear. Opportunity arrived at Victoria Crater last month and was poised to enter when the dust storms flared up unexpectedly. The above image was taken last week by the Opportunity rover perched at a possibly traversable slope into the 750-meter impact feature. Victoria Crater is the largest crater that either Martian rover has come across during their explorations. The crater walls might hold clues about the Martian surface before the tremendous impact that created Victoria Crater.

Credit

Mars Exploration Rover Mission, Cornell, JPL, NASA; Acknowledgement: Eduardo Tesheiner