Museum Presents Panoramic Photos of Mars

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity made its first U-Turn on Mars on Feb. 14, 2004, as the completing move of its longest one-day drive, about 9 meters or 30 feet. This view from the right front hazard-avoidance camera shows the scene in front of Opportunity after the turn, with the selected location for the mission's first trenching operation now directly in front of the rover.--NASA/JPL Photo

Area residents will be able to get a close look at the surface of Mars by going no farther than the campus of Sam Houston State University.

The Sam Houston Memorial Museum will be displaying large-format panoramic photographs from the current NASA Mars Rover Program in the atrium of the Walker Education Center, 1402 19th Street, beginning Tuesday.

The images, up to 20 feet long, are printed from the digital files transmitted from the Spirit and Opportunity rovers currently exploring the Martian surface. The exhibit will continue through the end of the main mission and pictures will be added and rotated as the mission continues.

"This will be a rare opportunity to view these images as they are meant to be seen; as large panoramic views of the Martian landscape," said Dave Wight, curator of exhibits. "These are incredible images directly from the surface of our neighbor planet."

Pictures include panoramic views of the Martian hills, rock outcroppings, the landing module, and the interior of the crater in which the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity landed at Meridiani Planum.

The photos also show the hills to the west of Rover Opportunity which have been named for the crew of Apollo 1, who perished in a flash fire during a launch pad test of their Apollo spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center, Florida on Jan. 27, 1967.

Wight said that most of the images are in full color and were taken by the rover's panoramic cameras. He was quick to credit NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California for making them available.

For more information and to preview images, see the Museum's web site. Daily updates regarding the NASA Mars Rover Program are also available online.

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SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
Feb. 16, 2004
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