spacetoday.net: Opportunity transmits first images

Posted: Sun, Jan 25, 2004, 10:12 AM ET (1512 GMT)
Opportunity image of Meridiani Planum (NASA/JPL)

The Mars rover Opportunity has taken the first images of its landing site, revealing a relatively flat, featureless plain save for an unusual outcropping of rocks. The spacecraft, which landed in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars early Sunday, sent back over 75 black-and-white and color images of the landing site taken within a few hours of landing. Unlike Gusev Crater, the region where Opportunity's twin Spirit landed three weeks ago, the landscape is not littered with rocks and shows few major terrain features. A panoramic image of the landing site does show an unusual rock outcropping that scientists think may be the first accessible bedrock feature seen on the planet. The surface also has a darker color than see in other landing sites. "Opportunity has touched down in a bizarre, alien landscape," said principal investigator Steven Squyres. The images also show no airbag material or other obstructions that would block Opportunity from rolling off the main ramp.