Explanation:
This was Spirit's view on Martian-day 1,000 of its 90-Martian-day mission.
The robotic Spirit rover
has stayed alive so long on Mars that it needed a place to wait out the cold and dim Martian winter.
Earth scientists selected Low Ridge hill, a place with sufficient slant to give Spirit's
solar panels enough
sunlight to keep powered up and making scientific observations.
From its Winter Haven, Spirit has been able to build up the
above 360-degree panorama, which has been digitally altered to
exaggerate colors
and compressed horizontally to
fit your screen.
The long winter is finally ending in the south of
Mars,
and with the increasing sunlight plans are now being made for Spirit to further explore the rocky
Columbia Hills inside intriguing
Gusev crater.
