SPACE.com -- Opportunity Caught its Shadow on Entry

Scientists believe the circular feature in this image to be a crater near Opportunity. The rover landed at Meridiani Planum on Mars at approximately 12:05 a.m. EST on Sunday, Jan. 25. This image was taken at an altitude of 1,986 meters (6,516 feet) by the descent image motion estimation system camera located on the bottom of the rover. The image spans approximately 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) across the surface of Mars. Image Credit: NASA/JPL

Scientists believe the circular feature in this image to be a crater near Opportunity. The rover landed at Meridiani Planum on Mars at approximately 12:05 a.m. EST on Sunday, Jan. 25. This image was taken at an altitude of 1,690 meters (5,545 feet) by the descent image motion estimation system camera located on the bottom of the rover. The image spans approximately 1.4 kilometers (7/8 of a mile) across the surface of Mars. Image Credit: NASA/JPL

Scientists believe the circular feature in this image to be a crater near Opportunity. The rover landed at Meridiani Planum on Mars at approximately 12:05 a.m. EST Sunday, Jan. 25. This image was taken at an altitude of 1,404 meters (4,606 feet) by the descent image motion estimation system camera located on the bottom of the rover. The image spans approximately 1.2 kilometers (3/4 of a mile) across the surface of Mars. Image Credit: NASA/JPL

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	Opportunity Caught its Shadow on Entry By Leonard David Senior Space Writer posted: 11:25 am ET 26 January 2004

marsrovers

PASADENA, Calif. -- Being the new arrival on Mars, the Opportunity spacecraft made use of its parachute/airbag landing system to plop itself down within Meridiani Planum.

On approach to Mars surface, Opportunitys Descent Image Motion Estimation System (DIMES) worked like a champ. A set of three images were taken by a camera on the bottom of the lander during the crafts final descent

DIMES is onboard to calculate the spacecrafts horizontal motion during its final seconds of flight. The system determined that sideways motion was small, so Opportunity's computer decided not to fire the lateral rockets carried specifically for slowing that motion. That was not the case for Spirits landing, some three weeks ago.

Parachute shadow

The three DIMES photos were released Sunday here at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and will help determine the exact whereabouts of Opportunity at Meridiani Planum.

In those photos, the shadow of Opportunitys parachute can be seen moving across two of the three images.

Opportunity did bounce and roll into a small impact crater. About one-half mile (1 kilometer) from the spacecrafts final resting location, a large crater about 500 feet (150 meters) is within easy driving distance for the Opportunity rover.

"That crater is Mother Natures drilling rig," James Garvin, NASA Lead Scientist for Mars Exploration in the Office of Space Science in Washington, D.C. told SPACE.com . Scientists value such crater locations as a way to see what's beneath the surface without needing to dig, he said.