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MAA-021: Trail Left by the Rover? - Image Analysis Report
Image Analysis Report
IMAGE DETAILS
MAA Report Ref: MAA-021
Report date: July-August 2017/Updated March 2016
Research Status: EXPLAINED
Description: Trail Left by the Rover?
Approximate size: 25 m
Mission: Opportunity Rover
Location: Victoria Crater, Meridiani Planum
Found by: Unknown
Image date: Sol 1070 Jan 2007
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Graphics/image editing: Mars Archaeology Archive
Image source: http://marsrovers.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/p/1070/1P223169173EFF78VAP2629L6M1.JPG
OBSERVATIONS
Some Mars enthusiasts believed this picture to be possible evidence for artificial constructions on the Mars surface. A perceived lack of information and feedback from NASA to the public to explain this image, undoubtedly fed this interpretation.
POTENTIAL FOR ARTIFICIAL OBJECTS
None. Picture satisfactorily explained by the Opportunity traverse map that shows where the rover travelled, and an overhead image from the HiRISE Orbiter that reveals the wheel tracks still visible on the surface. Also the rover was undertaking odometry tests at the time, which may or may not account for the furrowed nature of the surface marks.
COMMON EXPLANATION
ACCEPTED - Wheel tracks left by the rover.
MAA-021.2 Trail left by the rover?: from a distance - Sol 1070
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
MAA-021.1 Trail left by the rover?: Close-up - Sol 1070
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Image source: http://marsrovers.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/p/1070/1P223169173EFF78VAP2629L6M1.JPG
MAA-021.3 Trail left by the rover?: Explained
1. Image taken in 2007 by the Opportunity Rover at Victoria Crater on Sol 1070, reveals strange markings on the Martian surface
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell; image source: https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/all/1/p/1070/1P223169173EFF78VAP2629L6M1.JPG
2. Image of Victoria Crater taken by the Mars Orbiter HiRISE, shows the Opportunity Rover wheel tracks
Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona; graphics: Mars Archaeology Archive; image source: https://www.uahirise.org/PSP_004289_1780
3. Traverse Map showing the route taken by the Opportunity Rover at Victoria Crater
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/University of Arizona; image source: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/images/jc1-20071210.html