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Projects: Red Rover Goes to Mars

Images of the DVDs from Mars

Two DVDs were sent to Mars, one aboard Spirit, and one aboard Opportunity. Both DVDs contained the same list of four million names, but each carries a different secret code around its edge, and a different Astrobot is bolted to each one.

Immediately after landing, Spirit and Opportunity both captured images of the DVDs and sent them back to the millions of people on Earth who were waiting for proof that their names had landed on Mars!

Images from Spirit: Sol 2

Click to enlarge > This panorama was taken by one of Spirit's Navigation Cameras (Navcams) on Sol 2 - the day after the rover landed on the Martian surface. The Red Rover Goes to Mars DVD is visible on the left side. Credit: NASA / JPL

Spirit's DVD on Mars This close-up of Spirit's Mars DVD was created by the Student Astronauts by combining three images captured through different filters on Sol 2 of its mission on Mars. Note the secret code around the edge. Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell / The Planetary Society

Click to enlarge > L1 (empty) filter	Click to enlarge > L4 (red) filter	Click to enlarge > L5 (green) filter	Click to enlarge > L6 (blue)filter
On Sol 2, the rover's second Martian day, mission engineers comanded the Panoramic Camera (Pancam) instrument to capture four images of the DVD assembly. The four images were captured through four different filters: a red filter, a green filter, a blue filter, and an "empty" filter. To capture these different images, a filter wheel on the Pancam rotated different colored filters into place in front of the camera. The red filter lets only red-colored light pass through to the detector; the green filter lets only green-colored light pass; and the blue filter lets only blue-colored light pass. The empty filter allows all wavelengths of light to pass to the detector, so allows for the sharpest imaging. (For the curious, the wavelengths on the red, green, and blue filters are 600, 530, and 480 nanometers, respectively. The detector can "see" light in the range from 400 to 1100 nanometers.) Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell

Click to enlarge > Processed photo of Spirit's DVD The Student Astronauts combined the Red, Green, and Blue images to create a color image of Spirit's DVD. Because the green and blue images were only half the resolution of the red image, the resulting picture appears fuzzy. This image has been processed further by taking the color data from this image and overlaying it on brightness data from the empty filter image. Mission scientists frequently use processing techniques such as these to bring out fine details in the images from Mars. Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell / The Planetary Society

Images from Spirit: Sol 11

Spirit captured four images of the DVD at much higher resolution on Sol 11, but had transmitted only tiny thumbnail versions to Earth before its temporary breakdown on Sol 16. The full images were never transmitted to Earth, and when Spirit's flash memory was reformatted on Sol 32, the data were erased forever. The images that you see below are the largest available.

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L4 (red)

L5 (green)

L6 (blue)

true color

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Images from Spirit: Sol 16

Click to enlarge > Spirit's lander After rolling off its lander onto the surface of Mars, Spirit turned back to capture this 20-frame mosaic of its empty nest on sol 16 (January 18/19, 2004). The DVD is visible toward the back of the right-hand lander petal. Closeup views of the DVD are below. Source Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell

Click to enlarge > L2 (infrared) filter	Click to enlarge > L5 (green) filter	Click to enlarge > L6 (blue) filter	Click to enlarge > false color (L256)
Views of Spirit's Red Rover Goes to Mars DVD captured by the rover on Sol 16, just after it rolled off its lander. Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell

Images from Opportunity: Sol 2

Click to enlarge > This panorama was taken by one of Opportunity's Navigation Cameras (Navcams) on Sol 1 - the day the rover landed on the Martian surface. The Red Rover Goes to Mars DVD is visible in the center. Credit: NASA / JPL

Opportunity's DVD on Mars This close-up of Opportunity's Mars DVD was created by the Student Astronauts by combining three images captured through different filters on Sol 2 of its mission on Mars. Note the secret code around the edge. The Planetary Society created the DVD. Color: True color. L456 Created: 24 January 2004. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/The Planetary Society

Click to enlarge > L1 (empty) filter	Click to enlarge > L4 (red) filter	Click to enlarge > L5 (green) filter	Click to enlarge > L6 (blue) filter
On Sol 2, the rover's second Martian day, mission engineers comanded the Panoramic Camera (Pancam) instrument to capture four images of the DVD assembly. The four images were captured through four different filters: a red filter, a green filter, a blue filter, and an "empty" filter. To capture these different images, a filter wheel on the Pancam rotated different colored filters into place in front of the camera. The red filter lets only red-colored light pass through to the detector; the green filter lets only green-colored light pass; and the blue filter lets only blue-colored light pass. The empty filter allows all wavelengths of light to pass to the detector, so allows for the sharpest imaging. (For the curious, the wavelengths on the red, green, and blue filters are 600, 530, and 480 nanometers, respectively. The detector can "see" light in the range from 400 to 1100 nanometers.) Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell

Click to enlarge > Processed photo of Opportunity's DVD The Student Astronauts combined the Red, Green, and Blue images to create a color image of Opportunity's DVD. Because the green and blue images were only half the resolution of the red image, the resulting picture appears fuzzy. This image has been processed further by taking the color data from this image and overlaying it on brightness data from the empty filter image. Mission scientists frequently use processing techniques such as these to bring out fine details in the images from Mars. Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell / The Planetary Society

Images from Opportunity: Sol 7

Click to enlarge > Opportunity captured the images for this panorama just after rolling off the lander for the first time, on January 31, 2004. Credit: NASA / JPL

Images from Opportunity: Sol 12

A short time after Opportunity rolled off its lander, it looked at the DVD a second time in order to examine whether any magnetically susceptible dust had accumulated on the Astrobot's magnets. Here are the four images that were captured by Opportunity on the 12th Martian day, or sol, of its mission.

Click to enlarge > L4 (red) filter

Click to enlarge > L5 (green) filter

Click to enlarge > L6 (blue) filter

Click to enlarge > L7 (violet) filter

Opportunity DVD, Sol 12, true color View of Opportunity's Red Rover Goes to Mars DVD captured by the rover on Sol 12, a few days after it rolled off its lander. Three images taken through red, green, and blue filters have been combined to create this approximate true color view. Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell

Opportunity DVD, Sol 12, false color View of Opportunity's Red Rover Goes to Mars DVD captured by the rover on Sol 12, a few days after it rolled off its lander. Three images taken through red, blue, and violet filters have been combined to create this false color view. Choosing short-wavelength filters helps to emphasize the dust being deposited on the magnets located inside the Astrobot LEGO® minifigure. A ring-shaped magnet is located in the center, and two small magnets of different strengths in the feet. In this view, a small deposit of dust is visible on the Astrobot's right foot. Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell