Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Spirit Tracks in Gusev Crater

Spirit Tracks in Gusev Crater
Spirit Tracks in Gusev Crater TOP Spirit landed on a field of volcanic rocks at Gusev crater. Scientists had hoped to find evidence of an ancient lake there, but the volcanic materials covered any such evidence. However, the chemical and textural measurements Spirit made here still provided important information about the volcanic evolution of Mars. Many of the rocks in this image have pointy, jagged shapes. The shapes could result from them being broken by impacts or from erosion by Martian winds over billions of years. NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell / ASU / Daniel Crotty / Emily Lakdawalla