Exploring Victoria Crater
Date: 13 Sep 2007

Victoria Crater, about 800 m (one-half mile) in diameter, was home ground for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity for many months on Mars. This view shows the rover's path overlaid on an image of the crater taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.


Opportunity first reached the crater's rim on 27 Sept. 2006, during the 951st Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work in the Meridian Planum region of Mars. The rover then explored clockwise about one-fourth of the way around the rim before returning to a point close to its first overlook. On the mission's 1,293rd sol (13 Sept. 2007), Opportunity began a sustained exploration of the interior of the crater, entering at an alcove called "Duck Bay" on the western side of Victoria.


This traverse map includes Opportunity's route though Sol 1,365 (26 Nov. 2007). The scale bar is 300 m (984 feet) long.


Last Update: 10 Jun 2011 (AMB)

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Cornell/Ohio State University