Endurance (crater)

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Endurance is an impact crater on Mars. It is located in Meridiani Planum, has a diameter of 130 meters and a depth of about 20 meters. It is named after the ship Endurance, which the British polar explorer Ernest Shackleton made ​​his Imperial Trans- Antarctic Expedition ( 1914-1917 ).

The Mars crater was explored from June 15 (sol 135) to December 14, 2004 ( Sol 315) from the Mars exploration rover Opportunity.

Exploration by Opportunity

Karatepe

After Opportunity has reached the crater, initially an exploration plan has been established and determines the interest to be examined sites. One site, the " Karatepe " was named, served as an entry into the crater to analyze the bedrock of the crater detail.

The image on the right shows changes in the color of the layers. The "A" layer is closer to the Rover and higher than the layers "B " to " E". Pattern and color of the layers varies with the depth of the layers. This allows scientists to conclusions about the age of the layers derived by comparing this shot with another layer images from Mars.

Then drove Opportunity deeper into the crater to look at sand dunes closer. Some rocks were analyzed during the descent. It was then decided not to drive in the sand dunes. There was a risk that the rover could get stuck and further exploration by Opportunity would thus have been impossible. For this reason, more rocks were examined before the rover made ​​on our way back to the edge of the crater. On his way Opportunity came upon a rock, which was ' Wopmay ' named. This rock yielded evidence that rocks could one day be surrounded inside the crater of water shortly after the crater was created. After that, the rover drove the cliff ' Burns Cliff ' on.

Burns Cliff

' Burns Cliff ', named after a deceased mineralogist Roger Burns of MIT, has been very carefully studied by Opportunity. The high risk of slipping through the sand prevented the use of the robot arm. However, high-resolution photos were shot with the Pancam. This show sedimentary layers that may have arisen from earlier occurrence of liquid.

The ' Burns Cliff ' was the last stop in the scientific exploration of Endurance Crater.