July 27, 2004
In the time it took you to read this, the Earth moved another thousand miles through space. You are not standing still. You never have been.
Razorbacks in Endurance Crater
Birthday · July 27, 2004
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APOD published July 27, 2004. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Over one year after its launch, robot geologist Opportunity has been spending recent sols on Mars inching its way down the slopes of Endurance crater. Littered with martian blueberries, some flat rocks within the crater also seem to have surprising razorbacks -- narrow slabs sticking up along their edges. Like the blueberries, it's possible that the sharp, narrow features are related to water. They could be formed by minerals deposited by water in cracks, with the surrounding softer material subsequently eroded away. How narrow are they? The ones pictured here in an enhanced color image from Opportunity's panoramic camera are actually only a few centimeters high and about half a centimeter wide. Impressive 3D views have been constructed by stereo experimenter P. Vantuyne based on the camera's left and right eye images of the region.