Rover Landing Hardware at Eagle Crater, Mars

A CLOSER LOOK

The bright landing platform left behind by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in 2004 is visible inside Eagle Crater, at upper right in this April 8, 2017, observation by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrived at Mars in March 2006, more than two years after Opportunity's landing on Jan. 25, 2004, Universal Time (Jan. 24, PDT). This is the first image of Eagle Crater from the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, which has optics that include the most powerful telescope ever sent to Mars. Eagle Crater is about 72 feet (22 meters) in diameter, at 1.95 degrees south latitude, 354.47 degrees east longitude, in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. The airbag-cushioned lander, with Opportunity folded-up inside, first hit Ma

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