Free Astronomy Magazine March-April 2021

MARSEXPLORATION ROVERS SCIENCE INSTRUMENTS • Panoramic Camera (Pancam): for determining the mineral- ogy, texture, and structure of the local terrain. • Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES): for identifying promising rocks and soils for closer examination and for determining the processes that formed Martian rocks. The instrument is designed to look skyward to provide temper- ature profiles of the Martian atmosphere. • Mössbauer Spectrometer (MB): for close-up investigations of the mineralogy of iron-bearing rocks and soils. • Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS): for close-up analysis of the abundances of elements that make up rocks and soils. • Magnets: for collecting magnetic dust particles. The Möss- bauer Spectrometer and the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrome- ter are designed to analyze the particles collected and help determine the ratio of magnetic particles to non-magnetic par- ticles. They can also analyze the composition of magnetic min- erals in airborne dust and rocks that have been ground by the Rock Abrasion Tool. • Microscopic Imager (MI): for obtaining close-up, high-resolu- tion images of rocks and soils. • Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT): for removing dusty and weathered rock surfaces and exposing fresh material for examination by instruments onboard. T his false-color image captured by Opportunity shows Cape St. Vincent, one of the many promontories that jut out from the walls of Victoria Crater. The material at the top of the promontory consists of loose, jumbled rock, then a bit further down into the crater, abruptly transitions to solid bedrock. This transition point is marked by a bright band of rock. [NASA/JPL/Cornell] During its wandering, Spirit took many photos of the surface with its camera, the first true-color images taken by a rover on another planet. Spirit also found evidence of a humid past and evidence of geothermal or volcanic activity. The rover ended up exploring sites that may have been hot springs millions of years ago. Not to be outdone by its twin, Opportu- nity also took many real-color photos of the Martian landscape and found evidence for a distant past where water existed on the surface. More- over, Opportunity studied mineral layers in the rocks near its landing site. The gathered evidence indicated that the site could have been, billions