Article Posted on : - Dec 29, 2010

'Santa Maria' Crater in 360-degree view from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. A NASA/JPL-Caltech photo

PASADENA, CLIFORNIA (BNS): NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has reached a crater about the size of a football field informally named "Santa Maria."

The rover team plans to use cameras and spectrometers during the next several weeks to examine rocks exposed at the crater.

A mosaic of image frames taken by Opportunity's navigation camera on 16th December shows the crater's sharp rim and rocks ejected from the impact that had excavated the crater.

Opportunity completed its three-month prime mission on Mars in April 2004 and has been working in bonus extended missions since then.

After the investigations at Santa Maria, the rover team will resume a long-term trek by Opportunity to the rim of Endeavour Crater, which is about 22 kilometers (14 miles) in diameter.