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Vostok (crater)
Encyclopedia
Vostok is a crater on Mars
that was reached by the rover Opportunity
on sol 399 (March 8, 2005). Vostok is located roughly 1200 meters south of Endurance
in Meridiani Planum
. The crater appears to have been covered up with sand by the winds on the red planet, but many rock outcrops are still visible from the surface.
Other smaller craters visited along the way included Argo
, Jason, and Alvin
just south of the heat shield
, and Naturaliste
, Géographe, and Investigator.
While at Vostok, Opportunity investigated a rock dubbed "Gagarin", named for cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin
. It also imaged a soil sample named "Laika
". The rover left on Sol 404, and headed south towards Erebus
- an eroded crater wider than Endurance
, some "etched terrain" and an even larger crater, the 750-meter wide Victoria
.
The rover's Mini-TES
instrument was malfunctioning when it was near Vostok, however, the issues soon disappeared.
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
that was reached by the rover Opportunity
Opportunity rover
Opportunity, MER-B , is a robotic rover on the planet Mars, active since 2004. It is the remaining rover in NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission...
on sol 399 (March 8, 2005). Vostok is located roughly 1200 meters south of Endurance
Endurance (crater)
Endurance is an impact crater on Mars that was visited by the Opportunity rover from May until December 2004. Mission scientists named the crater after the ship Endurance that sailed to the Antarctic in an exploration voyage organized by Ernest Shackleton.The rover entered the crater interior on...
in Meridiani Planum
Meridiani Planum
Meridiani Planum is a plain located 2 degrees south of Mars' equator , in the westernmost portion of Terra Meridiani. It hosts a rare occurrence of gray crystalline hematite...
. The crater appears to have been covered up with sand by the winds on the red planet, but many rock outcrops are still visible from the surface.
Other smaller craters visited along the way included Argo
Argo (crater)
Argo is a crater located in the Meridiani Planum, on Mars, that was visited by the Opportunity rover approximately on its 365th Martian sol. The crater is located approximately south of the heat shield and Heat Shield Rock.-External links:*...
, Jason, and Alvin
Alvin (crater)
Alvin is a small crater on Mars. It was visited by the Opportunity rover in 2005.-External links:*...
just south of the heat shield
Heat shield
A heat shield is designed to shield a substance from absorbing excessive heat from an outside source by either dissipating, reflecting or simply absorbing the heat...
, and Naturaliste
Naturaliste (crater)
Naturaliste is the name of a crater on Mars. It was visited by the Opportunity rover in 2005.-External links:*...
, Géographe, and Investigator.
While at Vostok, Opportunity investigated a rock dubbed "Gagarin", named for cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on April 12, 1961....
. It also imaged a soil sample named "Laika
Laika
Laika was a Soviet space dog that became the first animal to orbit the Earth – as well as the first animal to die in orbit.As little was known about the impact of spaceflight on living creatures at the time of Laika's mission, and the technology to de-orbit had not yet been developed, there...
". The rover left on Sol 404, and headed south towards Erebus
Erebus (crater)
Erebus is a crater on Mars visited by the Opportunity rover on the way to the much larger crater Victoria. It is named after the polar exploration vessel HMS Erebus...
- an eroded crater wider than Endurance
Endurance (crater)
Endurance is an impact crater on Mars that was visited by the Opportunity rover from May until December 2004. Mission scientists named the crater after the ship Endurance that sailed to the Antarctic in an exploration voyage organized by Ernest Shackleton.The rover entered the crater interior on...
, some "etched terrain" and an even larger crater, the 750-meter wide Victoria
Victoria (crater)
Victoria is an impact crater on Mars located at 2.05°S, 5.50°W in Meridiani Planum, visited by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. It is roughly 730 metres wide, nearly eight times the size of the crater Endurance, visited by Opportunity from sols 951 to 1630...
.
Mini-TES
]The Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer is an infrared spectrometer used for detecting the composition of a material from a distance...
instrument was malfunctioning when it was near Vostok, however, the issues soon disappeared.
Other craters visited by Opportunity
- EagleEagle (crater)Eagle is a 22-metre impact crater located on Mars on Meridiani Planum. The Opportunity rover came to rest inside Eagle crater when it landed in 2004...
- FramFram (crater)Fram is an impact crater in Meridiani Planum, on Mars. It was visited by the rover Opportunity on Sol 84, April 24, 2004.Fram spans about 8 metres in diameter. Opportunity paused beside it while travelling from the rover's landing site toward a larger crater, Endurance...
- BeagleBeagle (crater)This article is about the crater on Mars. For other uses, see Beagle .Beagle is a crater on Mars in Meridiani Planum which was explored by the Opportunity rover. It was located by the rover in images taken on sol 855 , 310 metres away...
- Emma DeanEmma Dean (crater)Emma Dean is a small impact crater in Meridiani Planum on Mars that was visited by the Opportunity rover from sols 929 to 943. The much larger crater Victoria lies about 100m to the east....