Rocky 7 - Mojave Desert Field Experiments

Overhead Images

Before placing the close-up imager against a rock, Rocky 7 can take an overhead image looking directly down on the target rock. It uses the panoramic stereo cameras to do this. The images the rover returns can help scientists select interesting areas on the rock and direct the close-up imager to them.

Left image:

Right image:

Here is a comparison photo taken by scientists at the site. The photo was taken from nearly overhead. Click on the image for a larger photo.

This rock is a piece of basalt from Sunshine Lava Flow on the southern edge of the playa. The black rock is covered with small holes called vesicles. These are voids left as gas bubbles percolated out of the hardening lava. Portions of this dark rock are covered with white carbonate deposits called caliche. The carbonate is drawn out of the ground by groundwater and precipitates on the sides of the rock which contact the ground. The presence of such deposits, therefore, is indicative of the presence of groundwater in the past.