Color Images from Mars Rovers



by Bob Webster





Thanks to Bob Webster for making these images available. They are

recombinations of images with different colored filters. All images are

courtesy of NASA/JPL and in the public domain in the United States.



Mars Attacks!



I was browsing the NASA web site for photos from the Mars rovers, but

most of them are black and white. Then I noticed they have the raw

images posted that can be combined into color photos, so I combined a

bunch of them into "living color." Here they are:



 Mars in Color, from “Opportunity”

 Opportunity Photos

 Mars in Color, from “Spirit”

 Spirit Photos



The color is not perfect on these, but it should be in the

neighborhood. There are a lot of variables. The cameras are calibrated

differently from time to time, there are different bandwidths available

in different images, and the sun is at different angles.



In these photos, 3 to 6 images were taken, one after another, using

different bandwidth filters. There may be 5 minutes pass from the first

to the last image, so a shadow may move a little bit during that time.

An interesting effect of this is an occasional rainbow strip on the

edge of shadows.



The image file names include information such as camera type, time

taken, location, etc. Here is the full info:



http://origin.mars5.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/edr_filename_key.html



The image on this site have the filter and sometimes the Left or Right

designator removed. If L or R is missing, then they were taken with the

Left camera, which uses visible light filters.



These images were taken with the panoramic camera, because it's the one

that uses color filters. The filters used vary from image to image. The

available filters are:



        Left Camera

        Right Camera



        1 = EMPTY (clear)

        1 = 436nm (37nm Short-pass)



        2 = 753nm (20nm bandpass)

        2 = 754nm (20nm bandpass)



        3 = 673nm (16nm bandpass)

        3 = 803nm (20nm bandpass)



        4 = 601nm (17nm bandpass)

        4 = 864nm (17nm bandpass)



        5 = 535nm (20nm bandpass)

        5 = 904nm (26nm bandpass)



        6 = 482nm (25nm bandpass)

        6 = 934nm (25nm bandpass)



        7 = 432nm (32nm Short-pass)

        7 = 1009nm (38nm Long-pass)



        8 = 440nm (20) Solar ND 5.0

        8 = 880nm (20) Solar ND 5.0



Some bandwidths of visible light are:



        red

        650



        orange

        590



        yellow

        570



        green

        510



        blue

        475



        indigo

        445



        violet

        400



Everything gets kind of fuzzy from this point on. The visible light

bandwidths are not even sharply delimited. The bandwidths in the

Martian cameras don't necessarily match the color bandwidths on

Earthling computers. In a lot of the images some of the bandwidths are

missing. For example, this image:



only uses filters 4, 5, and 7, which more or less correspond to

reddish-orange, yellow-green, and violet. There is a hole or two in the

spectrum, notably red and blue, so it ends up looking a little weird.

But it's still much better than black and white.



Some of the images from Mars use filters 2, 5, and 7, or some wide

range like that. This provides more information for scientific

analysis, but it doesn't look normal when combined. That is, if there

is a "normal" for pictures from Mars. I skipped most of these.



The right pan camera filters are mainly longer wavelength in the

ultraviolet range. I only included one of those pictures, mostly

because I wondered what it would look like:



I used Photo Mud to merge the separate images. In fact, I wrote the

Merge Color Separation function in Photo Mud so I could do this. You

can download a test version here:



http://xpda.com/photomudsetup.exe



When Photo Mud version 3.0 is released in a few days, I'll replace this

file with a 30-day trial version. If you download the test version

before then, you can have a free update to the release version without

a 30-day limit. Let me know if you find any "design considerations" or

other things that don't work.



Here's where to get the latest raw images from Mars:



http://origin.mars5.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all



Some of the NASA pictures show mainly red on Mars, such as this

panorama:



But the colors in the corners of this sundial in the base of the photo

from looks quite a bit different on earth than on the landscape photo.

There is a lack of blue in the Mars photo, or maybe even a translation

of blue to red. There's probably a good reason for this, since NASA has

better software and spent more time on it.



It looks to me like NASA included filter 2, infrared light, in their

red color composition. In this image with filter 2, you can see how

bright the lower right color tab is:



This one is filter 3, is visible red. The blue tab in the lower right

is not nearly as bright:



Here is a composition I did using infrared as red, and shifting the

colors toward that end of the spectrum. This is kind of like the

sundial in the color landscape.



Here's the image with "normal color" composition:



The second one looks a lot closer to the original photo above. In these

two images, the background dirt looks about the same, but these

settings make a big difference sometimes.



Photos Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech









Mars in Color, from “Opportunity”





4/9/2004



4/8/2004



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3/21/2004



Infrared used for red

3/20/2004



filter 2 (infrared) used for red

3/20/2004



filter 2 (infrared) used for red

3/20/2004



3/20/2004



3/20/2004



3/20/2004



3/19/2004



3/18/2004



3/18/2004



3/17/2004



3/17/2004



Dubbed "Carousel," the rock in this image was the target of the Mars

Exploration Rover Opportunity science team's outcrop "scuff test." On

sol 51 (March 15, 2004), Opportunity slowly rotated its left front

wheel on the rock, abrading it in the same way that geology students

use a scratch test to determine the hardness of minerals. The image on

the right, taken by the rover's navigation camera on sol 51, shows the

rock post-scuff. In this image, it is apparent that Opportunity

scratched the surface of "Carousel" and deposited dirt that it was

carrying in its wheel rims.

3/16/2004



3/16/2004



3/15/2004



3/15/2004



"Shoemaker's Patio" near the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's

landing site, shows finely layered sediments, which have been

accentuated by erosion. The sphere-like grains or "blueberries"

distributed throughout the outcrop can be seen lining up with

individual layers. This observation indicates that the spherules are

geologic features called concretions, which form in pre-existing wet

sediments. Other sphere-like grains, such as impact spherules or

volcanic lapilli (fragments of material between 2 and 64 millimeters or

.08 and 2.5 inches in maximum dimension that are ejected from a

volcano) are thought to be deposited with sediments and thus would form

layers distinct from those of the rocks. This image was captured by the

rover's panoramic camera on the 50th martian day, or sol, of the

mission.

3/15/2004



3/14/2004



3/14/2004



This image is of the exceptional rock called "Berry Bowl" in the "Eagle

Crater" outcrop. The study of this "blueberry-strewn" area and the

identification of hematite as the major iron-bearing element within

these sphere-like grains helped scientists confirm their hypothesis

that the hematite in these martian spherules was deposited in water. To

separately analyze the mineralogical content of three main features

within this area -- blueberries, dust and rock -- it was important that

the rock abrasion tool's brush was able to rest on a relatively

berry-free spot. The rock's small size and crowd of berries made the

10-minute brushing a challenge to plan and execute. The successful

brushing on the target whimsically referred to as "Near Empty" on the

rover's 48th sol on Mars left a dust-free impression for subsequent

examination by the rover's spectrometers. No grinding was necessary on

the rock because spectral data obtained on the dust-free surface were

sufficient to verify that the rock's chemical composition differs

significantly from the hematite-rich berries.

3/13/2004



3/13/2004



3/12/2004



3/12/2004



The sphere-like grains or "blueberries" distributed throughout the

outcrop can be seen lining up with individual layers. This observation

indicates that the spherules are geologic features called concretions,

which form in pre-existing wet sediments. Other sphere-like grains,

such as impact spherules or volcanic lapilli (fragments of material

between 2 and 64 millimeters or .08 and 2.5 inches in maximum dimension

that are ejected from a volcano) are thought to be deposited with

sediments and thus would form layers distinct from those of the rocks.

3/11/2004



3/11/2004



3/11/2004



the 3.1 millimeter-deep (just over one-tenth of an inch) hole ground by

the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's rock abrasion tool in the

target called "Mojo 2" on "Flatrock" was taken on the 44th martian day,

or sol, of the mission. It will help complete the chemical analysis of

the lowest layer of the outcrop in the crater where the rover now

resides. After a brief brushing on sol 45, the science team plans to

place Opportunity's spectrometers on the hole to collect data vital to

their understanding of this impressive outcrop.

Scientists believe that the spherule or "blueberry" in the upper right

area of the circular impression was sliced in half by the rock abrasion

tool. "Blueberries" are a known obstruction to the grinding tool that

cause it to terminate its sequence. Despite the stall, the rock

abrasion tool abraded "Flatrock" for one hour and five minutes,

producing a cavity ripe for investigation.

3/10/2004



3/10/2004



3/9/2004



3/8/2004



3/7/2004



3/7/2004



This hole was made by the rover's rock abrasion tool, located on its

instrument deployment device, or "arm." The hole is located on a target

called "McKittrick" at the "El Capitan" region of the Meridiani Planum,

Mars, rock outcrop. It was made on the 30th martian day, or sol, of

Opportunity's journey.

The grinding process at has generated a significant amount of reddish

dust. Color and spectral properties of the dust show that it may

contain some fine-grained crystalline red hematite.

Courtesy NASA/JPL

3/1/2004



2/29/2004



This hole was made by the rover's rock abrasion tool, located on its

instrument deployment device, or "arm." The hole is located on a target

called "Guadalupe" at the "El Capitan" region of the Meridiani Planum,

Mars, rock outcrop. It was made on the 30th martian day, or sol, of

Opportunity's journey.

The grinding process at has generated a significant amount of reddish

dust. Color and spectral properties of the dust show that it may

contain some fine-grained crystalline red hematite.

2/29/2004



The silver colored metal of the ring on the solar abrasion tool is a

reddish brown after the dust settled on it, probably from fine-grained

hematite.

2/29/2004



2/28/2004



2/28/2004



2/27/2004



2/27/2004



2/22/2004



The image is from the right pan camera, made up of ultraviolet

bandwidths.

2/20/2004



2/20/2004



The "El Capitan" region of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars.

This image shows fine, parallel lamination in the upper area of the

rock, which also contains scattered sphere-shaped objects ranging from

1 to 2 millimeters (.04 to .08 inches) in size. There are also more

abundant, scattered vugs, or small cavities, that are shaped like

discs. These are about 1 centimeter (0.4 inches) long.

2/20/2004



2/20/2004



The "El Capitan" region of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars.

2/20/2004



The "capture magnet," which attracts atmospheric dust particles from

the front deck of the rover. The lighter-colored areas in the image are

clean sections of the magnet virtually free of dust, and the dark areas

are places where dust has collected. Dust particles in the martian

atmosphere are estimated to be about 1 micrometer in size (1/1000th of

a millimeter or 1/1000th of .04 inches).

The material below the magnet's aluminum surface is laid out in

concentric rings, giving the image a bull's-eye appearance. The magnet

was designed in this configuration to collect as much atmospheric dust

as possible. Spirit and Opportunity each carry seven magnets.

2/19/2004



The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity dragged one of its wheels back

and forth across the sandy soil at Meridiani Planum to create a hole

(bottom left corner) approximately 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) long by

20 centimeters (7.9 inches) wide by 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) deep.

The rover's instrument deployment device, or arm, will begin studying

the fresh soil at the bottom of this trench later today for clues to

its mineral composition and history. Scientists chose this particular

site for digging because previous data taken by the rover's miniature

thermal emission spectrometer indicated that it contains crystalline

hematite, a mineral that sometimes forms in the presence of water. The

brightness of the newly-exposed soil is thought to be either intrinsic

to the soil itself, or a reflection of the Sun.

2/19/2004



The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity dragged one of its wheels back

and forth across the sandy soil at Meridiani Planum to create a hole

(bottom left corner) approximately 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) long by

20 centimeters (7.9 inches) wide by 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) deep.

The rover's instrument deployment device, or arm, will begin studying

the fresh soil at the bottom of this trench later today for clues to

its mineral composition and history. Scientists chose this particular

site for digging because previous data taken by the rover's miniature

thermal emission spectrometer indicated that it contains crystalline

hematite, a mineral that sometimes forms in the presence of water. The

brightness of the newly-exposed soil is thought to be either intrinsic

to the soil itself, or a reflection of the Sun.

2/19/2004



2/17/2004



2/17/2004



2/14/2004



2/12/2004



2/9/2004



2/8/2004



Rock abrasion tool, also known as "rat" (circular device in center),

located on the rover's instrument deployment device, or "arm."

2/8/2004



2/7/2004



2/7/2004



2/7/2004



A region at the end of the rock outcrop lining the small crater, called

"Eagle Crater." The sphere-like grains or "blueberries" dotting the

rocks in the outcrop can also be seen above the rocks, suggesting that

these geologic features have origins beyond Eagle Crater.

2/7/2004



2/3/2004



1/28/2004



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1/28/2004



These layered rocks measure only 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall and are

thought to be either volcanic ash deposits or sediments carried by

water or wind.

1/27/2004



1/26/2004









Opportunity Photos









Mars in Color, from “Spirit”



4/11/2004



4/11/2004



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no violet/indigo

4/5/2004



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4/1/2004



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3/27/2004



This image was taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 79

after completing a two-location brushing on the rock dubbed "Mazatzal."

A coating of fine, dust-like material was successfully removed from

targets named "Illinois" (right) and "New York" (left), revealing clean

rock underneath. The center of the two brushed spots are approximately

10 centimeters (3.9 inches) apart and were aggressively analyzed by the

instruments on the robotic arm on sol 80. On sol 81, the rover drilled

into the New York target to expose the original rock underneath.

3/26/2004



3/25/2004



3/25/2004



3/25/2004



This hazard-avoidance camera image was taken by NASA's Mars Exploration

Rover Spirit on sol 79 after completing a two-location brushing on the

rock dubbed "Mazatzal." A coating of fine, dust-like material was

successfully removed from targets named "Illinois" (right) and "New

York" (left), revealing clean rock underneath. In this image, Spirit's

panoramic camera mast assembly, or camera head, can be seen shadowing

Mazatzal's surface. The center of the two brushed spots are

approximately 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) apart and were aggressively

analyzed by the instruments on the robotic arm on sol 80. On sol 81,

the rover drilled into the New York target to expose the original rock

underneath.

Note: The raw images are under the pan camera with color filters. ???

3/24/2004



NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this panoramic camera image

of the rock target named "Mazatzal" on sol 77 (March 22, 2004). It is a

close-up look at the rock face and the targets that will be brushed and

ground by the rock abrasion tool in upcoming sols.

Mazatzal, like most rocks on Earth and Mars, has layers of material

near its surface that provide clues about the history of the rock.

Scientists believe that the top layer of Mazatzal is actually a coating

of dust and possibly even salts. Under this light coating may be a more

solid portion of the rock that has been chemically altered by

weathering. Past this layer is the unaltered rock, which may give

scientists the best information about how Mazatzal was formed.

Because each layer reveals information about the formation and

subsequent history of Mazatzal, it is important that scientists get a

look at each of them. For this reason, they have developed a multi-part

strategy to use the rock abrasion tool to systematically peel back

Mazatzal's layers and analyze what's underneath with the rover's

microscopic imager, and its Moessbauer and alpha particle X-ray

spectrometers.

The strategy began on sol 77 when scientists used the microscopic

imager to get a closer look at targets on Mazatzal named "New York,"

"Illinois" and "Arizona." These rock areas were targeted because they

posed the best opportunity for successfully using the rock abrasion

tool; Arizona also allowed for a close-up look at a range of tones. On

sol 78, Spirit's rock abrasion tool will do a light brushing on the

Illinois target to preserve some of the surface layers. Then, a

brushing of the New York target should remove the top coating of any

dust and salts and perhaps reveal the chemically altered rock

underneath. Finally, on sol 79, the rock abrasion tool will be

commanded to grind into the New York target, which will give scientists

the best chance of observing Mazatzal's interior.

The Mazatzal targets were named after the home states of some of the

rock abrasion tool and science team members.

3/23/2004



used violet for blue

3/22/2004



3/22/2004



3/22/2004



3/22/2004



3/22/2004



This image of the rock called "Mazatzal" was taken by the Mars

Exploration Rover Spirit. It reveals some interesting features on this

future rock abrasion tool target, including variants in tone, a sugary

surface texture and scalloped areas where parts of the rock seem to

have been worn away. Mazatzal's uniqueness is made even more obvious

when it is compared to the more typical, basaltic rock in the lower

right of the image.

3/21/2004



3/17/2004



3/17/2004



The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired this navigation camera image

on the 72nd martian day, or sol, of its mission (March 15, 2004), after

digging its wheel into the drift dubbed "Serpent." Creating the

commands that would generate this "scar" was not an easy task for rover

controllers. Essentially, they had to choreograph an intricate dance

for Spirit, maneuvering it up the side of the dune, shimmying its left

front wheel a number of times to create the scuff, and then reversing

to attain proper positioning for miniature thermal emission

spectrometer observations. Before the task was finished, Spirit moved

forward to put the scuff within proper reach of the rover's arm.

This scar allows the rover's instruments to see below the drift

surface, to determine the composition of the materials. Initial results

indicate that the drift material is similar to the basaltic sands that

have been seen throughout Spirit's journey to the large crater dubbed

"Bonneville." The material does not seem to be the same as that inside

the crater.

Scientists are now looking to answer two questions: Why is the dark

sand in the crater not the same as the dark sand in the drift? And why

are there two different dark soil-type deposits in such a small place?

3/17/2004



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3/15/2004



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3/14/2004



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3/12/2004



3/11/2004



3/9/2004



3/9/2004



2/28/2004



2/27/2004



"Humphrey" at Gusev Crater, Mars, the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's

landing site. Spirit examined the lumpy rock with its suite of

scientific instruments both before and after it drilled a hole into the

rock surface on the 60th martian day, or sol, of its mission.

"Humphrey" was one of several stops on the rover's way to the large

crater dubbed "Bonneville."

2/27/2004



2/27/2004



The large, shadowed rock in the foreground is nicknamed "Sandia" for a

mountain range in New Mexico. An imposing rock, "Sandia" is about 33

centimeters high and about 1.7 meters long. When lightened, this image

reveals much about the pictured rocks, which the science team believes

are ejected material, or ejecta, from the nearby crater called

"Bonneville." Scientists believe "Sandia" is a basaltic rock that

landed on its side after being ejected from the crater. The vertical

lines on the side of the rock facing the camera are known by geologists

as "flow banding" and typically run horizontally, indicating that

"Sandia" is on its side. What look like small holes on the two visible

sides of the rock are called vesicles; they were probably once gas

bubbles within the lava. Many smaller rocks can be seen in the

background of the image. Some rocks are completely exposed, while

others are only peeking out of the surface. Scientists believe that two

processes might be at work here: accretion, which occurs when winds

deposit material that slowly buries many of the rocks; and deflation,

which occurs when surface material is removed by wind, exposing more

and more of the rocks.



2/26/2004



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2/13/2004



Magnetic dust collector

2/12/2004



2/10/2004



White Boat is the first rock target that Spirit drove to after

finishing a series of investigations on the rock Adirondack. White Boat

stood out to scientists due to its light color and more tabular shape

compared to the dark, rounded rocks that surround it.

2/9/2004



This is the Spirit's arm that does brushing, grinding, and drilling.

2/6/2004



This is the Spirit's arm that does brushing, grinding, and drilling.

2/2/2004









Spirit Photos