View asset onlyPanoramic view of the plains of Meridiani on the planet Mars.Panoramic image of an area on Mars dubbed Rub al Khali, acquired by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on the plains of Meridiani. The rover was stuck in the dune's deep fine sand for more than a month. Rub al Khali (Arabic translation: the empty quarter) was chosen as the name for this panorama because it is the name of a similarly barren, desolate part of the Saudi Arabian desert on Earth. The view spans 360 degrees. It consists of images obtained in 97 individual pointings of the panoramic camera. Lighting varied during the nine sols it took to acquire this panorama, resulting in some small image seams within the mosaic. These seams have been smoothed in sky parts of the mosaic to better simulate the vista that a person would see if able to view it all at the same time on Mars. Opportunity's tracks leading back to the north (center of the panorama) are a reminder of the rover's long trek from Endurance Crater. The deep ruts dug by Opportunity's wheels as it became stuck in the sand appear in the foreground. The crest and trough of the last ripple the rover crossed before getting stuck is visible in the center.IdentifierAKG4520057SourceStockTrek ImagesCredit lineakg / Stocktrek ImagesImage date1.5.2005TopicDAYDESERTHORIZONHORIZONTALGeographyERGSize10500px × 1829px (54 MB) 88.9 cm × 15.4 cm @ 300 dpiAdd to lightbox: 'My First Lightbox'Add to cartDownloadRelated Selections:Human mission to Mars
