This 3-D Martian Picture Feels Like You’re Standing Beside The Opportunity Rover

Grab your 3-D glasses (you do have a pair handy, right?) and take a look at this latest vista from Mars. This is a view taken by the Opportunity rover that looks at a location nicknamed “Wdowiak Ridge”, on the rim of Endeavour Crater.

This mosaic was obtained Sept. 17 as Opportunity continued its journey to “Marathon Valley”, a spot that could hold clays (which would indicate a water-rich environment in the past.) The rover is more than a decade into its mission and has been sending back images amid battling Flash memory problems lately.

Check out more recent pictures below, including a probable one of Comet Siding Spring passing by Mars (which Bob King wrote about in detail earlier this week.)

“Wdowiak Ridge sticks out like a sore thumb.  We want to understand why this ridge is located off the primary rim of Endeavour Crater and how it fits into the geologic story of this region,” stated Jim Rice, the Opportunity science-team of the Planetary Science Institute in Arizona.

More specifically, the team is interested in why this ridge is so prominent and sharp — they are calling it one of the most distinctive features Opportunity has ever seen. How it resisted erosion in an area so worn down is one thing scientists are hoping to learn about.

The last Opportunity rover update talks about activities through Sept. 30, but NASA has released raw images available since then. Check out a selection below.