Endurance (crater)

Endurance is a 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 South Pole in an exploration voyage organized by Ernest Shackleton.

The rover entered the crater interior on its 134th mission sol (June 15), and exited on the 315th sol (December 14th). During this time it traversed various obstacles, steep inclines, and overcame large wheel slippage when driving over fine sand.

Exploration by Opportunity

After arriving at the crater, Opportunity performed a survey of the crater to plan the further steps in exploring the local geology. A site dubbed "Karatepe" was chosen to enter the crater and investigate the layering of the bedrock.

This picture was taken inside the crater, showing changes in the color of the bedrock layers. The layer "A" is closer to the rover and higher than the layers "B" to "E". Thus scientists infer that the age of these layers is following a similar pattern with the higher layers being younger than the lower layers.

See also: Endurance (crater), 2004, December 14th, Ernest Shackleton, Geological features of the Solar System, HMS Endurance, Impact crater, June 15, Mars (planet)