On the Rim of Victoria Crater

Duck Bay, Victoria Crater

The Opportunity Rover at Victoria Crater

Closing in on Victoria Crater

Three years after embarking on a historic exploration of the red planet and six miles away from its landing site, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is traversing "Victoria Crater" ridge by ridge, peering at layered cliffs in the interior. To identify various alcoves and cliffs along the way, science team members are using names of places visited by the 16th-century Earth explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his crew aboard the ship Victoria, who proved the Earth is round. (All names are unofficial unless approved by the International Astronomical Union.) This orbital view of "Victoria Crater" was taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09116

Animated Elevation Model of Victoria Crater

At Bright Band Inside Victoria Crater

View from Southwest of Victoria Crater

On the Rim of Victoria Crater Vertical Projection

Opportunity First Glimpse into Victoria Crater

Layers of Cabo Frio in Victoria Crater

On the Rim of Victoria Crater Polar Projection

Opportunity First Dip into Victoria Crater

Inside Victoria Crater for Extended Exploration

Victoria Crater from Duck Bay

Opportunity at Work Inside Victoria Crater

Layers of Cape Verde in Victoria Crater

Layers of Cape Verde in Victoria Crater False Color

Victoria Crater from Duck Bay Vertical Projection

Forty Meters from Entry to Victoria Crater Polar

Lyell Panorama inside Victoria Crater False Color

Details of Layers in Victoria Crater Cape St. Vincent

Layers of Cape Verde in Victoria Crater Enhanced

Layers of Cabo Frio in Victoria Crater False Color

Bigger Crater Farther South of Victoria on Mars

Forty Meters from Entry to Victoria Crater Vertical

View from West of Victoria Crater, Sol 1664

Victoria Crater from Duck Bay Polar Projection

Three-Frame Movie of Opportunity Rover at Victoria Crater

This image from the HiRISE instrument on NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows Victoria crater, an impact crater at Meridiani Planum, near the equator of Mars.

This anaglyph from NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is of Victoria Crater. 3D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail.

This anaglyph from NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity at the rim of Victoria Crater. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

This image of Victoria Crater in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment HiRISE camera on NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter at more of a sideways angle than earlier orbital images of this crater.

NASA Mars rover Opportunity reached the rim of Victoria Crater in Mars Meridiani Planum region on Sept. 26, 2006. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

This frame from an animation shows a simulated rover descending into Victoria Crater via the rock-paved slopes of an alcove informally named Duck Bay.

View from West of Victoria Crater, Sol 1664 Polar

View from West of Victoria Crater, Sol 1664 Vertical

This image superimposes an artist concept of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on the rim of Victoria Crater. It is done to give a sense of scale

NASA Mars rover Opportunity edged closer to the top of the Duck Bay alcove along the rim of Victoria Crater overnight Sept. 27 to Sept. 28, and gained this vista of the crater. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

During four months prior to the fourth anniversary of its landing on Mars, NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity examined rocks inside an alcove called Duck Bay in the western portion of Victoria Crater.

On September 28, 2008, NASA Mars rover Opportunity reached this location on the west side of Victoria Crater. 3D glasses are necessary.

This image shows NASA Opportunity climb out of Victoria crater. It is the first frame of a movie that spans three days when the rover exited the crater at the alcove called Duck

NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity examined rocks inside an alcove called Duck Bay in the western portion of Victoria Crater. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

This anaglyph from from NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is of Victoria crater, looking north from Duck Bay towards the dramatic promontory called Cape Verde. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera during the rover 1,278th Martian day, or sol, Aug. 28, 2007 to take the images combined into this view. The rover was perched at the lip of Victoria Crater.

NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity took the images combined to make this stereo view on Aug. 28, 2007. The rover was perched at the lip of Victoria Crater. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

This anaglyph from from NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is of Victoria crater is looking southeast from Duck Bay towards the dramatic promontory called Cabo Frio. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

This photo composite shows an aerial view of FedEx Field in Landover, Md., home of the Washington Redskins, superimposed on Mars Victoria Crater to give a sense of the crater scale.

NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured this vista of Victoria Crater from the viewpoint of Cape Verde, one of the promontories that are part of the scalloped rim of the crater.

This animation shows a hypothetical flyover above Victoria Crater, where NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is perched on a rim. The rover is expected to begin rolling down into the crater in early July 2007.

During a long drive on Labor Day, NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity reached the estimated halfway point of its journey from Victoria Crater to Endeavour Crater.

This image maps out the travels of NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, from is landing site at Eagle Crater to the rim of Victoria Crater about six miles 9.7 kilometers away in September of 2006.

This image from the Mars Orbiter Camera aboard NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft shows an overview of "Victoria Crater" and a portion of the area NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has covered to reach the enormous depression. Images such as this one from the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor are helping scientists and engineers decide the best path for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity as it approaches "Victoria Crater." http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08777

This image superimposes an artist concept of NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity atop the Cabo Frio promontory on the rim of Victoria Crater in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. It is done to give a sense of scale.

NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity arrived at the rim of Endeavour crater on Aug. 9, 2011, after a trek of more than 13 miles 21 kilometers lasting nearly three years since departing the rover previous major destination, Victoria crater.

NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity combined images into this stereo, 360-degree view on April 22, 2010. This site is about 6 kilometers 3.7 miles south-southwest of Victoria Crater. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

A drive of about 30 meters about 100 feet on Sept. 25, 2006 brought NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity to within about 20 meters about 66 feet of the rim of Victoria Crater. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

This enhanced-color view of the eastern rim and floor of Victoria

This true-color image shows a circular indentation in a flat-topped rock surface. Around the edge of the hole is a fine layer of dust. The rock has a moderately cracked the surface. Around it is a layer of sand and pebbles. The view is reddish brown

This false-color image shows a circular indentation in a flat-topped rock surface. Around the edge of the hole is a fine layer of reddish dust. The rock is light tan and has a moderately cracked the surface. Around it is a layer of bluish sand and pebbles