Fram is an

impact crater An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact crater ...

located within the

Meridiani Planum The Meridiani Planum (alternately Meridiani plain, Meridiani plains, Terra Meridiani, or Terra Meridiani plains) is either a large plain straddling the equator of Mars and covered with a vast number of spherules containing a lot of iron oxide or ...

extraterrestrial plain, situated within the

Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle The Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle is also referred to as MC-19 (Mars Chart-19) ...

(MC-19) region of the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

. It was visited by the rover ''

Opportunity Opportunity may refer to: Places * Opportunity, Montana, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Nebraska, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Washington, a former census-designated place, United States * ...

'' (MER-B) on Sol 84, April 24, 2004. Fram spans about 8 metres (26 feet) in diameter. ''Opportunity'' paused beside it while travelling from the rover's landing site toward a larger crater,

Endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from an ...

. Fram is located about 450 metres (0.3 miles) east of the crater Eagle and around 250 metres (820 feet) west of Endurance. It is named after the famous Norwegian polar exploration vessel the ''

Fram Fram may refer to: Ships * ''Fram'' (ship), an arctic exploration vessel from Norway * MS ''Fram'', expedition cruise ship owned by Hurtigruten Group Places and geography * Fram, Paraguay, a town in Itapúa, Paraguay * Fram Formation, a se ...

'', a ship used by many famous Norwegian explorers such as Fridtjof Nansen,

Otto Sverdrup Otto Neumann Knoph Sverdrup (31 October 1854, in Bindal, Helgeland – 26 November 1930) was a Norwegian sailor and Arctic explorer. Early and personal life He was born in Bindal as a son of farmer Ulrik Frederik Suhm Sverdrup (1833–1914) ...

Oscar Wisting Oscar Adolf Wisting (6 June 1871 – 5 December 1936) was a Norwegian Naval officer and polar explorer. Together with Roald Amundsen he was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles. Biography Oscar Wisting was born in ...

, and

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Amundsen beg ...

References

External links

Official Mars Rovers website

Additional Reading

Science Magazine Special Issue (Vol. 306, Issue 5702, December 2004)
''Opportunity at Meridiani Planum''. This issue mentions Fram Crater in multiple papers:
''Mineralogy at Meridiani Planum
from the Mini-TES Experiment on the Opportunity Rover''
''Soils of Eagle Crater and Meridiani Planum at the Opportunity Rover Landing Site''

''Localization and Physical Property Experiments Conducted by Opportunity at Meridiani Planum''

''Mars exploration rover surface operations: driving opportunity at Meridiani Planum''
(IEEE Robotics & Automation, 2006) Impact craters on Mars Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle {{crater-stub

See also

References

External links

Additional Reading