Victoria is an

impact crater An impact crater is a depression (geology), depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact event, impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal c ...

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

located at 2.05°S, 5.50°W in the

Meridiani Planum Meridiani Planum (alternatively Terra Meridiani) is a large plain straddling the equator of Mars. The plain sits on top of an enormous body of sediments that contains bound water. The iron oxide in the spherules is crystalline (grey) hematite (Fe ...

extraterrestrial plain, lying situated within the

Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle The Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle is one of a series of list of quadrangles on Mars, 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle is also referred ...

(MC-19) region of the planet

. This crater was first visited by the

Mars Exploration Rover NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission was a robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers, ''Spirit (rover), Spirit'' and ''Opportunity (rover), Opportunity'', exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the launch of the two rove ...

''Opportunity''. It is roughly wide, nearly eight times the size of the crater

Endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, forbearance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, persistence, tenacity, steadfastness, perseverance, stamina, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a ...

, visited by ''Opportunity'' from sols 951 to 1630. It is informally named after ''

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

'' – one of the five Spanish ships of

Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer best known for having planned and led the 1519–22 Spanish expedition to the East Indies. During this expedition, he also discovered the Strait of Magellan, allowing his fl ...

and the first ship to

circumnavigate Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magellan Exped ...

the globe – and formally named after

Victoria, Seychelles Victoria is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Seychelles, situated on the north-eastern side of Mahé, Seychelles, Mahé, the archipelago's main island. The city was first established as the seat of the British Empire, British co ...

. Along the edges of the crater are many outcrops within recessed alcoves and promontories, named for bays and capes that Magellan discovered. ''Opportunity'' traveled for 21 months to Victoria before finally reaching its edge on September 26, 2006 (sol 951), at the newly named "Duck Bay". Around the rover were features dubbed "No Name", "Duck Crater", " Emma Dean", "Maid of the Canyon", and "Kitty Clyde's Sister". It also imaged several nearby alcoves, informally named "

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

" and "Cabo Frio", and a small bright crater the size of

Beagle The Beagle is a small breed of scent hound, similar in appearance to the much larger foxhound. The beagle was developed primarily for hunting rabbit or hare, known as beagling. Possessing a great sense of smell and superior tracking inst ...

on the opposite end of Victoria.

Exploration

After arrival at the crater, the rover undertook a partial clockwise circumnavigation. The trip took approximately a quarter of the way around the crater. The various "bays" and "capes" were named after various landmarks visited by

aboard the ship ''

''. The circumnavigation allowed rover drivers to identify possible entry and exit points, create a high resolution

topographical map In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but historic ...

of the crater and test out upgraded drive software. The rover investigated the layering on the walls of the various capes and the nature of the dark streaks to the north of the crater.

Interior

After a planet-wide dust storm that delayed entry into the crater for six weeks and threatened the survival of both rovers, the rover entered the crater at a point in Duck Bay. This was preceded by a test maneuver on sol 1291 to determine slippage and confirm exit strategies, followed by entry on sol 1293. During the rover's stay inside the crater, data were collected from rock layers inside the crater and high-resolution imagery was obtained of Cape Verde. The rover left the crater interior on sol 1634 (August 29, 2008) after it experienced a current spike similar to the one which preceded the malfunction of twin ''Spirit'''s right front wheel. After a partial anti-clockwise circumnavigation, the rover set off toward its next major destination, the crater Endeavour.

Context map

References

External links

Official Mars Rovers website

* ttp://www.google.com/mars/#lat=-2.052630&lon=-5.500030&zoom=10&map=infrared Google infrared map centred on Victoria Crater* Victoria Crater relative t
MER-B landing ellipse
*
HIRISE - Victoria CraterDirect link to color altimetryHRSC view with SRC channel of Victoria

(same but closer) {{Portal bar, Solar System Impact craters on Mars Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle

Exploration

Interior

Context map

See also

References

External links