McCool Hill is the tallest of the Columbia Hills in

Gusev crater Gusev is a crater on the planet Mars and is located at and is in the Aeolis quadrangle. The crater is about 166 kilometers in diameter and formed approximately three to four billion years ago. It was named after Russian astronomer Matvey Guse ...

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 ...

. It was named in honor of

William C. McCool William Cameron "Willie" McCool (born William Cameron Graham September 23, 1961 – February 1, 2003) was an American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, and NASA astronaut, who was the pilot of Space Shuttle ''Col ...

, an

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

of the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' during its final mission where it disintegrated during

atmospheric reentry Atmospheric entry (sometimes listed as Vimpact or Ventry) is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. Atmospheric entry may be ''uncontrolled entry ...

(see Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster).

Spirit Rover

The hill was to be ''Spirit'' rover's next target. She was expected to reach significant north-facing slopes on the hill in mid-April 2006, and spend her second winter on Mars there. However, on the way to the slopes on "McCool Hill" between outcrops nicknamed "Oberth" and "Korolev," ''Spirit'' ran into an impassable sandy area. To increase solar power output, ''Spirit''s handlers redirected the rover to a closer north-facing slope in an area known as "Low Ridge" or "Low Ridge Haven," about 20 meters away from the rover's position on sol 802 (April 5, 2006). ''Spirit'' spent the rest of the Martian winter here, operating from a fixed position for long periods of time, attempting to observe very small changes that would not be noticeable otherwise because the rover was moving much more often. Mission directors were undecided on where to go in the spring, either to re-attempt the climb of McCool Hill, go back to

Home Plate A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

, or elsewhere. In the end they decided to go to Low Ridge Haven.

Husband Hill Husband Hill is one of the Columbia Hills in Gusev crater, Mars, which are close to the landing site of NASA's ''Spirit'' rover. It was named in honor of Rick Husband, the commander of the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' when it disintegrated upon ...

was originally thought to be the highest of the Columbia Hills as seen from Columbia Memorial Station until surveying by ''Spirit'' updated elevation levels, placing McCool as the highest.

References

External links

''Spirit'' Discovers "New" Highest Peak in "Columbia Hills"
(2006-Mar-02)
Official Mars Rovers site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccool Hill Hills on Mars Aeolis quadrangle

Spirit Rover

See also

References

External links