Victoria 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 craters ...

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

located at 2.05°S, 5.50°W in 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, lying 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

. 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 rover ...

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

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

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

'' – one of the five Spanish ships of

Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the Eas ...

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 recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magel ...

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 island, the archipelago's main island. The city was first established as the seat of the British colonial government. In 2010 ...

. 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 , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

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

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

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 towards 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