McMurdo Panorama from Mars
This was Spirit's view on Martian-day 1,000 of its 90-Martian-day mission. The robotic Spirit rover has stayed alive so long on Mars that it needed a place to wait out the cold and dim Martian winter. Earth scientists selected Low Ridge hill, a place with sufficient slant to give Spirit's solar panels enough sunlight to keep powered up and making scientific observations. From its Winter Haven , Spirit has been able to build up the above 360-degree panorama , which has been digitally altered to exaggerate colors and compressed horizontally to fit your screen . The long winter is finally ending in the south of Mars , and with the increasing sunlight plans are now being made for Spirit to further explore the rocky Columbia Hills inside intriguing Gusev crater .