Vostok (crater)

MarsGeo-Crater
name=Vostok Crater


region=Meridiani Planum
latitude = 1.9
N_or_S = S
longitude = 354.5
E_or_W =E
diameter= ~20 metres
depth=Effectively zero - the crater is filled with sand
discoverer=Opportunity rover
eponym=The Soviet Vostok programme of manned spaceflight.

Vostok is a crater on Mars that was reached by the rover Opportunity on sol 399 (March 8, 2005). Vostok is located roughly 1200 meters south of Endurance in Meridiani Planum. The crater appears to have been covered up with sand by the winds on the red planet, but many rock outcrops are still visible from the surface.

Other smaller craters visited along the way included Argo, Jason, and Alvin just south of the heat shield, and Naturaliste, Géographe, and Investigator.

While at Vostok, Opportunity investigated a rock dubbed "Gagarin", named for cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. It also imaged a soil sample named "Laika". The rover left on Sol 404, and headed south towards Erebus - an eroded crater wider than Endurance, some "etched terrain" and an even larger crater, the 750-meter wide Victoria.The rover's Mini-TES instrument was malfunctioning when it was near Vostok, however, the issues soon disappeared.

ee also

*List of craters on Mars
*Geography of Mars

Other craters visited by "Opportunity"

*Eagle Crater
*Fram Crater
*Endurance Crater
*Argo Crater
*Erebus Crater
*Beagle Crater
*Emma Dean Crater
*Victoria Crater

External links

* [http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/ Mars Rovers website]
* [http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mer/images.cfm?id=1530 Jet Propulsion Laboratory]