Santa Maria (crater)

Santa Maria is an impact crater on Mars, located at 2.172°S, 5.445°W within the Meridiani Planum extraterrestrial plain, lying situated within the Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle (MC-19) region.

Santa Maria
Panorama taken by MER-B
Panorama taken by Opportunity rover on December 18th, 2010
PlanetMars
RegionMeridiani Planum
Coordinates2.172°S 5.445°W / -2.172; -5.445
QuadrangleMargaritifer Sinus
Diameter90 meters (295 feet)
DiscovererOpportunity rover
EponymSanta Maria, a ship used by Christopher Columbus during his crossing of the Atlantic in 1492.

This geological feature was first visited by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. It sits north west of the much larger Endeavour crater. The crater measures about 80–90 m (260–300 ft) across. Its name has not been officially recognized by the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature.[1]

Exploration
Santa Maria crater from orbit, by HiRise

Opportunity arrived at the crater on December 15, 2010.[2] The rover was positioned at the south eastern rim, where it took several images and prepared for the oncoming Solar Conjunction. The last communication made before the conjunction was on February 3, 2011.[3] Communications resumed around a week later, and the rover performed several in-situ studies of the rocks "Luis de Torres" and "Ruiz Garcia". The rover left the crater on March 22, heading eastwards towards Endeavour crater.

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Santa Maria crater.

References
  1. "Mars". usgs.gov. Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature – International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  2. "Opportunity shoots Awesome Views of Santa Maria Crater". 23 December 2010.
  3. NASA.gov


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