Bonneville (crater)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Location | Gusev Crater |
Diameter | 200 m |
Depth | |
Discoverer | Spirit rover |
Naming | Lake Bonneville |
Bonneville Crater is a 200-meter impact crater on Mars. It is located within the much larger Gusev crater. Bonneville was visited by the Mars Exploration Rover 'Spirit' in 2004, during its exploration of the floor of Gusev. It had been hoped by scientists that Bonneville would be sufficiently deep that layers of rock would be visible, and the history of the vicinity better understood. Unfortunately, the walls of Bonneville showed no layering, and so Spirit was moved on.
Bonneville is also the final resting place of Spirit's heat shield, jettisoned during the landing procedure; the heat-shield could be seen glinting on the opposite wall when Spirit photographed the crater.
Bonneville Crater is named after Lake Bonneville, an ancient lake in Utah.