Posted by tourdemars to Mars Exploration Rovers at May 4, 2004 11:27 AM

NASA released Monday a sweeping 180-degree view of a broad crater punched in the surface of Mars that was photographed by the space agency's Opportunity rover as it perched on the rim of the 430-foot-wide depression. "I don't think it's disappointed anybody," mission manager Matt Wallace said of the first peek into Endurance crater. Members of the $830 million mission immediately began making plans to circumnavigate the 1,350-foot perimeter of the crater and, if feasible, send the rover rolling down into it.