Posted by tourdemars to Mars Exploration Rovers at December 28, 2004 12:32 AM

NASA’s Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover is wheeling about a field of spacecraft litter -- the remains of heat shield hardware that protected the robot from its plunge through the martian atmosphere last January. Bits and pieces of flotsam scattered across Meridiani Planum -- including a spring and other junked components -- can be clearly seen in new rover images. The heat shield was shed during Opportunity’s descent and landing sequence, falling several miles to the surface.