Moon and Mars
 The Spirit rover is maneuvering around a feature known as Home Plate in the Columbia Hills of Mars. It investigated the site last year, as shown in this image from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, then backed away during the Martian winter. Now that spring has arrived in the planet's northern hemisphere, Spirit has returned to the large feature, which is made of layers of rock. [NASA/JPL/Univ. Arizona]
The Spirit rover first stepped up to it last year. The structure intrigued scientists because it looks quite different from anything else around the rover. It's about six or eight feet thick, and it's made of layers. And that really got scientists' attention, because layers of rock preserve a planet's history.
Spirit scooted around part of the structure, taking pictures and analyzing it with instruments on its robotic arm. Then it moved away to find a sunny spot for the winter. When spring returned on Mars, Spirit was sent back to Home Plate.
In its early observations, the rover found that the mound of rock likely has a volcanic origin. And in the lowest layer, it photographed a small rock that's described as a "bomb." It was either blasted out of a volcano, or it fell from space. It dug into the layers of rock, forming a small depression.
Spirit's new observations should reveal much more about Home Plate, and the processes that formed it.
Look for Mars to the left of the Moon, and a little below it, at first light tomorrow. It looks like a fairly bright orange star. More about Mars and the Moon tomorrow.
Script by Damond Benningfield, Copyright 2007
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