Astronomy:Fram (crater)

Short description: Impact crater on Mars

Fram crater on Sol 84, 24 April 2004

Fram is an impact crater located within the Meridiani Planum extraterrestrial plain, situated within the Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle (MC-19) region of the planet Mars. It was visited by the rover Opportunity (MER-B) on Sol 84, April 24, 2004.

Fram spans about 8 metres (26 feet) in diameter. Opportunity paused beside it while travelling from the rover's landing site toward a larger crater, Endurance. Fram is located about 450 metres (0.28 miles) east of the crater Eagle and around 250 metres (820 feet) west of Endurance.

It is named after the famous Norwegian polar exploration vessel the Fram, a ship used by many famous Norwegian explorers such as Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup, Oscar Wisting, and Roald Amundsen.

Annotated view from orbit of Opportunity near Fram crater. Other nearby locations are marked, including its lander and discarded heat shield

See also

• Geography of Mars
• List of craters on Mars

External links

• Official Mars Rovers website
• Martian Concretions Near Fram Crater

Further reading

• Science Magazine Special Issue (Vol. 306, Issue 5702, December 2004): Opportunity at Meridiani Planum. This issue mentions Fram Crater in multiple papers:

• Mineralogy at Meridiani Planum from the Mini-TES Experiment on the Opportunity Rover
• Soils of Eagle Crater and Meridiani Planum at the Opportunity Rover Landing Site
• Localization and Physical Property Experiments Conducted by Opportunity at Meridiani Planum

• Mars exploration rover surface operations: driving opportunity at Meridiani Planum (IEEE Robotics & Automation, 2006)