JA Lens

This article was written to document and detail the steps taken in the analysis and evaluation of select surficial objects as captured in images taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in March 2004. Analysis and research into a specific object began on March 18, 2004 with the web publication of a panorama image of the Bonneville Crater’s edge. The foundation of this paper was begun concurrent with the analysis of images. Formal writing began after 2005 and was supplemented with data and perspectives from scholarly works gained from the landing of Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity. Final updates to rectify an overly terse original were made in 2025. The previously unreleased paper was not intended for publication in any scholarly journal, nor used as a promotional effort for the web site Kilroyonmars.com but, rather as a stand alone effort to be distributed when the time was appropriate. It is assumed that the original un-enhanced version has been seen despite having not been made public.

Here is a slideshow of a curated selection of anaglyph (aka stereo or 3d) images. Sorry, you will need your red & cyan 3d glasses for this, trust me it's worth getting a pair and they can be had for cheap …

You may have noticed that many of the images on KilroyOnMars.com show colors not normally associated with Mars. It may seem that no two pictures of the Martian surface have exactly the same color balance. This can be said whether you are looking at images here or elsewhere on the web including NASA's own sites. Widely seen images…

 3. Now we have figuratively and literally reached our destination. I have previously emphasized that you should pay close attention to Kilroy's rock and notice how its appearance evolves over the course of the six days Spirit spent at Bonneville.

Get out your 3D glasses to view these images! In addition to being really cool, these anaglyphs are of practical use in helping us to better understand what we are seeing. In copmparison to standard two dimensional images 3D imaging provides us with a great deal more information in two ways. The first is that two separate images of the same object provides us with what in essence is greater resolution from the use of two separate images are used to create the effect. The second is that addition of a third spatial dimension inherent in the anaglyph format helps us to differentiate between objects and to better understand relative placement and separation between objects that we might not see in the 2D image.

Here are the NASA's original panoramas, illustrations and Press Release Images directly from the source. Most of these were released as press releases and when available we have provided links to the highest resolution versions possible. 

 1. Conventional wisdom suggests that present day Mars is a barren and desolate world incapable of supporting even the simplest forms of life. This is a notion which the composite panoramic photograph above does nothing to dispel. In keeping with that assumption, robotic missions sent to the red planet… 

Take a moment to examine the photograph above.   What do you see?   Take your time, be patient and focus on what's leaning against the big rock just left of center.   For scale, the boulder above is roughly one meter in diameter.  

Here are the unprocessed raw images used by NASA and by me to assemble the panoramas and the anaglyphs. Spanning Sols 66 through 70 the raw images concentrate on Kilroy's rock. The two images from sol 71 are also included because they show the rock from another angle. However, because of the distance from the camera is too great they provide little useful detail aside from the contextual. There are also two interesting images from sol 64 included in the collection that show symbols carved into the surface of one of the rocks. There is striking evidence of additional and rather extensive writings visible throughout the area that will be presented soon. Check back for further details.  

 2. Ok, so you've had a good look at "the rock" imaged by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit (MER-A) on sol (Martian day) 66. You have some perspective as to where it sits (next to the rim of Bonneville crater) and what's around it (near a large relatively darkly colored rock and close to a smaller rock with an X on it's end.) You have also…

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