Eagle Crater is the small crater in which the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity found itself after landing on Mars in 2004.
The crater is located on Meridiani Planum. Scientists are delighted that the rover landed there, as the crater contains rocky outcroppings (see section on Opportunity Ledge under MER-B) that helped prove that Meridiani was once an ocean floor .
The name is a triple reference: in honor of the first manned spacecraft to land on the Moon in 1969; in honor of the launching country, the United States, whose symbol is an eagle; and in reference to the golf term eagle, referring to sinking a ball two strokes under par. The third reference extended the golf metaphor begun with a description of landing in Eagle crater as "a hole in one."
Panorama showing targets around Eagle Crater
See also