When NASA's Mars rover, Spirit, rolls onto the surface of the Red Planet sometime this week, where it goes will be determined in part by Ohio State University scientists. They're preparing maps of the Martian surface using panoramic photographs taken by the rover almost immediately after it landed in Gusev Crater.

Ohio State geodetic science professor Rongxing Li says the rover's map is generated using a computer program developed by scientists at OSU and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Researchers use images from Spirit and compare them with satellite images produced by the Mars Global Surveyor satellite and with images the lander snapped during its descent.

Spirit will examine the geology on the Mars surface and look for signs of water.

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