[meteorite-list] HiRISE Camera on NASA Orbiter Gets Spectacular View of Rover at Victoria Crater

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Oct 6 13:03:03 2006
Message-ID: <200610061702.KAA21079_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

HiRISE CAMERA ON NASA ORBITER GETS SPECTACULAR VIEW OF ROVER AT VICTORIA CRATER
(From Lori Stiles, University Communications, 520-626-4402)

- Friday, October 06, 2006

------------------------------------------------------
Contact Information
Alfred S. McEwen 520-621-4573 mcewen_at_lpl.arizona.edu

Images online at
http://hiroc.lpl.arizona.edu/images/TRA/TRA_000873_1780/
http://www.nasa.gov/mro
--------------------------------------------------------

With stunningly powerful vision, the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter has taken a remarkable picture that shows the exploration rover
Opportunity poised on the rim of Victoria crater on Mars.

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera detailed the
entire 800-meter (roughly half-mile) Victoria crater and the rover -- down to
its rover tracks and shadows -- in a single high-resolution image taken
Wednesday (Oct. 3).

Alfred S. McEwen of the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
released portions of the image that show views of the rover and crater at a
NASA press conference in Washington, D.C., today. McEwen is principal
investigator for HiRISE, which is operated from UA's Lunar and Planetary
Laboratory in Tucson.

"We're poised to have a fantastic mission, and we're not even at prime science
mission yet," McEwen said at the NASA press briefing this morning. "This was
our very first attempt to image 'off-nadir' (at an angle as opposed to straight
down), and it worked fabulously well," McEwen added. "It's been an exciting
week."

The HiRISE images for Victoria crater are available online at
http://hiroc.lpl.arizona.edu/images/TRA/TRA_000873_1780/

Opportunity drove nine kilometers (more than five miles) to Victoria crater, an
impact crater at Meridiani Planum, near Mars' equator. The HiRISE camera took
its picture five days later, at 3:30 p.m. local Mars time, as the sun was about
30 degrees above the horizon, illuminating the scene from the west. The NASA
orbiter was flying 297 kilometers (185.6 miles) above the planet's surface. The
HiRise camera is able to resolve objects that are 89 centimeters (35 inches)
across at that altitude.

The high resolution of the HiRISE image enabled Opportunity's mission planners
on Wednesday (Oct.4) to identify specific rover-scale targets of interest as
they planned that day's drive. It is a first in the exploration of Mars.

Opportunity has since driven north to the tip of the Cape Verde promontory,
where the rover will take images of the crater interior.

HiRISE's stunning overview of Victoria crater shows a distinctive scalloped
shape to its rim. This is formed by eroding crater wall material moving
downhill. Layered sedimentary rocks are exposed along the inner wall of the
crater, and boulders that have fallen from the crater wall are visible on the
crater floor. A striking field of sand dunes covers much of the crater floor.

"The ground-truth we get from the rover images and measurements enables us to
better interpret features we see elsewhere on Mars, including very rugged and
dramatic terrains that we can't currently study on the ground," McEwen said.

"But stay tuned," McEwen said at the press conference. "If you think this HiRISE
image is spectacular, just wait."

Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional
information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mro and http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's
Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the
prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera
was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by The University of
Arizona.
Received on Fri 06 Oct 2006 01:02:58 PM PDT