HiRISE camera views Spirit at 'Home Plate'
Tue Nov 27, 2007 at 08:22 UTC
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken a new color image of the feature dubbed "Home Plate" in Gusev Crater on Mars.
The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows up inside the perimeter of Home Plate, where it was when HiRISE took the image on Sept. 27, 2007, at 2:19 p.m. local Mars time, HiRISE team member Ken Herkenhoff of the U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, said.
Spirit is driving toward the safe, north-facing slopes on the north side of Home Plate, which is toward the top of the image. There it will be positioned to tilt its solar panels toward the sun for the long Martian winter. Home Plate is a flat, raised feature that is probably a remnant of a deposit emplaced by an ancient eruption, Herkenhoff added.
The new color image of Home Plate was created using the camera's blue-green and red channels, Herkenhoff said. At the time, the camera was flying about 270 kilometers, or about 168 miles, over the surface. At that distance, the camera could resolve objects about 81 centimeters, or about 32 inches, across. The sun was about 56 degrees above the horizon in the winter afternoon sky.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
High resolution image2
Spirit is indicated by a circle on "Home Plate" in this part of new HiRISE image of Gusev Crater on Mars. This detail is part of a much larger image that the HiRISE camera took on Sept. 27, 2007. The rover has since been driving north, toward the top of the image.
| Source: University of Arizona | |
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