Curiosity Mars Rover from HiRISE

Curiosity Mars rover at the “Pahrump Hills” area of Gale Crater, viewed from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Pahrump Hills is an outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp. The region contains sedimentary rocks that scientists believe formed in the presence of water.

The location of the rover, with its shadow extending toward the upper right, is indicated with an inscribed rectangle. Figure A is an unannotated version of the image.  North is toward the top. The view covers an area about 360 yards (330 meters) across.

The bright features in the landscape are sedimentary rock and the dark areas are sand.  The HiRISE team plans to periodically image Curiosity, as well as NASA’s other active Mars rover, Opportunity, as the vehicles continue to explore Mars.

This image is an excerpt from HiRISE observation ESP_039280_1755. Other image products from this observation are available at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_039280_1755 .

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

source NASA