A Unique View of Curiosity Rover in Yellowknife Bay
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
A Unique View of Curiosity Rover in Yellowknife Bay
ESP_032436_1755  Science Theme: Future Exploration/Landing Sites
This image was acquired with a large spacecraft roll to the east when the subsolar latitude was -7.26 degrees, close to the latitude of MSL (-4.6 degrees), resulting in an image with the sun, the MRO spacecraft, and the MSL Curiosity rover on the surface all aligned in nearly a straight line (phase angle of just 5.47 degrees).

This geometry hides shadows and better reveals subtle color variations. With enhanced colors, we can view the region around the landing site and Yellowknife Bay. The rover is the very bright spot near the lower right. The rover tracks stand out clearly in this view, extending west to the landing site where two bright, relatively blue spots indicate where MSL's landing jets cleared off the redder surface dust.

The rover is now driving south towards the large mound in Gale Crater officially named Aeolis Mons and also called "Mount Sharp."



Written by: Alfred McEwen  (24 July 2013)
 
Acquisition date
27 June 2013

Local Mars time
14:21

Latitude (centered)
-4.626°

Longitude (East)
137.453°

Spacecraft altitude
266.4 km (165.6 miles)

Original image scale range
30.8 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~92 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
29.9°

Phase angle
5.5°

Solar incidence angle
35°, with the Sun about 55° above the horizon

Solar longitude
342.7°, Northern Winter

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  96°
Sub-solar azimuth:  0.1°
JPEG
Black and white
map projected  non-map

IRB color
map projected  non-map

Merged IRB
map projected

Merged RGB
map projected

RGB color
non-map projected

JP2
Black and white
map-projected   (727MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (412MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (344MB)
non-map           (290MB)

IRB color
map projected  (109MB)
non-map           (276MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (182MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (173MB)

RGB color
non map           (283MB)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
B&W label
Color label
Merged IRB label
Merged RGB label
EDR products
HiView

NB
IRB: infrared-red-blue
RGB: red-green-blue
About color products (PDF)

Black & white is 5 km across; enhanced color about 1 km
For scale, use JPEG/JP2 black & white map-projected images

USAGE POLICY
All of the images produced by HiRISE and accessible on this site are within the public domain: there are no restrictions on their usage by anyone in the public, including news or science organizations. We do ask for a credit line where possible:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

POSTSCRIPT
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.