This pair of views shows how little of the full image frame was taken up
by the Moon in test images taken Sept. 8, 2005, by the High Resolution
Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter. The Mars-bound camera imaged Earth's Moon from a distance of
about 10 million kilometers (6 million miles) away -- 26 times the
distance between Earth and the Moon -- as part of an activity to test and
calibrate the camera. The images are very significant because they show
that the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft and this camera can
properly operate together to collect very high-resolution images of Mars.
The target must move through the camera's telescope view in just the right
direction and speed to acquire a proper image. The day's test images also
demonstrate that the focus mechanism works properly with the telescope to
produce sharp images.
Out of the 20,000-pixel-by-6,000-pixel full frame, the Moon's diameter is
about 340 pixels, if the full Moon could be seen. The illuminated crescent
is about 60 pixels wide, and the resolution is about 10 kilometers (6
miles) per pixel. At Mars, the entire image region will be filled with
high-resolution information.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched on Aug. 12, 2005, is on course
to reach Mars on March 10, 2006. After gradually adjusting the shape of
its orbit for half a year, it will begin its primary science phase in
November 2006. From the mission's planned science orbit about 300
kilometers (186 miles) above the surface of Mars, the high resolution
camera will be able to discern features as small as one meter or yard
across.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission is managed by NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of
Technology, Pasadena, for the NASA Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed
Martin Space Systems, Denver, prime contractor for the project, built the
spacecraft. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo., built the
High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment instrument for the University
of Arizona, Tucson, to provide to the mission. The HiRISE Operations
Center at the University of Arizona processes images from the camera.