This view shows the ground covered in the first image of Mars taken by the
High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter. The spacecraft, launched Aug. 12, 2005, began
orbiting Mars on March 10, 2006. HiRISE took this first test image from
orbit on March 24, 2006, from an altitude of 2,489 kilometers (1,547
miles). Images taken during the mission's main science phase, beginning
in fall 2006, will be from an altitude about one-tenth as far from the
ground, gaining even higher resolution.
This image is a mosaic combining 10 side-by-side exposures taken through
red filters, presented at greatly reduced scale. The full product would
be 20,000 pixels wide by 9,500 pixels high. A sample image of a portion of
the lower right of this image is offered in full resolution (see PIA08013).
The quality of this test image is spectacular, with no hint to the eye of
any smear or blurring. A high signal-to-noise ratio reveals fine details
even in the shadows.
The scene covers an area 49.8 kilometers (30.9 miles) wide and 23.6
kilometers (14.7 miles) high, of landscape typical of Mars' mid-latitude
southern highlands. The location is 34 degrees south latitude, 305
degrees east longitude. An old, muted crater lies at the middle of the
scene, with sets of channels to the left and right. Superimposed on parts
of this terrain is a much younger, layered mantle of debris. The debris
mantle is smooth in places but rough in other areas where it may have
partially sublimated. This suggests that the debris mantle is (or was)
rich in volatiles such as ices of water, carbon dioxide or both. Also
superimposed on the landscape are many small sharp-rimmed impact craters
and wind-blown dunes. This image illustrates processes that may have
involved water both on ancient Mars (channels and eroded craters) and much
more recently in Mars' history (volatile-rich debris mantle).
The radiometric and geometric processing of this image is very
preliminary. In particular there are mismatches visible at full resolution
along the seams between the 10 side-by-side images from separate CCDs
(charge-coupled devices, which are electronic optical sensors).
