[FPSPACE] FW: UA: HiRISE CAMERA GETS SPECTACULAR VIEW OF ROVER AT VICTORIA CRATER

[LARRY KLAES]

>From: Lynn Cominsky <lynnc at universe.sonoma.edu>
>To: lynnc at universe.sonoma.edu
>Subject: UA: HiRISE CAMERA GETS SPECTACULAR VIEW OF ROVER AT VICTORIA 
>CRATER
>Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2006 09:02:49 -0700
>
>THE FOLLOWING RELEASE WAS RECEIVED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA,
>IN TUCSON, ARIZONA, AND IS FORWARDED FOR YOUR
>INFORMATION. (FORWARDING DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT BY THE AMERICAN
>ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY.)  Lynn Cominsky, American Astronomical Society
>
>HiRISE CAMERA ON NASA ORBITER GETS SPECTACULAR VIEW OF ROVER AT VICTORIA 
>CRATER
>
>PIO Contact:
>Lori Stiles
>lstiles at u.arizona.edu
>University Communications
>520-626-4402
>
>- Friday, October 06, 2006
>
>------------------------------------------------------
>Contact Information
>Alfred S. McEwen 520-621-4573 mcewen at lpl.arizona.edu
>
>Images online at
>http://hiroc.lpl.arizona.edu/images/TRA/TRA_000873_1780/
>http://www.nasa.gov/mro
>--------------------------------------------------------
>
>With stunningly powerful vision, the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars 
>Reconnaissance
>Orbiter has taken a remarkable picture that shows the exploration rover
>Opportunity poised on the rim of Victoria crater on Mars.
>
>The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera detailed the
>entire 800-meter (roughly half-mile) Victoria crater and the rover -- down 
>to
>its rover tracks and shadows -- in a single high-resolution image taken
>Wednesday (Oct. 3).
>
>Alfred S. McEwen of the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary 
>Laboratory
>released portions of the image that show views of the rover and crater at a
>NASA press conference in Washington, D.C., today. McEwen is principal
>investigator for HiRISE, which is operated from UA's Lunar and Planetary
>Laboratory in Tucson.
>
>"We're poised to have a fantastic mission, and we're not even at prime 
>science
>mission yet," McEwen said at the NASA press briefing this morning. "This 
>was
>our very first attempt to image 'off-nadir' (at an angle as opposed to 
>straight
>down), and it worked fabulously well," McEwen added. "It's been an exciting
>week."
>
>The HiRISE images for Victoria crater are available online at
>http://hiroc.lpl.arizona.edu/images/TRA/TRA_000873_1780/
>
>Opportunity drove nine kilometers (more than five miles) to Victoria 
>crater, an
>impact crater at Meridiani Planum, near Mars' equator. The HiRISE camera 
>took
>its picture five days later, at 3:30 p.m. local Mars time, as the sun was 
>about
>30 degrees above the horizon, illuminating the scene from the west. The 
>NASA
>orbiter was flying 297 kilometers (185.6 miles) above the planet's surface. 
>The
>HiRise camera is able to resolve objects that are 89 centimeters (35 
>inches)
>across at that altitude.
>
>The high resolution of the HiRISE image enabled Opportunity's mission 
>planners
>on Wednesday (Oct.4) to identify specific rover-scale targets of interest 
>as
>they planned that day's drive. It is a first in the exploration of Mars.
>
>Opportunity has since driven north to the tip of the Cape Verde promontory,
>where the rover will take images of the crater interior.
>
>HiRISE's stunning overview of Victoria crater shows a distinctive scalloped
>shape to its rim. This is formed by eroding crater wall material moving
>downhill. Layered sedimentary rocks are exposed along the inner wall of the
>crater, and boulders that have fallen from the crater wall are visible on 
>the
>crater floor. A striking field of sand dunes covers much of the crater 
>floor.
>
>"The ground-truth we get from the rover images and measurements enables us 
>to
>better interpret features we see elsewhere on Mars, including very rugged 
>and
>dramatic terrains that we can't currently study on the ground," McEwen 
>said.
>
>"But stay tuned," McEwen said at the press conference. "If you think this 
>HiRISE
>image is spectacular, just wait."
>
>Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional
>information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at:
>http://www.nasa.gov/mro and http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu
>
>The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of
>Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's
>Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is 
>the
>prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE 
>camera
>was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by The University 
>of
>Arizona.
>
>
>
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