HiRISE | A Landing Site for ExoMars 2016 (ESP_042806_1785)

A Landing Site for ExoMars 2016

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

A Landing Site for ExoMars 2016
ESP_042806_1785 Science Theme: Future Exploration/Landing Sites

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In March 2016, the European Space Agency in partnership with Roscosmos will launch the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. This orbiter will also carry an Entry, Descent, and Landing Demonstration Module (EDM): a lander designed primarily to demonstrate the capability to land on Mars. The EDM will survive for only a few days, running on battery power, but will make a few environmental measurements.

The landing site is the flattest, safest place on Mars: part of Meridiani Planum, close to where the Opportunity rover landed. This image shows what this terrain is like: very flat and featureless! A full-resolution sample reveals the major surface features: small craters and wind ripples. HiRISE has been imaging the landing site region in advance of the landing, and will re-image the site after landing to identify the major pieces of hardware: heat shield, backshell with parachute, and the lander itself. The distribution of these pieces will provide information about the entry, descent and landing.

Click here for more information.

Written by: Alfred McEwen (25 November 2015)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_034986_1785.

Acquisition date
13 September 2015

Local Mars time
14:58

Latitude (centered)
-1.707°

Longitude (East)
353.673°

Spacecraft altitude
269.0 km (167.2 miles)

Original image scale range
30.3 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~91 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
28.7°

Phase angle
26.4°

Solar incidence angle
48°, with the Sun about 42° above the horizon

Solar longitude
41.2°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth: 96°
Sub-solar azimuth: 32.7°

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   (2099MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (1100MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected (1134MB)
non-map           (922MB)

IRB color
map projected (559MB)
non-map           (905MB)

Merged IRB
map projected (639MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected (663MB)

RGB color
non map           (878MB)

ANAGLYPHS
Map-projected, reduced-resolution
Full resolution JP2 download
Anaglyph details page

BONUS
4K (TIFF)

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.