HiRISE | Western Edge of Marth Crater (ESP_042252

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

Western Edge of Marth Crater
ESP_042252_1930 Science Theme: Future Exploration/Landing Sites

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In the book “The Martian” by Andy Weir (2011), stranded astronaut Mark Watney is headed for the Ares 4 landing site but encounters the rim of Marth Crater just as a dust storm arrives. This HiRISE image shows the nature of this terrain.

The crater rim is not very distinct and from the ground it would be quite difficult to tell that you are even on the rim of a crater. The terrain is hummocky and rolling, punctuated by smaller impact craters and wind-blown drifts of sand or dust.

Written by: Alfred McEwen (narration: Tre Gibbs) (30 September 2015)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_042753_1930.

Acquisition date
01 August 2015

Local Mars time
14:36

Latitude (centered)
12.637°

Longitude (East)
355.738°

Spacecraft altitude
278.4 km (173.0 miles)

Original image scale range
55.7 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~167 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
1.7°

Phase angle
36.8°

Solar incidence angle
39°, with the Sun about 51° above the horizon

Solar longitude
21.4°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth: 97°
Sub-solar azimuth: 4.5°

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   (342MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (172MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected (175MB)
non-map           (188MB)

IRB color
map projected (85MB)
non-map           (193MB)

Merged IRB
map projected (376MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected (349MB)

RGB color
non map           (184MB)

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

DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL (DTM)
DTM details page

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.