Exposure of Polar Layered Deposits
HiRISE Image PSP_001420_2680Image PSP_001420_2680 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 15, 2006. The complete image is centered at 88.2 degrees latitude, 114.8 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 321.5 km (200.9 miles). At this distance the image scale is 32.2 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~96 cm across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 cm/pixel. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 10:50 AM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 71 degrees, thus the sun was about 19 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 135.6 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Summer.
Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at:
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/
or
For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov. NASA's 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 and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.
