This crescent view of Earth’s Moon in infrared wavelengths comes from a camera test by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
spacecraft on its way to Mars.
The mission’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera took the image on 8 September 2005, while at a distance of about 10 million
kilometers (6 million miles) from the Moon. The dark feature on the right is Mare Crisium.
About HiRISE
The HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is the most powerful one of its kind ever sent to another planet. Its high resolution allows
us to see Mars like never before, and helps other missions choose a safe spot to land for future exploration.
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. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and
built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. and is operated by the
University of Arizona.