Wednesday 8 August 2012

A birds eye view of Curiosity

After it captured Curiosity (MSL) parachuting down, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter had another look at the landing site.

MRO was a lot further away on this orbit pass so the resolution isn't so high, however the components which put Curiosity down safely are all clear. The sky crane and parachute are to the left of Curiosity, some 600m away. The heatshield is to the lower right. In about a week the orientation of MRO will be more favourable and another image is planned. Such images will help determine the exact position of Curiosity and let the rover team plan the next move once all the systems have been checked out.

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