Mars rover's destination: Gale Crater. Image Credit - NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
When NASA’s mega-Mars rover, Curiosity, lands in August 2012, its target zone is Gale Crater.
The robot will touch down at the foot of a layered mountain inside the crater that spans 96 miles (154 kilometers) in diameter. This geological feature also holds a mountain rising higher from the crater floor than Mount Rainier rises above Seattle.
This oblique view (above) of the lower mound in Gale Crater shows layers of rock that preserve a record of environments on Mars. Here, orbiting instruments have detected signatures of both clay minerals and sulfate salts, with more clay minerals apparent in the foreground of this image and fewer in higher layers.
According to scientists, this change in mineralogy may reflect a change in the ancient environment in Gale Crater.
The nuclear-powered Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, will use its full suite of onboard instruments to study these minerals to provide insights into these ancient Martian environments.
3-D Perspective
A three-dimensional perspective view of Gale Crater was created using visible-light imaging by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Also used to create the above image, the High Resolution Stereo Camera on the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter.
Three-dimensional information was derived by stereo analysis of image pairs. The vertical dimension is not exaggerated. Color information is derived from color imaging of portions of the scene by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera.
During Curiosity’s prime mission lasting one Martian year — nearly two Earth years — researchers will use the rover’s tools to study whether the landing region had favorable environmental conditions for supporting microbial life and for preserving clues about whether life ever existed.
The NASA Mars mission is targeted to launch late this year from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida between Nov. 25 and Dec. 18.
To view the landing site and for more information about the mission, visit:
and
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/
By Leonard David