The Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this image
of Martian northern plains, including ground within the targeted landing
area for NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander.
The image was taken on April 20, 2008, five weeks before the May 25
Phoenix landing. The landing area is near 68 degrees north latitude, 127
degrees west longitude. The view includes two dust devils, labeled for
easier viewing in an enlarged cut-out at PIA10633. The full-frame,
reduced-scale view here covers an area 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) wide and
314 kilometers (195 miles) long. It shows various wind streaks formed by
wind gusts prior to the day that the dust devils were observed.
When the Context Camera acquired this image, the season in Mars' northern
hemisphere was late spring. A few weeks earlier, the Phoenix landing site
was still covered with seasonal frost left over from the previous winter.
Another camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Mars Color
Imager, captured a simultaneous, wider-field, color view of the area
included in this Context Camera image. That view can be seen at PIA10634.
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, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the
spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, provided and operates
the Context Camera and Mars Color Imager.
