PIA18154: Stunning Image of Rosetta above Mars taken by the Philae Lander Camera
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Rosetta
 Spacecraft:  Philae Lander
 Instrument:  Comet Infrared and Visible Analyser (CIVA 
 Product Size:  1024 x 1024 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  European Space Agency (ESA)
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA18154.tif (3.147 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA18154.jpg (47.78 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

Stunning image taken by the CIVA imaging instrument on Rosetta's Philae lander just 4 minutes before closest approach at a distance of some 1000 km from Mars.

A portion of the spacecraft and one of its solar arrays are visible in nice detail. Beneath, the Mawrth Vallis region is visible on the planet's disk. Mawrth Vallis is particularly relevant as it is one of the areas on the Martian surface where the OMEGA instrument on board ESA's Mars Express detected the presence of hydrated clay minerals -- a sign that water may have flown abundantly on that region in the very early history of Mars.

Id 217487

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Image Credit:
Copyright: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA

Image Addition Date:
2007-02-05