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PIA14305: Attractions for Study in and near Curiosity's Selected Landing Site
The area in and near the landing site selected for landing of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory offers a diversity of possible targets for examination by the mission's rover, Curiosity.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) 
 Product Size:  892 x 647 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  JPL 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA14305.tif (1.733 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA14305.jpg (87.89 kB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

The area in and near the landing site selected for landing of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory offers a diversity of possible targets for examination by the mission's rover, Curiosity.

For scale, the landing target ellipse indicated on this image is 12.4 miles (20 kilometers) by 15.5 miles (25 kilometers).

The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft is being prepared for launch during the period Nov. 25 to Dec. 18, 2011. In a prime mission lasting one Martian year -- nearly two Earth years -- after landing, researchers will use the rover's tools to study whether the landing region has had environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and for preserving clues about whether life existed.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Image Addition Date:
2011-07-22