PIA16058: Curiosity Cradled by Gale Crater
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
 Spacecraft:  Curiosity
Mars Express
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Viking Orbiter
 Instrument:  Context Camera 
High Resolution Stereo Camera 
 Product Size:  2560 x 1600 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  NASA/ESA 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA16058.tif (12.29 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA16058.jpg (273.2 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:

NASA's Curiosity rover landed in the Martian crater known as Gale Crater, which is approximately the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. A green dot shows where the rover landed, well within its targeted landing ellipse, outlined in blue.

This oblique view of Gale, and Mount Sharp in the center, is derived from a combination of elevation and imaging data from three Mars orbiters. The view is looking toward the southeast. Mount Sharp rises about 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometers) above the floor of Gale Crater.

The image combines elevation data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter, image data from the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and color information from Viking Orbiter imagery. There is no vertical exaggeration in the image.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/MSSS

Image Addition Date:
2012-08-14