Mars: The View from HiRISE

Explanation: HiRISE - the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment - rides on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter ( MRO )spacecraft just arrived in Mars orbit on March 10. This sharp view of the martian surface from the HiRISE camera includes image data with a full resolution of about 2.5 meters per pixel - recorded from a range of 2,500 kilometers. In the coming months, MRO's orbit will be circularized through repeated passages into Mars' outer atmosphere, a process known as aerobraking , shrinking its orbit to an altitude of only 280 kilometers. At that distance, the HiRISE experiment should be able to image the Red Planet's surface at a resolution of 28 centi meters (11 inches) per pixel. In this first color image , the false colors represent HiRISE's visible and infrared imaging data combined. The picture is nearly 24 kilometers wide and covers an area in the Bosporos Planum region of southern Mars.