14 DAY TRIAL // NASA has just released a color-enhanced image of Gale Crater, showing the location where the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity landed on August 5/6. The bluish marks to the left of the image are the marks left on the crater floor by the rocket thrusters on the MSL descent stage.
Thanks to the color modifications, the diversity of materials inside the crater becomes apparent. In natural colors, the bluish marks are significantly grayer, NASA experts say. In this image, north is up, and Mount Sharps – Curiosity's science target – is out of view.
The photograph was collected by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument aboard the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The spacecraft has been investigating the Red Planet since 2006.
The instrument is so precise that this image has a resolution of just 12 inches (31 centimeters) per pixel. Another view of the same location, but from a slightly different angle, will be collected over the next few days. The two will then be combined into a stereoscopic pair.