Back in 2006, NASA launched the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a multipurpose spacecraft that is designed to conduct the exploration of Mars from orbit.
The Orbiter is equipped with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRiSE, for short, a camera designed to capture the surface features of Mars in greater detail than any other Mars exploration possible. Specifically, it provides a more detailed look into the fresh craters, and allows for the study of the age of the Martian features, and planning for future landing sites of astronauts.
Termed “The People’s Camera”, the HiRiSE is available for the general public to view online, and even allows the public to request sites for the HiRiSE to capture. These pictures can be viewed online, downloaded, or with the free HiView Software.
For nearly 10 years, the HiRiSE has captured stunning images of the surface of Mars, both of which are beautiful to observe and valuable to the scientific community. The photos are so detailed that scientists can examine many different features of the planet at the scale of just a few feet.
While Mars has been dubbed “the Red Planet”, the HiRiSE camera has been able to transform the colors of Mars into a rainbow of colors. But don’t take our word for it – see for yourself!
A dark, rust-colored dune found in the Russell Crater.
A potential site for NASA’s next nuclear-powered Mars 2020 rover mission.
The black splotch in the picture is where the ESA’s (European Space Agency) Schiaparelli Mars lander crashed. The white specks surrounding the area (noted with the red arrows) are pieces of the lander.
While this may look like the body of a Zebra (it’s not, to be clear), it is actually a dune field that is covered with mineral deposits.
This is a possible landing site for the ExoMars 2020 rover mission, headed by the European Space Agency.
The beauty of the Cerebus Palus crater, showing off its layered sediments.
A steep slope found in the Eastern Noctis Labyrinthus, a region noted for its maze-like system of deep valleys. The area formed when Mars’ crust stretched itself apart!
The terrain found near the equator of Mars.
This beautiful photo shows the texture of the North Sinus Meridiani region.
Syria Planum, a broad plateau on the surface of Mars, covered in a deep blue that’s speckled with gold, due to false colors that are assigned to certain minerals.
This beautiful terrain shows off some of the spectacular colors of Mars.
The fractures found in Utopia Planitia, the largest recognized impact basin on Mars (it has an estimated diameter of 3,300 km!) and is the Martian region where the Viking 2 lander touched down on September 3, 1976. The fractures line up nicely, don’t they? Almost like a spine.
Here is a link to even more of the photos.
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