The descent of MSL (Curiosity) captured by HiRISE - stretched
Date: 06 August 2012
Satellite: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Depicts: Curiosity
Copyright: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute were spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as Curiosity descended to the surface on 6 August 2012 (UTC). The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera captured this image of Curiosity while the orbiter was listening to transmissions from Curiosity.
The Curiosity rover is landing on the etched plains just north of the sand dunes that fringe "Mt. Sharp" (Aeolis Mons).
This image is a crop of Curiosity and its parachute from a larger image, and it has been stretched to avoid saturation.
The parachute of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission's Curiosity rover appears fully inflated and performing perfectly. Details in the parachute such as the band gap at the edges and the central hole are clearly visible. The cords connecting the parachute to the back shell cannot be seen, although they were seen in the image of NASA's Phoenix descending, perhaps due to the difference in lighting angles and colour of the lines.
The image scale is 33.6 cm/pixel.
Source: NASA HiRISE website
