NASA HiRise Images: MSL - Mars Rover Curiosity

The latest HiRISE color image of MSL shows new details.

Subimage 1 shows the rover and its tracks after a few short drives.

Tracking the tracks over time will provide information on how the surface changes over time as dust is deposited and eroded.

Subimage 2 shows the parachute and backshell, now in colour. The outer band of the parachute has a reddish color.

Subimage 3 shows the descent stage crash site, now in color, and several distant spots (blue in enhanced colour) downrange that are probably the result of distant secondary impacts that disturbed the surface dust. (See also this observation for more detail about the sky crane impact.)

For other HiRISE images of Curiosity, click here.

Challenges of Getting to Mars: Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror - YouTube

The massive, nuclear powered Mars Science Lander is due to land Curiosity on the Martian surface on August 5.

In the intervening months since MSL’s November 2011 launch, NASA engineers have had ample time to ponder in just how many ways things can go wrong.

Already, changes have been made to Curiority’s landing parameters. In a new NASA video, engineers focus on the landing mechanism itself including the novel Sky Crane slated to lower the lab gently to the surface.

These engineers anticipate those “seven minutes of terror” while MSL lands and they can do nothing but wait for word of its survival.

To see more JPL Mars Videos on YouTube, go here