Mars Spirit Rover Landing Site

The HiRISE camera on the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has captured an image of the three-petal lander platform from the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover.

The view was obtained on 29 January 2012 and provides the first image from orbit to show Spirit's lander platform in colour. The view covers an area approximately 600 meters across and is dominated by Bonneveille Crater. A bright spot on the northern edge of Bonneville Crater is a remnant of Spirit's heat shield.

The image is a testament to the quality of the HiRISE instrument allowing discernment of features barely a few metres across on the surface of a distant world. Both the rovers and the MRO mission are increasing our knowledge on the evolution of Mars as a planet and the continual shaping of the environment over the seasons. All this information will provide an invaluable repository of knowledge for any future manned mission to our intriguing neighbour.

A full range of image sizes from the observation is available from the HiRISE image archive