HiRISE Over the MSL Landing Sites

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's (MRO) High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) will begin acquiring data in the fall of 2006. Some of the images collected during the first year of operations will cover portions of the landing sites proposed for the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). There are currently 33 proposed landing sites that were prioritized at the first open landing site workshop held during the spring 2006. These sites are located across latitudes and elevations ranging from 29.2° N to 56.8° S, and -6 km to approximately +1 km, respectively. The proposed sites emphasize a variety of science themes that may be relevant to MSL including mineralogy (i.e. occurrence of possible phyllosilicates, sulfates, or hematite), access to various types of layered materials, or presence of fluvial, erosional or depositional landforms. Each landing site includes a 20 km in diameter landing ellipse, although some of the ellipses are located on surfaces adjacent to the desired science target where terrain may be more benign relative to the mission engineering constraints. For each of the proposed landing sites, a HiRISE image will be targeted and acquired prior to a second open workshop in the fall 2007. Images will be targeted using specific image footprints and/or larger regions of interest (ROI) defined by the person(s) proposing each of the sites. It is expected each HiRISE image will possess 0.3 m/pixel resolution, include a 1.2 km-wide blue-green and NIR swath, and cover a total area on the surface of Mars approximately 6 km wide and 10 km long in the down track direction. Where possible, the specific image footprints will be imaged, but if orbit tracks or other parameters preclude this, an image located within the larger ROI will be acquired. For each HiRISE footprint, there is also a co-located Context Image (CTX) and CRISM spectral swath that will be taken for additional use in characterizing each landing site. Once acquired, these HiRISE images will be made available to the MSL project and science advocates for each site for the purpose of characterizing potential hazards to safe landing and operations and to assess the science potential of the sites relative to stated mission objectives and planetary protection requirements. Initial assessments of each of the proposed sites, and any new sites that are proposed, will be discussed at a second open workshop held in fall 2007. Workshop discussions will form the basis for reducing the list of sites under consideration to a smaller number of higher priority and back-up sites that will continue to be imaged by HiRISE. The additional HiRISE images will be used to provide stereo coverage and/or extend the fraction of each site viewed by the camera and will form the basis for additional, more rigorous site assessments.