Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Context Camera

Moon over San Diego

MRO CTX Release No. CTX-1, 2 August 2005


NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This image of Earth's moon was acquired by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Context Camera (CTX) during calibration and testing between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) on 6 October 2004. The image was taken by CTX before it was delivered and mounted on the MRO spacecraft. It was obtained from the parking lot at the Malin Space Science Systems facility in San Diego, California. In this image, east is toward the top and south is toward the bottom. The image demonstrates the field of view of the MRO CTX camera, which is 5064 pixels across (clicking on the image above will permit download of the full 5064 pixels-wide image). When in its circular mapping orbit about Mars, the 5064 pixels will cover a swath that is about 30 kilometers (~18.6 miles) across. CTX will obtain its 30 km-wide images at a resolution of about 6 meters (~19.7 feet) per pixel. CTX images will be used to provide context for the very high resolution images (better than 1 meter per pixel) to be obtained by the MRO HiRISE camera. CTX data will also provide context for MRO's CRISM infrared imaging spectrometer as well as provide detailed observations of martian landforms and potential, future Mars landing sites.

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Malin Space Science Systems built and operates the CTX onboard MRO at its facilities in San Diego, California. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory operates the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, California and Denver, Colorado.

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