Where will the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover land? This annotated image of Mars by Efrain Morales shows where on Mars Curiosity will set down, if all goes well, at about 05:31 UTC on Aug. 6 (10:31 p.m. PDT on Aug. 5, 1:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 6). (Use this handy time conversion chart to find the ETA in your time zone.) The landing site is 4.6 degrees south latitude, 137.4 degrees east longitude, near base of Aeolis Mons, also known as Mount Sharp, a layered mountain that rises 4.8 kilometers (3 miles), inside Gale Crater.
Thanks to Efrain for sharing his image. Check out more of his work at the Jaicoa Observatory website.
A wonderful and beautifully evocative photo. Thank you Mr. Morales. I find I must give Lowell a break. Viewing with older technology and at the edge of vision, it would be easy for your preconceptions to fill in with non-existant detail the dark and light areas of Mars. The barreness of the landscape that we know from our rovers doesn’t seem apparent in telescopic views without that previous knowledge. It makes the landing of Curiousity even more exciting!
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