m6_v_bw_o_n (JPL photo no. P-11085)
“This Mars mosaic is fashioned from seven wide-angle TV pictures taken by Mariner 6 during its close passage of the planet on July 30, 1969. The six individual frames are high resolution narrow-angle pictures that fall within the overlapping areas of the horizontal swath of seven wide-angle photos. Craters as small as 300 yards in diameter can be seen in the high resolution pictures. The three pictures at top make up the second leg of a three-segmented trace across the equatorial zone of Mars. The equator bisects the three frames and the prominent feature Meridiani Sinus (0° longitude) appears in the lower portion of pictures 6N11 and 6N13. The east-west swath of four pictures was taken after the Mariner scan platform slewed again during the spacecraft’s traverse eastward into the night-time shadow (to the right). The four frames, which cover an area 450 miles wide and 2500 miles long, are parallel to and about 15° south of the equator.”
The Mars Exploration Rover B (MER-B)/Opportunity landing site is actually located in Frame 6N11, a little east of "center". In fact, Bopolu Crater & Endeavour Crater are both discernible!
I still find it amazing how early flybys imaged the very few dull/boring regions of the planet. Even as a mosaic!!! IMHO Mars has the most amazing variety of spectacular surface features of all the solar system's rocky planets.
m6_v_bw_o_n (JPL photo no. P-11085)
“This Mars mosaic is fashioned from seven wide-angle TV pictures taken by Mariner 6 during its close passage of the planet on July 30, 1969. The six individual frames are high resolution narrow-angle pictures that fall within the overlapping areas of the horizontal swath of seven wide-angle photos. Craters as small as 300 yards in diameter can be seen in the high resolution pictures. The three pictures at top make up the second leg of a three-segmented trace across the equatorial zone of Mars. The equator bisects the three frames and the prominent feature Meridiani Sinus (0° longitude) appears in the lower portion of pictures 6N11 and 6N13. The east-west swath of four pictures was taken after the Mariner scan platform slewed again during the spacecraft’s traverse eastward into the night-time shadow (to the right). The four frames, which cover an area 450 miles wide and 2500 miles long, are parallel to and about 15° south of the equator.”
The Mars Exploration Rover B (MER-B)/Opportunity landing site is actually located in Frame 6N11, a little east of "center". In fact, Bopolu Crater & Endeavour Crater are both discernible!
I still find it amazing how early flybys imaged the very few dull/boring regions of the planet. Even as a mosaic!!! IMHO Mars has the most amazing variety of spectacular surface features of all the solar system's rocky planets.