SA's Mars orbiter clicks locations shown in 'The Martian'

New York, October 6: The Matt Damon-starrer “The Martian” begins with a region on Red Planet called Acidalia Planitia - the landing site for the sci-fi film’s “Ares 3” mission. The HiRISE camera on SA’s Mars Reconissance Orbiter has now captured this site associated with the best-selling novel and now a Hollywood movie. In the movie, an astrout’s adventures take him to the another site - the rim of Mawrth Crater on Red Planet. Another image from the Orbiter shows the ture of this terrain which is the movie’s planned landing site for the “Ares 4” mission. The base for the “Ares 4” mission was set inside a crater med Schiaparelli. “These images reveal details of real regions on Mars,” SA said in a statement. Each observation by HiRISE covers an area of several square miles and shows details as small as a desk. More than 39,000 of them have been taken since the Mars Reconissance Orbiter reached Mars in 2006. They are available online for anyone to explore, from the comfort of home. HiRISE has provided important information used in selection of landing sites for SA’s Curiosity Mars rover and other robotic missions. (IANS)