New Mars Forums

I posted this on another forum a few days back. It should help you out.

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So where are all these landing sites in relation to some of the most famous landmarks on Mars, like [http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/m/d/m … ng_big.jpg]Valles Marineris, and [http://home-1.worldonline.nl/%7Eveenen/ … ars32.html]Olympus Mons (27km high, 500km wide, 6km high cliffs at its base)?

Well check this out:

[http://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/mars24/]http://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/mars24/

Simply click on the "View Mars24 Browser Applet" link and you're set. Program marks all landing sites from all past and present Mars missions, and major Mars landmarks, shows sun position and lots more.

If you're interested in finding the exact landing sites (zoom right into the surface; high res images):

[http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsites/index.html]http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsites/index.html (main site)
[http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsit … index.html]http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landing....ex.html (go straight to landing sites for Spirit and Opportunity)
[http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsit … R07-01606/]http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landing....7-01606 (spirit landing site in detail)

Here's something interesting also: how they're going to find the exact landing   positions of Spirit and Opportunity using the orbitng Mars satellite cameras:
[http://www.msss.com/mer_mission/finding_mer/]http://www.msss.com/mer_mission/finding_mer/

I'll never get lost on Mars now, whew .

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You might also want to check out these two sites for more visualisation, especially the first one which has a some nice images of what mars would look like if it had oceans - it may seem silly but once mars is flooded it's easier to get your bearings.

[http://www.polygonworlds.com/]http://www.polygonworlds.com/ check out the gallery and the mars screensaver.
[http://home-1.worldonline.nl/~veenen/te … /mars.html]http://home-1.worldonline.nl/~veenen/te … /mars.html