Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Curiosity's landing ellipse

Curiosity's landing ellipse
Curiosity's landing ellipse A "+" marks the spot within Gale crater at which Curiosity was targeted. Considering all the uncertainties inherent in the landing, engineers were confident it would land within the black ellipse, which is 20 kilometers long and 7 kilometers wide. Gale crater is 154 kilometers wide. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/MSSS