Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter scientists will soon be taking image suggestions from the public as part of their new online 'HiWish' tool.

MRO has been imaging Mars with its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera since 2006, capturing some 13,000 observations of the red planet, but despite this phenomenal bounty of photos this covers barely one percent of the surface.

Now, the HiRISE team will be taking suggestions from the public, following on from the original concept of the HiRISE instrument, when its planners nicknamed it 'the people’s camera.' “The HiRISE team is pleased to give the public this opportunity to propose imaging targets and share the excitement of seeing your favorite spot on Mars at people-scale resolution,” says Alfred McEwen, principal investigator for the camera and a researcher at the University of Arizona. Each image contains details as small as a desk.

It is envisaged that researchers and students will find the new tool – nicknamed HiWish – useful, and will introduce the general public to the wonders of the red planet in a fun and interactive manner. Users of HiWish will be able to see where images have already been taken, check which targets have already been suggested and make new suggestions of their own.

In addition to pointing out the location on a map, anyone nominating a target will also be asked to give the observation a title, explain the potential scientific benefit of photographing the site and categorize the suggestion into one of the 18 official science themes, which includes impact processes, seasonal processes and volcanic processes. The HiRISE science team will then evaluate the suggestions and put high-priority ones into a queue, and when MRO's orbit is in the right configuration, the image will be snapped.

“This opportunity opens up a new path to students and others to participate in ongoing exploration of Mars,” says the mission’s project scientist, Rich Zurek of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

HiRISE is one of six instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and to date the mission has returned more data about Mars than all other spacecraft combined.

Learn more about Mars and its robotic visitors in our Mars Special Issue of Astronomy Now, on sale now!