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Scientists Track "Perfect St
…
| Title |
Scientists Track "Perfect Storm" on Mars |
| General Information |
What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Scientists Track "Perfect St
…
| Title |
Scientists Track "Perfect Storm" on Mars |
| General Information |
What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Scientists Track "Perfect St
…
| Title |
Scientists Track "Perfect Storm" on Mars |
| General Information |
What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Scientists Track "Perfect St
…
| Title |
Scientists Track "Perfect Storm" on Mars |
| General Information |
What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Scientists Track "Perfect St
…
| Title |
Scientists Track "Perfect Storm" on Mars |
| General Information |
What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Scientists Track "Perfect St
…
| Title |
Scientists Track "Perfect Storm" on Mars |
| General Information |
What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Scientists Track "Perfect St
…
| Title |
Scientists Track "Perfect Storm" on Mars |
| General Information |
What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Scientists Track "Perfect St
…
| Title |
Scientists Track "Perfect Storm" on Mars |
| General Information |
What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Scientists Track "Perfect St
…
| Title |
Scientists Track "Perfect Storm" on Mars |
| General Information |
What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Scientists Track "Perfect St
…
| Title |
Scientists Track "Perfect Storm" on Mars |
| General Information |
What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Scientists Track "Perfect St
…
| Title |
Scientists Track "Perfect Storm" on Mars |
| General Information |
What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Scientists Track "Perfect St
…
| Title |
Scientists Track "Perfect Storm" on Mars |
| General Information |
What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Earth and Moon as Viewed fro
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| Title |
Earth and Moon as Viewed from Mars |
| Description |
This is the first image of Earth ever taken from another planet that actually shows our home as a planetary disk. Because Earth and the Moon are closer to the Sun than Mars, they exhibit phases, just as the Moon, Venus, and Mercury do when viewed from Earth. As seen from Mars by the NASA Mars Global Surveyor on May 8, 2003, at 13:00 GMT (6:00 a.m. PDT), Earth and the Moon appeared in the evening sky. This Earth/Moon image has been specially processed to allow both Earth (with an apparent magnitude of -2.5) and the much darker Moon (with an apparent magnitude of +0.9) to be visible together. The bright area at the top of the image of Earth is cloud cover over central and eastern North America. Below that, a darker area includes Central America and the Gulf of Mexico. The bright feature near the center right of the crescent Earth consists of clouds over northern South America. The image also shows the Earth-facing hemisphere of the Moon, since the Moon was on the far side of Earth as viewed from Mars. The slightly lighter tone of the lower portion of the image of the Moon results from the large and conspicuous ray system associated with the crater Tycho. A note about the coloring process: The Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbital Camera (MOC, a high-resolution camera) only takes grayscale (black-and-white) images. To "colorize" the image, a Mariner 10 Earth/Moon image taken in 1973 was used to color this Earth and Moon picture. The procedure used was as follows: the Mariner 10 image was converted from 24-bit color to 8-bit color using a JPEG to GIF conversion program. The 8-bit color image was converted to 8-bit grayscale and an associated lookup table mapping each gray value of the image to a red-green-blue color triplet (RGB). Each color triplet was root-sum-squared (RSS), and sorted in increasing RSS values. These sorted lists were brightness-to-color maps for the images. Each brightness-to-color map was then used to convert the 8-bit grayscale MOC image to an 8-bit color image. This 8-bit color image was then converted to a 24-bit color image. The color image was edited to return the background to black. Image courtesy NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems [ http://www.msss.com/ ] |
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Comet Encke Returns
| Title |
Comet Encke Returns |
| Explanation |
It's back. Every 3.3 years, Comet Encke [ http://cometography.com/pcomets/002p.html ] swoops back into our inner Solar System [ http://www.nineplanets.org/overview.html ]. First officially discovered in 1786, Comet Encke [ http://www.surveyor.in-berlin.de/himmel/astro/Encke-e.html ] is on its 59 th documented return, making it one of the best-studied comets [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/bright_comet.html ] on the sky. Mysteriously, Comet Encke [ http://www.space.com/spacewatch/comet_encke_031114.html ] should have been discovered millennia earlier, since it likely became bright enough to see unaided many times over the past few thousand years. Comet Encke's elliptical [ http://www.surveyor.in-berlin.de/himmel/astro/Encke-e.html ] trajectory reaches from outside the orbit of Mars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/mars.html ] to inside the orbit of Mercury [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/mercury.html ]. It passed relatively close to the Earth on Nov. 17 and will reach its closest to the Sun on Dec 29. Recent observations [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/RecentObs.html#2P ] place Comet Encke as bright as visual magnitude six during early December, making it just on the verge of unaided human vision [ http://www.ocularolympics.com/animal-vision.html ]. Pictured above, the diffuse smudge [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/gifcity/comet.html ] of periodic Comet Encke [ http://www.theman.themoon.co.uk/Charts/2003Encke.htm ] was imaged through a small telescope on November 29 from Arkansas [ http://www.state.ar.us/ ], USA [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html ]. |
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Mars: Big Crater in Stereo
| Title |
Mars: Big Crater in Stereo |
| Explanation |
Get out your red/blue glasses [ http://img.arc.nasa.gov/archive/desert96/redblue.html ] and check out this stereo picture of "Big Crater" [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/images/ 4_25_98_pathfinder_release/index.html ] on Mars! (Pieces of red and blue or green clear plastic will do. Your right eye should look through the red piece.) The stereo perspective [ http://www.exploratorium.edu/xref/exhibits/stereo_rule.html ] was created by combining images from the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/movpics/mgs_vrml/mgs_vrml.html ] taken on two different orbits, each with a slightly different viewing angle. At just under a mile in diameter, Big Crater is not all that big [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960906.html ] but it is an important landmark in the vicinity of the Mars Pathfinder landing site [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970724.html ] on an ancient flood plain in Ares Vallis. Identifying corresponding smaller scale features in Pathfinder [ http://mars.sgi.com/science/science-index.html ] and Surveyor images [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/images/index.html ] will help to precisely locate the lander. Meanwhile, the line of sight between the Earth and Mars is approaching the Sun. During this period, known as solar conjunction [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/target/solarconj.html ], communicating with Mars Global Surveyor will be difficult. |
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Volcanos on Mars: Elysium Re
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| Title |
Volcanos on Mars: Elysium Region |
| Explanation |
This "synthetic color" image [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/ images/7_10_98_elysium_rel/index.html ] swath of the Elysium Volcanic Region of Mars [ http://www.literature.org/Works/Edgar-Rice-Burroughs/chessmen/ ] was recorded by Mars Global Surveyor's [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/status/wkreport/current.html ] wide angle camera on July 2. North is up [ http://www-pdsimage.wr.usgs.gov/PDS/public/mapmaker/mapmkr.htm ] and the sun illuminates the scene from the lower right. Bright clouds hover near the northern most dome-shaped volcano [ http://www.msss.com/http/ps/volcanoes.html ] Hecates Tholus [ http://wwwflag.wr.usgs.gov/USGSFlag/Space/nomen/mars/marsTOC.html ]. The shield volcano Elysium Mons [ http://wwwflag.wr.usgs.gov/USGSFlag/Space/nomen/mars/marsTOC.html ] lies about 250 miles south near the image center, and farther south lies another dome-shaped volcano, Albor Tholus [ http://wwwflag.wr.usgs.gov/USGSFlag/Space/nomen/mars/marsTOC.html ], with a broad summit basin or caldera [ http://www.hawastsoc.org/solar/eng/terms.htm#caldera ]. Even though Mars is just half the size of planet Earth, it is known for its volcanos [ http://www.hawastsoc.org/solar/eng/marsvolc.htm ] - the largest [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970915.html ] of which dwarf their terrestrial counterparts [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980725.html ]. |
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Mapping Mars
| Title |
Mapping Mars |
| Explanation |
This month, the Mars Global Surveyor [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/sitemap/sitemap.html ] (MGS) spacecraft began its primary mission to the red planet. Orbiting about once every two hours at an altitude of over 200 miles, instruments onboard MGS [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/sci/mola/mola-mar99.html ] now regularly explore the Martian surface and atmosphere. This MGS polar mapping orbit [ http://cmex-www.arc.nasa.gov/SiteCat/sitecat2/MGS/map.htm ] was set up to achieve a favorable "afternoon" sun-angle for imaging as the spacecraft crosses over the day side of the planet. Mars' rotation [ http://www.jps.net/gangale/mars/calendar.htm ] will allow complete coverage of the surface roughly once every week with mapping operations planned for one Martian year [ http://www.jps.net/gangale/mars/chronium/chron1.htm ] (687 Earth days). These two opposite hemisphere views [ http://www.msss.com/mars/global_surveyor/camera/ images/3_10_99_global/index.html ] of Mars were pieced together from MGS wide-angle camera scans made in early March [ http://humbabe.arc.nasa.gov/MarsToday.html ] (blue and red lines mark the scan edges). Water-ice clouds can be seen hovering over the surface while the north polar cap [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981216.html ] is visible at the top of each image. |
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A Sundial for Mars
| Title |
A Sundial for Mars |
| Explanation |
When Mars Surveyor [ http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/2001/index.html ] arrives at Mars in 2002, it will carry a sundial. Even though batteries and a solar array will power the Mars Surveyor Lander [ http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/2001/lander/lander_home.html ], the sundial has been included to allow a prominent public display of time. The sundial idea was the brainchild of Bill Nye the Science Guy [ http://disney.go.com/DisneyTelevision/BillNye/ ], who noticed that a post originally used for camera calibration could be redesigned. Millennia ago, sundials [ http://www.sundials.co.uk/home3.htm ] were state-of-the-art timekeepers [ http://whyfiles.news.wisc.edu/078time/3.html ] for humans on Earth. Since the Sun casts similar shadows on Mars and Earth, accurate calibration of the shadow placement on the Martian Sundial [ http://www.washington.edu/newsroom/news/1999archive/04-99archive/k042199.html ] will tell a curious inspector of returned images both the time of day and the season. |
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Four Faces of Mars
| Title |
Four Faces of Mars |
| Explanation |
As Mars rotates, most of its surface becomes visible. During Earth [ http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/categories.html ]'s recent pass between Mars [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/mars.html ] and the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990705.html http://www.astro.uva.nl/~michielb/sun/kaft.htm ], the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://www.stsci.edu/hst/ ] was able to capture the most detailed time-lapse pictures ever from the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980204.html ]. Dark and light sand [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970704.html ] and gravel create an unusual blotted appearance for the red planet [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990424.html ]. Winds [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990112.html ] cause sand-tinted features on the Martian surface [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970722.html ] to shift over time. Visible in the above pictures [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/1999/27/index.html ] are the north polar cap [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980924.html ], made of water ice [ http://ltpwww.gsfc.nasa.gov/tharsis/agu_f98.html ] and dry ice [ http://www.halloween-online.com/dryice1-1.html ], clouds [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap971013.html ] including an unusual cyclone [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990520.html ], and huge volcanoes [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970915.html ] leftover from ancient times. The Mars Global Surveyor [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/overvu/overview.html ] satellite orbiting Mars [ http://www-ssi.colorado.edu/Outreach/TravSciExhibits/MarsQuest/1.html ] continues to scan the surface for good places to land future robot explorers [ http://www.msss.com/mars/global_surveyor/camera/images/6_25_99_landingsites/index.html ]. |
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Mars and Earth Dust Storms
| title |
Mars and Earth Dust Storms |
| Description |
seasonal meteorology [ http://www.thirdworld.org/role.html ] and the health of biological communities [ http://catbert.er.usgs.gov/african_dust/ ]. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems, Spring on Mars...in either hemisphere...is a time for local and regional dust storms. These storms arise as the seasonal carbon dioxide frost cap, which can extend almost half-way to the equator, sublimes in the warming spring environment. Several factors promote these dust storms: * the atmospheric pressure is increasing as carbon dioxide frost (CO2) sublimes--higher pressure allows more dust to be suspended, and for a longer time, * the temperature contrast between the frost covered surface and immediately adjacent, recently defrosted surfaces is quite high, creating thermally-generated winds that circulate onto and off of the frost cap edge, * similar, temperature-driven winds arise as sublimation of frost covering sun-facing slopes and dark sandy surfaces deep within the polar region creates intense slope winds away from the higher-standing layered deposits and permanent cap. The roughly circular, polar orbit of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft affords a view not unlike that seen by low Earth-orbiting environmental satellites. Mars is roughly 6800 km (4226 mi) in diameter, and a 370 km (230 mi) average altitude gives a diameter to altitude ratio for MGS of 18.4:1. For comparison, the SeaStar spacecraft in Earth orbit follows a very similar orbit: it's the diameter to altitude ratio is 17.5:1 (12,760 km or 7,928 mi diameter relative to a 705 km or 438 mi altitude). Each spacecraft covers the entire planet in 12 orbits. In this figure, we compare a recent dust storm on Mars with one that occurred earlier this year on Earth. The top image shows a martian north polar dust storm observed on 29 August 2000. This image is part of the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global map--a low resolution, two-color view of Mars acquired from pole to pole every orbit. The storm is moving as a front, outward from a central "jet," and marginal "vortices" can be seen. In this image it extends about 900 km (560 mi) out from the north polar seasonal frost cap. The region on the right side of the Mars picture includes the north pole. The bottom image shows a terrestrial dust storm, seen in a SeaWiFS image [ http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS/IMAGES/SEAWIFS_GALLERY.html ], acquired on 26 February 2000. This storm extends about 1800 km (1100 mi) off the coast of northwest Africa near the Earth's equator. Both images are shown at the same scale, 4 km (2.5 mi) per pixel. Dust storms play an important role in governing the climate of Mars. The rare, global storms alter the planet's total heat balance and promote variations in seasonal frost formation and dissipation, and greatly affect the distribution of water vapor. Local and regional storms, especially those in the polar regions, affect the rate at which seasonal frost evolves, and control local and regional weather patterns. On Earth, dust storms are also being recognized as contributing to environmental change, potentially influencing |
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Mars Opposition and Equinox
| title |
Mars Opposition and Equinox |
| Description |
Prior to the Mariner 4 flyby in 1965, all we knew about Mars came from Earth-based telescopic observations. At best, Mars is a challenging object to observe, due to its small size, low contrast, and turbulence in Earth's atmosphere. The best times to see the planet are around its closest approaches to Earth, which occur near "opposition", when the two planets are roughly in a line on one side of the Sun. This occurs about every 26 months, when Mars can appear to grow (in the night sky) to as large as about 20 arc-seconds in size. (20 arc-seconds is about the apparent size of a dime seen from 190 meters, or about the length of two football fields, away, it is about the size of a crater 40 kilometers (25 miles) in diameter on the Moon.) In 2001, Mars is at opposition on June 13-14 and makes its closest approach to Earth on June 21, when it is about 67 million kilometers (~42 million miles) away and subtends 20.8 arc-seconds in the sky. For observers in the northern hemisphere, it can be seen as a bright (magnitude -2) red object, low in the southern sky near the constellation Scorpius, in the evening. Southern hemisphere observers have a better view, as Mars is higher in the sky from that vantage. (See http://www.skypub.com/ [ http://www.skypub.com/ ] for more information.) Not only is Mars at opposition June 13-14, 2001, and making its closest approach to Earth since 1988 on June 21st, on June 17-18 Mars will be at equinox, with the southern hemisphere turning to spring and the nothern hemisphere begins autumn. The diagrams below illustrate the opposition and equinox configurations of Mars. The Image above is one of a series of simulated views of Mars as it would be seen from the Mars Global Surveyor space craft. To view the rest of these images please go to the June 2001: Mars Opposition and Equinox page at the Malin Space Science Systems [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/opposition_6_2001/index.html ] web site. Mars Animation Animation of simulated Earth-based views of Mars. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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Changes Over a Martian Year
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| title |
Changes Over a Martian Year -- New Dark Slope Streaks in Lycus Sucli |
| Description |
Now in its Extended Mission, Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) is into its second Mars year of systematic observations of the red planet. With the Extended Mission slated to run through April 2002, the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) is being used, among other things, to look for changes that have occurred in the past martian year. Because Mars is farther from the Sun than Earth, its year is longer---about 687 Earth days. The two pictures shown here cover the same portion of Lycus Sulci, a rugged, ridged terrain north of the giant Olympus Mons volcano. The interval between the pictures span 92% of a martian year (August 2, 1999 to April 27, 2001). Dark streaks considered to result from the avalanching of dry, fine, bright dust are seen in both images. The disruption of the surface by the avalanching materials is thought to cause them to appear darker than their surroundings, just as the 1997 bouncing of Mars Pathfinder's airbags and the tire tracks made by the Sojourner rover left darkened markings indicating where the martian soil had been disrupted and disturbed. The arrows in the April 2001 picture indicate eight new streaks that formed on these slopes in Lycus Sulci since August 1999. These observations suggest that a new streak forms approximately once per martian year per kilometer (about 0.62 miles) along a slope. In both images, north is toward the top/upper right and sunlight illuminates each from the left. Dark (as well bright) slope streaks are most common in the dust-covered martian regions of Tharsis, Arabia, and Elysium. Additional examples of dark slope streaks can be seen in the following earlier MOC image media releases: * "Recent Movements: New Landslides in Less than 1 Martian Year," March 12, 2000 [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/lpsc2000/3_00_massmovement/ ] * "Dark Slope Streaks on Elysium Basin Buttes," July 19, 1999 [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/7_19_99_fifthMars/18_slopes/ ] Images Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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The 'Face on Mars'
| title |
The 'Face on Mars' |
| Description |
Shortly after midnight Sunday morning (5 April 1998 12:39 AM PST), the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft successfully acquired a high resolution image of the 'Face on Mars' feature in the Cydonia region. The image was transmitted to Earth on Sunday, and retrieved from the mission computer data base Monday morning (6 April 1998). The image was processed at the Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) facility 9:15 AM and the raw image immediately transferred to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for release to the Internet. The images shown here were subsequently processed at MSSS. The picture was acquired 375 seconds after the spacecraft's 220th close approach to Mars. At that time, the 'Face', located at approximately 40.8° N, 9.6° W, was 275 miles (444 km) from the spacecraft. The 'morning' sun was 25° above the horizon. The picture has a resolution of 14.1 feet (4.3 meters) per pixel, making it ten times higher resolution than the best previous image of the feature, which was taken by the Viking Mission in the mid-1970's. The full image covers an area 2.7 miles (4.4 km) wide and 25.7 miles (41.5 km) long. In this comparison, the best Viking image has been enlarged to 3.3 times its original resolution, and the MOC image has been decreased by a similar 3.3 times, creating images of roughly the same size. In addition, the MOC images have been geometrically transformed to a more overhead projection (different from the mercator map projection of PIA01440 & 1441) for ease of comparison with the Viking image. The left image is a portion of Viking Orbiter 1 frame 070A13, the middle image is a portion of MOC frame shown normally, and the right image is the same MOC frame but with the brightness inverted to simulate the approximate lighting conditions of the Viking image. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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Carbon-Dioxide Frost Settlin
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| title |
Carbon-Dioxide Frost Settling from Seasonal Outbursts on Mars (Movie) |
| Description |
Carbon-Dioxide Frost Settling from Seasonal Outbursts on Mars (Movie) This movie, constructed by overlaying a time series of images taken by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), shows seasonal changes and unearthly processes that occur in Mars' south polar seasonal frost cap. More >> [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/video/index.html#CarbonDioxideFrost ] |
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Mars Boulders: On a Hill in
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PIA01500
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Mars Boulders: On a Hill in Utopia Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) was designed specifically to provide images of Mars that have a resolution comparable to the aerial photographs commonly used by Earth scientists to study geological processes and map landforms on our home planet. When MGS reaches its Mapping Orbit in March 1999, MOC will be able to obtain pictures with spatial resolutions of 1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel--this good enough to easily see objects the size of an automobile. Boulders are one of the keys to determining which processes have eroded, transported, and deposited material on Mars ("e.g.,"landslides, mud flows, flood debris). During the first year in orbit,MGS MOC obtained pictures with resolutions between 2 and 30 meters (7to 98 feet) per pixel. It was found that boulders are difficult to identify on Mars in images with resolutions worse than about 2-3 meters per pixel. Although not known when the MOC was designed,"thresholds" like this are found on Earth, too. The MOC's 1.5 m/pixel resolution was a compromise between (1) the anticipation of such resolution-dependent sensitivity based on our experience with Earth and (2)the cost in terms of mass if we had built a larger telescope to get a higher resolution. Some rather larger boulders ("i.e.," larger than about 10 meters--or yards--in size) have already been seen on Mars by the orbiting camera. This is a feat similar to that which can be obtained by "spy" satellites on Earth. The MOC image 53104 subframe shown above features a low, rounded hill in southeastern Utopia Planitia. Each of the small, lumpy features on the top of this hill is a boulder. In this picture, boulders are not seen on the surrounding plain. These boulders are interpreted to be the remnants of a layer of harder rock that once covered the top of the hill, but was subsequently eroded and broken up by weathering and wind processes. MOC image 53104 was taken on September 2, 1998. The subframe shows an area 2.2 km by 3.3 km (1.4 miles by 2.7 miles). The image has a resolution of about 3.25 meters (10.7 feet) per pixel. The subframe is centered at 41.0°N latitude and 207.3°W longitude.(CLICK HERE for a context image). North is approximately up, illumination is from the left. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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Mars Boulders: On a Hill in
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PIA01500
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Mars Boulders: On a Hill in Utopia Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) was designed specifically to provide images of Mars that have a resolution comparable to the aerial photographs commonly used by Earth scientists to study geological processes and map landforms on our home planet. When MGS reaches its Mapping Orbit in March 1999, MOC will be able to obtain pictures with spatial resolutions of 1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel--this good enough to easily see objects the size of an automobile. Boulders are one of the keys to determining which processes have eroded, transported, and deposited material on Mars ("e.g.,"landslides, mud flows, flood debris). During the first year in orbit,MGS MOC obtained pictures with resolutions between 2 and 30 meters (7to 98 feet) per pixel. It was found that boulders are difficult to identify on Mars in images with resolutions worse than about 2-3 meters per pixel. Although not known when the MOC was designed,"thresholds" like this are found on Earth, too. The MOC's 1.5 m/pixel resolution was a compromise between (1) the anticipation of such resolution-dependent sensitivity based on our experience with Earth and (2)the cost in terms of mass if we had built a larger telescope to get a higher resolution. Some rather larger boulders ("i.e.," larger than about 10 meters--or yards--in size) have already been seen on Mars by the orbiting camera. This is a feat similar to that which can be obtained by "spy" satellites on Earth. The MOC image 53104 subframe shown above features a low, rounded hill in southeastern Utopia Planitia. Each of the small, lumpy features on the top of this hill is a boulder. In this picture, boulders are not seen on the surrounding plain. These boulders are interpreted to be the remnants of a layer of harder rock that once covered the top of the hill, but was subsequently eroded and broken up by weathering and wind processes. MOC image 53104 was taken on September 2, 1998. The subframe shows an area 2.2 km by 3.3 km (1.4 miles by 2.7 miles). The image has a resolution of about 3.25 meters (10.7 feet) per pixel. The subframe is centered at 41.0°N latitude and 207.3°W longitude.(CLICK HERE for a context image). North is approximately up, illumination is from the left. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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Seasonal Trend in Water Vapo
…
PIA07102
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Spectromete
…
| Title |
Seasonal Trend in Water Vapor Seen from Orbit |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The seasonal trend in the amount of water vapor in Mars' atmosphere, as observed by thermal emission spectrometer on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter, varies by latitude. This plot starts near the beginning of fall in the southern hemisphere for the year before the Mars Exploration Rover mission began and ends on August 30, 2004, slightly more than one martian year later. Purple represents no water while red represents about 50 precipitable micrometers, which is about 10,000 times less than on Earth. The units of time along the horizontal axis are given in longitude of the Sun (Ls) as measured in a Mars-centered coordinate system, a way to reflect the elliptical nature of Mars' orbit. On this scale, Mars is farthest from the Sun at about 74, which also corresponds to late fall in the southern hemisphere. During the period when Mars is farthest from the Sun, the migration of water vapor from the northern polar region combines with lowered atmospheric temperatures to produce conditions that allow formation of clouds such as seen in the image at PIA07105 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07105 ]. Opportunity is further north than Spirit is, so there is a distinct difference in the amount of water vapor available to form water-ice clouds over the two sites. To date, Spirit has not seen any discrete, cirrus-like clouds such as Opportunity has photographed. Although water vapor is expected to reach a maximum abundance for the Opportunity and Spirit sites near spring equinox (Ls 180 or about March 2005), the atmospheric temperatures will very likely have warmed sufficiently to prevent formation of the type of clouds that Opportunity has observed recently. |
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Medusae Fossae Formation - H
…
PIA01160
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Medusae Fossae Formation - High Resolution Image |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
An exotic terrain of wind-eroded ridges and residual smooth surfaces are seen in one of the highest resolution images ever taken of Mars from orbit. The Medusae Fossae formation is believed to be formed of the fragmental ejecta of huge explosive volcanic eruptions. When subjected to intense wind-blasting over hundreds of millions of years, this material erodes easily once the uppermost tougher crust is breached. The crust, or cap rock, can be seen in the upper right part of the picture. The finely-spaced ridges are similar to features on Earth called yardangs, which are formed by intense winds plucking individual grains from, and by wind-driven sand blasting particles off, sedimentary deposits. The image was taken on October 30, 1997 at 11:05 AM PST, shortly after the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft's 31st closest approach to Mars. The image covers an area 3.6 X 21.5 km (2.2 X 13.4 miles) at 3.6 m (12 feet) per picture element--craters only 11 m (36 feet, about the size of a swimming pool) across can be seen. The best Viking view of the area (VO 1 387S34) has a resolution of 240 m/pixel, or 67 times lower resolution than the MOC frame. Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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Medusae Fossae Formation
PIA01159
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Medusae Fossae Formation |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
An exotic terrain of wind-eroded ridges and residual smooth surfaces are seen in one of the highest resolution images ever taken of Mars from orbit. The Medusae Fossae formation is believed to be formed of the fragmental ejecta of huge explosive volcanic eruptions. When subjected to intense wind-blasting over hundreds of millions of years, this material erodes easily once the uppermost tougher crust is breached. In the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shown on the right, the crust, or cap rock, can be seen in the upper right part of the picture. The finely-spaced ridges are similar to features on Earth called yardangs, which are formed by intense winds plucking individual grains from, and by wind-driven sand blasting particles off, sedimentary deposits. The MOC image was taken on October 30, 1997 at 11:05 AM PST, shortly after the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft's 31st closest approach to Mars. The image covers an area 3.6 X 21.5 km (2.2 X 13.4 miles) at 3.6 m (12 feet) per picture element--craters only 11 m (36 feet, about the size of a swimming pool) across can be seen. The context image (left, the best Viking view of the area, VO 1 387S34) has a resolution of 240 m/pixel, or 67 times lower resolution than the MOC frame. Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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Layers within the Valles Mar
…
PIA01168
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Layers within the Valles Marineris: Clues to the Ancient Crust of Mars - High Resolution Image |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This high resolution picture of the Martian surface was obtained in the early evening of January 1, 1998 by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC), shortly after the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft began it's 80th orbit. Seen in this view are a plateau and surrounding steep slopes within the Valles Marineris, the large system of canyons that stretches 4000 km (2500 mi) along the equator of Mars. The image covers a tiny fraction of the canyons at very high resolution: it extends only 9.8 km by 17.3 km (6.1 mi by 10.7 mi) but captures features as small as 6 m (20 ft) across. The highest terrain in the image is the relatively smooth plateau near the center. Slopes descend to the north and south (upper and lower part of image, respectively) in broad, debris-filled gullies with intervening rocky spurs. Multiple rock layers, varying from a few to a few tens of meters thick, are visible in the steep slopes on the spurs and gullies. Layered rocks on Earth form from sedimentary processes (such as those that formed the layered rocks now seen in Arizona's Grand Canyon) and volcanic processes (such as layering seen in the Waimea Canyon on the island of Kauai). Both origins are possible for the Martian layered rocks seen in this image. In either case, the total thickness of the layered rocks seen in this image implies a complex and extremely active early history for geologic processes on Mars. Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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Layers within the Valles Mar
…
PIA01167
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Layers within the Valles Marineris: Clues to the Ancient Crust of Mars |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This high resolution picture (right) of the Martian surface was obtained in the early evening of January 1, 1998 by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC), shortly after the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft began it's 80th orbit. Seen in this view are a plateau and surrounding steep slopes within the Valles Marineris, the large system of canyons that stretches 4000 km (2500 mi) along the equator of Mars. The image covers a tiny fraction of the canyons at very high resolution: it extends only 9.8 km by 17.3 km (6.1 mi by 10.7 mi) but captures features as small as 6 m (20 ft) across. The highest terrain in the image is the relatively smooth plateau near the center. Slopes descend to the north and south (upper and lower part of image, respectively) in broad, debris-filled gullies with intervening rocky spurs. Multiple rock layers, varying from a few to a few tens of meters thick, are visible in the steep slopes on the spurs and gullies. Layered rocks on Earth form from sedimentary processes (such as those that formed the layered rocks now seen in Arizona's Grand Canyon) and volcanic processes (such as layering seen in the Waimea Canyon on the island of Kauai). Both origins are possible for the Martian layered rocks seen in this image. In either case, the total thickness of the layered rocks seen in this image implies a complex and extremely active early history for geologic processes on Mars. The left and center "context" images are Viking mosaics reproduced at scales of 230 meters/pixel and 80 meters/pixel respectively. Outlines in these two images represent the location of the higher resolution image(s). Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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Margin of Lava Flow in Daeda
…
PIA01693
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Margin of Lava Flow in Daedalia Planum |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera is providing geologists with vistas that rival that of the aerial photographs they use in their field work on Earth. This picture shows the margin of a large lava flow located on Daedalia Planum, southwest of the Arsia Mons volcano. The picture covers an area only 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) wide and 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) long. The lava flow surface (upper portion of the frame) is rough but mantled with fine sand or dust. The ripples along the base of the lava flow margin are spaced about 15 meters (50 feet) apart and were formed by wind. Illumination is from the upper left. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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Boulder Tracks on Schiaparel
…
PIA01680
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Boulder Tracks on Schiaparelli Basin South Wall |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The above Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of the slope just inside the south rim of the approximately 400 kilometer-(250 mile)-wide Schiaparelli Basin near the martian equator. The large white arrow points to a steep cliff exposure of dark-toned rock. The small white arrow points to one of several ~18 meter (59 feet) diameter boulders that apparently broke off the steep, dark cliff and rolled down the slope to the basin floor. Each boulder left behind a trail on the relatively soft, dusty slope. In addition, some of the boulders exhibit a bright wind streak pointing toward the lower left/center, indicating that these boulders have been sitting there long enough to influence local wind distribution of sediment. Before the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission, boulder tracks such as these had never been seen on Mars before, but in the 1960s and 1970s several examples on the Moon and Earth were documented. The picture shown here covers an area approximately 2.8 kilometers (1.7 miles) by 4.4 kilometers (2.7 miles). Illumination is from the lower left. The picture was acquired in January 1998 during the MGS Aerobrake-1 Orbits imaging campaign, and was presented at the 30th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas, March 1999. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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Mars Surfaces at 15.6°N Lati
…
PIA01672
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Mars Surfaces at 15.6°N Latitude, March 1999 |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This set of 12 images was obtained during the period of Mars Orbiter Camera(MOC) focus tests and calibrations that executed in the first week of March 1999. Each picture was taken near 15.6°N latitude, which at this time was the sub-Earth point--the latitude at which Earth would be seen directly overhead if viewed from the ground. These pictures were obtained to provide a direct link between simultaneous Earth- and space-based telescope observations and the MOC. Each picture is shown at the full commanded resolution of 12 meters (39 feet) per pixel, and each covers an area 3 by 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) in size with illumination from the upper left. Typically, images that will be obtained by MOC during the Mapping Phase of the Mars Global Surveyor mission will have resolutions of 1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel--a factor of 8 improvement over the pictures shown here. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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A Complex, Ridged Terrain in
…
PIA01699
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
A Complex, Ridged Terrain in North Terra Cimmeria |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera continues to reveal a surface of variety. Never before has Mars been scrutinized in such detail, with images sampling narrow strips of terrain that are as varied as the surface of our own Earth. This picture provides an example of just how strange Mars looks at this new resolution. This surface--located in northern Terra Cimmeria about 210 km (130 mi)southwest of Gusev Crater--shows rounded, rocky ridges separated by lowlands filled with sand or dust. The fill--whether sand or dust--is probably hardened to form a surface strong enough to have bright windblown ripples and small impact craters on it. This picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide by 3.9 km (2.4 mi) and is illuminated from the upper left. By the way, do you see a duck in this picture? Look carefully. If you give up, click here! [ http://www.msss.com/mars/global_surveyor/camera/images/4_8_99_bumpy/quack.html ] Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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Layers in Cratered Highland
…
PIA01682
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Layers in Cratered Highland Crust Exposed by Tagus Vallis |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)images of the Valles Marineris chasm walls [ http://www.msss.com/mars/global_surveyor/camera/images/MENUS/marineris_list.html ] obtained early in the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission demonstrated that the upper martian crust--at least in the location of the Valles Marineris--is layered down to depths of several kilometers/miles. Over the past year, examination of additional MGS MOC images of other parts of Mars--including the vast, heavily cratered terrains of the red planet--also exhibit a layered crust. On Earth, geologists use the composition, texture, and sequence of layered rocks to decipher clues about the planet's history. Mars might offer a similar opportunity. Shown here is a picture of Tagus Vallis in the martian southern hemisphere. The picture on the left shows this valley in a view that is about 7 kilometers (4.4 miles)wide by 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) high. Tagus Vallis is the deep, steep-walled valley that runs almost diagonally from upper left to lower right. The white box shows the location of the magnified view of the valley walls on the right. Layered rock can be seen, exposed in the upper slopes of the valley. Bright sand dunes are visible on the valley floor (lower left) and on the upland plain (upper right). In this picture, the illumination is from the upper right. This image was obtained in April 1998 during the MGS Science Phasing Orbits imaging campaign. This result was presented at the 30th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston,Texas, March 1999. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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The Geodesy Campaign
PIA02023
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
The Geodesy Campaign |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Every day, Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) circles the red planet just over twelve times, and from their vantage point at 400 km altitude, the fisheye lenses of the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)Wide Angle (WA) cameras can see the entire surface. During typical operations, highly-summed two-color image strips are transmitted for each orbit and assembled into daily global weather maps, with a resolution of about 7.5 km (4.6 miles) per pixel. The small size and low resolution of these strips leaves most of the data bandwidth available for higher-priority Narrow Angle images. During May 1999, however, the Wide Angle cameras are being used instead to map the whole planet at the intrinsic resolution of the WA camera -- 230 meters (750 feet) per pixel. While the blue WA camera continues to capture the global map so that daily weather can still be monitored, the other WA camera (with the red filter) is building up swaths of full-resolution coverage. The Deep Space Network is tracking the spacecraft 24 hours a day during this geodesy campaign, and imaging data are being returned for about two-thirds of the time at 69 kbits/sec(somewhat faster than a 56K modem). During the other third of the time, the spacecraft is transmitting back to Earth one day's worth of recorded data from the other science instruments. Geodesy is the measurement of a planet's shape and the location of features on its surface. The intent of the geodesy campaign is to acquire, during a short period of time, simultaneous measurements by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), the Radio Science (RS)investigation, and the MOC. MOLA observations provide precise, absolute measurements of a set of profiles around the planet, but their spacing is quite large relative to their resolution. RS measurements provide detailed information about the position of the spacecraft, critical to processing both the MOC and MOLA data. MOC provides both a higher resolution base map on which the other data can be overlain and, using stereoscopic measurements, provides the potential for a ten-fold improvement in the spatial resolution of the topography. Owing to the nature of the MGS orbit, the groundtrack returns to within about 30 km of a given orbit 88 orbits (about one week) later. Thus, it takes a week to build up global coverage at full resolution. Figure MOC2-127a [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02022 ], shows the planning map of coverage during the first week of the campaign (top), and the resulting actual coverage (bottom). Gaps caused by recorder playbacks must be filled in a second week of imaging by moving the times of the playbacks. Also in the second week, stereo coverage is acquired by re-imaging areas from adjacent orbits at aside-looking angle. Figure MOC2-127b shows an example of such stereo from the Mare Tyrrhenum region, centered at 27.3°S, 227.0°W (NOTE: Red-blue glasses are needed to view the stereo effect). The crater that dominates the center of Figure MOC2-127b is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) across. Stereo coverage will be completed in the third and fourth weeks. The remaining data volume will be used to fill in gaps created by data losses, and to acquire a somewhat lower resolution global color image through the blue wide angle camera. The resulting dataset will provide global color and stereo coverage at about 300 m/pixel. Although similar coverage was obtained by the Viking mission in the late 1970s, Viking took over three years to cover the planet, and there are significant variations in lighting, weather, and surface features in the Viking images. A substantial improvement in the longitude/latitude grid is expected, which will have important benefits to future Mars exploration. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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The Geodesy Campaign
PIA02022
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
The Geodesy Campaign |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Figure MOC2-127b [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02023 ] is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) across. Stereo coverage will be completed in the third and fourth weeks. The remaining data volume will be used to fill in gaps created by data losses, and to acquire a somewhat lower resolution global color image through the blue wide angle camera. The resulting dataset will provide global color and stereo coverage at about 300 m/pixel. Although similar coverage was obtained by the Viking mission in the late 1970s, Viking took over three years to cover the planet, and there are significant variations in lighting, weather, and surface features in the Viking images. A substantial improvement in the longitude/latitude grid is expected, which will have important benefits to future Mars exploration. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO., Every day, Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) circles the red planet just over twelve times, and from their vantage point at 400 km altitude, the fisheye lenses of the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)Wide Angle (WA) cameras can see the entire surface. During typical operations, highly-summed two-color image strips are transmitted for each orbit and assembled into daily global weather maps, with a resolution of about 7.5 km (4.6 miles) per pixel. The small size and low resolution of these strips leaves most of the data bandwidth available for higher-priority narrow Angle images. During May 1999, however, the Wide Angle cameras are being used instead to map the whole planet at the intrinsic resolution of the WA camera -- 230 meters (750 feet) per pixel. While the blue WA camera continues to capture the global map so that daily weather can still be monitored, the other WA camera (with the red filter) is building up swaths of full-resolution coverage. The Deep Space Network is tracking the spacecraft 24 hours a day during this geodesy campaign, and imaging data are being returned for about two-thirds of the time at 69 kbits/sec (somewhat faster than a 56K modem). During the other third of the time, the spacecraft is transmitting back to Earth one day's worth of recorded data from the other science instruments. Geodesy is the measurement of a planet's shape and the location of features on its surface. The intent of the geodesy campaign is to acquire, during a short period of time, simultaneous measurements by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), the Radio Science (RS)investigation, and the MOC. MOLA observations provide precise, absolute measurements of a set of profiles around the planet, but their spacing is quite large relative to their resolution. RS measurements provide detailed information about the position of the spacecraft, critical to processing both the MOC and MOLA data. MOC provides both a higher resolution base map on which the other data can be overlain and, using stereoscopic measurements, provides the potential for a ten-fold improvement in the spatial resolution of the topography. Owing to the nature of the MGS orbit, the groundtrack returns to within about 30 km of a given orbit 88 orbits (about one week) later. Thus, it takes a week to build up global coverage at full resolution. Figure MOC2-127a shows the planning map of coverage during the first week of the campaign (top), and the resulting actual coverage (bottom). Gaps caused by recorder playbacks must be filled in a second week of imaging by moving the times of the playbacks. Also in the second week, stereo coverage is acquired by re-imaging areas from adjacent orbits at aside-looking angle. Figure MOC2-127b [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02023 ] shows an example of such stereo from the Mare Tyrrhenum region, centered at 27.3°S, 227.0°W (NOTE: Red-blue glasses are needed to view the stereo effect). The crater that dominates the center of |
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Indications of Subsurface Ic
…
PIA02072
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Indications of Subsurface Ice: Polygons on the Northern Plains |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Someone's kitchen floor? A stone patio?This picture actually does show a floor--the floor of an old impact crater on the northern plains of Mars. Each "tile" is somewhat larger than a football field. Polygonal patterns are familiar to Mars geologists because they are also common in arctic and antarctic environments on Earth. Typically, such polygons result from the stresses induced in frozen ground by the freeze-thaw cycles of subsurface ice. This picture was taken by MOC in May 1999 and is illuminated from the lower left. |
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Regional View of the Tharsis
…
PIA02049
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Regional View of the Tharsis Volcanoes |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The volcanoes of the Tharsis region are highlighted by this color image mosaic obtained on a single martian afternoon by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)onboard the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft. Olympus Mons dominates the upper left corner--it is one of the largest known volcanoes and is nearly 550 km (340 miles) wide. The grayscale image on the right shows the name of each volcano in the scene. The white or bluish-white features are clouds. Clouds are common over the larger Tharsis volcanoes in mid-afternoon. The four largest volcanoes are more than 15 km (9 mi) high. Viewed from Earth by telescope before any spacecraft had visited the planet, astronomers often described a "W"-shaped white cloud over the Tharsis region. This "W" was actually the result of seeing the combined effects of bright clouds hanging over the Ascraeus, Pavonis, Arsia, and Olympus volcanoes. The clouds result when warm air containing water vapor rises up the slopes of each volcano, cools at the higher altitude, and causes the water vapor to freeze and form a cloud of ice crystals. Pavonis Mons lies on the martian equator, north is up, and sunlight is illuminating the scene from the left. The picture is a mosaic of red and blue filter images taken on three consecutive orbits. The slightly blurred appearance of the left side of Arsia Mons results from distortion toward the edges of the images used to make the mosaic. To remove the blur, an image obtained on another day would be added to the mosaic--however, this image would not match well because the cloud patterns will have changed by the next day. Mosaics such as the one shown here are used to monitor changes in martian weather and to plan future observations. |
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Regional View of the Tharsis
…
PIA02049
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Regional View of the Tharsis Volcanoes |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The volcanoes of the Tharsis region are highlighted by this color image mosaic obtained on a single martian afternoon by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)onboard the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft. Olympus Mons dominates the upper left corner--it is one of the largest known volcanoes and is nearly 550 km (340 miles) wide. The grayscale image on the right shows the name of each volcano in the scene. The white or bluish-white features are clouds. Clouds are common over the larger Tharsis volcanoes in mid-afternoon. The four largest volcanoes are more than 15 km (9 mi) high. Viewed from Earth by telescope before any spacecraft had visited the planet, astronomers often described a "W"-shaped white cloud over the Tharsis region. This "W" was actually the result of seeing the combined effects of bright clouds hanging over the Ascraeus, Pavonis, Arsia, and Olympus volcanoes. The clouds result when warm air containing water vapor rises up the slopes of each volcano, cools at the higher altitude, and causes the water vapor to freeze and form a cloud of ice crystals. Pavonis Mons lies on the martian equator, north is up, and sunlight is illuminating the scene from the left. The picture is a mosaic of red and blue filter images taken on three consecutive orbits. The slightly blurred appearance of the left side of Arsia Mons results from distortion toward the edges of the images used to make the mosaic. To remove the blur, an image obtained on another day would be added to the mosaic--however, this image would not match well because the cloud patterns will have changed by the next day. Mosaics such as the one shown here are used to monitor changes in martian weather and to plan future observations. |
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Eroded, Layered Cratered Hig
…
PIA02043
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Eroded, Layered Cratered Highlands of Eastern Arabia Terra |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Click here to see a higher resolution version of MOC2_129a and MOC2_129b Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) narrow angle images provide high resolution views of the Martian surface that rival the quality of aerial photographs used to study the geology of Earth. Over the past year and a half, MOC images have helped to highlight the fact that much of the almost Moon-like heavily cratered terrains of Mars consist of layered materials. Eastern Arabia Terra is a region that was known from the Viking orbiter missions(1976-1980) to show vast tracts of eroded terrain. The image on the left, above, shows a regional view from Viking. Eastern Arabia is distinct for its rough-textured cratered terrain, and for the presence of the ancient, perhaps water-carved valley, Auqakuh Vallis. The center image (above) includes a high-resolution view from the Viking 1 orbiter, with a more recent image from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)MOC shown as an inset. The third image (above, right) is a MOC high resolution view that shows a portion of the ancient Auqakuh Vallis (just above center) and many eroded remnants of the ancient cratered terrain. The MOC image reveals dunes on the floor of Auqakuh Vallis, and shows a plethora of small, straight and curved ridges running across the terrain. The geological term for these ridges is "dike". Dikes most commonly form on Earth in volcanic terrain, when molten rock (magma) is injected into a crack in the subsurface. The magma cools, hardens, and later erosion removes the surrounding rock to leave behind the more resistant volcanic rock as a ridge. Shiprock in the northwest corner of New Mexico, U.S.A., is an example of a place on Earth where dike ridges are found. This MOC image is one of many that are being examined by the MOC Science Team in order to decipher the ancient geological history of the red planet. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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Eroded, Layered Cratered Hig
…
PIA02043
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Eroded, Layered Cratered Highlands of Eastern Arabia Terra |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Click here to see a higher resolution version of MOC2_129a and MOC2_129b Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) narrow angle images provide high resolution views of the Martian surface that rival the quality of aerial photographs used to study the geology of Earth. Over the past year and a half, MOC images have helped to highlight the fact that much of the almost Moon-like heavily cratered terrains of Mars consist of layered materials. Eastern Arabia Terra is a region that was known from the Viking orbiter missions(1976-1980) to show vast tracts of eroded terrain. The image on the left, above, shows a regional view from Viking. Eastern Arabia is distinct for its rough-textured cratered terrain, and for the presence of the ancient, perhaps water-carved valley, Auqakuh Vallis. The center image (above) includes a high-resolution view from the Viking 1 orbiter, with a more recent image from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)MOC shown as an inset. The third image (above, right) is a MOC high resolution view that shows a portion of the ancient Auqakuh Vallis (just above center) and many eroded remnants of the ancient cratered terrain. The MOC image reveals dunes on the floor of Auqakuh Vallis, and shows a plethora of small, straight and curved ridges running across the terrain. The geological term for these ridges is "dike". Dikes most commonly form on Earth in volcanic terrain, when molten rock (magma) is injected into a crack in the subsurface. The magma cools, hardens, and later erosion removes the surrounding rock to leave behind the more resistant volcanic rock as a ridge. Shiprock in the northwest corner of New Mexico, U.S.A., is an example of a place on Earth where dike ridges are found. This MOC image is one of many that are being examined by the MOC Science Team in order to decipher the ancient geological history of the red planet. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
|
Eroded, Layered Cratered Hig
…
PIA02043
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Eroded, Layered Cratered Highlands of Eastern Arabia Terra |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Click here to see a higher resolution version of MOC2_129a and MOC2_129b Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) narrow angle images provide high resolution views of the Martian surface that rival the quality of aerial photographs used to study the geology of Earth. Over the past year and a half, MOC images have helped to highlight the fact that much of the almost Moon-like heavily cratered terrains of Mars consist of layered materials. Eastern Arabia Terra is a region that was known from the Viking orbiter missions(1976-1980) to show vast tracts of eroded terrain. The image on the left, above, shows a regional view from Viking. Eastern Arabia is distinct for its rough-textured cratered terrain, and for the presence of the ancient, perhaps water-carved valley, Auqakuh Vallis. The center image (above) includes a high-resolution view from the Viking 1 orbiter, with a more recent image from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)MOC shown as an inset. The third image (above, right) is a MOC high resolution view that shows a portion of the ancient Auqakuh Vallis (just above center) and many eroded remnants of the ancient cratered terrain. The MOC image reveals dunes on the floor of Auqakuh Vallis, and shows a plethora of small, straight and curved ridges running across the terrain. The geological term for these ridges is "dike". Dikes most commonly form on Earth in volcanic terrain, when molten rock (magma) is injected into a crack in the subsurface. The magma cools, hardens, and later erosion removes the surrounding rock to leave behind the more resistant volcanic rock as a ridge. Shiprock in the northwest corner of New Mexico, U.S.A., is an example of a place on Earth where dike ridges are found. This MOC image is one of many that are being examined by the MOC Science Team in order to decipher the ancient geological history of the red planet. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
|
Eroded, Layered Cratered Hig
…
PIA02043
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Eroded, Layered Cratered Highlands of Eastern Arabia Terra |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Click here to see a higher resolution version of MOC2_129a and MOC2_129b Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) narrow angle images provide high resolution views of the Martian surface that rival the quality of aerial photographs used to study the geology of Earth. Over the past year and a half, MOC images have helped to highlight the fact that much of the almost Moon-like heavily cratered terrains of Mars consist of layered materials. Eastern Arabia Terra is a region that was known from the Viking orbiter missions(1976-1980) to show vast tracts of eroded terrain. The image on the left, above, shows a regional view from Viking. Eastern Arabia is distinct for its rough-textured cratered terrain, and for the presence of the ancient, perhaps water-carved valley, Auqakuh Vallis. The center image (above) includes a high-resolution view from the Viking 1 orbiter, with a more recent image from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)MOC shown as an inset. The third image (above, right) is a MOC high resolution view that shows a portion of the ancient Auqakuh Vallis (just above center) and many eroded remnants of the ancient cratered terrain. The MOC image reveals dunes on the floor of Auqakuh Vallis, and shows a plethora of small, straight and curved ridges running across the terrain. The geological term for these ridges is "dike". Dikes most commonly form on Earth in volcanic terrain, when molten rock (magma) is injected into a crack in the subsurface. The magma cools, hardens, and later erosion removes the surrounding rock to leave behind the more resistant volcanic rock as a ridge. Shiprock in the northwest corner of New Mexico, U.S.A., is an example of a place on Earth where dike ridges are found. This MOC image is one of many that are being examined by the MOC Science Team in order to decipher the ancient geological history of the red planet. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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Polar Structures
PIA02071
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Polar Structures |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The martian polar layered deposits exhibit features common to sedimentary rocks on Earth. The image on the left shows an angular unconformity, with horizontal layers overlying tilted beds. The image on the right shows deformed layers. Both pictures were taken on MGS's 445th orbit about the planet in July 1998. |
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New Cydonia Picture
PIA02092
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
New Cydonia Picture |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) onboard the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) orbiter, was designed specifically to bridge the gap between what can be seen from orbit in typical Mariner 9 and Viking orbiter images, and what can be seen from the ground by landers such as Viking 1 and Mars Pathfinder. The camera, therefore, takes pictures of extremely high resolution. These images are often comparable to aerial photographs used by geologists when they are exploring Earth. The highest resolution images that can be obtained are in the range of 1.4 to 2.0 meters (4.6 to 6.5 feet) per pixel. Last year, several pictures of a portion of the Cydonia region of Mars were photographed at lower resolution than is now possible in the Mapping Phase of the MGS mission. The Cydonia region is perhaps most "famous" for being the location of a feature that--in Viking Orbiter images--seemed to resemble a human face. Nearby buttes and hills were considered by some to represent a "city." The MGS spacecraft flew over the "famous" Cydonia landforms again--for the first time since April 1998--on June 27, 1999, at 10:53 UTC (Greenwich Time Zone). The new MOC images shown here provide the highest resolution view yet obtained of the "Cydonia city" landforms. The picture at the above left (MOC2-142a), shows the regional context. Cydonia constitutes a transition zone between the cratered highlands of Arabia Terra, and the less-cratered lowlands of Acidalia Planitia. This transition zone contains thousands of mesas and buttes--somewhat like the Monument Valley region along the Arizona/Utah border in North America. The white box shows the location of the new high resolution view of the "city" landforms. The image is a red wide angle context frame obtained by MOC at the same time that the high resolution view was acquired. The picture is illuminated from the lower left, and north is toward the upper right. The picture in the center is a processed version of the new MOC narrow angle camera image of this portion of Cydonia. You can view the full-size image Like the context image (above left), the high resolution view (center) is illuminated from the lower left. North is toward the upper right. Boulders can be seen on some of the hill slopes, and the plains between the hills are rough and pitted. To conserve data in order to account for downtrack position uncertainties, only 1/2 of the MOC sensor was used to acquire this picture (allowing the image to be twice the length): it covers an area that is 1.5 km (0.9 mi) wide. The picture at the above right is the unprocessed MOC image. This what the processed image (center) looked like before it was rotated 180° (so that north is toward the top) and corrected for a 1.5 aspect ratio. The pixel size in the unprocessed image is different in the cross-track (left-right) and down-track(top-bottom) directions, thus making the craters look "squished." The cross-track scale is about 1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel, while the down-track scale is about 2.25 meters (7.4 feet) per pixel. In the unprocessed image, the illumination is coming from the upper right. You can view this image at full-size (use "Save this link as..." and examine (MOC2-142c 100% Size) or see it via your web-browser at half-size (MOC2-142c 50% Size). For a look at the Cydonia images previously obtained by MGS MOC in 1998, CLICKHERE [ http://www.msss.com/mars/global_surveyor/camera/images/MENUS/cydonia_list.html ]. For a pre-MGS discussion of Viking orbiter images of the "Face on Mars,"CLICKHERE [ http://www.msss.com/education/facepage/face.html ]. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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New Cydonia Picture
PIA02092
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
New Cydonia Picture |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) onboard the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) orbiter, was designed specifically to bridge the gap between what can be seen from orbit in typical Mariner 9 and Viking orbiter images, and what can be seen from the ground by landers such as Viking 1 and Mars Pathfinder. The camera, therefore, takes pictures of extremely high resolution. These images are often comparable to aerial photographs used by geologists when they are exploring Earth. The highest resolution images that can be obtained are in the range of 1.4 to 2.0 meters (4.6 to 6.5 feet) per pixel. Last year, several pictures of a portion of the Cydonia region of Mars were photographed at lower resolution than is now possible in the Mapping Phase of the MGS mission. The Cydonia region is perhaps most "famous" for being the location of a feature that--in Viking Orbiter images--seemed to resemble a human face. Nearby buttes and hills were considered by some to represent a "city." The MGS spacecraft flew over the "famous" Cydonia landforms again--for the first time since April 1998--on June 27, 1999, at 10:53 UTC (Greenwich Time Zone). The new MOC images shown here provide the highest resolution view yet obtained of the "Cydonia city" landforms. The picture at the above left (MOC2-142a), shows the regional context. Cydonia constitutes a transition zone between the cratered highlands of Arabia Terra, and the less-cratered lowlands of Acidalia Planitia. This transition zone contains thousands of mesas and buttes--somewhat like the Monument Valley region along the Arizona/Utah border in North America. The white box shows the location of the new high resolution view of the "city" landforms. The image is a red wide angle context frame obtained by MOC at the same time that the high resolution view was acquired. The picture is illuminated from the lower left, and north is toward the upper right. The picture in the center is a processed version of the new MOC narrow angle camera image of this portion of Cydonia. You can view the full-size image Like the context image (above left), the high resolution view (center) is illuminated from the lower left. North is toward the upper right. Boulders can be seen on some of the hill slopes, and the plains between the hills are rough and pitted. To conserve data in order to account for downtrack position uncertainties, only 1/2 of the MOC sensor was used to acquire this picture (allowing the image to be twice the length): it covers an area that is 1.5 km (0.9 mi) wide. The picture at the above right is the unprocessed MOC image. This what the processed image (center) looked like before it was rotated 180° (so that north is toward the top) and corrected for a 1.5 aspect ratio. The pixel size in the unprocessed image is different in the cross-track (left-right) and down-track(top-bottom) directions, thus making the craters look "squished." The cross-track scale is about 1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel, while the down-track scale is about 2.25 meters (7.4 feet) per pixel. In the unprocessed image, the illumination is coming from the upper right. You can view this image at full-size (use "Save this link as..." and examine (MOC2-142c 100% Size) or see it via your web-browser at half-size (MOC2-142c 50% Size). For a look at the Cydonia images previously obtained by MGS MOC in 1998, CLICKHERE [ http://www.msss.com/mars/global_surveyor/camera/images/MENUS/cydonia_list.html ]. For a pre-MGS discussion of Viking orbiter images of the "Face on Mars,"CLICKHERE [ http://www.msss.com/education/facepage/face.html ]. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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New Cydonia Picture
PIA02092
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
New Cydonia Picture |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) onboard the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) orbiter, was designed specifically to bridge the gap between what can be seen from orbit in typical Mariner 9 and Viking orbiter images, and what can be seen from the ground by landers such as Viking 1 and Mars Pathfinder. The camera, therefore, takes pictures of extremely high resolution. These images are often comparable to aerial photographs used by geologists when they are exploring Earth. The highest resolution images that can be obtained are in the range of 1.4 to 2.0 meters (4.6 to 6.5 feet) per pixel. Last year, several pictures of a portion of the Cydonia region of Mars were photographed at lower resolution than is now possible in the Mapping Phase of the MGS mission. The Cydonia region is perhaps most "famous" for being the location of a feature that--in Viking Orbiter images--seemed to resemble a human face. Nearby buttes and hills were considered by some to represent a "city." The MGS spacecraft flew over the "famous" Cydonia landforms again--for the first time since April 1998--on June 27, 1999, at 10:53 UTC (Greenwich Time Zone). The new MOC images shown here provide the highest resolution view yet obtained of the "Cydonia city" landforms. The picture at the above left (MOC2-142a), shows the regional context. Cydonia constitutes a transition zone between the cratered highlands of Arabia Terra, and the less-cratered lowlands of Acidalia Planitia. This transition zone contains thousands of mesas and buttes--somewhat like the Monument Valley region along the Arizona/Utah border in North America. The white box shows the location of the new high resolution view of the "city" landforms. The image is a red wide angle context frame obtained by MOC at the same time that the high resolution view was acquired. The picture is illuminated from the lower left, and north is toward the upper right. The picture in the center is a processed version of the new MOC narrow angle camera image of this portion of Cydonia. You can view the full-size image Like the context image (above left), the high resolution view (center) is illuminated from the lower left. North is toward the upper right. Boulders can be seen on some of the hill slopes, and the plains between the hills are rough and pitted. To conserve data in order to account for downtrack position uncertainties, only 1/2 of the MOC sensor was used to acquire this picture (allowing the image to be twice the length): it covers an area that is 1.5 km (0.9 mi) wide. The picture at the above right is the unprocessed MOC image. This what the processed image (center) looked like before it was rotated 180° (so that north is toward the top) and corrected for a 1.5 aspect ratio. The pixel size in the unprocessed image is different in the cross-track (left-right) and down-track(top-bottom) directions, thus making the craters look "squished." The cross-track scale is about 1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel, while the down-track scale is about 2.25 meters (7.4 feet) per pixel. In the unprocessed image, the illumination is coming from the upper right. You can view this image at full-size (use "Save this link as..." and examine (MOC2-142c 100% Size) or see it via your web-browser at half-size (MOC2-142c 50% Size). For a look at the Cydonia images previously obtained by MGS MOC in 1998, CLICKHERE [ http://www.msss.com/mars/global_surveyor/camera/images/MENUS/cydonia_list.html ]. For a pre-MGS discussion of Viking orbiter images of the "Face on Mars,"CLICKHERE [ http://www.msss.com/education/facepage/face.html ]. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
|
New Cydonia Picture
PIA02092
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
New Cydonia Picture |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) onboard the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) orbiter, was designed specifically to bridge the gap between what can be seen from orbit in typical Mariner 9 and Viking orbiter images, and what can be seen from the ground by landers such as Viking 1 and Mars Pathfinder. The camera, therefore, takes pictures of extremely high resolution. These images are often comparable to aerial photographs used by geologists when they are exploring Earth. The highest resolution images that can be obtained are in the range of 1.4 to 2.0 meters (4.6 to 6.5 feet) per pixel. Last year, several pictures of a portion of the Cydonia region of Mars were photographed at lower resolution than is now possible in the Mapping Phase of the MGS mission. The Cydonia region is perhaps most "famous" for being the location of a feature that--in Viking Orbiter images--seemed to resemble a human face. Nearby buttes and hills were considered by some to represent a "city." The MGS spacecraft flew over the "famous" Cydonia landforms again--for the first time since April 1998--on June 27, 1999, at 10:53 UTC (Greenwich Time Zone). The new MOC images shown here provide the highest resolution view yet obtained of the "Cydonia city" landforms. The picture at the above left (MOC2-142a), shows the regional context. Cydonia constitutes a transition zone between the cratered highlands of Arabia Terra, and the less-cratered lowlands of Acidalia Planitia. This transition zone contains thousands of mesas and buttes--somewhat like the Monument Valley region along the Arizona/Utah border in North America. The white box shows the location of the new high resolution view of the "city" landforms. The image is a red wide angle context frame obtained by MOC at the same time that the high resolution view was acquired. The picture is illuminated from the lower left, and north is toward the upper right. The picture in the center is a processed version of the new MOC narrow angle camera image of this portion of Cydonia. You can view the full-size image Like the context image (above left), the high resolution view (center) is illuminated from the lower left. North is toward the upper right. Boulders can be seen on some of the hill slopes, and the plains between the hills are rough and pitted. To conserve data in order to account for downtrack position uncertainties, only 1/2 of the MOC sensor was used to acquire this picture (allowing the image to be twice the length): it covers an area that is 1.5 km (0.9 mi) wide. The picture at the above right is the unprocessed MOC image. This what the processed image (center) looked like before it was rotated 180° (so that north is toward the top) and corrected for a 1.5 aspect ratio. The pixel size in the unprocessed image is different in the cross-track (left-right) and down-track(top-bottom) directions, thus making the craters look "squished." The cross-track scale is about 1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel, while the down-track scale is about 2.25 meters (7.4 feet) per pixel. In the unprocessed image, the illumination is coming from the upper right. You can view this image at full-size (use "Save this link as..." and examine (MOC2-142c 100% Size) or see it via your web-browser at half-size (MOC2-142c 50% Size). For a look at the Cydonia images previously obtained by MGS MOC in 1998, CLICKHERE [ http://www.msss.com/mars/global_surveyor/camera/images/MENUS/cydonia_list.html ]. For a pre-MGS discussion of Viking orbiter images of the "Face on Mars,"CLICKHERE [ http://www.msss.com/education/facepage/face.html ]. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. |
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