Narrow Search
 
 
Advanced Search

Browse All : Panoramic Camera of Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Printer Friendly
1-34 of 34
     
     
Empty Nest
title Empty Nest
date 01.18.2004
description This image mosaic taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rover's landing site, the Columbia Memorial Station, at Gusev Crater, Mars. This spectacular view may encapsulate Spirit's entire journey, from lander to its possible final destination toward the east hills. On its way, the rover will travel 250 meters (820 feet) northeast to a large crater approximately 200 meters (660 feet) across, the ridge of which can be seen to the left of this image. To the right are the east hills, about 3 kilometers (2 miles) away from the lander. The picture was taken on the 16th martian day, or sol, of the mission (Jan. 18/19, 2004). A portion of Spirit's solar panels appear in the foreground. Data from the panoramic camera's green, blue and infrared filters were combined to create this approximate true color image. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Hole in One
title Hole in One
description The interior of a crater surrounding the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity at Meridiani Planum on Mars can be seen in this color image from the rover's panoramic camera. This is the darkest landing site ever visited by a spacecraft on Mars. The rim of the crater is approximately 10 meters (32 feet) from the rover. The crater is estimated to be 20 meters (65 feet) in diameter. Scientists are intrigued by the abundance of rock outcrops dispersed throughout the crater, as well as the crater's soil, which appears to be a mixture of coarse gray grains and fine reddish grains. Data taken from the camera's near-infrared, green and blue filters were combined to create this approximate true color picture, taken on the first day of Opportunity's journey. The view is to the west-southwest of the rover. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Rover Spirit Gets a Cleaning
title Rover Spirit Gets a Cleaning
date 03.23.2005
description These two images from 10 days apart show that dust was removed from the panoramic camera's calibration target on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. Spirit's panoramic camera took the picture on the left on the rover's 416th martian day, or sol, (March 5, 2005) and took the picture on the right on sol 426 (March 15, 2005). During the time in-between, other evidence of dust-lifting winds were a jump in power output by Spirit's solar arrays on sol 420 from removal of some accumulated dust, and sighting of two dust devils in sol 421 images from Spirit. The size of the base plate on the calibration target shown in both of these images is 8 centimeters (3.15 inches) on each side. These are the panoramic camera team's best current attempt at generating "true color" views of what these scenes would look like if viewed by a human on Mars. They were generated from mathematical combinations of six calibrated, left-eye Pancam images for each sequence, using filters ranging from 430-nanometer to 750-nanometer wavelengths. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Two Moons Passing in the Nig …
title Two Moons Passing in the Night
date 08.26.2005
description Taking advantage of extra solar energy collected during the day, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit settled in for an evening of stargazing, photographing the two moons of Mars as they crossed the night sky. "It is incredibly cool to be running an observatory on another planet," said planetary scientist Jim Bell of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., lead scientist for the panoramic cameras on Spirit and Opportunity. In this animation, both martian moons, Deimos on the left and Phobos on the right, travel across the night sky in front of the constellation Sagittarius. Part of Sagittarius resembles an upside-down teapot. Phobos is the brighter object on the right, Deimos is on the left. Spirit acquired these enhanced-brightness images with the panoramic camera on the night of sol 585 (Aug. 26, 2005). Scientists will use images of the two moons to better map their orbital positions, learn more about their composition, and monitor the presence of nighttime clouds or haze. Spirit took the six images that make up this animation using the camera's broadband filter, which was designed specifically for acquiring images under low-light conditions. *Image credit:* NASA/JPL/Cornell/ Texas A&M
Mars Rover Panorama Shows Vi …
title Mars Rover Panorama Shows Vista From 'Lookout' Point
date 04.29.2005
description From a ridgeline vantage point overlooking slopes, valleys and plains, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has returned its latest color panorama of the martian landscape. The approximately true color image shows a full 360-degree view from a site informally named "Larry's Lookout," about halfway up "Husband Hill." Dr. Jim Bell of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., lead scientist for the panoramic cameras on both the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers, said, "Spirit and the rover team worked hard over many weeks to get to this vantage point along the flanks of Husband Hill.  The rugged ridge and valley terrain seen here is similar in some respects to the view seen months earlier at the 'West Spur,' but the chemistry and mineralogy here are significantly different. Specifically, some of the areas seen here amid the outcrop rocks and in places where the subsurface was exposed by the rover wheels contain the highest sulfur abundances ever measured by Spirit." The view includes the summit of Husband Hill about 200 meters (about 660 feet) southward and about 45 meters (about 150 feet) higher. As Spirit continues uphill, scientists are looking for evidence about whether the intensity of water- related alteration increases with elevation or whether there are pockets of more heavily altered rocks and soils scattered throughout the hills. Spirit's panoramic camera took more than 300 individual frames between Feb. 27 and March 2 that are combined into the big picture. Downloading the frames to Earth took several weeks, and processing took additional time. Imaging specialists at Cornell and at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., calibrated the color and assembled the image. Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, successfully completed three-month primary missions a year ago.  In extended missions since then, they have been exploring at increasing distances from their landing sites. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages NASA's Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Spirit's "Lookout" panorama is also available online at http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/mer_main.html [ http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/mer_main.html ]and http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] .
Eyeing Eagle Crater
title Eyeing Eagle Crater
description This image mosaic, compiled from navigation and panoramic camera images during the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's 33rd, 35th, and 36th sols on Mars, shows a panoramic view of the crater where the rover had been exploring since its dramatic arrival in late January 2004. The crater, now informally referred to as "Eagle Crater," is approximately 22 meters (72 feet) in diameter. Opportunity's lander is visible in the center of the image. Track marks reveal the rover's progress. The rover cameras recorded this view as Opportunity climbed close to the crater rim as part of a soil survey campaign. *Image credit*: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Earth From Mars
title Earth From Mars
date 03.08.2004
description This is the first image ever taken of Earth from the surface of a planet beyond the Moon. It was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit one hour before sunrise on the 63rd Martian day, or sol, of its mission. The image is a mosaic of images taken by the rover's navigation camera showing a broad view of the sky, and an image taken by the rover's panoramic camera of Earth. The contrast in the panoramic camera image was increased two times to make Earth easier to see.The inset shows a combination of four panoramic camera images zoomed in on Earth. The arrow points to Earth. Earth was too faint to be detected in images taken with the panoramic camera's color filters. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Texas A&M
A Bird's-Eye View of Erebus
title A Bird's-Eye View of Erebus
date 11.23.2005
description This false-color view combines frames taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on the rover's 652 through 663 Martian days, or sols (Nov. 23 to Dec. 5, 2005), at the edge of Erebus Crater. The mosaic is presented as a vertical projection. This type of projection provides a true-to-scale overhead view of the rover deck and nearby surrounding terrain. The view here shows outcrop rocks, sand dunes, and other features out to a distance of about 25 meters (82 feet) from the rover. Opportunity examined targets on the outcrop called "Rimrock" in front of the rover, testing the mobility and operation of Opportunity's robotic arm. The view shows examples of the dunes and ripples that Opportunity has been crossing as the rover drives on the Meridiani plains. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell
'McMurdo' Panorama from Spir …
title 'McMurdo' Panorama from Spirit's 'Winter Haven'
description This 360-degree view, called the "McMurdo" panorama, comes from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. From April through October 2006, Spirit has stayed on a small hill known as "Low Ridge." There, the rover's solar panels are tilted toward the sun to maintain enough solar power for Spirit to keep making scientific observations throughout the winter on southern Mars. This view of the surroundings from Spirit's "Winter Haven" is presented in approximately true color. Oct. 26, 2006, marks Spirit's 1,000th sol of what was planned as a 90-sol mission. (A sol is a Martian day, which lasts 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds). The rover has lived through the most challenging part of its second Martian winter. Its solar power levels are rising again. Spring in the southern hemisphere of Mars will begin in early 2007. Before that, the rover team hopes to start driving Spirit again toward scientifically interesting places in the "Inner Basin" and "Columbia Hills" inside Gusev crater. The McMurdo panorama is providing team members with key pieces of scientific and topographic information for choosing where to continue Spirit's exploration adventure. The Pancam began shooting component images of this panorama during Spirit's sol 814 (April 18, 2006) and completed the part shown here on sol 932 (Aug. 17, 2006). The panorama was acquired using all 13 of the Pancam's color filters, using lossless compression for the red and blue stereo filters, and only modest levels of compression on the remaining filters. The overall panorama consists of 1,449 Pancam images and represents a raw data volume of nearly 500 megabytes. It is thus the largest, highest-fidelity view of Mars acquired from either rover. Additional photo coverage of the parts of the rover deck not shown here was completed on sol 980 (Oct. 5 , 2006). The team is completing the processing and mosaicking of those final pieces of the panorama, and that image will be released on the Web shortly to augment this McMurdo panorama view. This beautiful scene reveals a tremendous amount of detail in Spirit's surroundings. Many dark, porous-textured volcanic rocks can be seen around the rover, including many on Low Ridge. Two rocks to the right of center, brighter and smoother-looking in this image and more reflective in infrared observations by Spirit's miniature thermal emission spectrometer, are thought to be meteorites. On the right, "Husband Hill" on the horizon, the rippled "El Dorado" sand dune field near the base of that hill, and lighter-toned "Home Plate" below the dunes provide context for Spirit's travels since mid-2005. Left of center, tracks and a trench dug by Spirit's right-front wheel, which no longer rotates, have exposed bright underlying material. This bright material is evidence of sulfur-rich salty minerals in the subsurface, which may provide clues about the watery past of this part of Gusev Crater. Spirit has stayed busy at Winter Haven during the past, six months even without driving. In addition to acquiring this spectacular panorama, the rover team has also acquired significant new assessments of the elemental chemistry and mineralogy of rocks and soil targets within reach of the rover's arm. The team plans soon to have Spirit drive to a very nearby spot on Low Ridge to access different rock and soil samples while maintaining a good solar panel tilt toward the sun for the rest of the Martian winter. Despite the long span of time needed for acquiring this 360-degree view -- a few images at a time every few sols over a total of 119 sols because the available power was so low -- the lighting and color remain remarkably uniform across the mosaic. This fact attests to the repeatability of wintertime sols on Mars in the southern hemisphere.
Opportunity's Second Martian …
title Opportunity's Second Martian Birthday at Cape Verde
date 10.20.2007
description A promontory nicknamed "Cape Verde" can be seen jutting out from the walls of Victoria Crater in this approximate true-color picture taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The rover took this picture on martian day, or sol, 1329 (Oct. 20, 2007), more than a month after it began descending down the crater walls - and just 9 sols shy of its second Martian birthday on sol 1338 (Oct. 29, 2007). Opportunity landed on the Red Planet on Jan. 25, 2004. That's nearly four years ago on Earth, but only two on Mars because Mars takes longer to travel around the sun than Earth. One Martian year equals 687 Earth days. The overall soft quality of the image, and the "haze" seen in the lower right portion, are the result of scattered light from dust on the front sapphire window of the rover's camera. This view was taken using three panoramic-camera filters, admitting light with wavelengths centered at 750 nanometers (near infrared), 530 nanometers (green) and 430 nanometers (violet). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell
Red Planet
title Red Planet
description This is the first color image of Mars taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. It is the highest resolution image ever taken on the surface of another planet. A high-resolution TIFF version of this image is available at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/?IDNumber=pia04995. *Image credit*: NASA/JPL/Cornell University
Peeking Out
title Peeking Out
description From its new location at the inner edge of the small crater surrounding it, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was able to look out to the plains where its backshell (left) and parachute (right) landed. This approximate true-color image was created by combining data from the panoramic camera's red, green and blue filters. *Image credit*: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Rover Eyes
title Rover Eyes
description This image taken shows the panoramic camera used onboard both Mars Exploration Rovers. The panel to the lower right highlights the multicolored filter wheel that allows the camera to see a rainbow of colors, in addition to infrared bands of light. By seeing Mars in all its colors, scientists can gain insight into the different minerals that constitute its rocks and soil. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL
Still Going
title Still Going
date 09.26.2004
description This frame from Spirit's panoramic camera is the 50,000th image from NASA's pair of Mars Exploration Rovers. It shows the camera's calibration target, the most photographed subject on Mars, with a glimpse past it to rocks and soil at the location in the "Columbia Hills" where Spirit was examining soil during its 260th martian day, or sol (Sept. 25, 2004). The outer circle of the calibration target is 8 centimeters (3.15 inches) in diameter. The target includes reference colors and a shadow-casting post. Most days when the panoramic camera is used, it takes a series of images of the calibration target through different filters to aid in accurate interpretation of the other images it takes. This frame was taken by the left eye of the camera's stereo pair, through a red-orange filter admitting light with wavelengths centered at 600 nanometers. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Size Comparison, Mars Scienc …
title Size Comparison, Mars Science Laboratory and Mars Exploration Rover
description An artist's concept of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (left) serves to compare it with Spirit, one of NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers. Mars Science Laboratory is in development for a launch opportunity in 2009, a landing on Mars in 2010 and investigation of that planet's past or present ability to sustain microbial life. The images of Spirit and the more advanced rover are both superimposed by special effects on a scene from Mars'"Columbia Hills," photographed by Spirit's panoramic camera on April 13, 2005, and presented here in false color (see Next Stop: Methuselah [PIA07855]). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
FIDO Rover Retracted Arm and …
Title FIDO Rover Retracted Arm and Camera
Full Description The Field Integrated Design and Operations (FIDO) rover extends the large mast that carries its panoramic camera. The FIDO is being used in ongoing NASA field tests to simulate driving conditions on Mars. FIDO is controlled from the mission control room at JPL's Planetary Robotics Laboratory in Pasadena. FIDO uses a robot arm to manipulate science instruments and it has a new mini-corer or drill to extract and cache rock samples. Several camera systems onboard allow the rover to collect science and navigation images by remote-control. The rover is about the size of a coffee table and weighs as much as a St. Bernard, about 70 kilograms (150 pounds). It is approximately 85 centimeters (about 33 inches) wide, 105 centimeters (41 inches) long, and 55 centimeters (22 inches) high. The rover moves up to 300 meters an hour (less than a mile per hour) over smooth terrain, using its onboard stereo vision systems to detect and avoid obstacles as it travels "on-the-fly." During these tests, FIDO is powered by both solar panels that cover the top of the rover and by replaceable, rechargeable batteries.
Date 04/01/1999
NASA Center Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Martian Eclipses: Deimos and …
Title Martian Eclipses: Deimos and Phobos
Description [figure removed for brevity, see original site] [figure removed for brevity, see original site] [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Deimos [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Phobos This panel combines the first photographs of solar eclipses by Mars' two moons. The panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured the images as the first in a planned series of eclipse observations by Opportunity and Spirit. The Deimos image was taken at 03:04 Universal Time on March 4, 2004. This irregularly shaped moon is only 15 kilometers (9 miles) across in its longest dimension. It appears as just a speck in front of the disc of the Sun. The Phobos image was taken as that moon grazed the edge of the solar disc at 02:46 Universal Time on March 7, 2004. Phobos is 27 kilometers (17 miles) in its longest dimension. Its apparent size relative to Deimos is even greater because it orbits much closer to Mars' surface than Deimos does.
Date 03.08.2004
Martian Moon Eclipses Sun, i …
Title Martian Moon Eclipses Sun, in Stages
Description This panel illustrates the transit of the martian moon Phobos across the Sun. It is made up of images taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on the morning of the 45th martian day, or sol, of its mission. This observation will help refine our knowledge of the orbit and position of Phobos. Other spacecraft may be able to take better images of Phobos using this new information. This event is similar to solar eclipses seen on Earth in which our Moon passes in front of the Sun. The images were taken by the rover's panoramic camera.
Date 03.13.2004
Martian Sunsets More Than Ju …
Title Martian Sunsets More Than Just Pretty
Description This image shows the Sun as it appears on Mars throughout the day. Scientists monitor the dimming of the setting Sun to assess how much dust is in the martian atmosphere. The pictures were taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic camera.
Date 01.10.2004
Hills Over Yonder
Title Hills Over Yonder
Description [figure removed for brevity, see original site]*Click on the image for Hills Over Yonder (QTVR)* The arrows in this 360-degree panoramic view of the martian surface identify hills and craters on the martian horizon that scientists can easily find with orbiters Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey. The image was taken on Mars by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit.
Date 01.13.2004
2003 Rover
title 2003 Rover
Description This artist's rendering shows a view of NASA's Mars 2003 Rover as it sets off roam the surface of the red planet. The rover is scheduled for launch in June 2003 and will arrive in January 2004, shielded in its landing by an airbag shell. The airbag/lander structure, which has no scientific instruments of its own, is shown to the right in this image, behind the rover. The rover will carry five scientific instruments and rock abrading device. The Panoramic Camera and the Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer are located on the large mast shown on the front of the rover. The camera will be supplied by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and the spectrometer will be supplied by Arizona State University in Tempe. The payload also includes magnetic targets, provided by the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, that will collect magnetic dust for further study by the science instruments. The Rock Abrasion Tool is located on a robotic arm that can be deployed to study rocks and soil.(In this view, the robotic arm is tucked under the front of the rover.) The tool, provided by Honeybee Robotics Ltd., New York, N.Y., will grind away the outer surfaces of rocks, which may be dusty and weathered, allowing the science instruments to determine the nature of rock interiors. The three instruments that will study the abraded rocks are a Mossbauer Spectrometer, provided by the Johannes Gutenberg- University Mainz, Germany, an Alpha-Proton X-ray Spectrometer provided by Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, also in Mainz, Germany, and a Microscopic Imager, supplied by JPL. The payload also includes magnetic targets, provided by the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, that will collect magnetic dust for further study by the science instruments. In a landing similar to that of the 1997 Mars Pathfinder spacecraft, a parachute will deploy to slow the spacecraft down and airbags will inflate to cushion the landing. Petals of the landing structure will unfold to release the rover, which will drive off to begin its exploration. JPL manages the Mars 2003 Rover for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY is the lead institution for the science payload.
'Wooly Patch' Rock in Color …
PIA06971
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
Title 'Wooly Patch' Rock in Color Stereo
Original Caption Released with Image Image processing experts at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory created this color stereo view of a rock studied by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in July. The process of creating the image in color is similar to combining two slightly offset black-and-white images except that the colors corresponding to the two images are separated into offset right-eye and left-eye views. For comparison, the two-dimensional (non-stereo) image representing the panoramic-camera team's best attempt at generating a "true color" view of what this rock would look like if seen by a human on Mars was posted on the Web on July 30, 2004 (see PIA06741 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06741 ]). The color image was generated from a mathematical combination of six calibrated images acquired through filters for wavelengths between 430 nanometers and 750 nanometers. This image shows two holes created by Spirit's rock abrasion tool in a rock dubbed "Wooly Patch" near the base of the "Columbia Hills" inside Gusev Crater. The rover took the images with its panoramic camera on its 200th martian day, or sol (July 25, 2004). Scientists speculate that this relatively soft rock may have been altered by water, small cracks may be the result of interaction with water-rich fluids.
'Cahokia' Panorama
PIA06917
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
Title 'Cahokia' Panorama
Original Caption Released with Image "" Click on the image for 'Cahokia' Panorama (QTVR) This stunning image mosaic of the "Columbia Hills" is the first 360-degree panorama taken since the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit arrived at the hills over a month ago. The rover has been busy studying the rocks here, which show evidence of past alteration by water. The dark patch of soil to the right is the spot where Spirit stopped for engineering work on its right front wheel. Spirit's tracks can be followed from there all the way back to "Bonneville Crater" and the original landing site, more than 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) away. This approximate true-color image, nicknamed the "Cahokia panorama" after the Native American archaeological site near St. Louis, was acquired between sols 213 to 223 (Aug. 9 to 19, 2004). The panorama consists of 470 images acquired through six panoramic camera filters (750 to 480 nanometers). It took until the week of sol 237 (Sept. 2) to downlink all the data back to Earth. Several more weeks of image processing and geometric mapping by team members at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., were required to stitch all the images together into this spectacular mosaic.
'Cahokia' Panorama
PIA06917
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
Title 'Cahokia' Panorama
Original Caption Released with Image "" Click on the image for 'Cahokia' Panorama (QTVR) This stunning image mosaic of the "Columbia Hills" is the first 360-degree panorama taken since the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit arrived at the hills over a month ago. The rover has been busy studying the rocks here, which show evidence of past alteration by water. The dark patch of soil to the right is the spot where Spirit stopped for engineering work on its right front wheel. Spirit's tracks can be followed from there all the way back to "Bonneville Crater" and the original landing site, more than 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) away. This approximate true-color image, nicknamed the "Cahokia panorama" after the Native American archaeological site near St. Louis, was acquired between sols 213 to 223 (Aug. 9 to 19, 2004). The panorama consists of 470 images acquired through six panoramic camera filters (750 to 480 nanometers). It took until the week of sol 237 (Sept. 2) to downlink all the data back to Earth. Several more weeks of image processing and geometric mapping by team members at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., were required to stitch all the images together into this spectacular mosaic.
Opportunity on 'Cabo Frio' ( …
PIA01292
Panoramic Camera
Title Opportunity on 'Cabo Frio' (Simulated)
Original Caption Released with Image This image superimposes an artist's concept of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity atop the 'Cabo Frio' promontory on the rim of 'Victoria Crater' in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. It is done to give a sense of scale. The underlying image was taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera during the rover's 952nd Martian day, or sol (Sept. 28, 2006). This synthetic image of NASA's Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover at Victoria Crater was produced using "Virtual Presence in Space" technology. Developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., this technology combines visualization and image processing tools with Hollywood-style special effects. The image was created using a photorealistic model of the rover and an approximately full-color mosaic.
'Mars-shine'
PIA03201
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
Title 'Mars-shine'
Original Caption Released with Image 'Mars-shine' Composite NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit continues to take advantage of favorable solar power conditions to conduct occasional nighttime astronomical observations from the summit region of "Husband Hill." Spirit has been observing the martian moons Phobos and Deimos to learn more about their orbits and surface properties. This has included observing eclipses. On Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's orbit takes it exactly between the Sun and Earth, casting parts of Earth into shadow. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is exactly between the Sun and the Moon, casting the Moon into shadow and often giving it a ghostly orange-reddish color. This color is created by sunlight reflected through Earth's atmosphere into the shadowed region. The primary difference between terrestrial and martian eclipses is that Mars' moons are too small to completely block the Sun from view during solar eclipses. Recently, Spirit observed a "lunar" eclipse on Mars. Phobos, the larger of the two martian moons, was photographed while slipping into the shadow of Mars. Jim Bell, the astronomer in charge of the rover's panoramic camera (Pancam), suggested calling it a "Phobal" eclipse rather than a lunar eclipse as a way of identifying which of the dozens of moons in our solar system was being cast into shadow. With the help of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's navigation team, the Pancam team planned instructions to Spirit for acquiring the views shown here of Phobos as it entered into a lunar eclipse on the evening of the rover's 639th martian day, or sol (Oct. 20, 2005) on Mars. This image is a time-lapse composite of eight Pancam images of Phobos moving across the martian sky. The entire eclipse lasted more than 26 minutes, but Spirit was able to observe only in the first 15 minutes. During the time closest to the shadow crossing, Spirit's cameras were programmed to take images every 10 seconds. In the first three images, Phobos was in sunlight, moving toward the upper right. After a 100-second delay while Spirit's computer processed the first three images, the rover then took the fourth image, showing Phobos just starting to enter the darkness of the martian shadow. At that point, an observer sitting on Phobos and looking back toward the Sun would have seen a spectacular sunset! In the fifth image, Phobos appeared like a crescent, almost completely shrouded in darkness. In the last three images, Phobos had slipped entirely into the shadow of Mars. However, as with our own Moon during lunar eclipses on Earth, it was not entirely dark. The small amount of light still visible from Phobos is a kind of "Mars-shine" -- sunlight reflected through Mars' atmosphere and into the shadowed region. Rover scientists took some images later in the sequence to try to figure out if this "Mars-shine" made Phobos colorful while in eclipse, but they'll need more time to complete the analysis because the signal levels are so low. Meanwhile, they, , will use the information on the timing of the eclipse to refine the orbital path of Phobos. The precise position of Phobos will be important to any future spacecraft taking detailed pictures of the moon or landing on its surface. In the near future it might be possible for one of the rovers to take images of a "Deimal" eclipse to learn more about Mars' other enigmatic satellite, Deimos, as well.
'Mars-shine'
PIA03201
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
Title 'Mars-shine'
Original Caption Released with Image 'Mars-shine' Composite NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit continues to take advantage of favorable solar power conditions to conduct occasional nighttime astronomical observations from the summit region of "Husband Hill." Spirit has been observing the martian moons Phobos and Deimos to learn more about their orbits and surface properties. This has included observing eclipses. On Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's orbit takes it exactly between the Sun and Earth, casting parts of Earth into shadow. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is exactly between the Sun and the Moon, casting the Moon into shadow and often giving it a ghostly orange-reddish color. This color is created by sunlight reflected through Earth's atmosphere into the shadowed region. The primary difference between terrestrial and martian eclipses is that Mars' moons are too small to completely block the Sun from view during solar eclipses. Recently, Spirit observed a "lunar" eclipse on Mars. Phobos, the larger of the two martian moons, was photographed while slipping into the shadow of Mars. Jim Bell, the astronomer in charge of the rover's panoramic camera (Pancam), suggested calling it a "Phobal" eclipse rather than a lunar eclipse as a way of identifying which of the dozens of moons in our solar system was being cast into shadow. With the help of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's navigation team, the Pancam team planned instructions to Spirit for acquiring the views shown here of Phobos as it entered into a lunar eclipse on the evening of the rover's 639th martian day, or sol (Oct. 20, 2005) on Mars. This image is a time-lapse composite of eight Pancam images of Phobos moving across the martian sky. The entire eclipse lasted more than 26 minutes, but Spirit was able to observe only in the first 15 minutes. During the time closest to the shadow crossing, Spirit's cameras were programmed to take images every 10 seconds. In the first three images, Phobos was in sunlight, moving toward the upper right. After a 100-second delay while Spirit's computer processed the first three images, the rover then took the fourth image, showing Phobos just starting to enter the darkness of the martian shadow. At that point, an observer sitting on Phobos and looking back toward the Sun would have seen a spectacular sunset! In the fifth image, Phobos appeared like a crescent, almost completely shrouded in darkness. In the last three images, Phobos had slipped entirely into the shadow of Mars. However, as with our own Moon during lunar eclipses on Earth, it was not entirely dark. The small amount of light still visible from Phobos is a kind of "Mars-shine" -- sunlight reflected through Mars' atmosphere and into the shadowed region. Rover scientists took some images later in the sequence to try to figure out if this "Mars-shine" made Phobos colorful while in eclipse, but they'll need more time to complete the analysis because the signal levels are so low. Meanwhile, they, , will use the information on the timing of the eclipse to refine the orbital path of Phobos. The precise position of Phobos will be important to any future spacecraft taking detailed pictures of the moon or landing on its surface. In the near future it might be possible for one of the rovers to take images of a "Deimal" eclipse to learn more about Mars' other enigmatic satellite, Deimos, as well.
Opportunity on 'Burns Cliff' …
PIA03241
Panoramic Camera
Title Opportunity on 'Burns Cliff' (Simulated)
Original Caption Released with Image This synthetic image of NASA's Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover inside Endurance Crater was produced using "Virtual Presence in Space" technology. Developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., this technology combines visualization and image processing tools with Hollywood-style special effects. The image was created using a photorealistic model of the rover and an approximately full-color mosaic. The size of the rover in the image is approximately correct and was based on the size of the rover tracks in the mosaic. Because this synthesis provides viewers with a sense of their own "virtual presence" (as if they were there themselves), such views can be useful to mission teams by enhancing perspective and a sense of scale. Opportunity captured the underlying view of "Burns Cliff" after driving right to the base of this southeastern portion of the inner wall of "Endurance Crater." The view combines frames taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera between the rover's 287th and 294th martian days (Nov. 13 to 20, 2004). This is a composite of 46 different images, each acquired in seven different Pancam filters. It is an approximately true-color rendering generated from the panoramic camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters. The mosaic spans more than 180 degrees side to side. Because of this wide-angle view, the cliff walls appear to bulge out toward the camera. In reality the walls form a gently curving, continuous surface. See PIA07110 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07110 ].
Special-Effects Spirit on Fl …
PIA03231
Panoramic Camera
Title Special-Effects Spirit on Flank of "Husband Hill
Original Caption Released with Image This synthetic image of the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover on the flank of "Husband Hill" was produced using "Virtual Presence in Space" technology. Developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., this technology combines visualization and image-processing tools with Hollywood-style special effects. The image was created using a photorealistic model of the rover and a false-color mosaic. The size of the rover in the image is approximately correct and was based on the size of the rover tracks in the mosaic. The mosaic was assembled from frames taken by the panoramic camera on the rover's 454th Martian day, or sol (April 13, 2005), see PIA07855 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07855 ]). Because this synthesis provides viewers with a sense of their own "virtual presence" (as if they were there themselves), such views can be useful to mission teams in planning exploration by enhancing perspective and a sense of scale.
Special-Effects Spirit Silho …
PIA03232
Panoramic Camera
Title Special-Effects Spirit Silhouetted on "Jibsheet
Original Caption Released with Image This synthetic image of the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover on top of a rock called "Jibsheet" was produced using "Virtual Presence in Space" technology. Developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., this technology combines visualization and image-processing tools with Hollywood-style special effects. The image was created using a photorealistic model of the rover and a false-color mosaic. The size of the rover in the image is approximately correct and was based on the size of the rover tracks in the mosaic. The mosaic was assembled from frames taken by the panoramic camera on the rover's 489th Martian day, or sol (May 19, 2005), see PIA07997 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07997 ]. Because this synthesis provides viewers with a sense of their own "virtual presence" (as if they were there themselves), such views can be useful to mission teams in planning exploration by enhancing perspective and a sense of scale.
Opportunity Inside 'Enduranc …
PIA03240
Panoramic Camera
Title Opportunity Inside 'Endurance Crater' (Simulated)
Original Caption Released with Image This synthetic image of NASA's Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover inside Endurance Crater was produced using "Virtual Presence in Space" technology. Developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., this technology combines visualization and image-processing tools with Hollywood-style special effects. The image was created using a photorealistic model of the rover and a false-color mosaic taken on sol 134 (June 9, 2004) by Opportunity's panoramic camera with the 750-, 530- and 430-nanometer filters. See PIA06317 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06317 ]. The size of the rover in the image is approximately correct and was based on the size of other features in the image. Because this synthesis provides viewers with a sense of their own "virtual presence" (as if they were there themselves), such views can be useful to mission teams by enhancing perspective and a sense of scale.
NASA Dedicates Mars Landmark …
PIA05200
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
Title NASA Dedicates Mars Landmarks to Columbia Crew
Original Caption Released with Image NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe today announced the martian hills, located east of the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover's landing site, would be dedicated to the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 crew."These seven hills on Mars are named for those seven brave souls, the final crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The Columbia crew faced the challenge of space and made the supreme sacrifice in the name of exploration," Administrator O'Keefe said. The Shuttle Columbia was commanded by Rick Husband and piloted by William McCool. The mission specialists were Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark, and the payload specialist was Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon. On February 1, 2003, the Columbia and its crew were lost over the western United States during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere The 28th and final flight of Columbia was a 16-day mission dedicated to research in physical, life and space sciences. The Columbia crew successfully conducted approximately 80 separate experiments during their mission. This image, taken from Spirit's PanCam looking east, depicts the nearby hills dedicated to the final crew of Space Shuttle Columbia. Arranged alphabetically from left to right - "Anderson Hill" is the most northeast of Spirit's landing site and 3 kilometers away. Next are "Brown Hill" and "Chawla Hill", both 2.9 kilometers distant. Next is "Clark Hill" at 3 kilometers. "Husband Hill" and "McCool Hill", named for Columbia's commander and pilot respectively, are 3.1 and 4.2 kilometers distant. "Ramon Hill" is furthest southeast of Spirit's landing site and 4.4 kilometers away. NASA will submit the names of the Mars features to the International Astronomical Union for official designation. The organization serves as the internationally recognized authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and their surface features. The figure below is an image taken by the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera of the Columbia Memorial Station and Columbia Hills. Click on image for larger view The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Additional information about the project is available on the Internet at: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov ].
NASA Dedicates Mars Landmark …
PIA05200
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
Title NASA Dedicates Mars Landmarks to Columbia Crew
Original Caption Released with Image NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe today announced the martian hills, located east of the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover's landing site, would be dedicated to the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 crew."These seven hills on Mars are named for those seven brave souls, the final crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The Columbia crew faced the challenge of space and made the supreme sacrifice in the name of exploration," Administrator O'Keefe said. The Shuttle Columbia was commanded by Rick Husband and piloted by William McCool. The mission specialists were Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark, and the payload specialist was Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon. On February 1, 2003, the Columbia and its crew were lost over the western United States during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere The 28th and final flight of Columbia was a 16-day mission dedicated to research in physical, life and space sciences. The Columbia crew successfully conducted approximately 80 separate experiments during their mission. This image, taken from Spirit's PanCam looking east, depicts the nearby hills dedicated to the final crew of Space Shuttle Columbia. Arranged alphabetically from left to right - "Anderson Hill" is the most northeast of Spirit's landing site and 3 kilometers away. Next are "Brown Hill" and "Chawla Hill", both 2.9 kilometers distant. Next is "Clark Hill" at 3 kilometers. "Husband Hill" and "McCool Hill", named for Columbia's commander and pilot respectively, are 3.1 and 4.2 kilometers distant. "Ramon Hill" is furthest southeast of Spirit's landing site and 4.4 kilometers away. NASA will submit the names of the Mars features to the International Astronomical Union for official designation. The organization serves as the internationally recognized authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and their surface features. The figure below is an image taken by the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera of the Columbia Memorial Station and Columbia Hills. Click on image for larger view The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Additional information about the project is available on the Internet at: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov ].
Rock Abrasion Tool Exhibits …
PIA08625
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
Title Rock Abrasion Tool Exhibits the Deep Red Pigment of Mars
Original Caption Released with Image During recent soil-brushing experiments, the rock abrasion tool on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit became covered with dust, as shown here. An abundance of iron oxide minerals in the dust gave the device a reddish-brown veneer. Investigators were using the rock abrasion tool to uncover successive layers of soil in an attempt to reveal near-surface stratigraphy. Afterward, remnant dirt clods were visible on both the bit and the brush of the tool. Designers of the rock abrasion tool at Honeybee Robotics and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory developed a plan to run the brush on the rock abrasion tool in reverse to dislodge the dirt and return the tool to normal operation. Subsequent communications with the rover revealed that the procedure is working and the rock abrasion tool remains healthy. Spirit acquired this approximately true-color image with the panoramic camera on the rover's 893rd sol, or Martian day (July 8, 2006). The image combines exposures taken through three of the camera's filters, centered on wavelengths of 750 nanometers, 530 nanometers, and 430 nanometers.
1-34 of 34