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Northern Impact
PIA02009
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Northern Impact |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
19 March 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a partially-buried crater in the north polar region of Mars. The circular feature is surrounded and partly overlain by some of the many, many sand dunes in the area. The steepest slopes on each dune -- their slip faces -- face toward the southeast (lower right), indicating that the dominant winds responsible for sand transport in this region come from the northwest (upper left). In summer, the dunes in this scene would be darker than their surroundings, but in this northern springtime image, the dunes and everything else in the area are covered by carbon dioxide frost. The frost is left over from the winter which ended in January 2006. "Location near": 76.0°N, 82.2°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Northern Spring |
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Mars at Ls 357°
PIA02150
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Mars at Ls 357° |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
31 January 2006 This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 357° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 357° occurred in mid-January 2006. The picture shows the south polar region of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn. "Season": Northern Winter/Southern Summer |
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South Polar Autumn
PIA02990
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
South Polar Autumn |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
18 March 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of the south polar residual cap. The darkened edges of the pits and mesas are evidence of the removal - by sublimation -- of frozen carbon dioxide during the recent martian summer. Summer ended and autumn began the day this image was acquired in January 2006. "Location near": 86.8°S, 90.5°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer/Autumn |
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Mars at Ls 357°: Acidalia/Ma
…
PIA03659
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Mars at Ls 357°: Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
10 January 2006 This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 357° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 357° occurs in mid-January 2006. The picture shows the Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn. "Season": Northern Winter/Southern Summer |
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Secondaries near Cerberus
PIA03655
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Secondaries near Cerberus |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
7 January 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a field of small craters formed by secondary debris thrown from a larger meteoritic impact on the plains south of the Cerberus region. "Location near": 2.3°N, 195.7°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Northern Winter |
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Nirgal Vallis
PIA03657
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Nirgal Vallis |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
9 January 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the floor and walls of a small portion of Nirgal Vallis. The floor is covered by large windblown ripples. The valley wall near the center right exhibits a group of gullies, formed perhaps by a combination of mass movement and possibly seepage and runoff of groundwater. "Location near": 28.2°S, 42.2°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
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Dunes in Brashear
PIA03656
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Dunes in Brashear |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
8 January 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a field of dark sand dunes on the northwestern floor of Brashear Crater. The dunes formed largely from winds that blew from the southeast (lower right). "Location near": 253.7°S, 119.4°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
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Mars at Ls 357°: Syrtis Majo
…
PIA03675
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Mars at Ls 357°: Syrtis Major |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
17 January 2006 This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 357° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 357° occurs in mid-January 2006. The picture shows the Syrtis Major face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn. "Season": Northern Winter/Southern Summer |
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Mars at Ls 357°: Elysium/Mar
…
PIA03696
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Mars at Ls 357°: Elysium/Mare Cimmerium |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
25 January 2006 This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 357° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 357° occurred in mid-January 2006. The picture shows the Elysium/Mare Cimmerium face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn. "Season": Northern Winter/Southern Summer |
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Bright Soil Near 'McCool': S
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PIA08012
Sol (our sun)
Navigation Camera
| Title |
Bright Soil Near 'McCool': Salty Deja Vu? |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
While driving eastward toward the northwestern flank of "McCool Hill," the wheels of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit churned up the largest amount of bright soil discovered so far in the mission. This image from Spirit's navigation camera, taken on the rover's 787th Martian day, or sol, of exploration (March 21, 2006), shows the strikingly light tone and large extent of the deposit. A few days earlier, Spirit's wheels unearthed a small patch of light-toned material informally named "Tyrone." In images from Spirit's panoramic camera, "Tyrone" strongly resembled both "Arad" and "Paso Robles," two patches of light-toned soils discovered earlier in the mission. Spirit found "Paso Robles" in 2005 while climbing "Cumberland Ridge" on the western slope of "Husband Hill." In early January 2006, the rover discovered "Arad" on the basin floor just south of "Husband Hill." Spirit's instruments confirmed that those soils had a salty chemistry dominated by iron-bearing sulfates. Spirit's miniature thermal emission spectrometer is analyzing this most recent discovery, and researchers will compare it with those other deposits. These discoveries indicate that light-toned soil deposits might be widely distributed on the flanks and valley floors of the "Columbia Hills" region in Gusev Crater on Mars. The salts may record the past presence of water, as they are easily mobilized and concentrated in liquid solution. |
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South Polar Autumn
PIA08089
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
South Polar Autumn |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
22 April 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of the south polar residual cap. The darkened edges of the pits and mesas are evidence of the removal -- by sublimation -- of frozen carbon dioxide during the recent martian summer. Summer ended and autumn began in January 2006, shortly before this image was acquired. "Location near": 86.8°S, 90.5°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
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Opportunity's Arm in 'Hover-
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PIA02156
Sol (our sun)
Navigation Camera
| Title |
Opportunity's Arm in 'Hover-Stow' Position |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
In January 2006, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover team adopted a new strategy for carrying Opportunity's robotic arm (the instrument deployment device with its turret of four tools at the end) when the rover is driving. On short drives over smooth terrain, Opportunity now holds the arm in a "hover-stow" position as shown in this image taken by the navigation camera during the rover's 706th Martian day, or sol (Jan. 18, 2006), with elbow forward and the tool turret held above the rover deck. (In this image, the Moessbauer spectrometer is facing upwards, the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer faces to the right and the rock abrasion tool faces to the left). On longer or rougher drives, Opportunity still holds the arm in the original stow position used throughout the mission, tucked underneath the deck. During Opportunity's 654th sol (Nov. 25, 2005), symptoms began appearing that have been diagnosed as a broken wire in the motor windings for the azimuth actuator at the shoulder joint, a motor that moves the arm from side to side. The motor still works when given extra current, but the change in strategy for stowing the arm results from concern that, if the motor were to completely fail with the arm in the original stow position, the arm could no longer be unstowed for use. If that motor were to fail while the arm is in the hover-stow position, the arm could still be manipulated for full use of the tools on the turret. However, the hover-stow position gives less protection to the arm during drives. Concern about protecting the arm during drives led to the compromise strategy of using hover-stow only during short, smooth drives. |
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Second of Two Fresh Impact C
…
PIA09024
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Second of Two Fresh Impact Crater Sites With "Before" and "After" Narrow Angle Mars Orbiter Camera Images |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Pictured here is the second of 2 of the 20 new impact craters identified by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) science operations team to have formed between May 1999 and March 2006 that occur at a location that the MOC narrow angle camera imaged previously. This is surprising, given that the narrow angle camera, with its 3 kilometer- (1.9 miles)-wide field of view, has only covered about 5.2% of the martian surface. The other such case is described in an accompanying release, "One of Two Fresh Impact Crater Sites With Before and After Narrow Angle Mars Orbiter Camera Images" (see PIA09023 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09023 ] or MOC2-1614 [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2006/12/06/craters/site11/index.html ]). Figure A: This picture shows the impact site. It is located in Arabia Terra near 25.8°N, 308.0°W. The figure is a composite of sub-frames of MOC images S15-02322, obtained on 22 February 2006, and S17-01393, from 17 April 2006. The largest crater at the center of the impact zone has a diameter of about 16.0 ± 1.7 meters (about 52 feet). Several other smaller craters were formed by this impact event. Figure B: This figure shows how the impact site appeared in a previous MOC narrow angle camera image, R13-00039, on 1 January 2004, before the impact occurred. This is compared with MOC image S15-02322, obtained after the impact. Figure C: This figure shows the impact site as it appeared to the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) [ http://themis.asu.edu/ ] visible camera on 21 December 2005. Most importantly, the crater did not exist on 21 December 2005, but the dark spot the impact produced was seen 42 days later in MOC red wide angle image S14-03311 on 31 January 2006. In other words, the impact occurred between 21 December 2005 and 31 January 2006. It is possible that the crater formed in January 2006, after we began our survey for fresh martian impact craters! The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ]. |
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Second of Two Fresh Impact C
…
PIA09024
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Second of Two Fresh Impact Crater Sites With "Before" and "After" Narrow Angle Mars Orbiter Camera Images |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Pictured here is the second of 2 of the 20 new impact craters identified by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) science operations team to have formed between May 1999 and March 2006 that occur at a location that the MOC narrow angle camera imaged previously. This is surprising, given that the narrow angle camera, with its 3 kilometer- (1.9 miles)-wide field of view, has only covered about 5.2% of the martian surface. The other such case is described in an accompanying release, "One of Two Fresh Impact Crater Sites With Before and After Narrow Angle Mars Orbiter Camera Images" (see PIA09023 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09023 ] or MOC2-1614 [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2006/12/06/craters/site11/index.html ]). Figure A: This picture shows the impact site. It is located in Arabia Terra near 25.8°N, 308.0°W. The figure is a composite of sub-frames of MOC images S15-02322, obtained on 22 February 2006, and S17-01393, from 17 April 2006. The largest crater at the center of the impact zone has a diameter of about 16.0 ± 1.7 meters (about 52 feet). Several other smaller craters were formed by this impact event. Figure B: This figure shows how the impact site appeared in a previous MOC narrow angle camera image, R13-00039, on 1 January 2004, before the impact occurred. This is compared with MOC image S15-02322, obtained after the impact. Figure C: This figure shows the impact site as it appeared to the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) [ http://themis.asu.edu/ ] visible camera on 21 December 2005. Most importantly, the crater did not exist on 21 December 2005, but the dark spot the impact produced was seen 42 days later in MOC red wide angle image S14-03311 on 31 January 2006. In other words, the impact occurred between 21 December 2005 and 31 January 2006. It is possible that the crater formed in January 2006, after we began our survey for fresh martian impact craters! The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ]. |
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Second of Two Fresh Impact C
…
PIA09024
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Second of Two Fresh Impact Crater Sites With "Before" and "After" Narrow Angle Mars Orbiter Camera Images |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Pictured here is the second of 2 of the 20 new impact craters identified by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) science operations team to have formed between May 1999 and March 2006 that occur at a location that the MOC narrow angle camera imaged previously. This is surprising, given that the narrow angle camera, with its 3 kilometer- (1.9 miles)-wide field of view, has only covered about 5.2% of the martian surface. The other such case is described in an accompanying release, "One of Two Fresh Impact Crater Sites With Before and After Narrow Angle Mars Orbiter Camera Images" (see PIA09023 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09023 ] or MOC2-1614 [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2006/12/06/craters/site11/index.html ]). Figure A: This picture shows the impact site. It is located in Arabia Terra near 25.8°N, 308.0°W. The figure is a composite of sub-frames of MOC images S15-02322, obtained on 22 February 2006, and S17-01393, from 17 April 2006. The largest crater at the center of the impact zone has a diameter of about 16.0 ± 1.7 meters (about 52 feet). Several other smaller craters were formed by this impact event. Figure B: This figure shows how the impact site appeared in a previous MOC narrow angle camera image, R13-00039, on 1 January 2004, before the impact occurred. This is compared with MOC image S15-02322, obtained after the impact. Figure C: This figure shows the impact site as it appeared to the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) [ http://themis.asu.edu/ ] visible camera on 21 December 2005. Most importantly, the crater did not exist on 21 December 2005, but the dark spot the impact produced was seen 42 days later in MOC red wide angle image S14-03311 on 31 January 2006. In other words, the impact occurred between 21 December 2005 and 31 January 2006. It is possible that the crater formed in January 2006, after we began our survey for fresh martian impact craters! The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ]. |
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Second of Two Fresh Impact C
…
PIA09024
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Second of Two Fresh Impact Crater Sites With "Before" and "After" Narrow Angle Mars Orbiter Camera Images |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Pictured here is the second of 2 of the 20 new impact craters identified by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) science operations team to have formed between May 1999 and March 2006 that occur at a location that the MOC narrow angle camera imaged previously. This is surprising, given that the narrow angle camera, with its 3 kilometer- (1.9 miles)-wide field of view, has only covered about 5.2% of the martian surface. The other such case is described in an accompanying release, "One of Two Fresh Impact Crater Sites With Before and After Narrow Angle Mars Orbiter Camera Images" (see PIA09023 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09023 ] or MOC2-1614 [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2006/12/06/craters/site11/index.html ]). Figure A: This picture shows the impact site. It is located in Arabia Terra near 25.8°N, 308.0°W. The figure is a composite of sub-frames of MOC images S15-02322, obtained on 22 February 2006, and S17-01393, from 17 April 2006. The largest crater at the center of the impact zone has a diameter of about 16.0 ± 1.7 meters (about 52 feet). Several other smaller craters were formed by this impact event. Figure B: This figure shows how the impact site appeared in a previous MOC narrow angle camera image, R13-00039, on 1 January 2004, before the impact occurred. This is compared with MOC image S15-02322, obtained after the impact. Figure C: This figure shows the impact site as it appeared to the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) [ http://themis.asu.edu/ ] visible camera on 21 December 2005. Most importantly, the crater did not exist on 21 December 2005, but the dark spot the impact produced was seen 42 days later in MOC red wide angle image S14-03311 on 31 January 2006. In other words, the impact occurred between 21 December 2005 and 31 January 2006. It is possible that the crater formed in January 2006, after we began our survey for fresh martian impact craters! The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ]. |
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Second of Two Fresh Impact C
…
PIA09024
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Second of Two Fresh Impact Crater Sites With "Before" and "After" Narrow Angle Mars Orbiter Camera Images |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Pictured here is the second of 2 of the 20 new impact craters identified by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) science operations team to have formed between May 1999 and March 2006 that occur at a location that the MOC narrow angle camera imaged previously. This is surprising, given that the narrow angle camera, with its 3 kilometer- (1.9 miles)-wide field of view, has only covered about 5.2% of the martian surface. The other such case is described in an accompanying release, "One of Two Fresh Impact Crater Sites With Before and After Narrow Angle Mars Orbiter Camera Images" (see PIA09023 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09023 ] or MOC2-1614 [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2006/12/06/craters/site11/index.html ]). Figure A: This picture shows the impact site. It is located in Arabia Terra near 25.8°N, 308.0°W. The figure is a composite of sub-frames of MOC images S15-02322, obtained on 22 February 2006, and S17-01393, from 17 April 2006. The largest crater at the center of the impact zone has a diameter of about 16.0 ± 1.7 meters (about 52 feet). Several other smaller craters were formed by this impact event. Figure B: This figure shows how the impact site appeared in a previous MOC narrow angle camera image, R13-00039, on 1 January 2004, before the impact occurred. This is compared with MOC image S15-02322, obtained after the impact. Figure C: This figure shows the impact site as it appeared to the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) [ http://themis.asu.edu/ ] visible camera on 21 December 2005. Most importantly, the crater did not exist on 21 December 2005, but the dark spot the impact produced was seen 42 days later in MOC red wide angle image S14-03311 on 31 January 2006. In other words, the impact occurred between 21 December 2005 and 31 January 2006. It is possible that the crater formed in January 2006, after we began our survey for fresh martian impact craters! The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ]. |
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Second of Two Fresh Impact C
…
PIA09024
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Second of Two Fresh Impact Crater Sites With "Before" and "After" Narrow Angle Mars Orbiter Camera Images |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Pictured here is the second of 2 of the 20 new impact craters identified by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) science operations team to have formed between May 1999 and March 2006 that occur at a location that the MOC narrow angle camera imaged previously. This is surprising, given that the narrow angle camera, with its 3 kilometer- (1.9 miles)-wide field of view, has only covered about 5.2% of the martian surface. The other such case is described in an accompanying release, "One of Two Fresh Impact Crater Sites With Before and After Narrow Angle Mars Orbiter Camera Images" (see PIA09023 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09023 ] or MOC2-1614 [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2006/12/06/craters/site11/index.html ]). Figure A: This picture shows the impact site. It is located in Arabia Terra near 25.8°N, 308.0°W. The figure is a composite of sub-frames of MOC images S15-02322, obtained on 22 February 2006, and S17-01393, from 17 April 2006. The largest crater at the center of the impact zone has a diameter of about 16.0 ± 1.7 meters (about 52 feet). Several other smaller craters were formed by this impact event. Figure B: This figure shows how the impact site appeared in a previous MOC narrow angle camera image, R13-00039, on 1 January 2004, before the impact occurred. This is compared with MOC image S15-02322, obtained after the impact. Figure C: This figure shows the impact site as it appeared to the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) [ http://themis.asu.edu/ ] visible camera on 21 December 2005. Most importantly, the crater did not exist on 21 December 2005, but the dark spot the impact produced was seen 42 days later in MOC red wide angle image S14-03311 on 31 January 2006. In other words, the impact occurred between 21 December 2005 and 31 January 2006. It is possible that the crater formed in January 2006, after we began our survey for fresh martian impact craters! The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ]. |
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Procedure for Finding New Im
…
PIA09021
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Procedure for Finding New Impact Sites on Mars Using the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
), the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) science operations team considered it possible to find more such impact sites using the MOC red wide angle camera. The most recent, freshest craters would be expected to be quite small, ranging from a few meters across to maybe a few hundred meters or so, at most, in diameter (100 meters is about 109 yards, compare that with a 100 yard U.S.-style football field). Something less than 100 meters across would not show up easily in a 240 meters per pixel red wide angle image. But the 6 January 2006 image showed that it could, because these small impacts, if they occur in an area thickly mantled with dust, will create a much larger "blast zone" around them. Thus, the MOC science operations team set out to image a few of the dustiest regions on Mars -- Tharsis, Amazonis, and Arabia -- with the red wide angle camera. The same camera had, in May and early June 1999, already imaged most of the planet at about 240 meters per pixel scale. By repeating areas already imaged in May/June 1999 during the January/March 2006 timeframe, we would be able to identify more dark spots. And, so, that is what we did. The Tharsis, Amazonis, and Arabia regions were re-imaged using the MOC red wide angle camera during January through March 2006. The data covered about 21,506,000 square kilometers (~8.3 million square miles, ~1/3 the surface area of Mars and more than twice the area of the United States). As each picture was received on Earth, we compared it with the images acquired during May/June 1999. Over the entire area surveyed, we found 39 dark spots that were present in early 2006 but not visible in May/June 1999. The 39 dark spots, then, were the candidate impact sites. Each one of these became a target for the MOC narrow angle camera, which would be used to take an image of about 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) per pixel of each site. The targets were entered into the MOC database. Then, as the predicted MGS ground track came near each site, the MOC team targeted an image by working with the spacecraft engineers at Lockheed Martin Astronautics (Denver, Colorado) and the Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, Pasadena, California) to point the spacecraft and camera at each site using the Roll Only Targeted Observation (ROTO) maneuver. Of the 39 dark spots, 20 turned out to be fresh impact sites, and 19 of them were not. The other 19 included mistaken identifications (one was a transient, large dust devil shadow, several were craters that had been present in earlier images but had changed in brightness owing to dust removal), new dark wind streaks, and new dark slope streaks created by avalanching dust on steep slopes. Some of the 20 new impact sites received further attention, as the spacecraft and MOC were used to obtain cPROTO (compensated Pitch and Roll Targeted Observations) views that have a spatial resolution of 0.5 meters (1.6 feet) in the downtrack dimension and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in the cross, Having realized that a new dark spot on Mars, seen in a red wide angle camera image acquired on 6 January 2006, might be an indication of a recent meteor impact site (see PIA09020 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09020 ] or MOC2-1611 [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2006/12/06/craters/site1/index.html ], track direction. The cPROTO views, where obtained, have a higher resolution and better signal-to-noise ratio than the original ROTO images. Finally, while our approach of comparing MOC red wide angle camera images obtained in May/June 1999 with those obtained in January/March 2006 constrains the 20 craters all to having formed during the May 1999 to March 2006 time interval, we found in all cases that there were already other images that had been received on Earth that helped constrain the time of the impact more tightly. In some cases, the date of the impact could be pinned down to within a month or two, in other cases the interval covered several years. Data from the MGS MOC, Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) [ http://themis.asu.edu/ ], and Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) [ http://berlinadmin.dlr.de/Missions/express/indexeng.shtml ], were all employed in the search. Shown on this page (above) are pictures that illustrate our work to find new impact craters: Figure A: This picture shows one of the new impact sites identified by the MOC team. Located in northern Arabia Terra near 29.3°N, 333.2°W, the actual crater is quite small, only 11.2 ± 3.0 meters in diameter. This is a sub-frame of MOC image S16-01105, acquired using a ROTO maneuver on 12 March 2006. Figures B and C: These pictures are MOC red wide angle camera images, obtained at a scale of about 240 meters per pixel, of portions of Arabia Terra. Figure B is M01-01610 and was acquired during the MOC Geodesy Campaign (see PIA02022 and PIA02023, or MOC2-127) on 14 May 1999. Figure C, MOC S14-02741, was obtained on 26 January 2006 as part of the campaign to find new impact craters. By comparing the two images, one from 1999 and one from 2006, we were able to identify all new dark spots that formed during that interval. In this case, the new dark spot seen in the 2006 image, S14-02741, is inside the white circle. The same location is also indicated by a circle in the May 1999 image, but no dark spot is present there. In both cases, the white circle is about 12 km (7.5 mi) across. Figure D: This map of Mars, showing the location of all the MOC red wide angle camera images acquired for the search for new craters during January through March 2006. These images cover most of Amazonis, Tharsis, and Arabia Terra. The base map is a product that combines the May/June 1999 MOC red wide angle data (plus later data for the south polar region) and laser altimeter data from MGS. Figure E: This picture shows portions of two red wide angle camera context images that more tightly constrain when the new crater shown here (above, top, left) formed. The first picture, R05-00427, was acquired on 5 May 2003 and shows no dark spot at the site of the impact. The second picture, S05-01885, shows that the dark spot was present on 29 April 2005. Thus, these two images tell us that the impact occurred sometime between those dates: 5 May 2003 and 29 April 2005. The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ]. |
|
Procedure for Finding New Im
…
PIA09021
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Procedure for Finding New Impact Sites on Mars Using the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
), the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) science operations team considered it possible to find more such impact sites using the MOC red wide angle camera. The most recent, freshest craters would be expected to be quite small, ranging from a few meters across to maybe a few hundred meters or so, at most, in diameter (100 meters is about 109 yards, compare that with a 100 yard U.S.-style football field). Something less than 100 meters across would not show up easily in a 240 meters per pixel red wide angle image. But the 6 January 2006 image showed that it could, because these small impacts, if they occur in an area thickly mantled with dust, will create a much larger "blast zone" around them. Thus, the MOC science operations team set out to image a few of the dustiest regions on Mars -- Tharsis, Amazonis, and Arabia -- with the red wide angle camera. The same camera had, in May and early June 1999, already imaged most of the planet at about 240 meters per pixel scale. By repeating areas already imaged in May/June 1999 during the January/March 2006 timeframe, we would be able to identify more dark spots. And, so, that is what we did. The Tharsis, Amazonis, and Arabia regions were re-imaged using the MOC red wide angle camera during January through March 2006. The data covered about 21,506,000 square kilometers (~8.3 million square miles, ~1/3 the surface area of Mars and more than twice the area of the United States). As each picture was received on Earth, we compared it with the images acquired during May/June 1999. Over the entire area surveyed, we found 39 dark spots that were present in early 2006 but not visible in May/June 1999. The 39 dark spots, then, were the candidate impact sites. Each one of these became a target for the MOC narrow angle camera, which would be used to take an image of about 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) per pixel of each site. The targets were entered into the MOC database. Then, as the predicted MGS ground track came near each site, the MOC team targeted an image by working with the spacecraft engineers at Lockheed Martin Astronautics (Denver, Colorado) and the Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, Pasadena, California) to point the spacecraft and camera at each site using the Roll Only Targeted Observation (ROTO) maneuver. Of the 39 dark spots, 20 turned out to be fresh impact sites, and 19 of them were not. The other 19 included mistaken identifications (one was a transient, large dust devil shadow, several were craters that had been present in earlier images but had changed in brightness owing to dust removal), new dark wind streaks, and new dark slope streaks created by avalanching dust on steep slopes. Some of the 20 new impact sites received further attention, as the spacecraft and MOC were used to obtain cPROTO (compensated Pitch and Roll Targeted Observations) views that have a spatial resolution of 0.5 meters (1.6 feet) in the downtrack dimension and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in the cross, Having realized that a new dark spot on Mars, seen in a red wide angle camera image acquired on 6 January 2006, might be an indication of a recent meteor impact site (see PIA09020 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09020 ] or MOC2-1611 [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2006/12/06/craters/site1/index.html ], track direction. The cPROTO views, where obtained, have a higher resolution and better signal-to-noise ratio than the original ROTO images. Finally, while our approach of comparing MOC red wide angle camera images obtained in May/June 1999 with those obtained in January/March 2006 constrains the 20 craters all to having formed during the May 1999 to March 2006 time interval, we found in all cases that there were already other images that had been received on Earth that helped constrain the time of the impact more tightly. In some cases, the date of the impact could be pinned down to within a month or two, in other cases the interval covered several years. Data from the MGS MOC, Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) [ http://themis.asu.edu/ ], and Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) [ http://berlinadmin.dlr.de/Missions/express/indexeng.shtml ], were all employed in the search. Shown on this page (above) are pictures that illustrate our work to find new impact craters: Figure A: This picture shows one of the new impact sites identified by the MOC team. Located in northern Arabia Terra near 29.3°N, 333.2°W, the actual crater is quite small, only 11.2 ± 3.0 meters in diameter. This is a sub-frame of MOC image S16-01105, acquired using a ROTO maneuver on 12 March 2006. Figures B and C: These pictures are MOC red wide angle camera images, obtained at a scale of about 240 meters per pixel, of portions of Arabia Terra. Figure B is M01-01610 and was acquired during the MOC Geodesy Campaign (see PIA02022 and PIA02023, or MOC2-127) on 14 May 1999. Figure C, MOC S14-02741, was obtained on 26 January 2006 as part of the campaign to find new impact craters. By comparing the two images, one from 1999 and one from 2006, we were able to identify all new dark spots that formed during that interval. In this case, the new dark spot seen in the 2006 image, S14-02741, is inside the white circle. The same location is also indicated by a circle in the May 1999 image, but no dark spot is present there. In both cases, the white circle is about 12 km (7.5 mi) across. Figure D: This map of Mars, showing the location of all the MOC red wide angle camera images acquired for the search for new craters during January through March 2006. These images cover most of Amazonis, Tharsis, and Arabia Terra. The base map is a product that combines the May/June 1999 MOC red wide angle data (plus later data for the south polar region) and laser altimeter data from MGS. Figure E: This picture shows portions of two red wide angle camera context images that more tightly constrain when the new crater shown here (above, top, left) formed. The first picture, R05-00427, was acquired on 5 May 2003 and shows no dark spot at the site of the impact. The second picture, S05-01885, shows that the dark spot was present on 29 April 2005. Thus, these two images tell us that the impact occurred sometime between those dates: 5 May 2003 and 29 April 2005. The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ]. |
|
Procedure for Finding New Im
…
PIA09021
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Procedure for Finding New Impact Sites on Mars Using the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
), the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) science operations team considered it possible to find more such impact sites using the MOC red wide angle camera. The most recent, freshest craters would be expected to be quite small, ranging from a few meters across to maybe a few hundred meters or so, at most, in diameter (100 meters is about 109 yards, compare that with a 100 yard U.S.-style football field). Something less than 100 meters across would not show up easily in a 240 meters per pixel red wide angle image. But the 6 January 2006 image showed that it could, because these small impacts, if they occur in an area thickly mantled with dust, will create a much larger "blast zone" around them. Thus, the MOC science operations team set out to image a few of the dustiest regions on Mars -- Tharsis, Amazonis, and Arabia -- with the red wide angle camera. The same camera had, in May and early June 1999, already imaged most of the planet at about 240 meters per pixel scale. By repeating areas already imaged in May/June 1999 during the January/March 2006 timeframe, we would be able to identify more dark spots. And, so, that is what we did. The Tharsis, Amazonis, and Arabia regions were re-imaged using the MOC red wide angle camera during January through March 2006. The data covered about 21,506,000 square kilometers (~8.3 million square miles, ~1/3 the surface area of Mars and more than twice the area of the United States). As each picture was received on Earth, we compared it with the images acquired during May/June 1999. Over the entire area surveyed, we found 39 dark spots that were present in early 2006 but not visible in May/June 1999. The 39 dark spots, then, were the candidate impact sites. Each one of these became a target for the MOC narrow angle camera, which would be used to take an image of about 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) per pixel of each site. The targets were entered into the MOC database. Then, as the predicted MGS ground track came near each site, the MOC team targeted an image by working with the spacecraft engineers at Lockheed Martin Astronautics (Denver, Colorado) and the Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, Pasadena, California) to point the spacecraft and camera at each site using the Roll Only Targeted Observation (ROTO) maneuver. Of the 39 dark spots, 20 turned out to be fresh impact sites, and 19 of them were not. The other 19 included mistaken identifications (one was a transient, large dust devil shadow, several were craters that had been present in earlier images but had changed in brightness owing to dust removal), new dark wind streaks, and new dark slope streaks created by avalanching dust on steep slopes. Some of the 20 new impact sites received further attention, as the spacecraft and MOC were used to obtain cPROTO (compensated Pitch and Roll Targeted Observations) views that have a spatial resolution of 0.5 meters (1.6 feet) in the downtrack dimension and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in the cross, Having realized that a new dark spot on Mars, seen in a red wide angle camera image acquired on 6 January 2006, might be an indication of a recent meteor impact site (see PIA09020 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09020 ] or MOC2-1611 [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2006/12/06/craters/site1/index.html ], track direction. The cPROTO views, where obtained, have a higher resolution and better signal-to-noise ratio than the original ROTO images. Finally, while our approach of comparing MOC red wide angle camera images obtained in May/June 1999 with those obtained in January/March 2006 constrains the 20 craters all to having formed during the May 1999 to March 2006 time interval, we found in all cases that there were already other images that had been received on Earth that helped constrain the time of the impact more tightly. In some cases, the date of the impact could be pinned down to within a month or two, in other cases the interval covered several years. Data from the MGS MOC, Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) [ http://themis.asu.edu/ ], and Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) [ http://berlinadmin.dlr.de/Missions/express/indexeng.shtml ], were all employed in the search. Shown on this page (above) are pictures that illustrate our work to find new impact craters: Figure A: This picture shows one of the new impact sites identified by the MOC team. Located in northern Arabia Terra near 29.3°N, 333.2°W, the actual crater is quite small, only 11.2 ± 3.0 meters in diameter. This is a sub-frame of MOC image S16-01105, acquired using a ROTO maneuver on 12 March 2006. Figures B and C: These pictures are MOC red wide angle camera images, obtained at a scale of about 240 meters per pixel, of portions of Arabia Terra. Figure B is M01-01610 and was acquired during the MOC Geodesy Campaign (see PIA02022 and PIA02023, or MOC2-127) on 14 May 1999. Figure C, MOC S14-02741, was obtained on 26 January 2006 as part of the campaign to find new impact craters. By comparing the two images, one from 1999 and one from 2006, we were able to identify all new dark spots that formed during that interval. In this case, the new dark spot seen in the 2006 image, S14-02741, is inside the white circle. The same location is also indicated by a circle in the May 1999 image, but no dark spot is present there. In both cases, the white circle is about 12 km (7.5 mi) across. Figure D: This map of Mars, showing the location of all the MOC red wide angle camera images acquired for the search for new craters during January through March 2006. These images cover most of Amazonis, Tharsis, and Arabia Terra. The base map is a product that combines the May/June 1999 MOC red wide angle data (plus later data for the south polar region) and laser altimeter data from MGS. Figure E: This picture shows portions of two red wide angle camera context images that more tightly constrain when the new crater shown here (above, top, left) formed. The first picture, R05-00427, was acquired on 5 May 2003 and shows no dark spot at the site of the impact. The second picture, S05-01885, shows that the dark spot was present on 29 April 2005. Thus, these two images tell us that the impact occurred sometime between those dates: 5 May 2003 and 29 April 2005. The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ]. |
|
Procedure for Finding New Im
…
PIA09021
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Procedure for Finding New Impact Sites on Mars Using the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
), the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) science operations team considered it possible to find more such impact sites using the MOC red wide angle camera. The most recent, freshest craters would be expected to be quite small, ranging from a few meters across to maybe a few hundred meters or so, at most, in diameter (100 meters is about 109 yards, compare that with a 100 yard U.S.-style football field). Something less than 100 meters across would not show up easily in a 240 meters per pixel red wide angle image. But the 6 January 2006 image showed that it could, because these small impacts, if they occur in an area thickly mantled with dust, will create a much larger "blast zone" around them. Thus, the MOC science operations team set out to image a few of the dustiest regions on Mars -- Tharsis, Amazonis, and Arabia -- with the red wide angle camera. The same camera had, in May and early June 1999, already imaged most of the planet at about 240 meters per pixel scale. By repeating areas already imaged in May/June 1999 during the January/March 2006 timeframe, we would be able to identify more dark spots. And, so, that is what we did. The Tharsis, Amazonis, and Arabia regions were re-imaged using the MOC red wide angle camera during January through March 2006. The data covered about 21,506,000 square kilometers (~8.3 million square miles, ~1/3 the surface area of Mars and more than twice the area of the United States). As each picture was received on Earth, we compared it with the images acquired during May/June 1999. Over the entire area surveyed, we found 39 dark spots that were present in early 2006 but not visible in May/June 1999. The 39 dark spots, then, were the candidate impact sites. Each one of these became a target for the MOC narrow angle camera, which would be used to take an image of about 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) per pixel of each site. The targets were entered into the MOC database. Then, as the predicted MGS ground track came near each site, the MOC team targeted an image by working with the spacecraft engineers at Lockheed Martin Astronautics (Denver, Colorado) and the Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, Pasadena, California) to point the spacecraft and camera at each site using the Roll Only Targeted Observation (ROTO) maneuver. Of the 39 dark spots, 20 turned out to be fresh impact sites, and 19 of them were not. The other 19 included mistaken identifications (one was a transient, large dust devil shadow, several were craters that had been present in earlier images but had changed in brightness owing to dust removal), new dark wind streaks, and new dark slope streaks created by avalanching dust on steep slopes. Some of the 20 new impact sites received further attention, as the spacecraft and MOC were used to obtain cPROTO (compensated Pitch and Roll Targeted Observations) views that have a spatial resolution of 0.5 meters (1.6 feet) in the downtrack dimension and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in the cross, Having realized that a new dark spot on Mars, seen in a red wide angle camera image acquired on 6 January 2006, might be an indication of a recent meteor impact site (see PIA09020 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09020 ] or MOC2-1611 [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2006/12/06/craters/site1/index.html ], track direction. The cPROTO views, where obtained, have a higher resolution and better signal-to-noise ratio than the original ROTO images. Finally, while our approach of comparing MOC red wide angle camera images obtained in May/June 1999 with those obtained in January/March 2006 constrains the 20 craters all to having formed during the May 1999 to March 2006 time interval, we found in all cases that there were already other images that had been received on Earth that helped constrain the time of the impact more tightly. In some cases, the date of the impact could be pinned down to within a month or two, in other cases the interval covered several years. Data from the MGS MOC, Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) [ http://themis.asu.edu/ ], and Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) [ http://berlinadmin.dlr.de/Missions/express/indexeng.shtml ], were all employed in the search. Shown on this page (above) are pictures that illustrate our work to find new impact craters: Figure A: This picture shows one of the new impact sites identified by the MOC team. Located in northern Arabia Terra near 29.3°N, 333.2°W, the actual crater is quite small, only 11.2 ± 3.0 meters in diameter. This is a sub-frame of MOC image S16-01105, acquired using a ROTO maneuver on 12 March 2006. Figures B and C: These pictures are MOC red wide angle camera images, obtained at a scale of about 240 meters per pixel, of portions of Arabia Terra. Figure B is M01-01610 and was acquired during the MOC Geodesy Campaign (see PIA02022 and PIA02023, or MOC2-127) on 14 May 1999. Figure C, MOC S14-02741, was obtained on 26 January 2006 as part of the campaign to find new impact craters. By comparing the two images, one from 1999 and one from 2006, we were able to identify all new dark spots that formed during that interval. In this case, the new dark spot seen in the 2006 image, S14-02741, is inside the white circle. The same location is also indicated by a circle in the May 1999 image, but no dark spot is present there. In both cases, the white circle is about 12 km (7.5 mi) across. Figure D: This map of Mars, showing the location of all the MOC red wide angle camera images acquired for the search for new craters during January through March 2006. These images cover most of Amazonis, Tharsis, and Arabia Terra. The base map is a product that combines the May/June 1999 MOC red wide angle data (plus later data for the south polar region) and laser altimeter data from MGS. Figure E: This picture shows portions of two red wide angle camera context images that more tightly constrain when the new crater shown here (above, top, left) formed. The first picture, R05-00427, was acquired on 5 May 2003 and shows no dark spot at the site of the impact. The second picture, S05-01885, shows that the dark spot was present on 29 April 2005. Thus, these two images tell us that the impact occurred sometime between those dates: 5 May 2003 and 29 April 2005. The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ]. |
|
Procedure for Finding New Im
…
PIA09021
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Procedure for Finding New Impact Sites on Mars Using the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
), the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) science operations team considered it possible to find more such impact sites using the MOC red wide angle camera. The most recent, freshest craters would be expected to be quite small, ranging from a few meters across to maybe a few hundred meters or so, at most, in diameter (100 meters is about 109 yards, compare that with a 100 yard U.S.-style football field). Something less than 100 meters across would not show up easily in a 240 meters per pixel red wide angle image. But the 6 January 2006 image showed that it could, because these small impacts, if they occur in an area thickly mantled with dust, will create a much larger "blast zone" around them. Thus, the MOC science operations team set out to image a few of the dustiest regions on Mars -- Tharsis, Amazonis, and Arabia -- with the red wide angle camera. The same camera had, in May and early June 1999, already imaged most of the planet at about 240 meters per pixel scale. By repeating areas already imaged in May/June 1999 during the January/March 2006 timeframe, we would be able to identify more dark spots. And, so, that is what we did. The Tharsis, Amazonis, and Arabia regions were re-imaged using the MOC red wide angle camera during January through March 2006. The data covered about 21,506,000 square kilometers (~8.3 million square miles, ~1/3 the surface area of Mars and more than twice the area of the United States). As each picture was received on Earth, we compared it with the images acquired during May/June 1999. Over the entire area surveyed, we found 39 dark spots that were present in early 2006 but not visible in May/June 1999. The 39 dark spots, then, were the candidate impact sites. Each one of these became a target for the MOC narrow angle camera, which would be used to take an image of about 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) per pixel of each site. The targets were entered into the MOC database. Then, as the predicted MGS ground track came near each site, the MOC team targeted an image by working with the spacecraft engineers at Lockheed Martin Astronautics (Denver, Colorado) and the Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, Pasadena, California) to point the spacecraft and camera at each site using the Roll Only Targeted Observation (ROTO) maneuver. Of the 39 dark spots, 20 turned out to be fresh impact sites, and 19 of them were not. The other 19 included mistaken identifications (one was a transient, large dust devil shadow, several were craters that had been present in earlier images but had changed in brightness owing to dust removal), new dark wind streaks, and new dark slope streaks created by avalanching dust on steep slopes. Some of the 20 new impact sites received further attention, as the spacecraft and MOC were used to obtain cPROTO (compensated Pitch and Roll Targeted Observations) views that have a spatial resolution of 0.5 meters (1.6 feet) in the downtrack dimension and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in the cross, Having realized that a new dark spot on Mars, seen in a red wide angle camera image acquired on 6 January 2006, might be an indication of a recent meteor impact site (see PIA09020 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09020 ] or MOC2-1611 [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2006/12/06/craters/site1/index.html ], track direction. The cPROTO views, where obtained, have a higher resolution and better signal-to-noise ratio than the original ROTO images. Finally, while our approach of comparing MOC red wide angle camera images obtained in May/June 1999 with those obtained in January/March 2006 constrains the 20 craters all to having formed during the May 1999 to March 2006 time interval, we found in all cases that there were already other images that had been received on Earth that helped constrain the time of the impact more tightly. In some cases, the date of the impact could be pinned down to within a month or two, in other cases the interval covered several years. Data from the MGS MOC, Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) [ http://themis.asu.edu/ ], and Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) [ http://berlinadmin.dlr.de/Missions/express/indexeng.shtml ], were all employed in the search. Shown on this page (above) are pictures that illustrate our work to find new impact craters: Figure A: This picture shows one of the new impact sites identified by the MOC team. Located in northern Arabia Terra near 29.3°N, 333.2°W, the actual crater is quite small, only 11.2 ± 3.0 meters in diameter. This is a sub-frame of MOC image S16-01105, acquired using a ROTO maneuver on 12 March 2006. Figures B and C: These pictures are MOC red wide angle camera images, obtained at a scale of about 240 meters per pixel, of portions of Arabia Terra. Figure B is M01-01610 and was acquired during the MOC Geodesy Campaign (see PIA02022 and PIA02023, or MOC2-127) on 14 May 1999. Figure C, MOC S14-02741, was obtained on 26 January 2006 as part of the campaign to find new impact craters. By comparing the two images, one from 1999 and one from 2006, we were able to identify all new dark spots that formed during that interval. In this case, the new dark spot seen in the 2006 image, S14-02741, is inside the white circle. The same location is also indicated by a circle in the May 1999 image, but no dark spot is present there. In both cases, the white circle is about 12 km (7.5 mi) across. Figure D: This map of Mars, showing the location of all the MOC red wide angle camera images acquired for the search for new craters during January through March 2006. These images cover most of Amazonis, Tharsis, and Arabia Terra. The base map is a product that combines the May/June 1999 MOC red wide angle data (plus later data for the south polar region) and laser altimeter data from MGS. Figure E: This picture shows portions of two red wide angle camera context images that more tightly constrain when the new crater shown here (above, top, left) formed. The first picture, R05-00427, was acquired on 5 May 2003 and shows no dark spot at the site of the impact. The second picture, S05-01885, shows that the dark spot was present on 29 April 2005. Thus, these two images tell us that the impact occurred sometime between those dates: 5 May 2003 and 29 April 2005. The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ]. |
|
Procedure for Finding New Im
…
PIA09021
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Procedure for Finding New Impact Sites on Mars Using the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
), the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) science operations team considered it possible to find more such impact sites using the MOC red wide angle camera. The most recent, freshest craters would be expected to be quite small, ranging from a few meters across to maybe a few hundred meters or so, at most, in diameter (100 meters is about 109 yards, compare that with a 100 yard U.S.-style football field). Something less than 100 meters across would not show up easily in a 240 meters per pixel red wide angle image. But the 6 January 2006 image showed that it could, because these small impacts, if they occur in an area thickly mantled with dust, will create a much larger "blast zone" around them. Thus, the MOC science operations team set out to image a few of the dustiest regions on Mars -- Tharsis, Amazonis, and Arabia -- with the red wide angle camera. The same camera had, in May and early June 1999, already imaged most of the planet at about 240 meters per pixel scale. By repeating areas already imaged in May/June 1999 during the January/March 2006 timeframe, we would be able to identify more dark spots. And, so, that is what we did. The Tharsis, Amazonis, and Arabia regions were re-imaged using the MOC red wide angle camera during January through March 2006. The data covered about 21,506,000 square kilometers (~8.3 million square miles, ~1/3 the surface area of Mars and more than twice the area of the United States). As each picture was received on Earth, we compared it with the images acquired during May/June 1999. Over the entire area surveyed, we found 39 dark spots that were present in early 2006 but not visible in May/June 1999. The 39 dark spots, then, were the candidate impact sites. Each one of these became a target for the MOC narrow angle camera, which would be used to take an image of about 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) per pixel of each site. The targets were entered into the MOC database. Then, as the predicted MGS ground track came near each site, the MOC team targeted an image by working with the spacecraft engineers at Lockheed Martin Astronautics (Denver, Colorado) and the Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, Pasadena, California) to point the spacecraft and camera at each site using the Roll Only Targeted Observation (ROTO) maneuver. Of the 39 dark spots, 20 turned out to be fresh impact sites, and 19 of them were not. The other 19 included mistaken identifications (one was a transient, large dust devil shadow, several were craters that had been present in earlier images but had changed in brightness owing to dust removal), new dark wind streaks, and new dark slope streaks created by avalanching dust on steep slopes. Some of the 20 new impact sites received further attention, as the spacecraft and MOC were used to obtain cPROTO (compensated Pitch and Roll Targeted Observations) views that have a spatial resolution of 0.5 meters (1.6 feet) in the downtrack dimension and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in the cross, Having realized that a new dark spot on Mars, seen in a red wide angle camera image acquired on 6 January 2006, might be an indication of a recent meteor impact site (see PIA09020 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09020 ] or MOC2-1611 [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2006/12/06/craters/site1/index.html ], track direction. The cPROTO views, where obtained, have a higher resolution and better signal-to-noise ratio than the original ROTO images. Finally, while our approach of comparing MOC red wide angle camera images obtained in May/June 1999 with those obtained in January/March 2006 constrains the 20 craters all to having formed during the May 1999 to March 2006 time interval, we found in all cases that there were already other images that had been received on Earth that helped constrain the time of the impact more tightly. In some cases, the date of the impact could be pinned down to within a month or two, in other cases the interval covered several years. Data from the MGS MOC, Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) [ http://themis.asu.edu/ ], and Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) [ http://berlinadmin.dlr.de/Missions/express/indexeng.shtml ], were all employed in the search. Shown on this page (above) are pictures that illustrate our work to find new impact craters: Figure A: This picture shows one of the new impact sites identified by the MOC team. Located in northern Arabia Terra near 29.3°N, 333.2°W, the actual crater is quite small, only 11.2 ± 3.0 meters in diameter. This is a sub-frame of MOC image S16-01105, acquired using a ROTO maneuver on 12 March 2006. Figures B and C: These pictures are MOC red wide angle camera images, obtained at a scale of about 240 meters per pixel, of portions of Arabia Terra. Figure B is M01-01610 and was acquired during the MOC Geodesy Campaign (see PIA02022 and PIA02023, or MOC2-127) on 14 May 1999. Figure C, MOC S14-02741, was obtained on 26 January 2006 as part of the campaign to find new impact craters. By comparing the two images, one from 1999 and one from 2006, we were able to identify all new dark spots that formed during that interval. In this case, the new dark spot seen in the 2006 image, S14-02741, is inside the white circle. The same location is also indicated by a circle in the May 1999 image, but no dark spot is present there. In both cases, the white circle is about 12 km (7.5 mi) across. Figure D: This map of Mars, showing the location of all the MOC red wide angle camera images acquired for the search for new craters during January through March 2006. These images cover most of Amazonis, Tharsis, and Arabia Terra. The base map is a product that combines the May/June 1999 MOC red wide angle data (plus later data for the south polar region) and laser altimeter data from MGS. Figure E: This picture shows portions of two red wide angle camera context images that more tightly constrain when the new crater shown here (above, top, left) formed. The first picture, R05-00427, was acquired on 5 May 2003 and shows no dark spot at the site of the impact. The second picture, S05-01885, shows that the dark spot was present on 29 April 2005. Thus, these two images tell us that the impact occurred sometime between those dates: 5 May 2003 and 29 April 2005. The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ]. |
|
Procedure for Finding New Im
…
PIA09021
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Procedure for Finding New Impact Sites on Mars Using the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
), the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) science operations team considered it possible to find more such impact sites using the MOC red wide angle camera. The most recent, freshest craters would be expected to be quite small, ranging from a few meters across to maybe a few hundred meters or so, at most, in diameter (100 meters is about 109 yards, compare that with a 100 yard U.S.-style football field). Something less than 100 meters across would not show up easily in a 240 meters per pixel red wide angle image. But the 6 January 2006 image showed that it could, because these small impacts, if they occur in an area thickly mantled with dust, will create a much larger "blast zone" around them. Thus, the MOC science operations team set out to image a few of the dustiest regions on Mars -- Tharsis, Amazonis, and Arabia -- with the red wide angle camera. The same camera had, in May and early June 1999, already imaged most of the planet at about 240 meters per pixel scale. By repeating areas already imaged in May/June 1999 during the January/March 2006 timeframe, we would be able to identify more dark spots. And, so, that is what we did. The Tharsis, Amazonis, and Arabia regions were re-imaged using the MOC red wide angle camera during January through March 2006. The data covered about 21,506,000 square kilometers (~8.3 million square miles, ~1/3 the surface area of Mars and more than twice the area of the United States). As each picture was received on Earth, we compared it with the images acquired during May/June 1999. Over the entire area surveyed, we found 39 dark spots that were present in early 2006 but not visible in May/June 1999. The 39 dark spots, then, were the candidate impact sites. Each one of these became a target for the MOC narrow angle camera, which would be used to take an image of about 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) per pixel of each site. The targets were entered into the MOC database. Then, as the predicted MGS ground track came near each site, the MOC team targeted an image by working with the spacecraft engineers at Lockheed Martin Astronautics (Denver, Colorado) and the Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, Pasadena, California) to point the spacecraft and camera at each site using the Roll Only Targeted Observation (ROTO) maneuver. Of the 39 dark spots, 20 turned out to be fresh impact sites, and 19 of them were not. The other 19 included mistaken identifications (one was a transient, large dust devil shadow, several were craters that had been present in earlier images but had changed in brightness owing to dust removal), new dark wind streaks, and new dark slope streaks created by avalanching dust on steep slopes. Some of the 20 new impact sites received further attention, as the spacecraft and MOC were used to obtain cPROTO (compensated Pitch and Roll Targeted Observations) views that have a spatial resolution of 0.5 meters (1.6 feet) in the downtrack dimension and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in the cross, Having realized that a new dark spot on Mars, seen in a red wide angle camera image acquired on 6 January 2006, might be an indication of a recent meteor impact site (see PIA09020 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09020 ] or MOC2-1611 [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2006/12/06/craters/site1/index.html ], track direction. The cPROTO views, where obtained, have a higher resolution and better signal-to-noise ratio than the original ROTO images. Finally, while our approach of comparing MOC red wide angle camera images obtained in May/June 1999 with those obtained in January/March 2006 constrains the 20 craters all to having formed during the May 1999 to March 2006 time interval, we found in all cases that there were already other images that had been received on Earth that helped constrain the time of the impact more tightly. In some cases, the date of the impact could be pinned down to within a month or two, in other cases the interval covered several years. Data from the MGS MOC, Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) [ http://themis.asu.edu/ ], and Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) [ http://berlinadmin.dlr.de/Missions/express/indexeng.shtml ], were all employed in the search. Shown on this page (above) are pictures that illustrate our work to find new impact craters: Figure A: This picture shows one of the new impact sites identified by the MOC team. Located in northern Arabia Terra near 29.3°N, 333.2°W, the actual crater is quite small, only 11.2 ± 3.0 meters in diameter. This is a sub-frame of MOC image S16-01105, acquired using a ROTO maneuver on 12 March 2006. Figures B and C: These pictures are MOC red wide angle camera images, obtained at a scale of about 240 meters per pixel, of portions of Arabia Terra. Figure B is M01-01610 and was acquired during the MOC Geodesy Campaign (see PIA02022 and PIA02023, or MOC2-127) on 14 May 1999. Figure C, MOC S14-02741, was obtained on 26 January 2006 as part of the campaign to find new impact craters. By comparing the two images, one from 1999 and one from 2006, we were able to identify all new dark spots that formed during that interval. In this case, the new dark spot seen in the 2006 image, S14-02741, is inside the white circle. The same location is also indicated by a circle in the May 1999 image, but no dark spot is present there. In both cases, the white circle is about 12 km (7.5 mi) across. Figure D: This map of Mars, showing the location of all the MOC red wide angle camera images acquired for the search for new craters during January through March 2006. These images cover most of Amazonis, Tharsis, and Arabia Terra. The base map is a product that combines the May/June 1999 MOC red wide angle data (plus later data for the south polar region) and laser altimeter data from MGS. Figure E: This picture shows portions of two red wide angle camera context images that more tightly constrain when the new crater shown here (above, top, left) formed. The first picture, R05-00427, was acquired on 5 May 2003 and shows no dark spot at the site of the impact. The second picture, S05-01885, shows that the dark spot was present on 29 April 2005. Thus, these two images tell us that the impact occurred sometime between those dates: 5 May 2003 and 29 April 2005. The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ]. |
|
Dunes in Noachis
PIA03269
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Dunes in Noachis |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
2 January 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of a dark sand dune field in a crater in the Noachis Terra region. Martian dunes are darker than their typical terrestrial counterparts because they contain minerals with a higher abundance of iron and magnesium, and somewhat lower amounts of silica. "Location near": 45.4°S, 331.1°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Spring |
|
Polar Layers
PIA03278
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Polar Layers |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
6 January 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows layered material exposed on a slope in the south polar region of Mars. The composition of the layers, and whether they contain ice, is not known. "Location near": 87.0°S, 176.1°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
|
Mars at Ls 357°: Tharsis
PIA03276
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Mars at Ls 357°: Tharsis |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
4 January 2006 This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 357° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 357° occurs in mid-January 2006. The picture shows the Tharsis face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn. NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems"Season": Northern Winter/Southern Summer |
|
Light-toned Rock
PIA03268
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Light-toned Rock |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
1 January 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a scene reminiscent of some of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER-B), Opportunity, images of terrain in the vicinity of Erebus Crater -- a substrate of light-toned rock, broken into polygonal forms, overlain by large, dark-toned, ripple-like drifts. However, this scene is many hundreds of kilometers away from Meridiani Planum -- it lies on the floor of an old impact crater near the northwest rim of the giant Hellas Basin. "Location near": 21.0°S, 312.0°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
|
Martian Artwork
PIA03277
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Martian Artwork |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
5 January 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a dust-mantled plain streaked by spring and summertime dust devils in southern Noachis Terra. "Location near": 57.4°S, 336.2°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
|
Bright Soil Near 'McCool'
PIA08039
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Bright Soil Near 'McCool' |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
While driving eastward toward the northwestern flank of "McCool Hill," the wheels of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit churned up the largest amount of bright soil discovered so far in the mission. This image from Spirit's panoramic camera (Pancam), taken on the rover's 788th Martian day, or sol, of exploration (March 22, 2006), shows the strikingly bright tone and large extent of the materials uncovered. Several days earlier, Spirit's wheels unearthed a small patch of light-toned material informally named "Tyrone." In images from Spirit's panoramic camera, "Tyrone" strongly resembled both "Arad" and "Paso Robles," two patches of light-toned soils discovered earlier in the mission. Spirit found "Paso Robles" in 2005 while climbing "Cumberland Ridge" on the western slope of "Husband Hill." In early January 2006, the rover discovered "Arad" on the basin floor just south of "Husband Hill." Spirit's instruments confirmed that those soils had a salty chemistry dominated by iron-bearing sulfates. Spirit's Pancam and miniature thermal emission spectrometer examined this most recent discovery, and researchers will compare its properties with the properties of those other deposits. These discoveries indicate that salty, light-toned soil deposits might be widely distributed on the flanks and valley floors of the "Columbia Hills" region in Gusev Crater on Mars. The salts, which are easily mobilized and concentrated in liquid solution, may record the past presence of water. So far, these enigmatic materials have generated more questions than answers, however, and as Spirit continues to drive across this region in search of a safe winter haven, the team continues to formulate and test hypotheses to explain the rover's most fascinating recent discovery. This view is an approximately true-color rendering that combines separate images taken through the Pancam's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters. |
|
Bright Soil Near 'McCool' (3
…
PIA08037
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Bright Soil Near 'McCool' (3-D) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
While driving eastward toward the northwestern flank of "McCool Hill," the wheels of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit churned up the largest amount of bright soil discovered so far in the mission. This image from Spirit's panoramic camera (Pancam), taken on the rover's 788th Martian day, or sol, of exploration (March 22, 2006), shows the strikingly bright tone and large extent of the materials uncovered. Several days earlier, Spirit's wheels unearthed a small patch of light-toned material informally named "Tyrone." In images from Spirit's panoramic camera, "Tyrone" strongly resembled both "Arad" and "Paso Robles," two patches of light-toned soils discovered earlier in the mission. Spirit found "Paso Robles" in 2005 while climbing "Cumberland Ridge" on the western slope of "Husband Hill." In early January 2006, the rover discovered "Arad" on the basin floor just south of "Husband Hill." Spirit's instruments confirmed that those soils had a salty chemistry dominated by iron-bearing sulfates. Spirit's Pancam and miniature thermal emission spectrometer examined this most recent discovery, and researchers will compare its properties with the properties of those other deposits. These discoveries indicate that salty, light-toned soil deposits might be widely distributed on the flanks and valley floors of the "Columbia Hills" region in Gusev Crater on Mars. The salts, which are easily mobilized and concentrated in liquid solution, may record the past presence of water. So far, these enigmatic materials have generated more questions than answers, however, and as Spirit continues to drive across this region in search of a safe winter haven, the team continues to formulate and test hypotheses to explain the rover's most fascinating recent discovery. This stereo view combines images from the two blue (430-nanometer) filters in the Pancam's left and right "eyes." The image should be viewed using red-and-blue stereo glasses, with the red over your left eye. |
|
Bright Soil Near 'McCool' (F
…
PIA08038
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Bright Soil Near 'McCool' (False Color) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
While driving eastward toward the northwestern flank of "McCool Hill," the wheels of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit churned up the largest amount of bright soil discovered so far in the mission. This image from Spirit's panoramic camera (Pancam), taken on the rover's 788th Martian day, or sol, of exploration (March 22, 2006), shows the strikingly bright tone and large extent of the materials uncovered. Several days earlier, Spirit's wheels unearthed a small patch of light-toned material informally named "Tyrone." In images from Spirit's panoramic camera, "Tyrone" strongly resembled both "Arad" and "Paso Robles," two patches of light-toned soils discovered earlier in the mission. Spirit found "Paso Robles" in 2005 while climbing "Cumberland Ridge" on the western slope of "Husband Hill." In early January 2006, the rover discovered "Arad" on the basin floor just south of "Husband Hill." Spirit's instruments confirmed that those soils had a salty chemistry dominated by iron-bearing sulfates. Spirit's Pancam and miniature thermal emission spectrometer examined this most recent discovery, and researchers will compare its properties with the properties of those other deposits. These discoveries indicate that salty, light-toned soil deposits might be widely distributed on the flanks and valley floors of the "Columbia Hills" region in Gusev Crater on Mars. The salts, which are easily mobilized and concentrated in liquid solution, may record the past presence of water. So far, these enigmatic materials have generated more questions than answers, however, and as Spirit continues to drive across this region in search of a safe winter haven, the team continues to formulate and test hypotheses to explain the rover's most fascinating recent discovery. This image is a false-color rendering using using Pancam's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters. |
|
In the Payload Hazardous Ser
…
| Description |
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, Casey McClellan (left) and Denise Kato (right), with Lockheed Martin, prepare the spacecraft Stardust for a media presentation. Stardust is targeted for launch on Feb. 6 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station. The spacecraft is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule (the white-topped, blunt-nosed cone seen on the top of the spacecraft) to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/22/1999 |
|
In the Payload Hazardous Ser
…
| Description |
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the spacecraft Stardust is on display for a media presentation. Stardust is targeted for launch on Feb. 6 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station. The spacecraft is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule (the white-topped, blunt-nosed cone seen on the top of the spacecraft) to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/22/1999 |
|
In the Payload Hazardous Ser
…
| Description |
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, Casey McClellan (right), with Lockheed Martin, and an unidentified worker look over the spacecraft Stardust before a media presentation. Stardust is targeted for launch on Feb. 6 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station. The spacecraft is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule (the white-topped, blunt-nosed cone seen on the top of the spacecraft) to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/22/1999 |
|
The cover is removed from th
…
| Description |
The cover is removed from the Stardust spacecraft in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility prior to a media presentation. Stardust is targeted for launch on Feb. 6 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station. The spacecraft is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule (the white-topped, blunt-nosed cone seen on the top of the spacecraft) to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/22/1999 |
|
At Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Can
…
| Description |
At Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, a worker holds the video camera to be mounted on the second stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket that will launch the Stardust spacecraft on Feb. 6. His co-worker (right) makes equipment adjustments. Looking toward Earth, the camera will record the liftoff and separation of the first stage. Stardust is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/26/1999 |
|
In the Payload Hazardous Ser
…
| Description |
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers check the mating of the spacecraft Stardust (above) with the third stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket (below). Targeted for launch Feb. 6 from Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, aboard the Delta II rocket, the spacecraft is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/26/1999 |
|
At Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Can
…
| Description |
At Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, a worker (left) runs a wire through a mounting hole on the second stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket in order to affix an external video camera held by the worker at right. The Delta II will launch the Stardust spacecraft on Feb. 6. Looking toward Earth, the camera will record the liftoff and separation of the first stage. Stardust is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/26/1999 |
|
At Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Can
…
| Description |
At Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, workers check the mounting on a video camera on the second stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket that will launch the Stardust spacecraft on Feb. 6. Looking toward Earth, the camera will record the liftoff and separation of the first stage. Stardust is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/26/1999 |
|
In the Payload Hazardous Ser
…
| Description |
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers help guide the overhead crane lifting the Stardust spacecraft. Stardust is being moved in order to mate it with the third stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket. Targeted for launch Feb. 6 from Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, aboard the Delta II rocket, the spacecraft is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/26/1999 |
|
Workers at Launch Pad 17-A,
…
| Description |
Workers at Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, connect the third stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket (above), which is already attached to the Stardust spacecraft, with the second stage (below). Stardust, targeted for liftoff on Feb. 6, is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/28/1999 |
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In the Payload Hazardous Ser
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| Description |
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, media representatives, dressed in protective suits, are updated by Project Manager Richard Grammier (center, top), with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, about the Stardust spacecraft (in the background). Stardust is targeted for launch on Feb. 6 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station. The spacecraft is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule (the white-topped, blunt-nosed cone seen on the top of the spacecraft) to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/22/1999 |
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Workers inside the launch to
…
| Description |
Workers inside the launch tower at Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, watch as the third stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket is lowered for mating with the second stage below it. The Stardust spacecraft, above it out of sight, is connected to the rocket's third stage. Stardust, targeted for liftoff on Feb. 6, is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/28/1999 |
|
Inside the launch tower at P
…
| Description |
Inside the launch tower at Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, workers guide the Stardust spacecraft toward an opening to a Boeing Delta II rocket below. The spacecraft is already connected to the third stage of the rocket that will be mated with the second stage in preparation for liftoff on Feb. 6. Stardust is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/28/1999 |
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At Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Can
…
| Description |
At Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, workers finish mounting a video camera on the second stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket that will launch the Stardust spacecraft on Feb. 6. Looking toward Earth, the camera will record the liftoff and separation of the first stage. Stardust is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/26/1999 |
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In the Payload Hazardous Ser
…
| Description |
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the Stardust spacecraft waits to be encased in a protective canister for its move to Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, for launch preparations. Stardust is targeted for liftoff on Feb. 6 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/27/1999 |
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Workers in the Payload Hazar
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| Description |
Workers in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility keep watch as an overhead crane lowers the Stardust spacecraft, enclosed in a protective canister, onto a transporter. Stardust is being moved to Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, for launch preparations. The spacecraft is targeted for liftoff on Feb. 6 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/27/1999 |
|
In the Payload Hazardous Ser
…
| Description |
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers help guide the spacecraft Stardust being lowered in order to mate it with the third stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket. Targeted for launch Feb. 6 from Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, aboard the Delta II rocket, the spacecraft is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 |
| Release Date |
01/26/1999 |
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