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Assignment Shoot The Moon Ep
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ASSIGNMENT: SHOOT THE MOON (
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1967
| Description |
ASSIGNMENT: SHOOT THE MOON (EPISODE 5) HQ 167 - (1967) - 28 Minutes Summarizes the exploration of the Moon conducted by the unmanned Ranger, Surveyor, and lunar orbiter spacecraft. Also shows how such detailed data and photography contributed to the first manned flights to the Moon. The film describes the complexities of close-up photography of the Moon and includes views of craters, mountain ranges, and other lunar terrain. AWARDS: Golden Eagle, Council on International Nontheatrical Events (CINE), 1968 * Award of Merit, American Film Festival, 1968 |
| Date |
1967 |
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Mars Discoveries: Liquid Wat
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Dr. Mike Malin & Dr. Ken Edg
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12/6/06
Centaur's Rocket Engine
In this image, engineers tes
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7/27/09
| Description |
In this image, engineers test the RL-10 engine in NASA Lewis Research Center's (now Glenn's) Propulsion Systems Laboratory. Developed by Pratt & Whitney, the engine was designed to power the Centaur second-stage rocket. Centaur was responsible for sending the Surveyor spacecraft on its mission to land on the moon and explore the surface in the early stages of the Apollo Program. Image credit: NASA |
| Date |
7/27/09 |
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The 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbite
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| Description |
The 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbiter is scheduled for launch on April 7, 2001. It will arrive at Mars in October. After a propulsive maneuver into a 25-hour capture orbit, aerobraking will be used over the next 76 days to achieve the 2-hour science orbit. Aerobraking was utilized on the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Polar Orbiter missions. The Orbiter will carry 3 science instruments, the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS), and the Mars Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE). THEMIS will map the mineralogy and morphology of the Martian surface using a high- resolution camera and a thermal infrared imaging spectrometer. The GRS will achieve global mapping of the elemental composition of the surface and determine the abundance of hydrogen in the shallow subsurface. The GRS is a rebuild of the instrument lost with the Mars Observer mission. The MARIE will characterize aspects of the near-space radiation environment as related to the radiation-related risk to human explorers. |
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An excellent view of the unm
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11/20/69
| Date |
11/20/69 |
| Description |
An excellent view of the unmanned Surveyor III spacecraft which was photographed during the Apollo 12 second extravehicular activity (EVA-2) on the surface of the Moon. The Apollo 12 Lunar Module, landed within 600 feet of Surveyor III in the Ocean of Storms. The television camera and several other pieces were taken from Surveyor III and brought back to Earth for scientific examination. |
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View of the Surveyor III spa
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11/20/69
| Date |
11/20/69 |
| Description |
View of the Surveyor III spacecraft and camera which was photographed during the Apollo 12 second extravehicular activity (EVA-2) on the surface of the Moon. The Apollo 12 Lunar Module, landed within 600 feet of Surveyor III in the Ocean of Storms. The television camera and several other pieces were taken from Surveyor III and brought back to Earth for scientific examination. |
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View of the Surveyor III foo
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11/20/69
| Date |
11/20/69 |
| Description |
View of the Surveyor III footpads and the depressions which were made upon landing on the moon. These photographs were taken during the Apollo 12 second extravehicular activity (EVA-2) on the surface of the Moon. The Apollo 12 Lunar Module, landed within 600 feet of Surveyor III in the Ocean of Storms. The television camera and several other pieces were taken from Surveyor III and brought back to Earth for scientific examination. |
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View of the Surveyor III rob
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11/20/69
| Date |
11/20/69 |
| Description |
View of the Surveyor III robotic arm and the trenches it created in the lunar soil. These photographs were taken during the Apollo 12 second extravehicular activity (EVA-2) on the surface of the Moon. The Apollo 12 Lunar Module, landed within 600 feet of Surveyor III in the Ocean of Storms. The television camera and several other pieces were taken from Surveyor III and brought back to Earth for scientific examination. |
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View of the Surveyor III spa
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11/20/69
| Date |
11/20/69 |
| Description |
View of the Surveyor III spacecraft and camera which was photographed during the Apollo 12 second extravehicular activity (EVA-2) on the surface of the Moon. The Apollo 12 Lunar Module, landed within 600 feet of Surveyor III in the Ocean of Storms. The television camera and several other pieces were taken from Surveyor III and brought back to Earth for scientific examination. |
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View of two U.S. spacecraft
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11/20/69
| Date |
11/20/69 |
| Description |
View of two U.S. spacecraft on the surface of the moon, taken during the second Apollo 12 extravehicular activity (EVA-2). The Apollo 12 Lunar Module is in the background. The unmanned Surveyor III spacecraft is in the foreground. |
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Mars Polar Lander
A bottom view of the Mars Po
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| Description |
A bottom view of the Mars Polar Lander spacecraft. The spacecraft will travel 10 months from Earth to Mars to land near the southern polar cap in December 1999 and carry out a three- month mission to search for traces of subsurface water in this frozen, layered terrain. The lander carries three scientific packages: the Mars descent imager, furnished by Malin Space Science Systems, Inc., which will view the landing site at increasingly higher resolution, the atmospheric lidar experiment, provided by Russia's Space Research Institute, which will measure the presence and height of atmospheric hazes, along with a miniature microphone provided by The Planetary Society, to record the sounds of Mars, and the Mars Volatile and Climate Surveyor science package. The mission is part of NASA's Mars Surveyor program, a sustained program of robotic exploration of the red planet, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin Astronautics is NASA's industrial partner in the mission. ##### |
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Mars Polar Lander
A top view of the Mars Polar
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| Description |
A top view of the Mars Polar Lander spacecraft. The spacecraft will travel 10 months from Earth to Mars to land near the southern polar cap in December 1999 and carry out a three- month mission to search for traces of subsurface water in this frozen, layered terrain. The lander carries three scientific packages: the Mars descent imager, furnished by Malin Space Science Systems, Inc., which will view the landing site at increasingly higher resolution, the atmospheric lidar experiment, provided by Russia's Space Research Institute, which will measure the presence and height of atmospheric hazes, along with a miniature microphone provided by The Planetary Society, to record the sounds of Mars, and the Mars Volatile and Climate Surveyor science package. The mission is part of NASA's Mars Surveyor program, a sustained program of robotic exploration of the red planet, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin Astronautics is NASA's industrial partner in the mission. ##### |
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Mars '98 Camera
This photograph shows the Ma
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12/1/95
| Date |
12/1/95 |
| Description |
This photograph shows the Mars Surveyor '98 Orbiter Color Imager, a high resolution camera that will be flown aboard a NASA orbiter in 1998. The camera will be built by Dr. Michael Malin of Malin Space Science Systems, Inc., San Diego, and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif. This tiny instrument consists of two cameras with unique optics and identical focal plane assemblies, data acquisition system electronics and power supplies. The wide-angle camera will acquire daily weather maps of Mars with a surface resolution of 0.8 kilometers up to 7.2 kilometers (0.5 mile to 4.5 miles). The camera produces these maps in five spectral bands, including two ultraviolet bands that will characterize atmospheric ozone and provide global maps of other atmospheric phenomena such as clouds, hazes, dust storms and the polar hood. The medium-angle camera will be used to study selected areas of Mars with a resolution of 40 meters (131 feet) and observe alterations in the planet's surface over time due to changing atmospheric conditions and winds. Ten spectral channels will provide the ability to discriminate both atmospheric and surface features on the basis of composition. The Mars '98 Orbiter mission is tentatively scheduled for launch aboard a Med- Lite expendable launch vehicle in December 1998. The mission will be managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. ##### |
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Mars Global Surveyor Payload
This view of NASA's Mars Glo
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7/18/96
| Date |
7/18/96 |
| Description |
This view of NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft shows the science payload, located on the nadir panel of the spacecraft, which will always be pointed at the surface of Mars. The large silver cylinder at top center is the Mars Orbiter Camera, which will provide low resolution global coverage of the planet every day and high resolution images of selected regions of scientific interest. Just below the camera is a black box, which is the mass mockup for the Thermal Emission Spectrometer, which will analyze infrared radiation from the surface of Mars so that scientists can identify properties of Martian rocks and soils. The white cylinder with holes that is pointing off to the left is the celestial sensor assembly, a star tracker that will keep the spacecraft oriented in space. The large white pipe standing straight up in the center foreground of the picture is the Mars Relay antenna and the translucent box to its right is the radio frequency power amplifier, which is attached to the high-gain antenna blanketed in a silver cover to the right. A white electronics box sits just to the left of the Mars Relay antenna and will be used to power the Magnetometer. The Magnetometer is located at the bottom of the solar array in lower foreground, on top of a white triangular structure. The solar panels are 1.73 meters by 1.85 meters (68 inches by 73 inches) when fully deployed. Mars Global Surveyor is in development at the Lockheed Martin Astronautics Corp., Denver, which is NASA's industrial partner for the mission. The spacecraft is scheduled to lift off on Nov. 6, 1996, from Cape Canaveral, Fla., for a two-year mission to study the Martian atmosphere, surface and interior. Mars Global Surveyor is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. ##### Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colorado. |
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Gorgonum Crater Mars Global
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Numerous deep channels desce
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6/29/00
| Date |
6/29/00 |
| Description |
Numerous deep channels descending a Martian crater wall, and the debris they left behind, are seen in this mosaic of two images taken by the camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. The area shown is the northwestern wall of an approximately 12 kilometer- (7.4 mile-) wide meteor crater east of the Gorgonum Chaos region in the Martian southern hemisphere. These are deep channels and the number of them and the debris they left behind indicate that as many as tens to hundreds of individual events involving the flow of water and debris have occurred here. The channels and the debris areas look sharp and there are no small meteor impact craters on them, suggesting that these features are extremely young relative to the 4.5 billion-year history of Mars. It is possible that these landforms are still being created by water seeping from the layered rock in the crater wall today. This is a mosaic of pictures taken by Mars Global Surveyor on April 26, 2000, and May 22, 2000. The scene covers an area approximately 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) wide by 7.2 kilometers (4.5 miles) long. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. The image is located near 37.4 degrees South by 168.0 degrees West. The Mars Orbiter camera high-resolution images are taken in black-and- white (grayscale), the color seen here has been synthesized from the colors of Mars observed by the spacecraft's wide-angle cameras and by the Viking Orbiters in the late 1970s. The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. ##### Images Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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MGS Tilted Array
This computer-generated view
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4/30/97
| Date |
4/30/97 |
| Description |
This computer-generated view of Mars Global Surveyor shows the spacecraft's original aerobraking configuration (top), in which the left-hand solar panel is fully deployed and rotated so that its solar cell-side is facing away from the air flow that exerts drag force on the spacecraft during aerobraking. The drawing below shows its newly modified aerobraking configuration, in which the same panel (on left) is now rotated 180 degrees so that the solar cell-side of the panel, shown by the blue surface, is now facing into the direction of the wind flow during aerobraking. The arrow indicates the location of the deployment mechanism, situated at the "shoulder" joint of the spacecraft, where a small damper arm was broken and wedged into a 2-inch space between the deployment hinge and the edge of the solar array. The wedged damper arm prevented the panel from full deployment, so that the panel is tilted 20.5 degrees away from its fully deployed position seen above. Mars Global Surveyor will be flown in this modified configuration during aerobraking, which begins one week after the spacecraft arrives at Mars on September 11, and lasts approximately four months. Aerobraking will allow the spacecraft to slow its velocity by dipping repeatedly into the upper atmosphere of Mars during each closest approach to the planet, and to lower itself into the final mapping orbit for the beginning of science operations in March 1998. Mars Global Surveyor is the first mission in a sustained program of robotic exploration of Mars, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. ##### |
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MGS Aerobraking
This computer-designed view
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4/30/97
| Date |
4/30/97 |
| Description |
This computer-designed view of Mars Global Surveyor shows the modified aerobraking configuration which will be used to compensate for a solar panel that did not fully deploy after launch. The 3.5-meter (11-foot) wing on the right is the panel that did not latch in place after deployment. Consequently, it will be rotated 180 degrees so that the solar-cell side of the panel (the blue surface seen here) faces into the direction of the air flow that exerts drag force on the spacecraft as it dips repeatedly into the atmosphere. This way, the unlatched panel will not be in danger of folding up onto the spacecraft's main structure, nor will the panel be at any greater risk of heating up too much. Engineers on the Surveyor flight team determined that a piece of metal called the "damper arm," which is part of the solar array deployment mechanism located at the "shoulder" joint, where the entire panel is attached to the spacecraft body, was probably sheared off during deployment in the first day of flight. The lever that turns the shaft became wedged in a 2-inch space between the elbow joint and the edge of the solar panel, leaving the panel tilted at 20.5 degrees from its fully deployed and latched position. The tilted array caused the JPL/Lockheed Martin flight team to re-evaluate the aerobraking phase, of the mission, in which the spacecraft must rely almost solely on its solar panels as drags to lower it into a nearly circular mapping orbit over the poles of the planet. This phase of the mission will begin a week after Mars Global Surveyor is captured in orbit around Mars on Sept. 11, 1997, and will last approximately four months. Mars Global Surveyor is the first mission in a sustained program of robotic exploration of Mars, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Computer-generated view provided by Jeff Alu, Irvine, CA. ##### |
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Richard Cook is the Mars Sur
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| Description |
Richard Cook is the Mars Surveyor Operations project manager. |
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MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR CAPTURE
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NASA's Mars Global Surveyor
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11/17/00
| Date |
11/17/00 |
| Description |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, currently orbiting Mars, simultaneously snapped both a wide-angle and high-resolution view of Hale crater that show gullies -- possibly carved by water -- in the peaks of sand dunes inside the crater. The Global Surveyor images, which support findings release last spring, are available at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov , http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs or http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/nov_00_hale/ . Mars Global Surveyor is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. |
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1998 Mars Polar Lander
The Mars Surveyor '98 Polar
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5/27/98
| Date |
5/27/98 |
| Description |
The Mars Surveyor '98 Polar Lander is shown during recent deployment and testing of its surface solar panels. The spacecraft will travel 10 months from Earth to Mars to land near the southern polar cap in December 1999 and carry out a three- month mission to search for traces of subsurface water in this frozen, layered terrain. The lander carries three scientific packages: the Mars descent imager, furnished by Malin Space Science Systems, Inc., which will view the landing site at increasingly higher resolution, the atmospheric lidar experiment, provided by Russia's Space Research Institute, which will measure the presence and height of atmospheric hazes, along with a miniature microphone provided by The Planetary Society, to record the sounds of Mars, and the Mars Volatile and Climate Surveyor science package. The mission is part of NASA's Mars Surveyor program, a sustained program of robotic exploration of the red planet, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin Astronautics is NASA's industrial partner in the mission. Photo copyright 1998, Lockheed Martin ##### |
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Mars '98 Logo
The Mars Surveyor '98 Logo w
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| Description |
The Mars Surveyor '98 Logo was created by David Seal. |
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1998 Mars Climate Orbiter
The Mars Surveyor '98 Climat
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5/27/98
| Date |
5/27/98 |
| Description |
The Mars Surveyor '98 Climate Orbiter, which is entering the final stages of testing this summer at Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO, is shown here during acoustic tests that simulate launch conditions. The orbiter will conduct a two- year primary mission to profile the Martian atmosphere and map the surface. To carry out these scientific objectives, the spacecraft will carry a rebuilt version of the pressure-modulated infrared radiometer, lost with the Mars Observer spacecraft, and a miniaturized dual camera system the size of a pair of binoculars, provided by Malin Space Science Systems, Inc., San Diego, CA. During its primary mission, the orbiter will monitor Mars' atmosphere and surface globally on a daily basis for one Martian year (two Earth years), observing the appearance and movement of atmospheric dust and water vapor, as well as characterizing seasonal changes of the planet's surface. Imaging of the surface morphology will also provide important clues about the planet's climate in its early history. The mission is part of NASA's Mars Surveyor program, a sustained program of robotic exploration of the red planet, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin Astronautics is NASA's industrial partner in the mission. Photo copyright 1998, Lockheed Martin ##### |
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Mars Polar Lander
The Mars Polar Lander is sho
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| Description |
The Mars Polar Lander is shown on the surface of Mars. The spacecraft will travel 10 months from Earth to Mars to land near the southern polar cap in December 1999 and carry out a three- month mission to search for traces of subsurface water in this frozen, layered terrain. The lander carries three scientific packages: the Mars descent imager, furnished by Malin Space Science Systems, Inc., which will view the landing site at increasingly higher resolution, the atmospheric lidar experiment, provided by Russia's Space Research Institute, which will measure the presence and height of atmospheric hazes, along with a miniature microphone provided by The Planetary Society, to record the sounds of Mars, and the Mars Volatile and Climate Surveyor science package. The mission is part of NASA's Mars Surveyor program, a sustained program of robotic exploration of the red planet, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin Astronautics is NASA's industrial partner in the mission. ##### |
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Dr. William H. Pickering
Dr. William H. Pickering ser
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| Description |
Dr. William H. Pickering served as the fourth director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, from 1954 to 1976. The period during which he led JPL spanned the eras from JPL's creation of the first U.S. satellite, Explorer I, through the formation of NASA, the Ranger, Surveyor and Mariner missions of the 1960s and the Viking mission of the 1970s. |
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GLOBAL SURVEYOR CAPTURES POS
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At the beginning of its four
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10/5/00
| Date |
10/5/00 |
| Description |
At the beginning of its fourth year in orbit, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft has snapped a picture-postcard view of three Martian valleys that is now available on the Internet and on NASA Television. The three major valley systems are located east of the Hellas plains. They are Dao Vallis, Niger Vallis and Harmakhis Vallis. These valleys are believed by some to have been formed -- at least in part -- by large outbursts of liquid water some time far back in the Martian past, though there is no way to know exactly how many hundreds of millions or billions of years ago this might have occurred. In each valley, water would have flowed toward the area seen at the bottom of the image. Although their dimensions vary along their courses, the valleys are all roughly 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) deep and range in width from about 40 kilometers (25 miles) down to about 8 kilometers (5 miles). The image is located at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/mars or http://www.msss.com or http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs . The images are also available on NASA Television during today's video file, October 5, at noon Eastern (3 p.m. Pacific time). NTV is broadcast on GE-2, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees West longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical and audio is monaural at 6.8 MHz. See the schedule at ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/tv-advisory/nasa-tv.txt . JPL manages the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. ##### |
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Martian Sedimentary Rock Out
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Hundreds of layers of sedime
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12/4/00
| Date |
12/4/00 |
| Description |
Hundreds of layers of sedimentary rock exposed by erosion on the floor of a 64 kilometer-wide (40 mile-wide) meteor crater in western Arabia Terra, Mars, attest to a dynamic early history for the red planet. This high-resolution image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft shows an example enhanced by dark, windblown sand banked up against scarps 5-10 meters high (5-11 yards) formed by eroded rock layers. The west Arabia Terra crater is located at 8 degrees north, 7 degrees west, on the Martian surface. The layers provide a record of repeated, episodic changes that took place at some time far in the Martian past. Mars Global Surveyor is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C., by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the camera system. JPL's industrial partner is Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., which developed and operates the spacecraft. ##### |
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Layered Rock in Candor Chasm
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This high-resolution picture
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12/4/00
| Date |
12/4/00 |
| Description |
This high-resolution picture from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor was the first received by imaging scientists that began to hint at a larger story of layered sedimentary rock on Mars. These patterns could very well indicate that the materials were deposited in a lake or shallow sea. The picture shows a 1.5 kilometer-by-2.9 kilometer area (.9 mile- by-1.8 mile) in far southwestern Candor Chasma. Based on Mariner 9 and Viking orbiter images, this region was not known to exhibit layers. What is most striking about the picture is the large number and uniformity of the previously unexpected layers, or beds. There are more than 100 beds in this area, and each has about the same thickness (estimated to be about 10 meters, or 11 yards, thick). Each layer has a relatively smooth upper surface and each is hard enough to form steep cliffs at its margins. Layers indicate change. The uniform pattern seen here, with beds of similar properties and thickness repeated more than one hundred times, suggests that the deposition processes that made the layers were interrupted at regular or episodic intervals. Patterns like this, when found on Earth, usually indicate the presence of sediment deposited in dynamic, energetic, underwater environments. However, because these rocks are found on Mars, it is not known for certain that they formed underwater or whether there were once dry, atmospheric depositional processes operating on the planet that could create sedimentary rocks that mimic those formed in water. Mars Global Surveyor is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C., by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the camera system. JPL's industrial partner is Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., which developed and operates the spacecraft. ##### |
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Hubble's Sharpest View Of Ma
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| Description |
Hubble's Sharpest View Of Mars The sharpest view of Mars ever taken from Earth was obtained by the recently refurbished NASA Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This stunning portrait was taken with the HST Wide Field Planetary Camera-2 (WFPC2) on March 10, 1997, just before Mars opposition, when the red planet made one of its closest passes to the Earth (about 60 million miles or 100 million km). At this distance, a single picture element (pixel) in WFPC2's Planetary Camera spans 13 miles (22 km) on the Martian surface. The Martian north pole is at the top (near the center of the bright polar cap) and East is to the right. The center of the disk is at about 23 degrees north latitude, and the central longitude is near 305 degrees. This view of Mars was taken on the last day of Martian spring in the northern hemisphere (just before summer solstice). It clearly shows familiar bright and dark markings known to astronomers for more than a century. The annual north polar carbon dioxide frost (dry ice) cap is rapidly sublimating (evaporating from solid to gas), revealing the much smaller permanent water ice cap, along with a few nearby detached regions of surface frost. The receding polar cap also reveals the dark, circular sea' of sand dunes that surrounds the north pole (Olympia Planitia). Other prominent features in this hemisphere include Syrtis Major Planitia, the large dark feature seen just below the center of the disk. The giant impact basin Hellas (near the bottom of the disk) is shrouded in bright water ice clouds. Water ice clouds also cover several great volcanos in the Elysium region near the eastern edge of the planet (right). A diffuse water ice haze covers much of the Martian equatorial region as well. The WFPC2 was used to monitor dust storm activity to support the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter Missions, which are currently en route to Mars. Airborne dust is most easily seen in WFPC2's red and near-infrared images. Hubble's "weather report" from these images in invaluable for Mars Pathfinder, which is scheduled for a July 4 landing. Fortunately, these images show no evidence for large-scale dust storm activity, which plagued a previous Mars mission in the early 1970s. The WFPC2 was used to observe Mars in nine different colors spanning the ultraviolet to the near infrared. The specific colors were chosen to clearly discriminate between airborne dust, ice clouds, and prominent Martian surface features. This picture was created by combining images taken in blue (433 nm), green (554 nm), and red (763 nm) colored filters. Credit: David Crisp and the WFPC2 Science Team (Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology) Image files in GIF and JPEG format and captions may be accessed on Internet via anonymous ftp from oposite.stsci.edu in /pubinfo. GIF JPEG PRC97-09a Syrtis Major gif/marssm97.gif jpeg/marssm97.jpg Higher resolution digital versions (300 dpi JPEG) of the release photograph are available in /pubinfo/hrtemp: 97-09a.jpg (color) and 97-09abw.jpg (black and white). GIF and JPEG images, captions and press release text are available via World Wide Web at http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/97/09.html and via links in http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/Latest.html or http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/Pictures.html. |
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Hubble Captures A Full Rotat
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Pictures of the planet Mars
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| Description |
Pictures of the planet Mars taken with the recently refurbished NASA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) will provide the most detailed global view of the red planet ever obtained from Earth. The images were taken by HST's Wide Field Planetary Camera-2 on March 10, 1997, just before Mars opposition, when the red planet made one of its closest to the Earth (about 60 million miles or 100 million km). These pictures were taken during three HST orbits that were separated by about six hours. This timing was chosen so that Mars, with its 24-hour 39-minute day, would rotate about 90 degrees between orbits. This imaging sequence therefore covers most of the Martian surface. These observations will be combined with others planned for March 30 to provide complete coverage. During each orbit, Mars was observed in nine different colors spanning the ultraviolet to the near infrared. The specific colors were chosen to clearly discriminate between airborne dust, ice clouds, and prominent Martian surface features. The color picture shown here was created by combining images taken in blue (433 nm), green (554 nm), and red (763 nm) colored filters. The Martian north pole is at the top (near the center of the bright polar cap) and East is to the right. The center of the disk is at about 23 degrees north latitude, and the central longitudes are near 160, 210, and 305 degrees. These images show the planet on the last day of Martian spring in the northern hemisphere (just before summer solstice). The annual north polar carbon dioxide frost (dry ice) cap is rapidly sublimating, revealing the much smaller permanent water ice cap. This polar cap remnant, along with a few nearby detached regions of surface frost are most obvious in pictures taken through ultraviolet, blue, and green filters. These filters also show numerous bright water ice clouds. The brightest clouds are in the vicinity of the giant volcanos on the Tharsis Plateau (to right of center on left image), and in the giant impact basin, Hellas (near bottom of right-hand image), but a diffuse haze covers much of the Martian tropics as well. The familiar bright and dark markings on the Martian surface are most obvious in images taken through red and near-infrared filters. These images clearly reveal the large, dark, circular "sea" of sand dunes (Olympia Planitia) that surrounds the north pole, as well a number of other familiar features, including the giant Tharsis volcanos. The 16-mile (27 km) high Olympus Mons is near the center of the left-hand image, with Arsia, Povonis, and Ascraeus Mons forming a south-west to north-east line just to its right. The volcano, Elysium Mons is near the center of the middle image. The prominent dark feature just below the center on the disk on the rightmost image is Syrtis Major Planitia. Hubble is being used to monitor dust storm activity to support the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter Missions, which are currently en route to Mars. Airborne dust is most easily seen in WFPC2's red and near-infrared images. Weather reports derived from these observations are particularly valuable for Mars Pathfinder, which is scheduled for a July 4, 1997 landing on the red planet. A preliminary analysis of these HST data reveals enhanced dust activity over the dark Vastitas Borealis region in the northern hemisphere, and over the Noachis Terra and Terra Tyrrhena regions just south of the Martian equator. There is also evidence for airborne dust and ice clouds in the Hellas basin. However, these images show no evidence for large-scale dust storm activity. Credit: David Crisp and the WFPC2 Science Team (Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology) |
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Crater Wall In Noachis Mars
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Signs of water erosion and d
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6/29/00
| Date |
6/29/00 |
| Description |
Signs of water erosion and debris flow are seen in this high resolution view of gullies eroded into the wall of a meteor impact crater in Noachis Terra on Mars, taken by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. The image shows channels and associated aprons of debris, interpreted to have formed by groundwater seepage, surface runoff, and debris flow. The lack of small craters superimposed on the channels and apron deposits indicates that these features are geologically young. It is possible that these gullies indicate that liquid water is present the below the surface of Mars today. This picture was acquired by Mars Global Surveyor on September 28, 1999. The scene covers an area approximately 3 kilometers (about 2 miles) wide by 6.7 kilometers (4.1 miles) high. Sunlight illuminates this area from the upper left. The area covered in the image is located near 54.8 degrees South by 342.5 degrees West. The Mars Orbiter camera high-resolution images are taken in black-and-white (grayscale), the color seen here has been synthesized from the colors of Mars observed by the spacecraft's wide-angle cameras and by NASA's Viking Orbiters in the late 1970s. The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. ##### Images Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA Connect - Geometry of E
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NASA Connect Video containin
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1/1/00
| Description |
NASA Connect Video containing six segments as described below. NASA Connect Segment involving students in a classroom activity that measures shadows and uses geometry to determine sizes of angles. NASA Connect Segment explaining questions about Erastothenes, the Earth's circumference, parallel lines, angle relationships, and a transversal. NASA Connect Segment featuring an online activity to show students how to design a planetary observer like the Mars Global Surveyor. NASA Connect Segment explaining surveying and how surveyors use geometry. NASA Connect Segment exploring how the Mars Global Surveyor works and how students survey Mars by using shadows, angles, and geometry. The video also explains how land formations are measured on Mars. NASA Connect Segment explaining how NASA scientists survey Mars with the Mars Global Surveyor. The video also explains aerobraking and how geometry influences this. |
| Date |
1/1/00 |
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NASA Destination Tomorrow -
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NASA Destination Tomorrow Se
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6/1/03
| Description |
NASA Destination Tomorrow Segment exploring the function of aerobraking and how this helps reduce costs and create more room in aircraft. |
| Date |
6/1/03 |
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NASA Destination Tomorrow -
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NASA Destination Tomorrow Vi
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6/1/03
| Description |
NASA Destination Tomorrow Video containing three segments as described below. NASA Destination Tomorrow Segment exploring the function of aerobraking and how this helps reduce costs and create more room in aircraft. NASA Destination Tomorrow Segment exploring new materials technology development and how it has revolutionized the world of science and technology. NASA Destination Tomorrow Segment exploring a newly discovered moon called Titan that revolves around the planet Saturn. |
| Date |
6/1/03 |
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NASA Connect - EOM - Planeta
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NASA Connect Segment featuri
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1/1/00
| Description |
NASA Connect Segment featuring an online activity to show students how to design a planetary observer like the Mars Global Surveyor. |
| Date |
1/1/00 |
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NASA Connect - EOM - Surveyi
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NASA Connect Segment explori
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1/1/00
| Description |
NASA Connect Segment exploring how the Mars Global Surveyor works and how students survey Mars by using shadows, angles, and geometry. The video also explains how land formations are measured on Mars. |
| Date |
1/1/00 |
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NASA Connect - EOM - Surveyi
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NASA Connect Segment explain
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1/1/00
| Description |
NASA Connect Segment explaining how NASA scientists survey Mars with the Mars Global Surveyor. The video also explains aerobraking and how geometry influences this. |
| Date |
1/1/00 |
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Spirit's Tracks
| title |
Spirit's Tracks |
| description |
As Spirit descended onto Mars' surface on Jan. 3, 2004 it performed a series of entry, descent and landing actions, leaving visible marks on the surface of Mars. This "path" of Spirit's descent can be seen labeled in this image. This image is a composite of images taken by the camera on Mars Global Surveyor and Spirit's descent image motion estimation system camera. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Viking Checkup
| title |
Viking Checkup |
| date |
05.20.1971 |
| description |
A technician checks the soil sampler on an earlier generation of Mars lander - Viking - in this 1971 photo. Viking 1 became the first spacecraft to land safely on Mars on July 20, 1976. The robotic arm scooped samples of the Martian soil, emptied it into a hopper on the lander, which analyzed it with three scientific instruments. NASA's Viking Lander was designed, fabricated, and tested by the Martin Marietta Corp. of Denver, Colorado, under the direction of the Viking Progect Office at Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. The lander drew heavily on the experience gained from the Ranger, Surveyor and the Apollo Programs in the areas of radar, altimeters, facsimile, cameras, soil samplers and landing gear. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Cool Summer
| title |
Cool Summer |
| description |
Mars Global Surveyor captured this wide-angle view of the Martian North Pole in summer. It is one of more than 134,000 images in the Mars Orbiter Camera image gallery. A batch of 10,232 new images were added this week. |
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Man and Machine
| title |
Man and Machine |
| date |
11.20.1969 |
| description |
Charles Conrad Jr., Apollo 12 Commander, examines the unmanned Surveyor III spacecraft during the second extravehicular activity (EVA-2). The Lunar Module (LM) "Intrepid" is in the right background. This picture was taken by astronaut Alan L. Bean, Lunar Module pilot. The "Intrepid" landed on the Moon's Ocean of Storms only 600 feet from Surveyor III. The television camera and several other components were taken from Surveyor III and brought back to earth for scientific analysis. Surveyor III soft-landed on the Moon on April 19, 1967. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Mars Global Surveyor Spacecr
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| title |
Mars Global Surveyor Spacecraft |
| date |
10.21.1996 |
| description |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) workers in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) prepare the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft for transfer to the launch pad by placing it in a protective canister. The Surveyor spacecraft (upper) is already mated to its solid propellant upper stage booster (lower), which is actually the third stage of the Delta II expendable launch vehicle that will propel the spacecraft on its interplanetary journey to the Red Planet. Once at Launch Pad 17A on Cape Canaveral Air Station, the spacecraft and booster assembly will be stacked atop the Delta vehicle. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Surveyor 1
| title |
Surveyor 1 |
| date |
05.30.1966 |
| description |
The Surveyor spacecraft was designed to attain the engineering objectives of the Surveyor program, which included the first lunar soft landing. No instrumentation was carried specifically for scientific experiments, but considerable scientific information was obtained. The spacecraft carried two television cameras -- one for approach, which was not used, and one for operations on the lunar surface. Over 100 engineering sensors were on board. The television system transmitted pictures of the spacecraft footpad and surrounding lunar terrain and surface materials. The spacecraft also acquired data on the radar reflectivity of the lunar surface, bearing strength of the lunar surface, and spacecraft temperatures for use in the analysis of the lunar surface temperatures. The spacecraft was launched May 30, 1966, directly into a lunar impact trajectory. Engines were turned off at a height of 3.4 m above the lunar surface. The spacecraft fell freely from this height, landing on the lunar surface on June 2, 1966, in Oceanus Procellarum -- 2.45 deg s latitude, 43.22 deg w longitude (selenographic coordinates). The spacecraft transmitted data from shortly after touchdown until July 14, 1966, with an interval of no operation during lunar night (June 14 to July 7, 1966). Engineering interrogations continued until January 7, 1967. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Radar Slice Through Subsurfa
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| title |
Radar Slice Through Subsurface of Equatorial Deposits on Mars |
| description |
This image combining a topographic map viewed obliquely (color portion of image) with a radargram of the subsurface (monochrome portion) shows features of mysterious Martian deposits named the Medusae Fossae Formation. The westward-looking view includes the divide between Martian highlands on the south and lowlands on the north, spanning a range from about 12 degrees south latitude (left edge of image) to 5 degrees north latitude (right edge of image). The deposits of the Medusae Fossae Formation are found in the lowlands along the divide, in the center foreground. The radar sounder on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter has revealed echoes from what is interpreted as a boundary between the overlying deposits and underlying lowland plains buried by these deposits. The radar information presented here is from downward-looking radar observations by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS, jointly funded by NASA and the Italian Space Agency) as Mars Express flew a south-to-north path at about 188 degrees east longitude. The topographic map, using 1990s data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter instrument on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter, extends from that transect to about 135 degrees east longitude. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages NASA's roles in Mars Express for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/Italian Space Agency/Univ. of Rome/Smithsonian |
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Spirit's Landing Site
| title |
Spirit's Landing Site |
| description |
This image, taken previously by the thermal emission spectrometer onboard Mars Global Surveyor, highlights the same cluster of craters captured by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit as it descends to Mars. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Moon Landing Sites
| title |
Moon Landing Sites |
| description |
This image shows the locations of many spacecraft that have landed on the Moon. Green triangles are Apollo missions, yellow are NASA Surveyor missions and red are Russian Luna spacecraft. *Image Credit*: National Space Science Data Center, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Phobos' Stickney Crater
| title |
Phobos' Stickney Crater |
| date |
08.19.1998 |
| description |
This image of Phobos, the inner and larger of the two moons of Mars, was taken by Mars Global Surveyor in 1998. This image shows a close-up of the largest crater on Phobos, Stickney, 10 kilometers in diameter. Individual boulders are visible on the near rim of the crater, and are presumed to be ejecta blocks from the impact that formed Stickney. Some of these boulders are enormous, more than 50 meters across. Also crossing at and near the rim of Stickney are shallow, elongated depressions called grooves. This crater is nearly half the size of Phobos, and these grooves may be fractures caused by its formation. Phobos was observed by both the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) and Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES). This image is one of the highest-resolution images (4 meters per pixel) ever obtained of the martian satellite. *Image Credit*: NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Malin Space Science Systems |
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Olympus Mons, 1998
| title |
Olympus Mons, 1998 |
| date |
04.25.1998 |
| description |
Olympus Mons is a mountain of mystery. Taller than three Mount Everests and about as wide as the entire Hawaiian Island chain, this giant volcano is nearly as flat as a pancake. That is, its flanks typically only slope 20 to 50. The Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) obtained this spectacular wide-angle view of Olympus Mons on Mars Global Surveyor's 263rd orbit, around 10:40 p.m. PDT on April 25, 1998. In the view presented here, north is to the left and east is up. The spacecraft was traveling from north to south (left to right). Although the camera looks straight down (towards the nadir) and cannot be pointed to the side, the wide angle camera has such a large field of view (it sees from horizon to horizon) that, in effect, it provides side looking views. Unlike some other MOC images, that have had to be warped to provide a view as if seen from a certain direction and altitude, this image shows what the camera saw without additional processing. It is easy to imagine that you are looking out a window at the surface of Mars from about 900 km (560 miles) up. The image was taken on a cool, crisp winter morning. The west side of the volcano (lower portion of view, above) was clear and details on the surface appear very sharp. The skies above the plains to the east of Olympus Mons (upper portion of view) were cloudy. Clouds were lapping against the lower east flanks of this 26 kilometers (16 miles) high volcano, but the summit skies were clear. When Mars Global Surveyor attains its Mapping Orbit in March 1999, the MOC wide angle camera system will be used to make daily, global maps of martian clouds and weather systems. The wide angle images will resemble weather satellite pictures of Earth, and will help the Mars science teams plan their observations and test computer-driven Mars weather prediction models. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. Image Note: This color picture was made using MOC red wide angle image 26301 and blue wide angle image 26302. The green channel was synthesized by averaging the red and blue bands. Color is not the true color of Mars as it would appear to the human eye (the actual colors would be more pale and contrast more subdued) *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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High-Resolution MOC Image of
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| title |
High-Resolution MOC Image of Phobos |
| date |
08.19.1998 |
| description |
This image of Phobos, the inner and larger of the two moons of Mars, was taken by the Mars Global Surveyor on August 19, 1998. This image shows a close-up of the largest crater on Phobos, Stickney, 10 kilometers (6 miles) in diameter. Individual boulders are visible on the near rim of the crater, and are presumed to be ejecta blocks from the impact that formed Stickney. Some of these boulders are enormous - more than 50 meters (160 feet) across. Also crossing at and near the rim of Stickney are shallow, elongated depressions called grooves. This crater is nearly half the size of Phobos and these grooves may be fractures caused by its formation. Phobos was observed by both the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) and Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES). This image is one of the highest resolution images (4 meters or 13 feet per picture element or pixel) ever obtained of the Martian satellite. Malin Space Science Systems, Inc. and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Thermal Emission Spectrometer is operated by Arizona State University and was built by Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. *Image Credit*: Erich Karkoschka (University of Arizona Lunar & Planetary Lab) and NASA |
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Surveyor 1 Shadow
| title |
Surveyor 1 Shadow |
| date |
06.02.1966 |
| description |
Surveyor 1, the first of the Surveyor missions to make a successful soft landing on the Moon, proved design and landing techniques. In addition to transmitting over 11,000 pictures, it sent information on the bearing strength of the lunar soil, the radar reflectivity, and temperature. Surveyor 1 was launched on May 30, 1966 and landed on June 2, 1966. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Surveyor 5 Footpad
| title |
Surveyor 5 Footpad |
| date |
09.11.1967 |
| description |
This Surveyor 5 image shows its footpad resting on the lunar soil. The trench at right was formed by the footpad sliding during landing. Surveyor 5 landed on the Moon on Sept. 11, 1967 at 1.41 N, 23.18E in Mare Tranquillitatis. The spacecraft landed on the inside edge of a small rimless crater at an angle of about 20 degrees, explaining the sliding. The footpad is about half a meter in diameter. The purpose of the seven Surveyor missions (five of which were successful) were to land safely on the Moon, testing the landing techniques planned for the manned Apollo lunar landers, and take close-up images of the surface and make other observations to find locations that would be safe for Apollo landings. Surveyor 5 was equipped with an alpha-backscatter instrument to determine chemical composition of the soil and a small bar magnet in one of its landing feet to test for magnetic material. Even though it had developed a helium regulator leak and had to land using a hastily and radically re-designed descent profile, the landing was flawless and Surveyor 5 performed even better than its predecessors. Surveyor 5 was launched on September 8, 1967 and landed on September 11, 1967 *Image Credit*: NASA |
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