New Mars Probe Sends Back View From Orbit

AP on Yahoo ^ | 3/24/06 | John Antczak - ap

[NormsRevenge]

LOS ANGELES - A high-resolution camera aboard NASA's latest spacecraft to reach Mars sent back its first view of the Red Planet from orbit, the space agency said Friday.

The crisp test image from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was taken late Thursday at an altitude of 1,547 miles and shows a 30.9-mile-by-11.7-mile area of the planet's mid-latitude southern highlands. The mosaic of 10 side-by-side exposures shows a cratered surface with ravine- or canyon-like channels on both sides.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said the smallest discernible objects are about 25 feet across, but that the camera will be able to capture images of objects less than three feet across once it reaches its much lower "mapping orbit."

The quality bodes well for future pictures, said Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona, principal investigator for the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera.

"The performance of the spacecraft looks superb, there's certainly no obvious smear here," he said in a telephone interview. "They have pointed us and oriented us just right to get unsmeared images."

The spacecraft reached Mars on March 10 and went into a giant elliptical orbit. Over a period of months it will dip into the upper atmosphere in a process called aerobraking to reach altitudes between about 199 miles and 158 miles and to make its orbit more circular. The science phase of the $720 million mission should begin in November.

The first image is comparable in resolution to those from the Mars Orbiter Camera aboard the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, which has been orbiting the Red Planet since 1997, McEwen said.

The main purpose of the initial image was to calibrate the camera. Two other cameras on the orbiter, the Context Camera and the Mars Color Imager, were also tested Thursday night during a 40-minute collection of engineering data.

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On the Net:

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/

[NormsRevenge]

This view shows first image of Mars taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, released by NASA March 24, 2006. The spacecraft, launched August 12, 2005, began orbiting Mars on March 10, 2006. This first test image from orbit on March 24, 2006, from an altitude of 2,489 kms (1,547 miles). This image is a mosaic combining 10 side-by-side exposures taken through red filters, presented at a greatly reduced scale. The white box at lower right indicates the position of a detailed image also released by NASA. The quality of this test image is spectacular, with no hint to the eye of any smear or blurring. A high signal-to-noise ratio reveals fine details even in the shadows. The scene covers an area 49.8 km (30.9 miles) wide and 23.6 km (11.7 miles) high, of landscape typical of Mars' mid-latitude southern highlands. BLACK AND WHITE ONLY NO SALES NO ARCHIVES EDITORIAL USE ONLY REUTERS/NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/Handout

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This photo released Friday March 24, 2006 by NASA shows a full-resolution portion of the first image of Mars taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The spacecraft, launched Aug. 12, 2005, began orbiting Mars on March 10, 2006. The image is of an area in Mars' mid-latitude southern highlands. (AP Photo/NASA, JPL, University of Arizona)

[StormEye]

Somebody tell Richard Hoagland!! There must be an
alien artifact somewhere in those photos!

[NormsRevenge]

The Calibration page for the MRO..

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Testing HiRISE

Scientists and engineers at the University of Arizona are gearing up to see the first test images of Mars taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. The camera team expects to begin receiving the images early Friday (March 24, 2006). The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will be farther from Mars when the camera takes these test images than it will be when the mission's main science phase begins next fall, so the resolution of features in the images will not match what is anticipated later. However, this week's testing is the only planned use of the camera until the science phase begins. Stay tuned for the first test images!

[Right Wing Assault]

I think I see the word "Allah" spelled out. Kill Mars!!

[NormsRevenge]

MRO camera test images Ping

[RightWhale]

Good job. A pixel would be about a foot across on the surface. This satellite will be returning ten times the data rate of all the spacecraft now or previously operating on and about Mars.

[SteveMcKing]

Do they plan to add the usual false red tones and to amplify the height dimension so it looks more dramatic?

Meh. I troll.

[tutstar]

read later

[KevinDavis]

[NormsRevenge]

They have a couple other devices onboard to help do just that it seems, looks like they were also tested today.

should be some interesting shots with some good detail when they get down close.

[RightWhale]

The Euro satellite has SAR and false elevation images can be made from that. This MRO seems to have ordinary optical imaging equipment.

[NormsRevenge]

Apologies to non Broadband users...

I'm gonna post the one Hi-Res test image (316 KB) and provide a link to the Larger shot test image, it's 2.4. It's 2.4MB in size.

HERE.

[burzum]

This is an interesting time for the spacecraft. Being in a higher orbit it can take some very interesting photos before it gets stuck in the straight down birds eye view mode. In 1998 MGS took an amazing view of almost the entirety of Olympus Mons. Hopefully they have a couple of pictures like that planed with HiRISE.

[henbane]

Just in!

[ElkGroveDan]

Do they plan to add the usual false red tones and to amplify the height dimension so it looks more dramatic?

NASA has not been doing that. If you have an example please direct me to it.

[NormsRevenge]

It sounds like this is the only announced testing to be done until the craft reaches a much lower altitude..

They have a number of instruments onboard.

They need a space webcam.
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http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/sc_instru.html

Spacecraft Parts: Instruments


The spacecraft carries six science instruments, three engineering instruments, and two more science-facility experiments.
Science Instruments:
During its two-year primary science mission, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will conduct eight different science investigations at Mars. The investigations are functionally divided into three purposes: global mapping, regional surveying, and high-resolution targeting of specific spots on the surface.
Cameras:
HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment)
This visible camera can reveal small-scale objects in the debris blankets of mysterious gullies and details of geologic structure of canyons, craters, and layered deposits.
CTX (Context Camera)
This camera will provide wide area views to help provide a context for high-resolution analysis of key spots on Mars provided by HiRISE and CRISM.

MARCI (Mars Color Imager)
This weather camera will monitor clouds and dust storms.


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http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/sc_instru.html

[IronJack]

I'm confused on the scale. What "scene" is 30 miles, the bigger one or the detail? I'm trying to get a feel for how large some of these objects are.

[Central Scrutiniser]

Don't laugh Hoaxland has already claimed that the cameras will be operating during the 6 month aerobraking, and that they will be secret pictures of the ancient cities, that we can't see.

Oh, and he wants a small donation so he can keep grifting...er...reporting.

[MaDeuce]

My GOD! It looks like a woman standing on Allah's nose!

Blasphemy!!!

[Central Scrutiniser]

The big scene is 30 miles, the imager is supposed to resolve to about 5 ft at highest resolution, once they get into a polar orbit.