View Full Version : [Space] NASA - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Benvenuti alla nuova missione verso Marte!
NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
http://www.spacetoday.org/images/Mars/MarsOrbiter2005/MarsReconnOrbiter2005.jpg
Come si sa ogni 2 anni le orbite della Terra e di Marte di trovano allineate in modo che i due pianeti siano alla minima distanza, tuttavia al contrario che nel 2003 (quando furono lanciati Mars Express e i due rover del progetto MER) e nel 2007, quest'anno la distanza è leggermente superiore così come la dimensione (e il peso) del nuovo satellite della NASA. E' per questo motivo che per la prima volta l'agenzia spaziale americana, che per i lanci delle proprie missioni scientifiche si rivolge a compagnie private, non utilizzerà il collaudato Delta 2 della Boeing ma il recente nuovo lanciatore della famiglia Atlas, l'Altlas V della International Launch Services (ILS), compagnia a partecipazione americana e russa che utilizza i mitici motori RD-180 Energia costruiti in Russia.
http://www.ilslaunch.com/pictures/atlas_v/large/Inmarsat_4-F1_photo_2.jpg
La configurazione scelta dalla NASA per MRO è l'Atlas V 401, quella "base", che è costituita quindi da 1 solo motore Centaur, nessun booster, e 4 m di diametro per la sezione di payload.
Missione
Lo scopo principale di MRO è quello di cercare tracce dell'esistenza di acqua per lunghi periodi sulla superficie di marte in passato (quindi MRO cercherà tracce dell'acqua in superficie mentre MARSIS della sonda europea Mars Express sta cercando acqua SOTTO la superfice di marte oggi).
Ma MRO non è solo questo. MRO costituirà infatti il primo ponte della prima rete di telecomunicazioni interplanetaria, grazie alla nuovissima tecnologia che utilizza le frequenze della banda Ka, permettendo una maggiore velocità di trasmissione e ricezione ed un minor consumo.
MRO assieme a Mars Global Surveyor e a Mars Odissey costituirà la prima rete sperimentale di comunicazioni in grado di poter coprire gran parte del pianeta e, assieme a Mars Express, di poter fare da ponte con le future missioni robotiche su Marte verso la Terra.
Il satellite è anche dotato di una nuovissima telecamera ad alta definizione per la navigazione, che se avrà successo verrà utilizzata su futuri satelliti necessari per poter navigare con sicurezza i lander delle missioni spaziali robotiche ed umane.
Satellite
MRO è stato progettato e costruito dalla Loockheed Martin Space Systems ed utilizza un nuovo disegno che la rende più intelligente, affidabile ed agile, ed è la prima sonda progettata appositamente per la fase di aerobraking, cioè quella fase nella quale il satellite utilizza in modo diretto la resistenza dell'atmosfera marziana in modo da rallentare la propria velocità e quindi di abbassare la propria orbita all'altitudine finale.
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/artwork/images/mars_orbiters.jpg
Configurazioni:
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/images/config_cruise3_th200.jpg
Al lancio
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/images/config_cruise1_th200.jpg
In viaggio
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/images/config_cruise2_th200.jpg
In viaggio vista dalla terra
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/images/cruise_moi1_th200.jpg
Inserimento in orbita marziana ed aerobraking
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/images/config_science1_th200.jpg
Operatività scientifica
Strumenti
MRO è dotata di 6 strumenti scientifici, 3 strumenti tecnici e 2 sistemi per esperimenti scientifici ottenibili tramite i dati raccolti dagli strumenti di bordo.
Strumenti scientifici:
Camere
- HiRISE (http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/sc_instru_hirise.html) (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment)
- CTX (http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/sc_instru_ctx.html) (Context Camera)
- MARCI (http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/sc_instru_marci.html) (Mars Color Imager)
Spettrometro
- CRISM (http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/sc_instru_crism.html) (Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars)
Radiometro
- MCS (http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/sc_instru_mcs.html) (Mars Climate Sounder)
Radar
- SHARAD (http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/sc_instru_sharad.html) (Shallow Radar)
Strumenti tecnici:
- Electra UHF Communications and Navigation Package (http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/sc_instru_electra.html)
- Optical Navigation Camera (http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/sc_instru_optical.html)
- Ka-band Telecommunications Experiment Package (http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/sc_instru_kaband.html)
Sistemi scientifici:
- Gravity Field Investigation Package (http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/sc_instru_gravity.html)
- Atmospheric Structure Investigation Accelerometers (http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/sc_instru_atmos.html)
Timeline
- Assemblaggio, testing, lancio: 2002 - Augosto 2005
- Lancio: 10 Agosto 2005 7:54 a.m. EDT (1154 GMT) - Complex 41, KSC, Florida
- Viaggio: Agosto 2005 - Marzo 2006
- Approccio a Marte: Marzo 2006
- Inserimento in orbita marziana: Marzo 2006
- Aerobraking: Marzo 2006 - Novembre 2006
- Operatività scientifica (I° fase): Novembre 2006 - Novembre 2008
- Operatività come ponte radio: Novembre 2008 - Dicembre 2010
Link utili
- Sito ufficiale NASA: NASA - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/main/index.html)
- Sito ufficiale JPL-NASA: NASA Mars Program - JPL - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro)
- SpaceFlight Now - Mission Live Update: Spaceflightnow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av007/status.html)
MONDAY, AUGUST 8, 2005
NASA's two-and-a-half ton Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, an instrument-laden spacecraft designed to capture an unprecedented level of detail about the Red Planet and help guide future missions, is awaiting launch Wednesday morning from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
Liftoff of the Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket is slated for 7:54 a.m. EDT (1154 GMT) from Complex 41. A continuous window lasting an hour and 45 minutes -- until 9:39 a.m. EDT (1339 GMT) -- will be available for the launch to occur or else the mission must wait until Thursday.
Nearly an hour after liftoff, the rocket's Centaur upper stage dispatches the MRO probe on its seven-month, 310-million mile journey to Mars. A Japanese space agency tracking station acquires the craft's signal a few minutes later as an autonomous sequence of onboard events begin to unfurl the two power-generating solar arrays and deploy the 10-foot primary communications antenna.
MRO should arrive at Mars next March and start five months of aerobraking maneuvers to reach its science-collecting near-polar orbit stretching from 199 miles above the planet's surface at its furthest point to just 158 miles at the closest.
The $720 million mission's main science phase runs from November 2006 to December 2008, enabling the onboard cameras, spectrometer, climate sounder and subsurface radar to gather an unparalleled amount of data about Mars.
"We will keep pursuing a follow-the-water strategy with Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter," said Michael Meyer, Mars exploration chief scientist at NASA Headquarters. "Dramatic discoveries by Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey and the Mars Exploration Rovers about recent gullies, near-surface permafrost and ancient surface water have given us a new Mars in the past few years. Learning more about what has happened to the water will focus searches for possible Martian life, past or present."
The instruments on MRO will offer sharper focus than earlier spacecraft, giving scientists hope for revolutionary discoveries.
"Higher resolution is a major driver for this mission. Every time we look with increased resolution, Mars has said, 'Here's something you didn't expect. You don't understand me yet.' We're sure to find surprises," said Richard Zurek, the orbiter's project scientist from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Featuring the largest telescope to orbit another planet, MRO's high-resolution camera can spot rocks as small as three-feet across and surface layering that will be critical to Mars research as well as selecting safe but interesting sites for future landers.
"Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is the next step in our ambitious exploration of Mars," said Douglas McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program in NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "We expect to use this spacecraft's eyes in the sky in coming years as our primary tools to identify and evaluate the best places for future missions to land."
The launch team has Wednesday and Thursday to get MRO on its way. If the liftoff is delayed beyond that for some reason, the launch would likely wait until after a commercial Boeing Delta 4 rocket gets a couple of attempts to loft the GOES-N weather observatory from Cape Canaveral.
MRO must fly by September 5 in order to reach its destination due to alignment of Earth and Mars.
Final readiness reviews are underway today to ensure all systems are ready for the much-anticipated launch. The Atlas 5 rocket is fully assembled inside the Vertical Integration Facility hangar at Complex 41. It will be rolled to the launch pad atop a mobile platform just before 11 p.m. EDT Tuesday evening. The final hours of the countdown will see the vehicle fueled, tested and placed on internal control for flight.
The weather forecast calls for an 80 percent chance of favorable conditions during the launch window.
"For launch day, the launch complex will have a slight risk for isolated coastal showers during the morning hours," launch weather officer Clay Flinn reported today. "The primary concerns for launch day are thick clouds and cumulus clouds associated with isolated coastal showers.
"Conditions for a 24-hour delay are similar as well."
Watch this page for additional pre-launch coverage and live play-by-play reports during Wednesday morning's countdown.
Ecco, adesso ti diranno su perchè solo il primo post è in italiano :asd:
Ecco, adesso ti diranno su perchè solo il primo post è in italiano :asd:
poco ma sicuro... avanti con i troll vai! :D
gp, siccome sono in fuori per qualche giorno (vacanza :D) mi faresti la cortesia di tenere te aggiornati se riesci almeno questo thread? :)
trovi tutti i link alle discussioni nel topic in rilievo sulla prima pagina, grazie! ;)
Il lancio è previsto per giovedì 11 dalle 14:50 alle 16:35 (in Italia), se hai la possibilità posta per favore le fasi salienti del lancio dal live status di Spaceflightnow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av007/status.html), grazie... ;)
TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2005
1615 GMT (12:15 p.m. EDT)
DELAY. Launch of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been postponed 24 hours due to a technical issue. More details are expected to be released by NASA soon.
The launch window on Thursday extends from 7:50 to 9:35 a.m. EDT (1150-1335 GMT).
The weather forecast calls for an 80 percent chance of acceptable conditions during the window. The minor worries will be thick clouds and cumulus clouds associated with isolated rainshowers in the area.
We'll update this page when more information is known.
Perchè solo il primo post è in italiano ? :mbe: :mbe:
:ops: :ops:
Perchè solo il primo post è in italiano?
http://www.farzadsf1gallery.com/image_upload/tumbleweed.gif
http://www.farzadsf1gallery.com/image_upload/tumbleweed.gif
Salvata !! :D
poco ma sicuro... avanti con i troll vai! :D
gp, siccome sono in fuori per qualche giorno (vacanza :D) mi faresti la cortesia di tenere te aggiornati se riesci almeno questo thread? :)
trovi tutti i link alle discussioni nel topic in rilievo sulla prima pagina, grazie! ;)
Il lancio è previsto per giovedì 11 dalle 14:50 alle 16:35 (in Italia), se hai la possibilità posta per favore le fasi salienti del lancio dal live status di Spaceflightnow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av007/status.html), grazie... ;)
Eh lo farei molto volentieri, ma sono in gprs con la flat oscena della tim che mi fa collegare solo tra le 17 e le 9, e la velocità è quella che è, in più ho il limite di traffico e sono via, per cui faccio veramente fatica a seguire le discussioni... se riesco ben volentieri, però non posso assicurare nulla... :p
Eh lo farei molto volentieri, ma sono in gprs con la flat oscena della tim che mi fa collegare solo tra le 17 e le 9, e la velocità è quella che è, in più ho il limite di traffico e sono via, per cui faccio veramente fatica a seguire le discussioni... se riesco ben volentieri, però non posso assicurare nulla... :p
ah vero, dimenticavo... :D
vabbè, non c'è problema dai! ;)
cercherò di postare qualcosa da qualche internet cafè croato! :D
Faccio contento quella bella porcellona di GioFX :O :D
http://www.kintera.org/atf/cf/%7B127BCCB8-B18B-48EC-86CC-B465A792975E%7D/NASA-NEWS-600-1172.GIF
Guy Webster (818) 354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Dolores Beasley (202) 358-1753
NASA Headquarters, Washington
George Diller (321) 867-2468
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
News Release: 2005-133 August 12, 2005
NASA's Multipurpose Mars Mission Successfully Launched
A seven-month flight to Mars began this morning for NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The mission will inspect the red planet in fine detail and assist future landers.
An Atlas V launch vehicle, 19 stories tall with the two-ton spacecraft on top, roared away from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 4:43 a.m. PDT. Its powerful first stage consumed about 200 tons of fuel and oxygen in just over four minutes, then dropped away to let the upper stage finish the job of putting the spacecraft on a path toward Mars. This was the first launch of an interplanetary mission on an Atlas V.
"We have a healthy spacecraft on its way to Mars and a lot of happy people who made this possible," said James Graf, project manager for Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
The spacecraft established radio contact with controllers 61 minutes after launch and within four minutes of separation from the upper stage. Initial contact came through an antenna at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Uchinoura Space Center in southern Japan.
Health and status information about the orbiter's subsystems were received through Uchinoura and the Goldstone, Calif., antenna station of NASA's Deep Space Network. By 14 minutes after separation, the craft's solar panels finished unfolding, enabling it to start recharging batteries and operate as a fully functional spacecraft.
The orbiter carries six scientific instruments for examining the surface, atmosphere and subsurface of Mars in unprecedented detail from low orbit. For example, its high-resolution camera will reveal surface features as small as a dishwasher. NASA expects to get several times more data about Mars from the orbiter than from all previous Martian missions combined.
Researchers will use the instruments to learn more about the history and distribution of Mars' water. That information will improve understanding of planetary climate change and will help guide the quest to answer whether Mars ever supported life. The orbiter will also evaluate potential landing sites for future missions. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will use its high-data-rate communications system to relay information between Mars surface missions and Earth.
Mars is 72 million miles from Earth today, but the spacecraft will travel more than four times that distance on its outbound-arc trajectory to intercept the red planet on March 10, 2006. The cruise period will be busy with checkups, calibrations and trajectory adjustments.
On arrival day, the spacecraft will fire its engines and slow itself enough for Martian gravity to capture it into a very elongated orbit. The spacecraft will spend half a year gradually shrinking and shaping its orbit by "aerobraking," a technique using the friction of carefully calculated dips into the upper atmosphere to slow the vehicle. The mission's main science phase is scheduled to begin in November 2006.
The launch was originally scheduled for August 10, but was delayed first due to a gyroscope issue on a different Atlas V, and the next day because of a software glitch.
The mission is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, for the NASA Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, prime contractor for the project, built both the spacecraft and the launch vehicle.
NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center is responsible for government engineering oversight of the Atlas V, spacecraft/launch vehicle integration and launch day countdown management.
For more information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on the Web, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mro .
For information about NASA and other agency programs on the Web, visit http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html .
- end -
http://www.kintera.org/atf/cf/%7B127BCCB8-B18B-48EC-86CC-B465A792975E%7D/NASA-NEWS-600-1172.GIF
Guy Webster (818) 354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Dolores Beasley (202) 358-1753
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
News Release: 2005-135 August 17, 2005
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission Status
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched on Aug. 12, has completed one of the first tasks of its seven-month cruise to Mars, a calibration activity for the spacecraft's Mars Color Imager instrument.
"We have transitioned from launch mode to cruise mode, and the spacecraft continues to perform extremely well," said Dan Johnston, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter deputy mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
The first and largest of four trajectory correction maneuvers scheduled before the orbiter reaches Mars is planned for Aug. 27.
For the calibration task on Aug. 15, the spacecraft slewed about 15 degrees to scan the camera across the positions of the Earth and Moon, then returned to the attitude it will hold for most of the cruise. Data were properly recorded onboard, downlinked to Earth and received by the Mars Color Imager team at Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. Dr. Michael Malin of Malin Space Science Systems, principal investigator for Mars Color Imager, said the image data are being processed and analyzed.
This multiple-waveband camera is the widest-angle instrument of four cameras on the orbiter, designed for imaging all of Mars daily from an altitude of about 300 kilometers (186 miles). Imaged at a range of more than 1 million kilometers (620,000 miles) away, the crescent Earth and Moon fill only a few pixels and are not resolved in the image. However, this is enough useful information to characterize the instrument's response in its seven color bands, including two ultraviolet channels that will be used to trace ozone in the Mars atmosphere. This is the first of two events early in the cruise phase that check instrument calibrations after launching. The second will occur in early September when higher resolution cameras are pointed at Earth and the Moon as the spacecraft continues its flight to Mars.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will reach Mars and enter orbit on about March 10, 2006. After gradually adjusting the shape of its orbit for half a year, it will begin its primary science phase in November 2006. The mission will examine Mars in unprecedented detail from low orbit, returning several times more data than all previous Mars missions combined. Scientists will use its instruments to gain a better understanding of the history and current distribution of Mars' water. By inspecting possible landing sites and by providing a high-data-rate relay, it will also support future missions that land on Mars.
More information about the mission is available online at http://www.nasa.gov/mro .
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, for the NASA Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, prime contractor for the project, built both the spacecraft and the launch vehicle.
-end-
Fradetti
18-08-2005, 18:51
perchè il primo post non è in inglese?????
:D :D
razziadacqua
18-08-2005, 19:18
Ecco, adesso ti diranno su perchè solo il primo post è in italiano :asd:
ma scusatemi ragazzi cosa c'è di male nella nostra madre linguA?PIUTTOSTO IO MI CHIEDO dove abbia trovato una pagina così ben informata in italiano...magari fosse sempre così...
siete tutti inglesofili? :)
razziadacqua
18-08-2005, 19:20
Piuttosto non ho capito quella storia della Ka-Band...perchè sia più veloce e in che senso...
da quel che ho capito trasmette a 32gigaHz invece che 8gigaHz come la X-band?
Qualcuno chiarisca :)
ma scusatemi ragazzi cosa c'è di male nella nostra madre linguA?PIUTTOSTO IO MI CHIEDO dove abbia trovato una pagina così ben informata in italiano...magari fosse sempre così...
siete tutti inglesofili? :)
Mah, non è questione di inglesofilia, è che su questi argomenti il 99% della documentazione attendibile è lingua inglese e gli aggiornamenti delle missioni sono in lingua inglese dato che sono missioni o americane o europee, per cui la lingua internazionale è l'inglese...
Nell'italiano non c'è niente che non vada, anzi, il problema è che lo parliamo solo noi.
ma scusatemi ragazzi cosa c'è di male nella nostra madre linguA?
Ti sfugge che non si trovi un bel NULLA di attendibile e scritto bene in italiano che sia aggiornato costantemente?
PIUTTOSTO IO MI CHIEDO dove abbia trovato una pagina così ben informata in italiano...magari fosse sempre così...
Dunque, se non erro lo scritta IO sulla base delle notizie e conoscenze che ho della missione e delle informazioni trovate sul sito ufficiale della missione.
Photo gallery: Atlas 5 rocket rolled to the launch pad
Riding atop a mobile launching platform, the Atlas 5 rocket is rolled from its assembly building to the pad at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 Wednesday night as the countdown began for the first attempt to launch NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Although the attempt was later scrubbed, the rocket remained on the pad during the 24-hour postponement. Photos: Adam Mattivi/Lockheed Martin
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Sharp-eyed orbiter dispatched to Mars
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 12, 2005
A Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket boosted NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter into space today, kicking off a $720 million mission to sniff out underground ice deposits, to map the red planet's geology with unprecedented clarity and to monitor its tenuous, dusty atmosphere in an ongoing scientific assault.
The 4,800-pound solar-powered satellite, equipped with a 10-foot-wide antenna to beam a torrent of data back to Earth, also will serve as a communications satellite, relaying measurements and observations from current and future Mars landers while using its own ultra-high-resolution camera and other instruments to identify possible landing sites.
With six sophisticated instruments, including a giant 1.2-gigapixel camera capable of photographing objects as small as a kitchen table, the Mars Climate Orbiter is expected to beam back some 34 terabits of data over the life of the mission. That's three to four times the combined output of two spacecraft already in orbit around Mars, along with NASA's Cassini Saturn orbiter and the Magellan Venus orbiter.
"Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a weather satellite, a geological explorer, a communications satellite and an exploration pathfinder hunting for landing sites of the future for both robotic and human," said Doug McCuistion, Mars exploration program director at NASA headquarters.
"It lays the groundwork for the landing of the Phoenix mission in 2008 and the Mars Science Laboratory (nuclear-powered rover) in 2010. It will provide data relay for both of those spacecraft as well as the rovers (now on Mars) and future missions."
The MRO mission got underway with a ground-shaking roar at 7:43 a.m. today as the Atlas 5 rocket thundered to life and vaulted away from launch complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. A launch attempt Thursday was called off because of problems with the Centaur second stage's liquid hydrogen fueling system.
It turned out to be a software glitch caused by a nearby lightning strike during a thunderstorm earlier in the day. There were no significant problems today and 58 minutes after climbing away through a clear blue sky, MRO was gently released from the rocket's spent upper stage. Within 20 minutes, its two solar arrays and its main dish antenna unfolded and locked in place as planned.
"It's been a long road, it's been five long years to get here and we're up, we're on our way to Mars," said project manager James Graf of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "We have a spacecraft that is performing nominarlly. ... To an engineer, that means absolutely perfectly. It's going great."
It will take the spacecraft seven months to reach its target, covering some 310 million miles in a long arc that will put MRO just in front of Mars next March. Flying over the planet's south pole, MRO's six main engines will have to fire for about 25 minutes, slowing the craft by some 2,200 mph. That will be just barely enough for Mars' gravity to capture the craft in a long elliptical orbit.
That first orbit will have a low point of about 186 miles and a high point of nearly 30,000 miles. Over the next six months, MRO's thrusters will fire at the high point of each orbit, setting up repeated low-altitude passes through the planet's extreme upper atmosphere. This aerobraking process will provide the atmospheric friction needed to slowly bleed off energy and circularize the orbit at an altitude of roughly 200 miles.
It is a critical maneuver with little margin for error. NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter was lost during orbit insertion in 1999, victim of an embarrassing navigation error. Richard Zurek was the project scientist then and now.
"You don't want to be a flyby, you want to go into orbit," he said. "We've lost a spacecraft before at this point. So getting into orbit and then going through aerobraking (is difficult). We've got more margin with this spacecraft than with others. The big (solar) arrays give us more area and we've a little more flexible about balancing drag versus heating of the spacecraft."
After fine tuning the final orbit and calibrating MRO's instruments, two years of full-time science observations will begin in November 2006.
"It's going to take us another 16 months before we're really ready to open for business and then that firehose will be ready to start flowing," said Zurek.
The "firehose" is the expected 5.6-megabits-per-second flow of data from MRO's instruments through big dish antenna. "If you want to start an intensive investigation of the planet itself, you have to start increasing your ability to cover vast portions of the surface, you need to increase that coverage and you need to do it at a much higher resolution," said Graf.
"When you couple those two things together, that translates into more and more data. So what we have done is taken a major step forward in the capability of this spacecraft to return data."
The Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey spacecraft currently in orbit around Mars send back data at a few thousand bits per second. With MRO, "we can get upwards of 34 terabtis of data being brought back in our two years of science operations. ... We are going to be awash in data, which will enable us to better understand the planet as a whole."
One instrument that will consume a large part of MRO's bandwidth is the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, a 145-pound camera built by Ball Aerospace and managed by Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona.
The HiRSE camera is built around a 20-inch primary mirror and 14 CCD detectors. It is the largest camera ever built for operation beyond Earth's orbit.
Taking photographs across 3.5-mile-wide swaths of martian terrain, the HiRSE camera should be able to resolve surface features as small as 40 inches across. McEwen's team plans to process 1,000 full-resolution images and another 9,000 lower-resolution pictures during the primary science phase of the mission.
"It's basically a big digital camera," McEwen said. "Only this one has a primary mirror that's half a meter in diameter and that will be the largest camera to ever leave Earth orbit, the largest telescope. It's also a gigapixel camera, or a 1,200 megapixel camera.
That translates into full-resolution images measuring up to 20,000 pixels wide and 60,000 pixels long.
"To see all of a HiRSE image at full resolution, you would need 1,200 of your typical computer monitors stacked up," McEwen said.
MRO's Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer will search for the spectral fingerprints of surface minerals that might have formed in the presence of water while another camera will snap images across broad 18.6-mile-wide swaths to provide context, showing features as small as a tennis court. The Mars Color Imager will provide global views of the entire planet and its changing atmosphere and the Mars Climate Sounder will monitor atmospheric water vapor, dust and ice.
MRO is not content to focus on the visible parts of the red planet. The Shallow Subsurface Radar will penetrate up to a mile beneath the surface in search of buried ice deposits.
"We want to see the details of both the surface composition, it's structure, while we're also monitoring the atmosphere, learning more about the present climate," Zurek said.
"We also want to look and follow up on a discovery the Odyssey spacecraft made that there is ice present in much of the upper yard or so of Mars's surface. Now it's not everywhere, but it is extensive and we want to know whether or not that layer of ice is just a thin layer that's in equilibrium with today's atmosphere or whether it represents just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, a cryosphere that extends much deeper.
"The Italian Space Agency has provided to NASA a radar that will look at the near subsurface, complimenting the radar that's being flown today on the (European Space Agency's) Mars Express," Zurek said. "We're looking for things near the surface deeper than a yard, up to a mile below the surface, depending on what the materials are like."
Michael Meyer, chief scientist for NASA's Mars exploration program, said MRO will make major contributions in a variety of disciplines and help answer "whether or not life ever started on that planet and if not, why not?"
"And then last but not least, (MRO will study) what kind of resources may be available and also, perhaps, what hazards might be there on Mars for future explorers. So within this, the MRO plays a very grand step in our exploration."
Atlas 5 launches Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
The first interplanetary Atlas 5 rocket launches August 12 at 7:43 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 to propel NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on its seven-month voyage to the Red Planet.
http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av007/gallery/01lm.jpg
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Da SpaceFlight Now (http://http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0508/17mrostatus)
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter cruising normally
NASA/JPL STATUS REPORT
Posted: August 17, 2005
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched on Aug. 12, has completed one of the first tasks of its seven-month cruise to Mars, a calibration activity for the spacecraft's Mars Color Imager instrument.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0508/17mrostatus/mrocruise.jpg
An artist's concept shows Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter cruising to Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL
"We have transitioned from launch mode to cruise mode, and the spacecraft continues to perform extremely well," said Dan Johnston, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter deputy mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
The first and largest of four trajectory correction maneuvers scheduled before the orbiter reaches Mars is planned for Aug. 27.
For the calibration task on Aug. 15, the spacecraft slewed about 15 degrees to scan the camera across the positions of the Earth and Moon, then returned to the attitude it will hold for most of the cruise. Data were properly recorded onboard, downlinked to Earth and received by the Mars Color Imager team at Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. Dr. Michael Malin of Malin Space Science Systems, principal investigator for Mars Color Imager, said the image data are being processed and analyzed.
This multiple-waveband camera is the widest-angle instrument of four cameras on the orbiter, designed for imaging all of Mars daily from an altitude of about 300 kilometers (186 miles). Imaged at a range of more than 1 million kilometers (620,000 miles) away, the crescent Earth and Moon fill only a few pixels and are not resolved in the image. However, this is enough useful information to characterize the instrument's response in its seven color bands, including two ultraviolet channels that will be used to trace ozone in the Mars atmosphere. This is the first of two events early in the cruise phase that check instrument calibrations after launching. The second will occur in early September when higher resolution cameras are pointed at Earth and the Moon as the spacecraft continues its flight to Mars.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will reach Mars and enter orbit on about March 10, 2006. After gradually adjusting the shape of its orbit for half a year, it will begin its primary science phase in November 2006. The mission will examine Mars in unprecedented detail from low orbit, returning several times more data than all previous Mars missions combined. Scientists will use its instruments to gain a better understanding of the history and current distribution of Mars' water. By inspecting possible landing sites and by providing a high-data-rate relay, it will also support future missions that land on Mars.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, for the NASA Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, prime contractor for the project, built both the spacecraft and the launch vehicle.
Ma a cosa serve quella specie di rete sopra alla rampa di lancio?
Da SpaceFlight Now (http://http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0508/17mrostatus)
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter cruising normally
NASA/JPL STATUS REPORT
Posted: August 17, 2005
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched on Aug. 12, has completed one of the first tasks of its seven-month cruise to Mars, a calibration activity for the spacecraft's Mars Color Imager instrument.
[...]
Uè guarda che questa l'avevo postata anche io eh :read:
Uè guarda che questa l'avevo postata anche io eh :read:
:doh:
Ma a cosa serve quella specie di rete sopra alla rampa di lancio?
E' una rete antifulmine costituita da due circuiti separati e 4 torri per la messa a terra... tutte le rampe di lancio devono avere un sistema parafulmine, e per gli Atlas, data la dimensione, si è pensato a questa soluzione con l'introduzione del V, modificando di conseguenza il sito (LC-41, ex ICBM Titan).
E' una rete antifulmine costituita da due circuiti separati e 4 torri per la messa a terra... tutte le rampe di lancio devono avere un sistema parafulmine, e per gli Atlas, data la dimensione, si è pensato a questa soluzione con l'introduzione del V, modificando di conseguenza il sito (LC-41, ex ICBM Titan).
Miiii ma ne sai proprio a pacchi :D
Grazie :p
duchetto
22-02-2006, 12:06
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is on the Approach
NASA's next martian orbiter has gotten one step closer to the red planet with the transition from cruise phase to approach phase!
"Cruise is a deceptive term - we certainly weren't playing shuffleboard," joked project manager Jim Graf. "It was a very busy time for the team. Many tests were conducted to ensure that the instruments onboard were functioning properly and our navigators performed trajectory correction maneuvers to keep us on a very precise path to Mars."
Speaking of that precision, the third of four possible course corrections was deemed unnecessary this week.
"The navigation solutions have shown a great consistency since the second trajectory correction maneuver was executed on November 18," said Han You, navigation team chief. "More importantly, the current data indicate that the spacecraft aim for insertion into Mars' orbit is well within the projected target. If the current trend continues, the spacecraft will require only a very small nudge to fine tune the final aim."
The next trajectory correction maneuver opportunity is scheduled for February 28, 2006. The orbiter will arrive at the planet on March 10, 2006.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Da Spaceflight Now (http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mro/060224moipreview.html):
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter nears arrival at red planet
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: February 17, 2006
http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mro/images/060224moiartwork.jpg
NASA's $720 million Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission faces a make-or-break milestone March 10 when it fires its main engines for nearly a half hour, slowing the craft enough to slip into orbit around the red planet.
If the burn doesn't work or is too short, the 4,800-pound solar-powered MRO will race past Mars and on into a useless orbit around the sun. Given the spacecraft's excellent health after a seven-month, 310-million-mile cruise to Mars, mission managers are confident everything will work as advertised.
But they'll still have their fingers crossed.
"We are right on the money right now heading towards our encounter with Mars on the 10th," said James Graf, MRO project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "I have to say, we're getting into the dangerous portion of the mission. The cruise has not been easy, we've accomplished an awful lot during that, but now we're starting to enter into the realm where we've lost two spacecraft in the last 15 years."
Flying over the planet's south pole on March 10, MRO's six 38-pound-thrust main engines will have to fire for about 27 minutes, slowing the craft by some 2,200 mph, to achieve an initial, highly elliptical orbit around Mars.
That first orbit will have a low point of about 250 miles and a high point of nearly 30,000 miles. Over the next seven months, MRO will make repeated low-altitude passes through the planet's extreme upper atmosphere. This aerobraking process will provide the atmospheric friction needed to slowly bleed off energy and circularize the orbit at an altitude of less than 200 miles.
Mars orbit insertion is a critical maneuver with little margin for error. NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter was lost during orbit insertion in 1999, victim of an embarrassing navigation error, and the Mars Observer was lost in 1993 when its propulsion system was pressurized just before arrival.
"We will be approaching the southern pole of Mars and the spacecraft will be pointing directly to Earth at that point in time," Graf said. "We will rotate the spacecraft about 120 degrees to keep the low gain antenna pointed in the manner that we can continue to communicate back to Earth. Then we fire the thrusters.
"If we don't succeed in firing the thrusters, we will fly right by the (planet). So this is obviously the critical maneuver. We have to decrease our speed by 18 percent during that phase."
Twenty-one minutes into the rocket firing, MRO will disappear behind Mars as seen from Earth and remain out of contact for a half hour.
"So we will not see the end of the burn itself," Graf said. "We will be doing all of this automatically on the spacecraft, that is, to terminate the burn. We will slew back to an attitude so that we can view back to Earth the minute we come out from behind Mars."
Flight controllers at JPL will regain radio contact at the point, but it will take another 30 minutes or so to analyze how the spacecraft's velocity is affecting the signal and thus, whether MRO successfully achieved orbit. The goal is a 35-hour orbit with a low point of about 249 miles and a high point of some 27,340 miles.
The spacecraft's cameras will be used to take a few test shots during the initial orbit, but the instruments will be put into hibernation for the remainder of the spring and summer while aerobraking runs its course.
To take full advantage of atmospheric braking, the low point of the orbit will be carefully reduced to around 62 miles. It will be raised, or "walked out," later, with the ultimate goal being a roughly circular orbit with a high point of at most 199 miles and a low point as close as 158 miles to the surface.
Here is a timeline of major events on March 10 (in Earth-received Eastern Time):
10:24 a.m.: Final trajectory correction maneuver if needed
04:07 p.m.: Start spacecraft turn to orbit-insertion orientation
04:19 p.m.: Turn complete
04:24 p.m.: Orbit insertion rocket firing begins
04:45 p.m.: Spacecraft enters martian shadow; on battery power
04:47 p.m.: Loss of signal as MRO passes behnd Mars
04:51 p.m.: End of orbit insertion burn
05:13 p.m.: Spacecraft turns for Earth pointing
05:16 p.m.: Acquisition of signal
Once in its planned orbit next fall, science operations will commence.
"In 1964, Mariner 4 flew by Mars taking a stark set of 24 images showing a surprisingly barren, cold and dry planet," said Michael Meyer, NASA's lead Mars scientist at agency headquarters. "Over 40 years later, we're now poised to collect more data than all the previous missions combined. MRO is set to enter Mars orbit on (March) 10th and is expected to return 34 terabytes of information. This is about as much information as in a video store. I can only imagine the number of exciting things we're going to find on the planet.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter began its journey Aug. 12, 2005, with a ground-shaking launch atop a Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket. The spacecraft is the latest in a series of robotic probes designed to explore Mars at ever-increasing levels of detail.
Equipped with a suite of sophisticated cameras and other instruments, MRO will sniff out underground ice deposits, map the red planet's geology with unprecedented clarity and monitor its tenuous, dusty atmosphere.
It also will serve as a communications satellite, relaying measurements and observations from future Mars landers while using its own ultra-high-resolution camera and other instruments to identify possible landing sites.
With six sophisticated instruments, including a giant 1.2-gigapixel camera capable of photographing objects as small as a kitchen table, the Mars Climate Orbiter is expected to beam back three to four times the combined output of two NASA spacecraft already in orbit around Mars, along with NASA's Cassini Saturn orbiter and the old Magellan Venus orbiter.
"Since Mariner 4, we've learned that Mars was once warmer and wetter," Meyer said. "But when, and for how long, remains to be the central question in our understanding of the biological potential of Mars. MRO will be multitasking. It's going to be a weather satellite, it's going to be a surveyor, able to identify geological features, minerals, the subsurface structure, it's going to be a communications relay and a guide to the next decade of exploration. The instrument capabilities are unprecedented.
"So after the hair-raising Mars orbit insertion and several months of aerobraking, MRO will start the science orbit and acquire a tremendous amount of data. We will be well placed in finding exciting new features on Mars, places to go and the wherewithal to unveil the past and potential future of Mars."
Da SpaceFlightNow.com:
Spacecraft enters orbit around Mars
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: March 10, 2006
After a seven-month voyage from Earth, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter successfully fired its main engines for 27 minutes today, slowing the craft by some 2,200 mph and putting it into a near-perfect elliptical orbit around the Red Planet.
The engines started on time at 4:24 p.m. and were running normally when MRO disappeared behind Mars as viewed from Earth. As expected, the spacecraft remained out of contact for a tense half hour and it wasn't until contact was re-established at 5:16 p.m. that nervous mission managers knew the $720 million mission had survived.
"All stations, we have one way (communications)," an engineer reported when the signal re-appeared.
Flight controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., erupted in cheers, hugs and applause as the spacecraft emerged from behind Mars and back into radio contact with Earth.
"We're there. We're there!" said an engineer, with evident relief.
"Oh, look, it's right on the money," another marveled.
"Right on the money! Look at that! Right on the money!"
It took another few minutes to confirm the craft was actually in orbit and that the main engines had, in fact, fired long enough to prevent a flyby. If the Mars orbit insertion burn had been too short by just a few minutes, the spacecraft would have sailed past Mars and into a useless orbit around the sun. But the solar-powered satellite operated flawlessly throughout the critical maneuver.
"All stations on MRO coord, this is Nav MSA. We have two-way doppler and MRO is in orbit around the planet Mars," the navigation officer reported, touching off another round of applause.
The rocket firing put the craft in an elliptical orbit with a low point of 264.5 miles and a high point of about 28,000 miles. The period of the first orbit was estimated to be 35.5 hours, as opposed to the predicted value of 35.4 hours. The MOI burn was designed to reduce the spacecraft's velocity by 2,237.6 mph. The actual result was within 0.4 mph of the desired amount.
"We noticed during the burn we appeared to be underperforming by about 2 percent," said Howard Eisen, MRO flight systems manager. "But the vehicle was smart enough to take care of itself, it actually burned 33 seconds longer to make up the difference. That's why we came in so exact."
Said Jim Graf, MRO project manager: "It's great to be on the flip side of MOI!"
"Today was picture perfect," he said. "As a matter of fact, I thought today was a simulation because we came so close to being right on. ... It's a great feeling to have another spacecraft orbiting around Mars. It's going to re-write the science textbooks."
Approaching Mars from below, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - MRO for short - pressurized its propulsion system at 3:50 p.m., a critical milestone and the point where NASA's Mars Observer spacecraft failed in 1993. After re-orienting, MRO's flight computer fired up the craft's six 38-pound-thrust main engines main engines at 4:24 p.m. to begin the critical braking maneuver.
"Burn, baby, burn!" an engineer exclaimed when telemetry showed the rocket firing was underway.
About 21 minutes into the rocket firing, MRO disappeared behind the limb of Mars and flight controllers at JPL lost contact with the spacecraft. Thirty minutes later - 25 minutes after the engines were programmed to shut down - MRO emerged from behind Mars.
Using a variety of clever tracking techniques, controllers knew MRO was on the proper course going into today's braking maneuver. And unlike any previous robotic mission, MRO's computer had the ability to reboot itself in the event of a major problem and restart the rocket firing on its own. But nothing went wrong and NASA's latest Mars mission put a major challenge behind it.
Flight controllers will spend the next six to seven months slowly lowering the high point of MRO's orbit by making repeated low-altitude passes through the planet's extreme upper atmosphere. The idea is to use friction with the martian atmosphere to provide the energy necessary to achieve a roughly circular polar orbit.
To guard against overheating the costly spacecraft, flight controllers will proceed very cautiously. Beginning in late March or early April, the low point of the orbit will be slowly reduced to around 62 miles. It will be raised, or "walked out," later, with the ultimate goal being a roughly circular orbit with a high point of at most 199 miles and a low point as close as 158 miles to the surface.
"The first part is there are some practice runs where we just test out the environment, the engines, in this configuration," said project scientist Richard Zurek. "It's like stepping into the pool when you're not sure about the temperature of the water, you put your toe in first and gradually go in. So we go through a series of altitudes to 200 kilometers (124 miles) and then we'll start stepping down from there. It's not until you get to around 160 kilometers (100 miles) of the surface of the planet that you're really going to start feeling the effects of the atmosphere and even then we've got plenty of margin against overheating.
"So you see what that density is and now you've got your first point correlating altitude with what you're seeing. As we get to the lowest altitude, we'll take smaller steps. So step by step, that's what we call the walk in."
During peak aerobraking, Zurek said, the atmospheric forces acting on the spacecraft will be roughly comparable to what one would feel sticking a hand out a car window at a speed of about 40 mph. But it is heat, not the aerodynamic forces, that pose the biggest concern. Engineers do not want MRO to experience anything higher than about 340 degrees Fahrenheit.
"It's kind of a high wire balancing act," Zurek said. "You want to go deep, and in a reasonable amount of time, to get down to the orbit you want and yet you're not going so deep that you're going to overheat some component of the spacecraft."
Once aerobraking is complete, science operations will begin in earnest.
"In 1964, Mariner 4 flew by Mars taking a stark set of 24 images showing a surprisingly barren, cold and dry planet," Michael Meyer, NASA's lead Mars scientist at agency headquarters, said during a recent news conference. "Over 40 years later, we're now poised to collect more data than all the previous missions combined. MRO ... is expected to return 34 terabytes of information. This is about as much information as in a video store. I can only imagine the number of exciting things we're going to find on the planet.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter began its journey Aug. 12, 2005, with launch atop a Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket. The spacecraft is the latest in a series of robotic probes designed to explore Mars at ever-increasing levels of detail.
Equipped with a suite of sophisticated cameras and other instruments, MRO will sniff out underground ice deposits, map the red planet's geology with unprecedented clarity and monitor its tenuous, dusty atmosphere.
It also will serve as a communications satellite, relaying measurements and observations from future Mars landers while using its own ultra-high-resolution camera and other instruments to identify possible landing sites.
With six sophisticated instruments, including a giant 1.2-gigapixel camera capable of photographing objects as small as a kitchen table, the Mars Climate Orbiter is expected to beam back three to four times the combined output of two NASA spacecraft already in orbit around Mars, along with NASA's Cassini Saturn orbiter and the old Magellan Venus orbiter.
"Since Mariner 4, we've learned that Mars was once warmer and wetter," Meyer said. "But when, and for how long, remains to be the central question in our understanding of the biological potential of Mars. MRO will be multitasking. It's going to be a weather satellite, it's going to be a surveyor, able to identify geological features, minerals, the subsurface structure, it's going to be a communications relay and a guide to the next decade of exploration. The instrument capabilities are unprecedented.
"So after the hair-raising Mars orbit insertion and several months of aerobraking, MRO will start the science orbit and acquire a tremendous amount of data. We will be well placed in finding exciting new features on Mars, places to go and the wherewithal to unveil the past and potential future of Mars."
duchetto
11-03-2006, 10:16
nei forum ho letto che le prime immagini di HiRISE arriveranno il 14 marzo
a quanto pare le immagini avranno una risoluzione impressionante, giusto per avere un idea..
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/MRO_HiRISE_comparison.jpg
- MRO Pre-Arrival News Briefing:
http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=142&Itemid=2
- MRO Coverage / Highlights:
http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=145&Itemid=2
- MRO Post-Arrival News Briefing:
http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=146&Itemid=2
Porca vacca, 1.2 gigapixel... :eek:
Beh, complimenti. Se non erro le operazioni scientifiche dovrebbero iniziare in novembre...
Ora non ci resta che aspettare il prossimo autunno per cominciare a vedere le immagini nuove marziane..
duchetto
13-03-2006, 22:08
http://www.space.com/images/h_mro_navcam_02.jpg
An image from MRO's Optical Navigation Camera, which tracks Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos against the star background to determine its position in space, is shown here. The camera has performed as expected, researchers said. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Dan Dylan
14-03-2006, 08:33
Se non erro le operazioni scientifiche dovrebbero iniziare in novembre...
Il M.R.O. è già nell'orbita della Marte, perchè quelle operazioni cominciano vari mesi dopo?
Il M.R.O. è già nell'orbita della Marte, perchè quelle operazioni cominciano vari mesi dopo?
Perchè per risparmiare carburante e quindi guadagnare spazio nei sistemi scientifici, utilizzano la tecnica dell'aerobraking per entrare nell'orbita giusta del pianeta. Praticamente, coi motori hanno rallentato e hanno fatto catturare la sonda dalla gravità del pianeta, però ha assunto un'orbita molto allungata. Per farla diventare un'orbita utilizzabile per le operazioni scientifiche, quasi circolare, fanno entrare la sonda negli strati più alti dell'atmosfera marziana in modo che l'attrito la freni (in un'articolo sul sito della nasa c'era scritto che la forza applicata alla sonda sarà praticamente quella che puoi sentire mettendo la mano fuori dal finestrino andando a 40 miglia orarie con la macchina). Questo è un procedimento molto lungo e richiede parecchie orbite prima di portare la sonda alla velocità giusta per un'orbita circolare, ma ti consente di risparmiare molto carburante.
propellente, si dice propellente gp!:D
propellente, si dice propellente gp!:D
Ma quante pippe :O :D
Si capiva, era per il vulgus... :O :sofico:
mi fa molto piacere che fin ora vada tutto bene! considerate le passate missioni inviate su marte mi meraviglio che ultimemente la percentuale di riuscita è parekkio salita!!
molto interessante la "makkinetta fotografica" da 1.2 gigapixel
a confronto alla mia 7.3 megapixel è un elefante paragonato ad una formika :D
duchetto
22-03-2006, 20:22
First HiRISE Images From Mars Due Thursday
The High Resolution Imaging Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is scheduled to take its first images of the red planet late Thursday night.
University of Arizona scientists, who manage the HiRISE camera, said the powerful instrument will take four images of Mars between 11:41 p.m. and 11:50 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday. The camera also will take a second set of images during another orbit, between 11:15 a.m. and 11:22 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, March 25.
"We could have our data in hand as early as an hour-and-a-half, or two hours after the observations," said HiRISE manager Eric Eliason of UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. That would mean camera scientists could receive the data signals as early as 1:15 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday and 12:45 p.m. Saturday.
HiRISE images taken during two orbits will be the camera's only photos for the next six months, because the camera will be turned off while the spacecraft continues its aerobraking maneuvers, intended to reshape its highly elliptical orbit around Mars. The process involves dipping repeatedly into the upper atmosphere to reduce speed and drop into successively more circular orbits.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is expected to provide more science data than all previous Mars missions combined, and HiRISE is the most powerful telescope camera ever sent to another planet. NASA scientists have described its resolving power as the equivalent of watching individual tourists cross the Mall in Washington, D.C., from the top of the Empire State Building in New York City.
HiRISE’s first images will be highly experimental, because the team is trying a number of algorithms and systems for the first time, so things could go wrong, said team leader Alfred McEwen. "However, we are sure to learn important lessons about how to operate the spacecraft and HiRISE."
Also, the geometries of the early orbits may be less than ideal for the HiRise camera's test-image swath, and atmospheric dust or ice hazes could obscure the surface because Mars is experiencing early fall in its southern hemisphere.
The camera's first images will be taken at middle latitudes of the southern hemisphere, when the MRO flies between 1,500 miles and 800 miles (2,500 kilometers and 1,300 kilometers) above the planet. After aerobraking, the camera will fly just outside the planet's atmosphere, at an altitude of 190 miles (about 300 kilometers).
Some of the camera's first targets next fall will be of potential landing sites for the Phoenix Mission lander, slated to reach the Martian surface in May 2008. The Phoenix Mission will communicate with Earth using MRO's high-data-rate relay.
duchetto
24-03-2006, 11:03
sono arrivate le prime quattro immagini della HiRise su questo blog ci sono tutti gli aggiornamenti http://hiroc.lpl.arizona.edu/first_images/
duchetto
24-03-2006, 18:00
First Images from the HiRISE Mars Camera!
http://hiroc.lpl.arizona.edu/first_images/images/AEB1-cut-full.jpg
Detail of First Mars Image from Newly Arrived Camera
This view 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. HiRISE took this first test image from orbit on March 24, 2006, from an altitude of 2,489 kilometers (1,547 miles), achieving a resolution of 2.49 meters (98 inches) per pixel, or picture element. The smallest objects of discernable shape are about three pixels across. An image acquired at this latitude during the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's main science phase, beginning in fall 2006, would be taken from an altitude of about 280 kilometers (174 miles) and have a resolution of 28 centimeters (11 inches) per pixel. This view covers an area about 2.7 kilometers (1.6 miles) wide, a subset (less than one-half of 1%) of the broader image. 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.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
http://hiroc.lpl.arizona.edu/first_images/images/AEB1-full-reduced.jpg
First Mars Image from Newly Arrived Camera
This view shows the ground covered in 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. HiRISE took this first test image from orbit on March 24, 2006, from an altitude of 2,489 kilometers (1,547 miles). Images taken during the mission's main science phase, beginning in fall 2006, will be from an altitude about one-tenth as far from the ground, gaining even higher resolution. This image is a mosaic combining 10 side-by-side exposures taken through red filters, presented at greatly reduced scale. The full product would be 20,000 pixels wide by 9,500 pixels high. The white box at lower right indicates the position of a sample image [link to AEB1-cut-full1] offered in full resolution. 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 kilometers (30.9 miles) wide and 23.6 kilometers (11.7 miles) high, of landscape typical of Mars' mid-latitude southern highlands. The location is 34 degrees south latitude, 305 degrees east longitude. An old, muted crater lies at the middle of the scene, with sets of channels to the left and right. Superimposed on parts of this terrain is a much younger, layered mantle of debris. The debris mantle is smooth in places but rough in other areas where it may have partially sublimated. This suggests that the debris mantle is (or was) rich in volatiles such as ices of water, carbon dioxide or both. Also superimposed on the landscape are many small sharp-rimmed impact craters and wind-blown dunes. This image illustrates processes that may have involved water both on ancient Mars (channels and eroded craters) and much more recently in Mars' history (volatile-rich debris mantle). The radiometric and geometric processing of this image is very preliminary. In particular there are mismatches visible at full resolution along the seams between the 10 side-by-side images from separate CCDs (charge-coupled devices, which are electronic optical sensors). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
a colori nn c'è niente? :(
a colori nn c'è niente? :(
Ovviamente no: la missione scientifica parte in autunno, questi sono solo test della strumentazione.
Semplicemente impressionante! :eek:
Comunque HiRISE non produrra' immagini in colori reali (RGB) bensi' in:
It can image in three color bands, 400-600 nm (blue-green or B-G), 550-850 nm (red) and 800-1000 nm (near infrared or NIR).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Reconnaissance_Orbiter#HiRISE
Semplicemente impressionante! :eek:
Comunque HiRISE non produrra' immagini in colori reali (RGB) bensi' in:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Reconnaissance_Orbiter#HiRISE
Beh è normale, tutte le immagini a colori digitali le ottieni sovrapponendo tre immagini in scala di grigi nei tre colori fondamentali...
pietro84
25-03-2006, 09:36
le camere hanno una risoluzione di 800 Mpixel :eek:
è pazzesco :D
inoltre gestire in real time tutte le operazioni che deve svolgere la sonda dev'essere difficilissimo :
The operating system software is VxWorks and has extensive fault protection protocols and monitoring.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VxWorks
Beh è normale, tutte le immagini a colori digitali le ottieni sovrapponendo tre immagini in scala di grigi nei tre colori fondamentali...
Certo ;)
quello di cui non sono sicuro e' se le acquisizioni possono essere fatte simultaneamente nelle 3 bande o quantomeno in G-B e R (anche per motivi di occupazione della memoria di massa interna)
Inutile dire che spero di essere smentito e di vedere il prossimo autunno delle bellissime immagini full color! :)
pietro84
25-03-2006, 10:50
Certo ;)
quello di cui non sono sicuro e' se le acquisizioni possono essere fatte simultaneamente nelle 3 bande o quantomeno in G-B e R (anche per motivi di occupazione della memoria di massa interna)
Inutile dire che spero di essere smentito e di vedere il prossimo autunno delle bellissime immagini full color! :)
penso di si,sul piano immagine della camera ci dovrebbero essere tre tipi di sensori CCD. Ognuno è più sensibile a una banda.
Mi chiedo come mai abbiano fornito il sistema di elaborazione di poca memoria(relativamente). 20 GB in tutto quando una sola immagine occupa circa 3GB. Per non riempire la memoria deve trasmettere in continuazione.
Certo ;)
quello di cui non sono sicuro e' se le acquisizioni possono essere fatte simultaneamente nelle 3 bande o quantomeno in G-B e R (anche per motivi di occupazione della memoria di massa interna)
Inutile dire che spero di essere smentito e di vedere il prossimo autunno delle bellissime immagini full color! :)
Non possono farle contemporaneamente, hanno solo un CCD. Vengono fatte tre foto in successione con tre filtri diversi, poi rielaborate a terra. Almeno questo è quello che hanno sempre fatto... In ogni caso credo che ci sia da star tranquilli, le foto a colori le metteranno fuori eccome ;)
penso di si,sul piano immagine della camera ci dovrebbero essere tre tipi di sensori CCD. Ognuno è più sensibile a una banda.
Mi chiedo come mai abbiano fornito il sistema di elaborazione di poca memoria(relativamente). 20 GB in tutto quando una sola immagine occupa circa 3GB. Per non riempire la memoria deve trasmettere in continuazione.
No, che io sappia questo è quello che succede con le macchine fotografiche digitali "commerciali". Nel caso delle sonde, ma anche dei rover, la camera è dotata di filtri che selezionano quali lunghezze d'onda far passare.
Forse ho ancora un link interessante... sì... è sui rover ma direi che va bene comunque:
http://www.atsnn.com/story/30048.html
pietro84
26-03-2006, 13:59
No, che io sappia questo è quello che succede con le macchine fotografiche digitali "commerciali". Nel caso delle sonde, ma anche dei rover, la camera è dotata di filtri che selezionano quali lunghezze d'onda far passare.
Forse ho ancora un link interessante... sì... è sui rover ma direi che va bene comunque:
http://www.atsnn.com/story/30048.html
interessante :)
quando ho tempo mi leggo l'articolo che hai postato. dei filtri regolabili lasciano passare in sequenza le tre bande ad ogni foto quindi....
*sasha ITALIA*
01-04-2006, 10:47
http://www.hwupgrade.it/forum/showthread.php?p=11852352#post11852352
da spaceflightnow.com
Mars Reconnaissance Craft begins adjusting orbit
MISSION STATUS REPORT
Posted: March 31, 2006
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0603/31mroaerobraking/mroaerobraking.jpg
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter yesterday began a crucial six-month campaign to gradually shrink its orbit into the best geometry for the mission's science work. Three weeks after successfully entering orbit around Mars, the spacecraft is in a phase called "aerobraking." This process uses friction with the tenuous upper atmosphere to transform a very elongated 35-hour orbit to the nearly circular two-hour orbit needed for the mission's science observations. [...] The phase includes about 550 dips into the atmosphere, each carefully planned for the desired amount of braking. At first, the dips will be more than 30 hours apart. By August, there will be four per day. "We have to be sure we don't dive too deep, because that could overheat parts of the orbiter," Kubitschek said. "The biggest challenge is the variability of the atmosphere." Readings from accelerometers during the passes through the atmosphere are one way the spacecraft can provide information about upward swelling of the atmosphere due to heating.[...]
l'articolo intero:
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0603/31mroaerobraking/
e le fonti della NASA:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/artwork/aerobraking.html
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/artwork/images/aerobraking_br.jpg
Son arrivate le prime immagini di test ad alta risoluzione, vacca boia son 261Mb di tiff (o 39mb di jpg), con questa missione faccio pacchi di dvd di foto :eek:
Si sa piu' niente di come stia procedendo l'aerobraking? sul sito ufficiale l'ultima news risale a maggio..
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/
Si sa piu' niente di come stia procedendo l'aerobraking? sul sito ufficiale l'ultima news risale a maggio..
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/
Boh, no, suppongo stia ancora frenando...
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Successfully Concludes Aerobraking
Nearly six months after it entered orbit, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has concluded its aerobraking phase. The spacecraft had been dipping in and out of the red planet's atmosphere to adjust its orbit. On August 30, 2006, during its 445th orbit, the spacecraft fired its intermediate thrusters to raise the low point of its orbit and stop dipping into the atmosphere. The six-minute engine burn began at 10:36 a.m. (PST), altering the spacecraft's course so that its periapsis (the closest it comes to the planet) is about 210 kilometers (130 miles) above the planet, well above the atmosphere.
"Aerobraking has changed the course of the spacecraft from just over 35 hours per orbit to just under two hours per orbit and it has saved us roughly 600 kilograms of fuel," said Dan Johnston, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Deputy Mission Manager. "Getting out of aerobraking was a phenomenal moment and everyone on the flight teams has done a fantastic job to get us where we need to be for science acquisition."
The next step for the spacecraft will be two additional orbit adjustments to put the orbiter in the ideal path to begin gathering the most detailed scientific data yet from the red planet. The mission's main science observations are scheduled to begin in November, after a period of transitional deployments and tests, then three weeks of intermittent communications while Mars passes nearly behind the sun.
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/orbiter_update.html
Nuova anche la pagina sulla posizione della sonda:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/rightnow.html
questo e' un esempio
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/realtime/mro_003.jpg
(non per svaccare, ma l'interfaccia fa molto Doom3 :D )
da Nasa.gov:
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Adjusts Angle of Orbit
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/156561main_pia07245-330.jpg
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter fired its six intermediate-size thrusters for 210 seconds Tuesday in a maneuver to make the shape of its orbit closer to the planned geometry for the mission's main science phase, beginning in November.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/news/mrof-20060905.html
lo SHARAD, il radar italiano a bordo dell'MRO e' stato attivato:
September 19, 2006
Ground-Piercing Radar on NASA Mars Orbiter Ready for Work
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has extended the long-armed antenna of its radar, preparing the instrument to begin probing for underground layers of Mars.
The orbiter's Shallow Subsurface Radar, provided by the Italian Space Agency, will search to depths of about one kilometer (six-tenths of a mile) to find and map layers of ice, rock and, if present, liquid water.
The radar's antenna had remained safely folded and tucked away throughout the flight to Mars from Aug. 12, 2005, to March 10, 2006, and while the orbiter used the friction of dipping into the top of Mars' atmosphere 426 times in the past six months to shrink the size of its orbit. Latches on the restraints were popped open on Sept. 16, and the spring-loaded twin arms of the antenna unfolded themselves. Subsequent information from the spacecraft indicates that each arm properly extended to its 5 meter (16.4 feet) length.
"The deployment of the antenna has succeeded. It went exactly as planned," said Dr. Enrico Flamini, the Italian Space Agency's program manager for the Shallow Subsurface Radar. "Now the excitement builds about what the radar will find hiding beneath the surface of Mars."
A radar-team engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., Ali Safaeinili, said, "Motion sensors on Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter gave us good evidence that the antenna had deployed successfully. The amount of antenna vibrations as the arms unfolded was within the range anticipated."
The radar received its first radio echo from the Martian surface during a test on Sept.18, providing a preliminary indication that the entire instrument is working properly. Researchers will use the instrument for more test observations at the end of this month. Communication with all spacecraft at Mars will be intermittent during most of October while that planet is behind the sun from Earth's perspective. The two-year-long main science phase of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission will begin in November.
"We will use the Shallow Radar to map buried channels, to study the internal structure of ice caps and to see boundaries between layers of different materials," said Dr. Roberto Seu of the University of Rome La Sapienza, leader of the instrument's science team. "The data will provide our first detailed look just under the Martian surface, where ices might reside that would be accessible for future explorers."
The radar instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will complement a similar instrument that went into use last year on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter, the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding. The two instruments use different radar frequencies. The one on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter can discriminate between thinner layers, but cannot penetrate as deep underground, compared with the one on Mars Express. Both result from Italian and American partnership in using radar for planetary probes.
Alcatel Alenia Spazio-Italia, in Rome, is the Italian Space Agency's prime contractor for the instrument. Astro Aerospace, of Carpineria, Calif., a business unit of Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp., developed the antenna as a subcontractor to Alcatel Alenia.
Further information about the Shallow Subsurface Radar is online at www.sharad.org. For more detailed information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, see www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/main. The mission is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor and built the orbiter.
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/newsroom/pressreleases/20060919a.html
duchetto
29-09-2006, 21:35
stanno giungendo le nuove foto della HIRISE tenete sotto controllo questo blog per essere aggiornati in tempo reale
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/HiBlog/
duchetto
30-09-2006, 08:30
PRIMA IMMAGINE (http://hiroc.lpl.arizona.edu/images/TRA/TRA_000823_1720/TRA_000823_1720_RED.browse.jpg)
MRO's HiRISE camera captured its first image of Mars in the mapping orbit, demonstrating the full resolution capability. The image was acquired at 8:16 AM (Pacific time), and parts of the image became available to the HiRISE team at 1:30 PM. With the spacecraft at an altitude of 280 km, the image scale is 25 cm/pixel (about 10 inches/pixel).
SECONDA IMMAGINE (http://hiroc.lpl.arizona.edu/images/TRA/TRA_000825_2665/TRA_000825_2665_RED.browse.jpg)
This image of the north polar layered deposits was taken during the summer season (solar longitude of 113.6 degrees), when carbon dioxide frost had evaporated from the surface. The bright spots seen here are most likely patches of water frost, but the location of the frost patches does not appear to controlled by topography. Layers are visible at the bottom of the image, mostly due to difference in slope between them. The variations in slope are probably caused by differences in the physical properties of the layers. Thinner layers that have previously been observed in these deposits are visible, and may represent annual deposition of water ice and dust that is thought to form the polar layered deposits. These deposits are thought to record global climate variations on Mars, similar to ice ages on Earth. HiRISE images such as this should allow Mars' climate record to be inferred and compared with climate changes on Earth.
Image TRA_000825_2665 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on September 29, 2006. Shown here is the full image, centered at 86.5 degree latitude, 172.0 degrees East longitude. The image is oriented such that north is to the top. The range to the target site was 298.9 km (186.8 miles). At this distance the image scale is 59.8 cm/pixel {with 2 x 2 binning} so objects ~1.79 m across are resolved. In total the original image was 12.2 km (10024 pixels) wide and 6.1 km (5000 pixels) long. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:30 PM and the scene is illuminated from the southwest with a solar incidence angle of 63.5 degrees, thus the sun was about 26.5 degrees above the horizon.
111Mb di jpeg ad alta risoluzione alla volta... qui partono dvd di archivio come il pane :D
Comunque... 30cm di risoluzione, alla faccia.
Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0610/06marsrover):
Mars rover spotted at crater by sharp-eyed orbiter
NASA NEWS RELEASE
Posted: October 6, 2006
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0610/06marsrover/rovercrater.jpg
This image from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity near the rim of Victoria. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
NASA's long-lived robotic rover Opportunity is beginning to explore layered rocks in cliffs ringing the massive Victoria crater on Mars.
While Opportunity spent its first week at the crater, NASA's newest eye in the Martian sky photographed the rover and its surroundings from above. The level of detail in the photo from the high-resolution camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will help guide the rover's exploration of Victoria.
"This is a tremendous example of how our Mars missions in orbit and on the surface are designed to reinforce each other and expand our ability to explore and discover," said Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program in Washington. "You can only achieve this compelling level of exploration capability with the sustained exploration approach we are conducting at Mars through integrated orbiters and landers."
"The combination of the ground-level and aerial view is much more powerful than either alone," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. Squyres is principal investigator for Opportunity and its twin, Spirit. "If you were a geologist driving up to the edge of a crater in your jeep, the first thing you would do would be to pick up the aerial photo you brought with you and use it to understand what you're seeing from ground level. That's exactly what we're doing here."
Images from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, orbiting the red planet since 1997, prompted the rover team to choose Victoria two years ago as the long-term destination for Opportunity. The images show the one-half-mile-wide crater has scalloped edges of alternating cliff-like high, jutting ledges and gentler alcoves. The new image by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter adds significantly more detail.
Exposed geological layers in the cliff-like portions of Victoria's inner wall appear to record a longer span of Mars' environmental history than the rover has studied in smaller craters. Victoria is five times larger than any crater Opportunity has visited during its Martian trek.
High-resolution color images taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera since Sept. 28 reveal previously unseen patterns in the layers. "There are distinct variations in the sedimentary layering as you look farther down in the stack," Squyres said. "That tells us environmental conditions were not constant."
Within two months after landing on Mars in early 2004, Opportunity found geological evidence for a long-ago environment that was wet. Scientists hope the layers in Victoria will provide new clues about whether that wet environment was persistent, fleeting or cyclical.
The rovers have worked on Mars for more than 10 times their originally planned three-month missions. "Opportunity shows a few signs of aging but is in good shape for undertaking exploration of Victoria crater," said John Callas, project manager for the rovers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
"What we see so far just adds to the excitement. The team has worked heroically for nearly 21 months driving the rover here, and now we're all rewarded with views of a spectacular landscape of nearly 50-foot-thick exposures of layered rock," said Jim Bell of Cornell. Bell is lead scientist for the rovers' panoramic cameras. NASA plans to drive Opportunity from crater ridge to ridge, studying nearby cliffs across the intervening alcoves and looking for safe ways to drive the rover down. "It's like going to the Grand Canyon and seeing what you can from several different overlooks before you walk down," Bell said.
The orbiter images will help the team choose which way to send Opportunity around the rim, and where to stop for the best views. Conversely, the rover's ground-level observations of some of the same features will provide useful information for interpreting orbital images.
"The ground-truth we get from the rover images and measurements enables us to better interpret features we see elsewhere on Mars, including very rugged and dramatic terrains that we can't currently study on the ground," said Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona, Tucson. He is principal investigator for the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the rovers and orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
______________________
Immagine hires:
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/figures/PIA08812_fig1.jpg
Le altre foto qui:
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/new
yuhu qui mi partono dvd a nastro, 900mb di immagini in una settimana :D
ho visto le foto ad alta risoluzione, minchia che impressione :eek:
che figata allucinante sta foto :eek:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/PIA08813.jpg
si vede anche la traccia delle ruotine di opportunity :sofico:
una curiosità.. qualcuno sa in quanto tempo (immagino anni...) si potrebbe avere una mappatura completa di marte con questa risoluzione?
intendo dire.. ipotizzando di farlo lavorare "full time" ogni secondo quanti m^2 di terreno è in grado di mappare?
grazie
Che si sappia l'MRO e' ancora impegnato a cercare di stabilire una comunicazione con il Mars Global Surveyor?
dal sito del JPL:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/newsroom/20061121a.html
"Realistically, we have run through the most likely possibilities for re-establishing communication, and we are facing the likelihood that the amazing flow of scientific observations from Mars Global Surveyor is over," said Fuk Li, Mars Exploration Program manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "We are not giving up hope, though."
Efforts to regain contact with the spacecraft and determine what has happened to it will continue. NASA's newest Mars spacecraft, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, pointed its cameras toward Mars Global Surveyor on Monday. "We have looked for Mars Global Surveyor with the star tracker, the context camera and the high-resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter," said Doug McCuistion, Mars Exploration Program director at NASA Headquarters. "Preliminary analysis of the images did not show any definitive sightings of a spacecraft."
Ma queste simpatiche immaginette da 1.4Gb, così comode da archiviare e pratiche da scaricare, come vi sembrano? :D
jumpjack
01-01-2007, 13:53
Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0610/06marsrover):
Mars rover spotted at crater by sharp-eyed orbiter
NASA NEWS RELEASE
Posted: October 6, 2006
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0610/06marsrover/rovercrater.jpg
This image from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity near the rim of Victoria. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Qui c'e' la stessa foto, ma in 3d da vedere con gli occhialetti.
Gran bel buco!
http://www.marsunearthed.com/MRO/MRO_Anaglyphs/MRO_001/MRO_Victoria_3D.PNG
E si vede anche il rover! Solo che siccome si è spostato tra una foto e l'altra, si vede non in 3d, ma tipo "fantasma ubiquo" ;-)
Immagini del ghiaccio (sia CO2 sia H2O) su Marte:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/calibration/images/seasonalFrost_br.jpg
Fonte: Nasa-JPL
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/calibration/seasonalFrost.html
jumpjack
02-01-2007, 18:40
Immagini del ghiaccio (sia CO2 sia H2O) su Marte:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/calibration/images/seasonalFrost_br.jpg
Fonte: Nasa-JPL
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/calibration/seasonalFrost.html
potevano anche sprecarsi a scrivere quant'è grossa l'area che si vede nella foto... :mbe:
dal sito del JPL:
February 07, 2007
Spacecraft Set to Reach Milestone, Reports Technical Glitches
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/images/config_science1_th200.jpg
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft this month is set to surpass the record for the most science data returned by any Mars spacecraft. While the mission continues to produce data at record levels, engineers are examining why two instruments are intermittently not performing entirely as planned. All other spacecraft instruments are operating normally and continue to return science data.
[...]
In late November 2006, the spacecraft team operating the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter noticed a significant increase in noise, such as bad pixels, in one of its 14 camera detector pairs. Another detector that developed the same problem soon after launch has worsened. Images from the spacecraft camera last month revealed the first signs of this problem in five other detectors.
While the current impact on image quality is small, there is concern as to whether the problem will continue to worsen.
In-flight data show that more warming of the camera's electronics before taking an image reduces or eliminates the problem. The imaging team aims to understand the root cause of the worsening over time and to determine the best operational procedures to maximize the long-term science benefits. The camera continues to make observations and is returning excellent images of the Martian surface.
The second instrument concern aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is related to an instrument designed to routinely scan from the surface across the atmosphere above Mars' horizon. The Mars Climate Sounder maps the temperature, ice clouds and dust distributions in the atmosphere on each of nearly 13 orbits every day. In late December, the sounder appeared to skip steps occasionally, so that its field of view was slightly out of position. Following uplink of new scan tables to the instrument, the position errors stopped and the instrument operated nominally.
In mid-January, the position errors reappeared. Although still intermittent, the errors became more frequent, so the instrument has been temporarily stowed while the science team investigates the problem.
[...]
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/newsroom/pressreleases/20070207a.html
lzeppelin
10-02-2007, 18:19
iscritto al 3d :) grazie ragazzi!
si torna a cercare risposte alla domanda: C'e' acqua su Marte?
Press Releases
February 15, 2007
NASA Mars Orbiter Sees Effects of Ancient Underground Fluids
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/press/20070215a/cover_image_th200.jpg
Light-Toned Bedrock Along Cracks as Evidence of Fluid Alteration.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Liquid or gas flowed through cracks penetrating underground rock on ancient Mars, according to a report based on some of the first observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. These fluids may have produced conditions to support possible habitats for microbial life.
These ancient patterns were revealed when the most powerful telescopic camera ever sent to Mars began examining the planet last year. The camera showed features as small as approximately 3 feet (one meter) across. Mineralization took place deep underground, along faults and fractures. These mineral deposits became visible after overlying layers were eroded away throughout millions of years.
Dr. Chris Okubo, a geologist at the University of Arizona, Tucson, discovered the patterns in an image of exposed layers in a Martian canyon named Candor Chasma. The image was taken in September 2006 by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera aboard the orbiter.
"What caught my eye was the bleaching or lack of dark material along the fracture. That is a sign of mineral alteration by fluids that moved through those joints," said Okubo. "It reminded me of something I had seen during field studies in Utah, that is light-tone zones, or 'haloes,' on either side of cracks through darker sandstone."[...]
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/newsroom/pressreleases/20070215a.html
February 16, 2007
CRISM Uncovering Clues of Martian Surface Composition
http://crism.jhuapl.edu/gallery/featuredImage/picsMed/20070215_FRT0000332C_FRT00003901.PNG
Reaching its first 100 days of operations, the powerful mineral-detector aboard the newest satellite to circle Mars is changing the way scientists view the history of water on the red planet.
The Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), designed and built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., has teamed with the five other cameras and sensors aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to provide new clues about where water could have existed -on or near the Martian surface. [...]
http://crism.jhuapl.edu/newscenter/articles/021607.php
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/press/20070215a/20070215a-MRO-OU_br.jpg
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/orbiter_update.html
visto che stiamo trascurando un po' questo thread butto li' qualche update..
March 22, 2007
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission Status
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter put itself into safe mode -- a precautionary status with minimized activities -- on March 14. It remained healthy and in communication with Earth, but with no science observations, while the flight team examined engineering data. On March 20, the team brought the spacecraft back out of safe mode.
Science instruments were powered up March 21 and are resuming normal science operations today, March 22.
When it went into safe mode, the spacecraft switched, for the first time in the mission, to a backup ("B") duplicate flight computer on board. Diagnosis of the "A" computer has not yet revealed what caused the switch to the B side.
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/newsroom/pressreleases/20070322a.html
Altre immagini dalllo strumento CRISM
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/press/images/CRISM_5_16_07_br.jpg
Versione full res. qui (http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/press/images/CRISM_5_16_07.jpg)
peccato solo non dicano nulla sul contenuto scientifico di queste immagini :(
CRISM View
Ora disponibile un tool per il monitoraggio dell'attivita' dell'MRO direttamente da web in "real-time":
http://crism.jhuapl.edu/science/CRISMview/images/screen1_sm.jpg (http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/press/images/CRISM_viewer.jpg)
http://crism.jhuapl.edu/science/CRISMview/
If you’ve ever wanted to soar over the surface of Mars, now you can – through the simulated eyes of the powerful mineral mapping camera now circling the Red Planet.
CRISM View, created by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory team that designed and operates the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, offers a look at the Martian surface as if the viewer were riding along with CRISM, one of six science instruments on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The application is available on the CRISM Web site, at http://crism.jhuapl.edu/science/CRISMview/. Based on the software CRISM team members use to monitor their instrument, CRISM View shows (in real time) the orbiter’s track, position and velocity above Mars; current CRISM instrument settings; a simulated view of the Martian surface below the spacecraft and the section of the surface in CRISM’s field of view; and a running list of CRISM observations. On-screen maps also illustrate the daytime and nighttime sections of the planet, and the current positions of Earth and Mars around the Sun.
“CRISM View is an opportunity to look over the shoulders of the mission team, to see what’s happening in real time,” says Scott Murchie, CRISM principal investigator from the Applied Physics Laboratory, in Laurel, Md. “The images on our Web site show the results of CRISM’s work, but with CRISM View it’s like people are sitting with the scientists and engineers at APL, watching our mission unfold.”
CRISM is looking for areas that were wet long enough to leave a mineral signature on the surface, searching for the spectral traces of aqueous and hydrothermal deposits, and mapping the geology, composition, and stratigraphy of surface features. Offering greater capability to map spectral variations than any similar instrument sent to another planet, CRISM can read 544 “colors” in reflected sunlight to detect minerals in the surface.
CRISM View is the latest opportunity the team has taken to bring the mission science to students and Web visitors. Featured images, at http://crism.jhuapl.edu/gallery/featuredImage/, highlight selected CRISM images that capture Mars' geologic evolution and compositional variability. A curriculum guide, at http://crism.jhuapl.edu/education/curriculum.php, uses Mars as a springboard to teach basic geologic concepts. And the Reflectance Spectroscopy Lab, at http://crism.jhuapl.edu/education/reflectSpectLab.php, teaches users how to recognize different types of rocks that may initially look or feel the same, based on subtle differences in the light they reflect.
http://crism.jhuapl.edu/newscenter/articles/060707.php
Ora ho troppo sonno per guardarci :D ma sembra bello. Chi si ricorda Maestro? Era talmente pesante all'epoca che non mi girava sul portatile :p
August 24, 2007
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Status Report
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/newsroom/pressreleases/20070824a/PSP_004858_1670_th200.jpg
Exposed layers in central Valles Marineris.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Camera Concern Resolved; More Than 3,000 Images Returned
Diagnostic tests and months of stable, successful operation have resolved concerns raised early this year about long-term prospects for the powerful telescopic camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the orbiter has now taken more than 3,000 images of Mars, resolving features as small as a desk in targeted areas covering thousands of square miles of the Martian surface. Already, this is the largest Mars data set ever acquired by a single experiment. The camera is one of six instruments on the orbiter.
During the first three months after the orbiter's primary science phase began in November, researchers saw an increase in noise and pixel dropouts in data from seven of the camera's 14 detectors. The effects on image quality were small in all but two detectors, but the trend raised concerns noted in a Feb. 7 news release.
Tests have yielded an explanation for the earlier pattern, and the camera's performance record shows the noise stopped getting worse after about three to four months of the science phase.
Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona, Tucson, principal investigator for the camera, said, "I'm happy to report that there has been no detectable degradation over the past five months."
A team at Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo., designer and builder of the instrument, has used an engineering model of the camera's focal-plane system to successfully duplicate the problem. This has helped in understanding causes and in testing a procedure for warming the focal-plane electronics prior to each image. One cause is that an electrical interface lacked extra capability beyond minimum requirements. Another cause is an unexpected change in performance of another electronic component over the course of the first thousand or so large images. With pre-warming, the camera acquires good data from all detectors, though minor noise remains an issue in data from one of two channels of one detector collecting infrared imagery.
McEwen said, "Given the stability we've seen and understanding the nature of the problem, we now expect HiRISE to return high-quality data for years to come."
Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment are online at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, Colo., is the prime contractor and built the spacecraft.
an increase in noise and pixel dropouts in data from seven of the camera's 14 detectors.
:confused: HiRISE e' suddiviso in 14 sezioni o che?
l'MRO e' tornato finalmente operativo al 100% e ha ripreso la sua attivita' scientifica.
http://crism.jhuapl.edu/gallery/featuredImage/image.php?page=1&gallery_id=2&image_id=95
http://crism.jhuapl.edu/gallery/featuredImage/pics/20070922_FRT00003D3B_07.PNG
bello questo spettro di assorbimento..non ho pero' capito bene l'unita nell'asse delle ordinate..:wtf:
Visto che e' ormai un po' che trascuriamo questo thread butto un po' di aggiornamenti:
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/images/2007/details/PSP_006223_1600.jpg (http://hirise-pds.lpl.arizona.edu/PDS/EXTRAS/RDR/PSP/ORB_006200_006299/PSP_006223_1600/PSP_006223_1600_RED.thumb.jpg)
Wrinkle Ridges in Hesperia Planum (PSP_006223_1600)
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
interessanti anche i dati sulla risoluzione:
OBSERVATION TOOLBOX
Acquisition date: 24 November 2007 Local Mars time: 2.22 PM
Latitude (centered): -19.9 ° Longitude (East): 114.5 °
Range to target site: 257.6 km (161.0 miles) Original image scale range: 25.8 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~77 cm across are resolved
Map projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR
Emission angle: 0.2 ° Phase angle: 38.6 °
Solar incidence angle: 39 °, with the Sun about 51 ° above the horizon Solar longitude: 352.3 °, Northern Winter
For non-map projected products:
North azimuth: 96 ° Sub-solar azimuth: 26.2 °
For map projected products:
North azimuth: 270° Sub solar azimuth 200.384°
la risoluzione e' 25cm per pixel! :eek:
demonbl@ck
27-12-2007, 17:37
la risoluzione e' 25cm per pixel! :eek:
Staminkia!
Cosi' appaiono la Terra e la Luna viste da Marte:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/press/20080303a/EarthMoon.jpg
la lo scatto e' stato fatto ad una distanza di 142 milioni di Km (tra terra e marte)
:)
WOW:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
Google Earth ora visualizza anche Marte. Siccome ci sono anche le immagini di HiRISE è un buon modo di vederle in modo intuitivo e organico..
Mars Orbiter Glitch Stalls Red Planet Science (http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090226-mars-orbiter-malfunction.html)
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has suffered an apparent glitch that has left the spacecraft in a protective safe mode and stalled science observations as it circles the red planet, the space agency announced late Wednesday.
The malfunction occurred on Monday when the orbiter unexpectedly rebooted its main computer and entered safe mode, an automatic safeguard designed to protect the spacecraft from further damage when it detects a glitch.
NASA engineers are reviewing potential causes for the malfunction aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) in the hopes of resuming its science observations of the red planet.
"We are going to bring the spacecraft back to normal operations, but we are going to do so in a cautious way, treating this national treasure carefully," said MRO project manager Jim Erickson at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The process will take at least a few days."
The Mars orbiter's malfunction occurred Monday at about 7:25 a.m. EST (1225 GMT), when the spacecraft was flying behind the red planet as seen from Earth. While MRO has suffered glitches that put it in safe mode five times since its 2005 launch, Monday's malfunction does not resemble any of those earlier glitches, NASA officials said.
An initial analysis suggests that the malfunction may have been caused by the detection of a power surge that lasted between 200 nanoseconds and 41 seconds. The power surge may have been real, or it could have been a phantom reading, mission managers said.
One theory is that the MRO spacecraft may have been hit by a cosmic ray, causing an erroneous power surge reading for about nine microseconds, more than enough time to trigger the computer reboot, mission managers said.
MRO flight engineers managed to partially revive the spacecraft late Monday, when they boosted its communication rate from 40 data bits per second to a level some 10,000 times faster. The spacecraft's batteries are charged and its expansive solar wings are generating electricity, mission managers said.
Launched in August 2005, the MRO spacecraft is NASA's youngest orbiter in a fleet of spacecraft circling the red planet. It arrived in orbit around Mars in October 2006 to begin a planned two-year mission. The spacecraft's initial $720 million mission has since been extended by two more years to 2010.
During its time at Mars, MRO has beamed home stunning vistas of the red planet and tracked NASA's twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity as they explore the Martian surface.
The spacecraft has also used its high-resolution camera to scout for future Martian landing sites and spotted NASA's most recent probe - the Phoenix Mars Lander - as it parachuted down to a pinpoint landing on the planet's arctic plains in May 2008.
4chr
jumpjack
27-02-2009, 18:46
M'ero scordato di questo thread...
C'e' una novità interessante, per le immagini GIA' inviate dall'HiRISE a bordo dell'MRO: adesso possono essere consultate con la stessa facilità e rapidità con cui si puo' guardare casa propria su GoogleEarth! :) Ora infatti GoogleEarth supporta anche Marte, e in modo molto piu' evoluto di quanto faccia la versione online, GoogleMars. E in piu', ovviamente, c'e' il 3d, che è veramente impressionante! peccato solo che non ci sia per TUTTE le immagini.
anche le immagini non ci sono (ancora) tutt, ma credo sia solo perche' ci vorrà un po' a creare i "tiles" per tutto quel po' po' di roba (ogni immagine, a piena risoluzone, occupa circa 300 MB!!!).
In compenso pero' GoogleEarth indica per TUTTE (credo...) le immagini di HiRISE la posizione e l'area coperta, e basta cliccarci sopra per essere rimandati all'immagine.
Interessante studio (http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001858/) che compara le mappe di Marte disponibili nel corso degli anni (qui (http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=2743) ci sono i link al lavoro vero e proprio).
Qualche esempio:
- 1962:
http://www.planetary.org/image/mars1962_mec1-acic-for-atlas-small.jpg
- 1969:
http://www.planetary.org/image/mars1969_mariner6_far.jpg
- 1971:
http://www.planetary.org/image/mars1971_m9-cylmap2.jpg
M'ero scordato di questo thread...
C'e' una novità interessante, per le immagini GIA' inviate dall'HiRISE a bordo dell'MRO: adesso possono essere consultate con la stessa facilità e rapidità con cui si puo' guardare casa propria su GoogleEarth! :) Ora infatti GoogleEarth supporta anche Marte, e in modo molto piu' evoluto di quanto faccia la versione online, GoogleMars. E in piu', ovviamente, c'e' il 3d, che è veramente impressionante! peccato solo che non ci sia per TUTTE le immagini.
anche le immagini non ci sono (ancora) tutt, ma credo sia solo perche' ci vorrà un po' a creare i "tiles" per tutto quel po' po' di roba (ogni immagine, a piena risoluzone, occupa circa 300 MB!!!).
In compenso pero' GoogleEarth indica per TUTTE (credo...) le immagini di HiRISE la posizione e l'area coperta, e basta cliccarci sopra per essere rimandati all'immagine.
Lo avevo segnalato sopra :O (con molte meno spiegazioni però :D)
Utile anche l'amatoriale Mars Midnight Browser per le immagini dei MER/Phoenix (in Google Earth ci sono solo i panorami principali)
jumpjack
27-02-2009, 21:01
Interessante studio (http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001858/) che compara le mappe di Marte disponibili nel corso degli anni (qui (http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=2743) ci sono i link al lavoro vero e proprio).
Interessante, ma offtopic...
Pero' e' curioso vedere che effettivamente schiaparelli AVEVA visto DAVVERO i dettagli della superficie, non avava... disegnato la sua retina, come qualcuno ha insinuato!!!
Interessante, ma offtopic...
Ripensandoci hai decisamente ragione :D
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter è tornato a funzionare normalmente:
Orbiter Resumes Normal Science Operations (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/news/mro-20090303.html)
03.03.09
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has fully recovered from an unexpected computer re-set last week and resumed its scientific investigation of Mars.
The mission's flight-team engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, sent commands Monday, March 2, to power up the spacecraft's science instruments. Observations by the instruments resumed Tuesday morning after confirmation of instrument health and proper temperatures.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter had rebooted its computer Monday morning, Feb. 23, and put itself temporarily into a limited-activity "safe" mode that is an automated safety response. After analysis of the situation, including ground-based tests simulating the spacecraft events, engineers took the spacecraft out of safe mode on Saturday.
"We have proceeded cautiously, checking the health and performance of the spacecraft at each step as we brought it back to full, normal operations," said JPL's Dan Johnston, mission manager for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The team found that a voltage reading might have triggered the Feb. 23 reboot and that the event could have resulted from a cosmic-ray hit causing an erroneous voltage reading. Ground simulations have confirmed the expected spacecraft behavior due to the erroneous voltage reading. Since the Feb. 23 event, the spacecraft systems have continued to perform as expected.
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. For more information about the mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mro .
CO2 al disgelo:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/press/20090325a/ESP_011842_0980_br2.jpg
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/press/20090325a.html
Nuova iniziativa da parte del team di HiRISE: gli HiFlyers (http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/hiflyers.php), PDF di dimensione 28x43 cm per stamparsi come poster alcune (parti di) immagini
HiFlyers!
Thursday, 2009 April 2 at 9:56 am MST
New feature on the HiRISE website! HiFlyers made of released images like this one:
These are 11×17 PDFs showing cutouts of new releases, so you can print your own posters. Currently these are available for weekly releases starting 3/25/09 - look for more with each week’s new images!
They’re all available on this page. There are also links to the flyers on the individual image pages such as this one: http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_011425_1775 (Look for the “HiFLYER” link in the lower right hand side.)
Enjoy! :)
Dal podcast (http://astronauticast.forumastronautico.it/?p=124) di Marzo di forumastronautico.it: intervista con il dott. Roberto Seu, Team Leader del radar SHARAD, imbarcato a bordo della sonda Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Malea Patera (http://www.universetoday.com/2009/05/06/a-dalmatian-volcano-and-other-new-images-from-hirise/)
http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/dalmation-volcano.jpg
Malea Patera isn’t the name of one of the One Hundred and One Dalmatians, but it is the designation of an ancient volcano on Mars located on the outskirts of the Hellas impact basin. This isn’t your typical Martian landscape — just where are the red rocks and soil? — but is reminiscent of the markings on a Dalmatian dog. So what is going on here? This image was taken in early spring for this location in the southern hemisphere and the ground is covered with bright frost except for some dark splotches found in discrete patches. This is where the sunlight has penetrated the frost and initiated defrosting around discrete spots. The HiRISE scientists say that clearly, something is different about the patches, with the defrosting taking place, while the other areas remain frosty. One possibility is that these are (frost covered) dark sand dunes that heat up more easily than the surrounding terrain. However, to find out for sure, HiRISE will need to take a new image in the summer time to really know what is happening here.
- Il team di HiRISE ha deciso impegnarsi a rilasciare mensilmente le immagini della sonda nel Planetary Data System (un grosso database dove sono memorizzati tutti i dati ufficiali/calibrati acquisiti dalle sonde NASA). Notare il volume delle immagini acquisite fino ad ora (34 TB :eek:):
Announcing Monthly Public Releases of HiRISE Images (http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/HiBlog/2009/05/06/announcing-monthly-public-releases-of-hirise-images/)
Planetary scientists used to keep new data from the spacecraft explorers of the solar system within the mission team for a lengthy period of time so they could make all the cool initial discoveries. ;) Only later would the mission’s data sets be archived on the public Planetary Data System (PDS). Once archived, these data could then be used by the scientific community and public for further research and discovery.
Dr. Alfred McEwen, HiRISE principal investigator, decided early on that this incredibly powerful instrument should be “The People’s Camera”. This meant, among other things, that we would endeavor to make the data returned by HiRISE available to the scientific community and public as quickly as possible. We have PDS release requirements, but our goal has always been to beat those requirements. To do so, we needed to develop automated software pipelines to take the raw data and turn them into useful calibrated and geometrically mapped products. We also needed to develop the right PDS release tools, train a talented group of operations staff to validate the data and fix problems, and develop a website to effectively and beautifully showcase HiRISE images.
We now believe we have reached the point to be able to support a monthly release of recent HiRISE images to the public! This week we released the observations HiRISE took of Mars between orbits 11,600 and 12,599, or between January 16 and April 04, 2009. This makes us the first mission to release a data set to the PDS so quickly! Here are the statistics for this release, including the number of each product type released and their respective data volumes (EDRs are the individual uncalibrated image channels and RDRs are the calibrated, mosaicked, and geometrically-projected observations):
* 1,179 RDRs, 520 GB
* 16,861 EDRs, 459 GB
* 13,512 RDR Extras, 788 GB
* 33,152 EDR Extras, 7 GB
* 342 Anaglyphs, 51 GB
Totals for this release: 64,704 image products, 1.7 TB
This brings our total released product numbers and data volume to:
* 19,667 RDRs, 11 TB
* 278,807 EDRs, 9.5 TB
* 166,816 RDR Extras, 13.7 TB
* 529,095 EDR Extras, 0.1 TB
* 2,892 Anaglyphs, 0.5 TB
Total: 993,277 images, 34 TB
Those are various products for about 9998 Mars observations, and another reason why it makes no sense to hoard our data; there is too much of it and too few of us! The team scientists have plenty to do and there are plenty of discoveries to be made, old hypotheses to update, and new mysteries to solve. The operations staff are now hard at work getting observations from orbits 12,600 through 12,999, or between April 04 and May 5, 2009, ready for the June PDS release. This involves making sure each observation has been processed by our software pipelines correctly, fixing any problems, and checking and double checking that the relevant image products are ready for release. Sometimes we have to manually force an observation through the pipelines because some of its channels were lost during transmission to the Earth, or we might stumble across an observation we somehow forgot to send on to the color pipelines after it had been calibrated. There are spreadsheets to maintain, lists of problematic observations to keep (see the ERRATA.TXT file), and a variety of other tasks that need to be completed before the latest data set is ready for release.
Over the next few months we will see how this goes! It is a lot of work, but our desire for you to see these beautiful images of Mars as quickly as possible is strong. No promises, but we will also explore releasing completed observations even faster!
- Due interessanti interventi relativi a Marte:
http://www.planetary.org/image/M01_Danielson_Asimov.gif
The Martian Craters Asimov and Danielson (http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001965/)
http://www.planetary.org/image/E1103412_S0902603_S1001184_fig_lg.gif
Mars: "Follow the Water" Is Not Dead* (http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001964/)
* leggermente OT, ma penso che stia meglio qui che perso in un altro topic.
jumpjack
01-06-2009, 20:10
- Il team di HiRISE ha deciso impegnarsi a rilasciare mensilmente le immagini della sonda nel Planetary Data System (un grosso database dove sono memorizzati tutti i dati ufficiali/calibrati acquisiti dalle sonde NASA). Notare il volume delle immagini acquisite fino ad ora (34 TB :eek:):
finche' le rendono accessibili da GoogleEarth, per me possono pure essere 34 exabyte... :O
Prima prova definitiva che esistevano laghi su Marte:
http://www.colorado.edu/news/r/7e9c22ec0cd6dabc007bb14ed2e29f16/Mars%20image.jpg
Looking for (Former) Lakeshore Property? HiRISE Finds It on Mars (http://www.universetoday.com/2009/06/17/looking-for-former-lakeshore-property-hirise-finds-it-on-mars/)
If you're in the market for some remote lakeshore property where you can get away from it all, this might be just what you're looking for. Located in a secluded, pristine setting, this must-see property might be one of a kind. It's very remote; – did I mention this lakeshore is on Mars? And, oh — it happens to be a former lakeshore.
While lakeshore property on Mars might sound like the biggest real estate swindle ever, the news of the first definitive lakeshore on Mars is momentous. Using images from the HiRISE Camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a University of Colorado at Boulder research team has discovered indications of a deep, ancient lake, estimated to be more than 3 billion years old.
The lake appears to have covered as much as 80 square miles and was up to 460 meters (1,500 feet) deep — roughly the equivalent of Lake Champlain bordering the United States and Canada, said CU-Boulder Research Associate Gaetano Di Achille, who led the study. The shoreline evidence, found along a broad delta in a region called Shalbatana Vallis, includes a series of alternating ridges and troughs thought to be surviving remnants of beach deposits.
"This is the first unambiguous evidence of shorelines on the surface of Mars," said Di Achille. "The identification of the shorelines and accompanying geological evidence allows us to calculate the size and volume of the lake, which appears to have formed about 3.4 billion years ago."
http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Shalbatana.jpg
An analysis of the HiRISE images indicate that water carved a 50 km (30 mile) -long canyon that opened up into a valley, depositing sediment that formed a large delta. This delta and others surrounding the basin imply the existence of a large, long-lived lake, said team member Brian Hynek, also from CU-Boulder.
"Finding shorelines is a Holy Grail of sorts to us," said Hynek.
In addition, the evidence shows the lake existed during a time when Mars is generally believed to have been cold and dry, which is at odds with current theories proposed by many planetary scientists, he said. "Not only does this research prove there was a long-lived lake system on Mars, but we can see that the lake formed after the warm, wet period is thought to have dissipated."
Planetary scientists think the oldest surfaces on Mars formed during the wet and warm Noachan epoch from about 4.1 billion to 3.7 billion years ago that featured a bombardment of large meteors and extensive flooding. The newly discovered lake is believed to have formed during the Hesperian epoch and postdates the end of the warm and wet period on Mars by 300 million years, according to the study.
The deltas adjacent to the lake are of high interest to planetary scientists because deltas on Earth rapidly bury organic carbon and other biomarkers of life, according to Hynek. Most astrobiologists believe any present indications of life on Mars will be discovered in the form of subterranean microorganisms.
http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Shalbatana.jpg
But in the past, lakes on Mars would have provided cozy surface habitats rich in nutrients for such microbes, Hynek said.
The retreat of the lake apparently was rapid enough to prevent the formation of additional, lower shorelines, said Di Achille. The lake probably either evaporated or froze over with the ice slowly turning to water vapor and disappearing during a period of abrupt climate change, according to the study.
Di Achille said the newly discovered pristine lake bed and delta deposits would be would be a prime target for a future landing mission to Mars in search of evidence of past life.
"On Earth, deltas and lakes are excellent collectors and preservers of signs of past life," said Di Achille. "If life ever arose on Mars, deltas may be the key to unlocking Mars' biological past."
The team's paper has been published online in Geophysical Research Letters, a publication of the American Geophysical Union.
jumpjack
19-06-2009, 08:05
boh, io in quelle foto non ci vedo niente di nuovo rispetto ai miliardi di foto gia' viste...
Pero' la notizia mi entusiasma ugualmente! :D (diciamo che... vado a fiducia!)
Certo è strano che un lago "scompaia di botto"; ultimamente ho visto un documentario che diceva che cose simili succedono anche sulla Terra, di continuo: al polo sud. Si formano laghetti a causa dello scioglimento dei ghiacci... poi lo scorrimento della banchisa causa una crepa sul fondo, e il lago si svuota come una vasca da bagno!
Chissa', magari quell'acqua marziana non è evaporata, è passata... al piano di sotto? :mbe:
jumpjack
19-06-2009, 08:49
Sta per andare sulla Luna una sonda con fotocamera di risoluzione analoga a quella della HiRISE!!
Credo sia il caso di aprire un thread dedicato:
http://www.hwupgrade.it/forum/showthread.php?t=2002270
boh, io in quelle foto non ci vedo niente di nuovo rispetto ai miliardi di foto gia' viste...
Pero' la notizia mi entusiasma ugualmente! :D (diciamo che... vado a fiducia!)
Certo è strano che un lago "scompaia di botto"; ultimamente ho visto un documentario che diceva che cose simili succedono anche sulla Terra, di continuo: al polo sud. Si formano laghetti a causa dello scioglimento dei ghiacci... poi lo scorrimento della banchisa causa una crepa sul fondo, e il lago si svuota come una vasca da bagno!
Chissa', magari quell'acqua marziana non è evaporata, è passata... al piano di sotto? :mbe:
Di acqua su Marte ne scoprono sempre di nuova quindi non si sa mai :D (una "passata" con SHARAD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHARAD) dovrebbe chiarire la cosa nel caso non l'abbiano già fatta)
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/images/wallpaper/800/ESP_014353_1685.jpg
CRISM observations of this region of the Noctis Labyrinthus formation have shown indications of iron-bearing sulfates and phyllosilicate (clay) minerals.
HiRISE observations have revealed exposed layers which are possibly the sources of the signatures seen by CRISM. In the subimage, the layering can be seen in the lower part of the image. To the upper left one can see a dune field which covers other beds.
Giove visto da HiRISE:
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/images/2007/details/PSP_002162_9030.jpg (http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/images/2007/details/cut/PSP_002162_9030_cut_b.jpg)
The HiRISE camera is the most powerful telescope to have left Earth orbit. As such, it is capable of some interesting astronomical observations.
This image of Jupiter and its major satellites (10 MB) was acquired to calibrate the pointing and color response of the camera. An oversight in planning this unusual observation put the focus mechanism in the wrong location, blurring the image. This does not detract from the calibration objectives, but makes the raw image less esthetic.
To compensate, the image has been "sharpened" on the ground by Dennis Gallagher, the HiRISE chief optical designer. With this sharpening, and because Mars is closer to Jupiter than Earth is, this image has comparable resolution as the Hubble Space Telescope's pictures of Jupiter.
The colors are not what is seen by the human eye because HiRISE is able to detect light with a slightly longer wavelength than we can (that is, the infrared).
While there is no standard observation geometry, this image was acquired on 11 January 2007, 2102 spacecraft event time to be precise.
Belle queste dune (http://www.uahirise.org/ESP_014426_2070) :):
http://www.uahirise.org/images/wallpaper/1024/ESP_014426_2070.jpg
Per altre immagini interessanti di dune marziane cliccate qui (http://www.universetoday.com/2009/10/15/amazing-and-marvelous-mars-dunes/). Una spiegazione del perchè le dune appaiono in quel modo si può leggere su badastronomy (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/10/15/martian-swirly/):
Can I get a Holy Haleakala! from the congregation?
Wow. I mean seriously, wow. You really really want to go look at the embiggened version. What you’re seeing here are sand dunes on Mars. This region is in the center of a large crater at mid-north latitude on Mars, a couple of hours past local noon, and with a resolution of 50 cm (18 inches) per pixel. Sand dunes are common in crater beds, where the wind can blow steadily across the surface and sculpt the ever-present sand into those flowing sculptures.
But what this picture so spectacular are the graceful blue-gray swirls arcing across the dunes. These are caused by dust devils, which are a bit like mini-tornadoes. If the ground gets heated, rising air can punch through cooler air above it. This starts up a convection cell, with warm air rising and cool air sinking. If there is a horizontal wind the cell can start spinning, creating a vortex like a dust devil. I’ve seen hundreds of these on Earth, and they are wonderful and mesmerizing to watch.
The important thing to note here is that the sand in the craters of Mars is actually dark grey in color, since it’s made of basalt. The reason it looks red in pictures is because covering the sand is a thin layer of much finer dust, and the dust is what’s red. When a dust devil moves over the Martian surface, it can pick up the very light dust particles, but not the heavier sand grains. So those blue-grey swirls are tracks where the dust devil has vacuumed up the dust, revealing the darker sand underneath. If you look carefully in the tracks, you can see the sand dune ripples are undisturbed. Only the dust is gone.
There’s more to see in the picture as well. There is a sloping dune peak cutting across from top left to lower right (it’s more obvious in the larger context view of this region), and again more dark streaks, linear this time, probably caused by sand sliding down the dune face. When the sand moves, the dust covering it gets disturbed and once again you see the darker color of the sand itself. I also love the way the dune shapes change depending on where they are in the picture, caused by differences in the wind patterns across the floor of the crater.
When I look at pictures like this, I am smacked in the face with the cold, hard fact that Mars is a world. It’s not just a dot in the sky, it’s not just a set in a movie, it’s not just pictures from a space probe. It’s a planet, a vast complex system of interacting environments which produces climates, landscapes, vistas, weather.
And man oh man, does it produce beauty, awe, and wonder. Wow.
My thanks to Dr. Alfred McEwen of HiRISE for taking the time to explain to me the difference in color between the dust and the sand, and how that affects this image.
MRO continua a rimanere in safe mode in attesa che venga completato lo sviluppo di un "aggiornamento" per evitare una situazione improbabile ma potenzialmente fatale:
Arizona Daily Star reports MRO managers working to avoid "unlikely but potentially fatal scenario" (http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00002181/)
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been in safe mode for nine weeks, since August 26, the date of the fourth in a series of safing events. A JPL update on the situation dated to September 4 said that analysis had "identified one possible but unlikely scenario jeopardizing the spacecraft. This scenario would require two computer resets, each worse than any so far, occurring within several minutes of each other in a certain pattern." Today's Arizona Daily Star contains a bit more information on this possible failure scenario:
While the engineers have not been able to find the root cause of why the orbiter [rebooted] on Aug. 26, they are seeing a pattern among the four occurrences this year.
"In all four cases the most likely scenario is that ... either one of the voltages wasn't right or the part of the device that measures voltages indicated there was a problem and there wasn't one," [project manager Jim] Erickson said.
The unclear voltage signals have caused the orbiter in one instance to switch to a backup computer and in the three other instances to reset the computer. Engineers worry that if these actions happen in a short enough time frame, the memory of the main computer as well as the memory of the backup computer could be reset.
"There's a case where the spacecraft may not remember that it is in mapping mode," Erickson said. "It might think it's on the ground waiting to be turned on."
Engineers are now working to create a safeguard against that worst-case scenario as well as finding the cause of the mysterious voltage signals.
Since they haven't figured out a cause yet, it's no surprise that Erickson can't currently give a date as to when MRO will be able to return to normal operations. Now that it's in its extended mission, its highest priority is to serve as a communications relay for future landers -- I wonder if there are possible recovery scenarios that include return to relay operations but not return to science? We'll have to wait for further updates to come out of the mission.
Meanwhile, spring continues to arrive to Mars' northern plains...
Una selezione (http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/11/martian_landscapes.html) di immagini di Marte acquisite da HiRISE:
http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/mars_11_06/m04_43790925.jpg
http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/mars_11_06/m30_36582015.jpg
http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/mars_11_06/m10_97392580.jpg
:dissident:
06-11-2009, 18:32
Sono davvero impressionanti :eek:
MRO esce dal "Safe Mode":
MRO Comes Out of Safe Mode (http://www.universetoday.com/2009/12/08/mro-comes-out-of-safe-mode/)
The latest word on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is that the spacecraft has successfully come out of safe mode. The various instruments, including the HiRISE camera are still "safed" at this point, and engineers are waiting for acquisition of signal to confirm mapping orientation. MRO spontaneously rebooted its computer on Aug. 26, and since this was the fourth time this type of event had occurred, flight engineers decided to keep the spacecraft in safe mode, and have been working to figure out possible root causes, as well as repercussions if these events were to continue to happen. Several protective files were uploaded to MRO in late November, with hopes of returning the orbiter to its regularly scheduled research and relay activities. Once engineers check out of all the science instruments, normal science operations may resume next week.
"The patient is out of danger but more steps have to be taken to get it back on its feet," said Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project Manager Jim Erickson.
Since August, the team worked painstakingly on a plan to ensure the safety and operation of the orbiter. "This process is to bulletproof the spacecraft against a remote vulnerability that our team identified," said Erickson. "Meanwhile, analysis of possible root causes for the four reboots this year continues as another important part of our path toward resuming science operations."
The preventive care required amending some data files in the computers' non-volatile, or "flash" memories where the computers check for default settings when they reboot.
The four reboots involved a device, called the "computer module interface controller," that controls which of two redundant main computers on the spacecraft is active. Still undetermined is whether trouble lies with that controller itself or with a voltage glitch elsewhere on the spacecraft. The Aug. 6 reboot, though not the other three, prompted a switch from one computer to its backup twin. More than 100 factors are under consideration as possible root causes.
MRO has six instruments on board to examine Mars in detail, from subsurface layers to the top of the atmosphere.
"The precautionary steps we are taking are not driven by the calendar, but by our commitment to care for this valuable national resource," Erickson said. "We are all eager to have science observations resume as soon as a properly cautious process allows."
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