Project, built in part by CU scientists, sends back first pictures
Last week, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter began taking pictures of the surface of Mars. Scientists from many universities, including CU, collaborated to create the orbiter, which has begun the first part of its mission.
The orbiter began sending back pictures Oct. 6. Part of its mission includes highlighting landing sites with its HiRISE camera for future missions to explore Mars. The camera was designed in part by scientists from CU’s LASP department.
“(The camera gives) beautiful images with a 30-meter resolution,” said Brian Hynek, one of the research scientists working in LASP.
So far, the orbiter seems to be accomplishing what it was designed to do, Hynek said. The orbiter is going to start looking for landing sites for the Mars Science Laboratory, which is set to launch in 2009, he said.
Scientist Mike Mellon of LASP, the co-investigator on the camera team, said the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace in Boulder. He drove the design and operation of the camera.
Mellon said he is just one of a number of university scientists from across the country who is working on the camera. He said the scientist in charge of the project was from the University of Arizona in Tuscon.
The orbiter is going to be out of communication for next month or so, Mellon said. It has entered what scientists call the “Solar Conjunction.” This is the phase in which the sun is between Mars and Earth, allowing for scant communication between the orbiter and its control team at NASA. This phase started a week ago, and Mars is expected to come back into view near the beginning of November.
Mellon agreed with Hynek that the orbiter is functioning normally, and he said it has had no major problems or hiccups.
Scientists hope to use the orbiter to study the geologic history of Mars and identify things like water erosion. The images show 25 centimeters of the ground per pixel on the screen, which is far better clarity than was previously available.
“We’re seeing Mars at a higher resolution than we’ve ever seen before,” Mellon said, “and (the orbiter) is working quite well.”
