This infographic highlights simply how a lot knowledge and what number of photographs NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter has amassed in its 23 years of operation across the Purple Planet. Credit score: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s longest-lived Mars robotic is set to mark a brand new milestone on June 30: 100,000 journeys across the Purple Planet since launching 23 years in the past. Right through that point, the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter has been mapping minerals and ice around the Martian floor, figuring out touchdown websites for long term missions, and relaying knowledge to Earth from NASA’s rovers and landers.
Scientists lately used the orbiter’s digital camera to take a surprising new symbol of Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano within the sun device. The picture is a part of a seamless effort through the Odyssey workforce to supply high-altitude perspectives of the planet’s horizon. (The primary of those perspectives used to be printed in past due 2023.) Very similar to the point of view of Earth astronauts get aboard the World Area Station, the view permits scientists to be informed extra about clouds and airborne mud on Mars.
Taken on March 11, the newest horizon symbol captures Olympus Mons in all its glory. With a base that sprawls throughout 373 miles (600 kilometers), the defend volcano rises to a peak of 17 miles (27 kilometers).
NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter captured this unmarried symbol of Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano within the sun device, on March 11, 2024. But even so offering an extraordinary view of the volcano, the picture is helping scientists learn about other layers of subject material within the surroundings, together with clouds and mud. Credit score: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
“Usually we see Olympus Mons in slender strips from above, however through turning the spacecraft towards the horizon we will see in one symbol how huge it looms over the panorama,” mentioned Odyssey’s mission scientist, Jeffrey Plaut of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the venture. “No longer handiest is the picture impressive, it additionally supplies us with distinctive science knowledge.”
Along with providing a freeze body of clouds and mud, such photographs, when taken throughout many seasons, can provide scientists a extra detailed working out of the Martian surroundings.
A bluish-white band on the backside of the ambience hints at how a lot mud used to be provide at this location all over early fall, a length when mud storms most often get started kicking up. The purplish layer above that used to be most probably because of a mix of the planet’s purple mud with some bluish water-ice clouds. In any case, towards the highest of the picture, a blue-green layer may also be observed the place water-ice clouds succeed in up about 31 miles (50 kilometers) into the sky.
Laura Kerber, deputy mission scientist for NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter, explains how and why the spacecraft in Might 2023 captured a view of the Purple Planet very similar to the World Area Station’s view of Earth. Credit score: NASA/JPL-Caltech
How they took the image
Named after Arthur C. Clarke’s vintage science-fiction novel “2001: A Area Odyssey,” the orbiter captured the scene with a heat-sensitive digital camera referred to as the Thermal Emission Imaging Device, or THEMIS, which Arizona State College in Tempe constructed and operates. However for the reason that digital camera is supposed to seem down on the floor, getting a horizon shot takes additional making plans.
By way of firing thrusters situated across the spacecraft, Odyssey can level THEMIS at other portions of the skin and even slowly roll over to view Mars’ tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos.
The new horizon imaging used to be conceived as an experiment a few years in the past all over the landings of NASA’s Phoenix venture in 2008 and Interest rover in 2012. As with different Mars landings earlier than and after the ones missions touched down, Odyssey performed the most important position relaying knowledge because the spacecraft barreled towards the skin.
To relay their important engineering knowledge to Earth, Odyssey’s antenna needed to be aimed at the newly arriving spacecraft and their touchdown ellipses. Scientists have been intrigued once they spotted that positioning Odyssey’s antenna for the duty supposed that THEMIS can be pointed on the planet’s horizon.
“We simply made up our minds to show the digital camera on and notice the way it appeared,” mentioned Odyssey’s venture operations spacecraft engineer, Steve Sanders of Lockheed Martin Area in Denver. Lockheed Martin constructed Odyssey and is helping behavior day by day operations along the venture leads at JPL. “According to the ones experiments, we designed a chain that helps to keep THEMIS’s field-of-view targeted at the horizon as we move across the planet.”
The name of the game to a protracted house odyssey
What is Odyssey’s secret to being the longest regularly energetic venture in orbit round a planet as opposed to Earth?
“Physics does numerous the arduous paintings for us,” Sanders mentioned. “However it is the subtleties we need to arrange over and over.”
Those variables come with gasoline, solar energy, and temperature. To make sure Odyssey makes use of its gasoline (hydrazine gasoline) sparingly, engineers need to calculate how a lot is left for the reason that spacecraft does not have a gasoline gauge. Odyssey is dependent upon solar energy to function its tools and electronics. This energy varies when the spacecraft disappears at the back of Mars for approximately quarter-hour in line with orbit. And temperatures want to keep balanced for all of Odyssey’s tools to paintings correctly.
“It takes cautious tracking to stay a venture going this lengthy whilst keeping up a historic timeline of clinical making plans and execution—and cutting edge engineering practices,” mentioned Odyssey’s mission supervisor, Joseph Hunt of JPL. “We are taking a look ahead to gathering extra nice science within the years forward.”
Quotation:
NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter captures massive volcano, nears 100,000 orbits (2024, June 27)
retrieved 27 June 2024
from
This report is topic to copyright. Aside from any truthful dealing for the aim of personal learn about or analysis, no
section could also be reproduced with out the written permission. The content material is equipped for info functions handiest.
