Mars Odyssey takes first VISIBLE picture of Red Planet

This picture shows both a visible and a thermal infrared image taken by the thermal emission imaging system on NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft on November 2, 2001. The images were taken as part of the ongoing calibration and testing of the camera system as the spacecraft orbited Mars on its 13th revolution of the planet.

The visible wavelength image, shown on the right in black and white, was obtained using one of the instrument's five visible filters. The spacecraft was approximately 22,000 kilometers (about 13,600 miles) above Mars looking down toward the south pole when this image was acquired. It is late spring in the martian southern hemisphere.

The thermal infrared image, center, shows the temperature of the surface in color. The circular feature seen in blue is the extremely cold martian south polar carbon dioxide ice cap. The instrument has measured a temperature of minus 120 degrees Celsius (minus184 degrees Fahrenheit) on the south polar ice cap. The polar cap is more than 900 kilometers (540 miles) in diameter at this time.

First visible image. Photo: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Arizona State University The visible image shows additional details along the edge of the ice cap, as well as atmospheric hazes near the cap. The view of the surface appears hazy due to dust that still remains in the martian atmosphere from the massive martian dust storms that have occurred over the past several months. The infrared image covers a length of over 6,500 kilometers (3,900 miles) spanning the planet from limb to limb, with a resolution of approximately 5.5 kilometers per picture element, or pixel, (3.4 miles per pixel) at the point directly beneath the spacecraft. The visible image has a resolution of approximately 1 kilometer per pixel (.6 miles per pixel) and covers an area roughly the size of the states of Arizona and New Mexico combined. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington D.C. The thermal-emission imaging system was developed at Arizona State University, Tempe, with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing, Santa Barbara, Calif. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

As an update for those interested:

Odyssey using Martian atmosphere to lower orbit
NASA/JPL NEWS RELEASE
Posted: November 13, 2001

NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft has now entered the main aerobraking phase of the mission.

"The initial phase of aerobraking has gone exceedingly well. By skimming through the upper reaches of the Mars atmosphere during each orbit, we have reduced our orbital period by more than three hours in the past two weeks," said David A. Spencer, the Odyssey mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Odyssey's orbital period, the time required for the spacecraft to complete one revolution in its orbit around Mars, is currently 15 hours.

The spacecraft's closest approach to the planet, know as the orbit's periapsis, has been carefully lowered to 110 kilometers (68 miles) above the martian surface. "This closest approach occurs over the north polar region on Mars, in a relatively low density region surrounded by strong winds like the jet stream on Earth," said Dr. Richard Zurek of JPL, who chairs the aerobraking advisory group. "Like Earth, Mars has distinct seasons, and this low density area, called the polar vortex, develops each fall and will persist until spring, long after Odyssey has finished aerobraking,"

NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft is monitoring the lower atmosphere of Mars, observing the entire planet each day to watch for dust storms and weather events that could affect the upper atmosphere. If needed, Odyssey could also use its own instruments to watch for dust storms. To that end, flight controllers have completed the calibration and testing of the thermal emission imaging system. The imaging team at Arizona State University, Tempe, took the first visible wavelength image of the planet on Nov. 2, which complements the thermal infrared image that was taken earlier.

The aerobraking phase is planned for completion in late January 2002. At that point, Odyssey will be in its desired circular orbit, and the science mapping mission will begin sometime in early February.

JPL manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Principal investigators at Arizona State University in Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tucson, and NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, operate the science instruments. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., is providing aerobraking support to JPL's navigation team during mission operations.

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