Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
South Polar Terrain in "3-D"
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-255, 16 October 2000
Stereo (3-D) Views: Red/Blue Glasses Needed
For scale, two small squares in each image are 10 m
on a side, 40 m apart horizontally, and 10 m apart
vertically. (10 m = 10.9 yards; 40 m = 47.3 yards).
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Location of Stereo Views in Mosaic
of MOC Images from Polar Lander
Search Conducted December 1999
Through February 2000.
|
The data acquired by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter
Camera (MOC) during the period between September 1999 and February
2000--now available for viewing in the MGS MOC GALLERY at http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/---include
hundreds of pictures taken in support of the Mars Polar Lander mission
before and after the attempted landing. Repeated efforts to find the
lost lander during December 1999 and January - February 2000 resulted
in several overlapping pictures taken from different angles as the
spacecraft was pointed off its usual nadir---looking straight
down---imaging position. Pictures such as these are perfect for 3-D,
or, stereo, viewing. The context image on the right shows, at
20 meters (66 ft) per pixel, the mosaic of MOC images obtained to
search for the lost lander. The four small white boxes show the
locations of 3-D views in the picture on the left. To view these in
stereo, you need red-blue "3-D" glasses (red filter over left eye,
blue over right). Each stereo (3-D) image covers an area
approximately 750 by 750 meters (about 1/2 a mile on a side). The
terrain appears to be rugged, but the cause of this relief is
unknown. Perhaps wind and frost have shaped this landscape. The Mars
Polar Lander was lost during descent on December 3, 1999. Its location
was not found in the MOC images (finding the lander would have been
very difficult, because it is so small--smaller than a Volkswagen
"Beetle"--and the camera was not really designed to see things that
small; see
Mars Polar Lander: The Search Begins).
These images are located near
76.3°S, 195.0°W. North is toward the top and illumination
is from the upper left. For scale, two small squares in each 3-D
image are 10 m on a side, 40 m apart horizontally, and 10 m apart
vertically (10 m = 10.9 yards; 40 m = 47.3 yards).
CLICK HERE
for the MOC image mosaic without features labeled.
Previous MGS MOC web pages described the search for Mars
Polar Lander:
Images Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of
Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer
mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego,
CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project
operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial
partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA
and Denver, CO.
To MSSS Home Page
