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Space Topics: Mars Exploration Rovers

Rover Audio Updates

Rover Audio Update, November 6, 2006

Q and A with Steve Squyres

MP3 format (14 MB, running time 1:00:48)
Doug Ellison, the host of the online forum unmannedspaceflight.com, interviews Mars Exploration Rover Principal Investigator Steve Squyres about the last 12 months of exploration with Spirit and Opportunity:

Spirit: The Sands of El Dorado, the sprint to Home Plate, and plans for the return to Home Plate and beyond.
Opportunity: From Erebus to Victoria - a culmination of almost two years of driving. How the brand new HiRISE images have helped plan the initial exploration of Victoria.
And Healthcheck: Ten times over the primary mission, signs of old age with both vehicles.

Related images

Fuzzy Smith (D. Savransky and J. Bell (Cornell) / JPL / NASA)
GongGong (D. Savransky and J. Bell (Cornell) / JPL / NASA)
Cape St. Mary as seen from Cape Verde (NASA / JPL / Cornell / James Canvin)

Click to enlarge >

HiRise Captures Rover Tracks and Shadow
Opportunity sits on the rim of Victoria Crater as observed by the HiRISE instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA / JPL / HiRISE Team

Rover Audio Update, October 19, 2006

Pancam Update with Jim Bell

MP3 format (6.8 MB, running time 29:49)
Doug Ellison, the host of the online forum unmannedspaceflight.com, interviews Pancam Payload Element Lead Jim Bell about:

Solar conjunction, and the plans for imaging while the rovers are out of touch
The McMurdo panorama: filters, compression, and bringing it all together
Optical physics: why some filters are sharper than others
Victoria Crater: bewildering, and beware
HiRISE and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: a great image and a great chance for collaboration

Related images

Mars as seen from Earth and Earth as seen from Mars, showing how the proximity of each planet to the Sun (as seen from the other) prcludes regular reliable radio communications.

Click to enlarge >

Cape Verde at Victoria Crater, with Doug Ellison to scale
Credit: Data: NASA / JPL / Cornell Image: Bernard Braun, Marco Di Lorenzo and Glen Nagle

Click to enlarge >

The view northward
One part of the winter science campaign that Spirit is conducting while sitting at a favorable location for wintertime solar energy is the most detailed panorama yet taken on the surface of Mars. This view is a partial preliminary product from the continuing work on the full image, which will be called the McMurdo Panorama. Spirit began taking exposures for the humongous panorama on Sol 814 (April 18, 2006) and is currently about ¾ of the way through the process, according to lead rover scientist Steve Squyres, taking exposures through all of the Pancam mineralogy filters and using little or no image compression. Even with a tilt toward the winter Sun, the amount of energy available daily is small, so the job will still take another month or so to complete. This view looks toward the north. Husband Hill, which the rover was climbing a year ago, is on the horizon near the center. Home Plate is a between that hill and the rover's current position. This is an approximate true-color rendering combining exposures taken through three PanCam filters. Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell / USGS

Click to enlarge >

Spirit's MarsDial, sol 2 and sol 880
The MarsDial, calibration target for the Pancam instrument, has grown dustier and dustier with time. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell

Rover Audio Update, July 3, 2006

Pancam Update with Jim Bell

MP3 format (7.9 MB, running time 34:32)
Doug Ellison, the host of the online forum unmannedspaceflight.com, interviews Pancam Payload Element Lead Jim Bell about:

Flight Software updates, and what they mean for imaging
Detecting camera degredation with Photon Transfer Calibration
Calibrating with dirty Calibration targets
Graduate and Undergraduate involvement in the Pancam Team
Opportunity's McMurdo pan: status, progress, and spotting meteorites
Beagle and Victoria, Land ahead for Opportunity
Martian Graffiti: fun with pictures

Click to enlarge >

First color look at Beagle Crater, sols 864-867
A color image of the flank of Beagle crater is superimposed on a wider black-and-white panorama in a view generated using the Midnight Mars Browser. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell / Ant103

Click to enlarge >

Photometric observation by Spirit, sol 88
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell / Doug Ellison

Rover Audio Update, April 27, 2006

Pancam Update with Jim Bell

MP3 format (running time 28:27)
Doug Ellison, the host of the online forum unmannedspaceflight.com, interviews Pancam Payload Element Lead Jim Bell about:

Low Ridge Haven: Pre-planning for Spirit's long winter stay
Victoria Crater just on the horizon
Tilt or Latitude for extra power
Coping with streaks and noise in images
Taking pictures in the cold: stuck filter wheel
Albedo and photometry: ground truthing orbital observations

Related images

Spirit Panorama from Low Ridge Haven >
Photometric observation by spirit, sol 88 (right): This mosaic is part of an observation performed by Spirit to measure the optical properties of the terrain within Gusev crater. Spirit takes several of these observations at different times of day to see how the changing sun angle and intensity affect the brightness and color of rocks and soils. This image is false color, composed of infrared, red, and violet images (filters L2, 4, and 7).

Click to enlarge >

Victoria crater on Opportunity's horizon, sol 800
This mosaic is an anaglyph (use red-blue glasses to see the 3-D effect) composed of Pancam images captured by Opportunity on sol 800, when it was still more than a kilometer away from Victoria crater. The image has been stretched vertically to exaggerate the topography and emphasize the shape of the rim of Victoria crater on the horizon. Victoria crater is 800 meters in diameter, six times the size of Endurance crater. To see this image at its full resolution (>7 MB), visit awalkonmars.com. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell / Nico Taelman

Planetary Radio, April 24, 2006

Rob Manning Says Landing on Mars is Hard

with JPL's Mars Exploration Directorate Chief Engineer and former MER Entry, Descent, and Landing Team Lead Rob Manning

Click to enlarge >

Opportunity: comparing L2 and L7 filters for drive planning
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell / Doug Ellison

Click to enlarge >

Dark cobbles at Meridiani Planum
Taken on Opportunity's sol 660, December 1, 2005, this view has been processed from six individual images captured across the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum to represent what the human eye might see on Mars. Credit: D. Savransky and J. Bell (Cornell) / JPL / NASA

Rover Audio Update, March 23, 2006

Pancam Update with Jim Bell

MP3 format (running time 30:08)
Doug Ellison, the host of the online forum unmannedspaceflight.com, interviews Pancam Payload Element Lead Jim Bell about:

Cloud imaging, looking for unusual atmospheric effects
Dragging a wheel, but making some trenches
Lead foot driving at Meridiani
Black rocks and baby craters
Pancam heritage -- 15 years in the making
Compressing images to optimize for transmission

Click to enlarge >

Super-resolution image of Spirit's heat shield
The native resolution of the Mars Exploration Rover Pancam instrument can be improved upon through the stacking of many images. Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell / Doug Ellison

Rover Audio Update, February 15, 2006

Pancam Update with Jim Bell

MP3 format (running time 26:18)
Doug Ellison, the host of the online forum unmannedspaceflight.com, interviews Pancam Payload Element Lead Jim Bell about the decision to publish imagery as it arrives from Mars; "Super-Res" imaging; what is a panorama? Home Plate and the Gibson panorama; and a long drive planned for Opportunity.

Pancam Payload Element Lead Jim Bell speaks at Wild About Mars

Click to enlarge >

Rover Audio Update, January 31, 2006

Pancam Update with Jim Bell

MP3 format (running time 25:14)
Doug Ellison, the host of the online forum unmannedspaceflight.com, interviews Pancam Payload Element Lead Jim Bell about Opportunity's new arm-stowing position; file management on Mars; Spirit's drive to Mitcheltree Rdige; understanding the Pancam tracking database; budgeting for the rovers' UHF relay passes; and how thumbnails are used as "insurance" on both rovers.

Sample text from the Pancam data tracking page

738 p0725.03 navcam_5x1_az_216_3_bpp
738 p1201.20 front_haz_penultimate_1_bpp_crit_17
738 p1206.03 front_hazcam_half_bpp_pri_24
738 p1212.07 front_haz_ultimate_2_bpp_pri15
738 p1214.05 front_hazcam_ultimate_4_bpp
738 p1301.09 penultimate_rear_hazcam_pri_17
738 p1306.02 rear_hazcam_half_bpp_pri_56
738 p1312.09 ultimate_rear_hazcam_2_bpp_pri15
738 p2111.05 pancam_cal_targ_L234567Rall
738 p2356.15 pancam_drive_direction_6x1_L7R1
738 p2519.02 pancam_nearfield_starboard_L7R1
738 p2568.15 pancam_clast_survey_L234567Rall
738 p2600.07 pancam_tau
738 p2631.01 pancam_sky_spot_L234567R34567

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Rover Audio Update, January 26, 2006

Pancam Update with Jim Bell

MP3 format (running time 16:38)
Doug Ellison, the host of the online forum unmannedspaceflight.com, interviews Pancam Payload Element Lead Jim Bell about how well the cameras are performing after two years on Mars; what to do with a rover forced to sit still for a very long time; why they choose the filters they choose; transits of Phobos and Deimos; and Pancam's "Sport" mode.

Space Topics: Mars Exploration Rovers

Rover Audio Updates

Rover Audio Update, November 6, 2006

Q and A with Steve Squyres

Rover Audio Update, October 19, 2006

Pancam Update with Jim Bell

Rover Audio Update, July 3, 2006

Pancam Update with Jim Bell

Rover Audio Update, April 27, 2006

Pancam Update with Jim Bell

Planetary Radio, April 24, 2006

with JPL's Mars Exploration Directorate Chief Engineer and former MER Entry, Descent, and Landing Team Lead Rob Manning

Rover Audio Update, March 23, 2006

Pancam Update with Jim Bell

Rover Audio Update, February 15, 2006

Pancam Update with Jim Bell

Rover Audio Update, January 31, 2006

Pancam Update with Jim Bell

More On This Topic

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Rover Audio Update, January 26, 2006

Pancam Update with Jim Bell

Planetary Radio, November 28, 2005

with Jim Bell

Planetary Radio, January 29, 2005

Planetary Radio, January 3, 2005

with Steve Squyres and Jim Erickson

Planetary Radio, May 10, 2004

with Phil Christensen

Planetary Radio, April 19, 2004

with Walter Goetz

Planetary Radio, April 12, 2004

Planetary Radio, March 8, 2004

with Ben Clark

Planetary Radio, March 1, 2004

Planetary Radio, February 23, 2004

with Bob Anderson

Planetary Radio, February 9, 2004

With Wayne Lee

Planetary Radio, February 2, 2004

Planetary Radio, January 26, 2004

with Rob Manning

Planetary Radio, January 12, 2004

with Courtney Dressing and Rafael Morozowski

Planetary Radio, January 5, 2004

Planetary Radio, December 22, 2003

Planetary Radio, December 15, 2003

with Albert Haldemann

Planetary Radio, November 17, 2003

with Emily Lakdawalla

Planetary Radio, June 16, 2003

Planetary Radio, May 12, 2003

with Jim Bell