[meteorite-list] MRO Camera Concerned Resolved; More Than 3,000 Images Returned

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2007 16:34:30 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200708242334.QAA28798_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-093a

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Status Report: Camera Concern Resolved; More
Than 3,000 Images Returned
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
August 24, 2007

Diagnostic tests and months of stable, successful operation have
resolved concerns raised early this year about long-term prospects for
the powerful telescopic camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the
orbiter has now taken more than 3,000 images of Mars, resolving features
as small as a desk in targeted areas covering thousands of square miles
of the Martian surface. Already, this is the largest Mars data set ever
acquired by a single experiment. The camera is one of six instruments on
the orbiter.

During the first three months after the orbiter's primary science phase
began in November, researchers saw an increase in noise and pixel
dropouts in data from seven of the camera's 14 detectors. The effects on
image quality were small in all but two detectors, but the trend raised
concerns noted in a Feb. 7 news release
<http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-013> .

Tests have yielded an explanation for the earlier pattern, and the
camera's performance record shows the noise stopped getting worse after
about three to four months of the science phase.

Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona, Tucson, principal
investigator for the camera, said, "I'm happy to report that there has
been no detectable degradation over the past five months."

A team at Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo., designer
and builder of the instrument, has used an engineering model of the
camera's focal-plane system to successfully duplicate the problem. This
has helped in understanding causes and in testing a procedure for
warming the focal-plane electronics prior to each image. One cause is
that an electrical interface lacked extra capability beyond minimum
requirements. Another cause is an unexpected change in performance of
another electronic component over the course of the first thousand or so
large images. With pre-warming, the camera acquires good data from all
detectors, though minor noise remains an issue in data from one of two
channels of one detector collecting infrared imagery.

McEwen said, "Given the stability we've seen and understanding the
nature of the problem, we now expect HiRISE to return high-quality data
for years to come."

Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment are online at
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu .

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission is managed by NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., for NASA's Science Mission
Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, Colo.,
is the prime contractor and built the spacecraft.

Additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is online
at http://www.nasa.gov/mro .

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Media contact: Guy Webster/JPL
818-354-6278
Received on Fri 24 Aug 2007 07:34:30 PM PDT