Comments on: First image from Mars orbiter!

By: Swubird

Swubird — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:35:53 +0000

Very nice blog. I also liked your writeup for the images. It’s good to remind us of exactly what we are looking at in terms of resolution. The view of the baseball diamond really brings it home – good example.

Like you, I can’t wait for those high resolution images to phone home.

To a first time visitor, Bad Astronomy Blog appears to be a quality site. I’ll be back.

Have a nice day

By: DJ

DJ — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 00:35:12 +0000

Well, I’m no expert either but it looks to me like that gully has been touched by the FSM’s noodley appendage.

By: Mila

Mila — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 15:35:23 +0000

Hmm, just to remind you, there IS a High-Resolution camera on Mars Express in orbit which since 2 years takes pictures with a resolution of up to 2.5 meters per pixel AND since it has three channels which look at the same time at a slightly different angle at Mars it is even able to make 3D-pictures. And these are really, really cool images, where on some you even see such details as sand falling into a craters and auch things… And they are currently mapping the whole surface as well:
See for example here:
http://www.dlr.de/mars-express/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-0/httpstatus-404/
and here:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/
I certainly do not want to diminish the accomplishments of the Mars Rovers, Mars Odyssey and of course not of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It just seems to me that people always forget Mars Express…Yeah, I know ESA has not such a tremendously successful PR-section than NASA does (I really envy you for that)- but still.

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 12:49:26 +0000

Carolarnt:

While there is a tremendous difference between the resolution between the MRO camera and the Mars Odyssey camera, each is designed to look for different things.

Mars Odyssey was looking more in the infra-red band of light. This was important for determining the make-up of a scene. For example, by comparing how areas of a plain cool after sunset, it can be determined whether that plain is mostly dust or rock.

MRO’s camera major claim to fame is its ability to image in incredible detail. This will be important for scouting landing sites for rocks that could cause a bad day for a lander.

There’s another potential ‘conflict’ that you may have heard about, in that both Europe’s Mars Express and MRO have ground-penetrating radar to look for water. Each orbiter’s radar works at a different frequency, however, and the two working together will provide a much richer picture of the Mars subsurface.

It’s by combining the information from the suite of instruments orbiting Mars that we’ll get the best data.

By: Kaptain K

Kaptain K — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 11:49:43 +0000

I agree with TheBlackCat. Hoagland already sees industrial detritus in the (sub-centimeter resolution) rover images. No matter what happens, Hoagland will find what he wants to see.

By: bassmanpete

bassmanpete — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 10:00:33 +0000

baric, what you see as Noah’s Ark is a pirate’s cocked hat. Look below and you can see the nose, eye & bearded chin – Captain Blood got to Mars centuries ago and left his image for us to find. I could build a web site around this

By: TheBlackCat

TheBlackCat — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 04:38:14 +0000

P. Edward Murray Says:
“Actually these hi-definition photos should pretty much give Mr. Hoagland some pause, at least for a little while.”

Are you kidding? All these do is give him more pictures for him to see his imaginary aliens in. The worst possible thing we can do is give him more data, if he looks at enough pictures he is sure it find something that interests him. Even if he does give up on Cydonia he will find what he is looking for elsewhere. That is how this sort of person works. Naturally the scientific benefits far outweight the detriments From giving hoagland more ammo (the difference is so great to be beyond measure), but it will still do nothing but help him.

Timothy Says:
“Yes. But not simply to image the rovers. It is scientifically important to image the rover sites with HiRISE because they are areas that are now well documented at incredibly high resolution (via the rovers). ”

That’s a good point. If we can compare what we see from the air to what we see from the ground, we may be able to better interpret satellite images from areas that weren’t visited.