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A pair of zoom cameras will help scientists and mobile drivers with high-resolution color images.
When launched this summer, NASA’s Perseverance rover
will have the most advanced pair of “eyes” ever posted to the Net
The planet’s surface: Your Mastcam-Z instrument includes a next-generation zoom capability that
It helps the mission to make 3D images more easily. Mobile operators, who carefully
plan each driving route and each movement of the robotic arm of a rover, see
these stereo images through 3D glasses to see the contours of the landscape.
Located at the “head” of Perseverance, Mastcam-Z (the
Z stands for “zoom”) is a more advanced version of Mastcam, than NASA
Curiosity Mars rover has been entrusted to produce magnificent panoramas of the Martian landscape. But
does more than that, and Mastcam-Z will do the same: along with producing images that
Allowing the public to follow the rover’s daily discoveries, cameras provide
key data to help engineers navigate and scientists choose interesting rocks to
study. The difference is that the Curiosity Mastcam cannot zoom.
Zoom with a view
Curiosity’s Mastcam was initially designed to be expandable,
but that was difficult to achieve at the time on such a small instrument
(Curiosity launched in 2011).
“The original plan was for Curiosity to have a zoom
camera that could go out to an extreme wide angle like a spaghetti western
sight, “said Jim Bell of Arizona State University, director of Mastcam-Z
Mastcam researcher and deputy research director. “Would have
It was an incredible panoramic perspective, but it was very difficult to build in the
hour.”
Instead, Curiosity’s Mastcam has a telephoto lens and
A wide angle lens. Images are taken through each and can be combined to
Produce stereo views. But the wide angle lens absorbs much more of the
landscape in a single shot than telescopic; requires up to nine
Matching telescopic images.
Perseverance Mastcam-Z makes things simple, bringing both lenses closer together
until they match and can be used to make a single 3D image. This is easier
and requires sending fewer images, and less data,
to the earth.
Eyes of a scientist
In addition to providing a stereo view to assist drivers
choose the safest path, Mastcam-Z will help geologists to choose scientists
objectives and better understand the landscape in which the rock samples are located: Did they fall from a neighboring cliff? Are from
an ancient stream?
Mastcam-Z will provide “superhuman vision”, visualization
the landscape in a variety of colors (wavelengths of light), including some that
It cannot be detected by the human eye. Scanning the terrain in ultraviolet or infrared,
for example, it could reveal metallic meteorites that dot the surface or color
variations indicating compositions that warrant more detailed analysis by others
instruments
Mastcam-Z is not a spectrometer, that is, a
Instrument that uses light to perform detailed scientific analysis. “But can
provide mineral clues that other instruments will follow, “Bell said.
The camera system can also observe the sun and the sky, observing
for transits of
Moons of Mars through the Sun and measuring how dust storms and clouds
Formations change with the seasons.
Mars for the people
Bell’s first experience with images of Mars was when he was 11 years old,
watching images on the late night television news sent by the Viking landers in 1976. I was
later involved on Mars
Pathfinder mission and went on to lead Pancam systems
on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, which inspired a new generation of Mars
fans including future scientists and engineers.
The views that perseverance will send from its
landing site, Jezero
Crater will be just as important to those working on the mission and
all who follow us.
That is why there are plans to share Mastcam-Z images and
mosaics made by the amateur community on a public website. “It is important
that the public has a sense of ownership, “Bell said.” The Mastcam-Z
the images belong to all of us. “
Perseverance is a robot
scientist who weighs about 2,260 pounds (1,025 kilograms). The Wanderer
The astrobiology mission will look for signs of past microbial life. Going to
characterize the planet’s climate and geology, collect samples for the future
return to Earth and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet. No
It matters what day Perseverance launches during its July-August 17. 5 launch period,
It will land in the Jezero crater of Mars on February 18, 2021.
Mars Perseverance 2020
mission rover is part of a larger program that includes missions to the moon like
a way to prepare for human exploration of the red planet. Accused of
Returning astronauts to the Moon by 2024, NASA will establish a sustained human
Presence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration plans.
For more information on the Perseverance rover:
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/
https://www.nasa.gov/perseverance
News Media Contact
Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
818-393-2433
[email protected]
Alana Johnson
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1501
[email protected]
2020-089
