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New Web Site Features "Live" Images From Mars
A new web site at Arizona State University provides the public and scientists "live" views of Mars. A scrolling panel that runs continually shows visual and infrared images of Mars as they are received from the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) instrument on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter spacecraft. "These images appear on the site at the same time the THEMIS science team sees them," says Phil Christensen, Regents Professor of Geological Sciences at ASU and the principal investigator for the THEMIS instrument. "No other orbiter mission is providing anything like this global view of Mars." THEMIS is a specialized camera on the Mars Odyssey orbiter spacecraft, which was launched in 2001. The device uses five visual and 10 infrared filters to study the mineralogy of Mars, as well as the thermal and physical properties of the Martian surface. At visual wavelengths, THEMIS has a resolution of 59 feet (18 meters) per pixel, while at infrared wavelengths its resolution is 328 feet (100 meters) per pixel.
The new THEMIS web site includes:
Visitors to the new THEMIS Web site also will find background information on the instrument and the Mars Odyssey mission. "THEMIS is used by Mars scientists the world over," Christensen says. "That's why we added a discoveries page on the site to spotlight the more recent scientific findings made using THEMIS imagery." These discoveries range from scouting a landing site for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, to identifying Earth-like igneous rocks on Mars, to spotting volcanic minerals that suggest Mars has been cold and dry for most of its 4.5-billion-year history.
Arizona State University SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express The Martian Heat Signature Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jul 08, 2005 Mars is a rocky planet with an ancient volcanic past, but new findings show the planet is more complex and active than previously believed - at least in certain places.
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