Venus - 3D Perspective View of Eistla Regio

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

A portion of western Eistla Regio is displayed in this three-dimensional perspective view of the surface of Venus. The viewpoint is located 1,310 kilometers (812 miles) southwest of Gula Mons at an elevation of 0.78 kilometer (0.48 mile). The view is to the northeast with Gula Mons appearing on the horizon. Gula Mons, a 3 kilometer (1.86 mile) high volcano, is located at approximately 22 degrees north latitude, 359 degrees east longitude. The impact crater Cunitz, named for the astronomer and mathematician Maria Cunitz, is visible in the center of the image. The crater is 48.5 kilometers (30 miles) in diameter and is 215 kilometers (133 miles) from the viewer's position. Magellan synthetic aperture radar data is combined with radar altimetry to develop a three-dimensional map of the surface. Rays cast in a computer intersect the surface to create a three-dimensional perspective view. Simulated color and a digital elevation map developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, are used to enhance small-scale structure. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 spacecraft. The image was produced at the JPL Multimission Image Processing Laboratory and is a single frame from a video released at the March 5, 1991, JPL news conference.

Software Transition Project Retrospectives and the Application of SEL Effort Estimation Model and Boehm's COCOMO to Complex Software Transition Projects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McNeill, Justin

1995-01-01

The Multimission Image Processing Subsystem (MIPS) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has managed transitions of application software sets from one operating system and hardware platform to multiple operating systems and hardware platforms. As a part of these transitions, cost estimates were generated from the personal experience of in-house developers and managers to calculate the total effort required for such projects. Productivity measures have been collected for two such transitions, one very large and the other relatively small in terms of source lines of code. These estimates used a cost estimation model similar to the Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) Effort Estimation Model. Experience in transitioning software within JPL MIPS have uncovered a high incidence of interface complexity. Interfaces, both internal and external to individual software applications, have contributed to software transition project complexity, and thus to scheduling difficulties and larger than anticipated design work on software to be ported.

Development of the Cassini Ground Data System in a multimission environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Madrid, G.; Wanczuk, G.

1993-01-01

As baselined, the Cassini Ground Data System (GDS) will be composed of Project specific and multimission elements. The former will be developed by the Cassini Project and the latter by two JPL institutional organizations, the Telecommunications and Data Acquisition Office (TDA) and the Multimission Operations Systems Office (MOSO). The GDS will be developed in three principal phases: Spacecraft Test, Launch-cruise, and Science Tour, with a significant part of the development deferred until the post-launch period. New capabilities are being introduced that are key to the achievement of more cost effective operations. Successful development of the system will require careful planning and will involve participation of diverse disciplines. This paper introduces the Cassini Project from the Ground Data System perspective and discusses development approaches expected to produce systems which meet functional and performance requirements and which will be delivered on schedule and within budget.

Securing Ground Data System Applications for Space Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pajevski, Michael J.; Tso, Kam S.; Johnson, Bryan

2014-01-01

The increasing prevalence and sophistication of cyber attacks has prompted the Multimission Ground Systems and Services (MGSS) Program Office at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to initiate the Common Access Manager (CAM) effort to protect software applications used in Ground Data Systems (GDSs) at JPL and other NASA Centers. The CAM software provides centralized services and software components used by GDS subsystems to meet access control requirements and ensure data integrity, confidentiality, and availability. In this paper we describe the CAM software; examples of its integration with spacecraft commanding software applications and an information management service; and measurements of its performance and reliability.

Software Reuse in the Planetary Context: The JPL/MIPL Mars Program Suite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deen, Robert

2012-01-01

Reuse greatly reduces development costs. Savings can be invested in new/improved capabilities Or returned to sponsor Worth the extra time to "do it right" Operator training greatly reduced. MIPL MER personnel can step into MSL easily because the programs are familiar. Application programs much easier to write. Can assume core capabilities exist already. Multimission Instrument (Image) Processing Lab at MIPL Responsible for the ground-based instrument data processing for (among other things) all recent in-situ Mars missions: Mars Pathfinder Mars Polar Lander (MPL) Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) Phoenix Mars Science Lab (MSL) Responsibilities for in-situ missions Reconstruction of instrument data from telemetry Systematic creation of Reduced Data Records (RDRs) for images Creation of special products for operations, science, and public outreach In the critical path for operations MIPL products required for planning the next Sol s activities

Spitzer Telemetry Processing System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stanboli, Alice; Martinez, Elmain M.; McAuley, James M.

2013-01-01

The Spitzer Telemetry Processing System (SirtfTlmProc) was designed to address objectives of JPL's Multi-mission Image Processing Lab (MIPL) in processing spacecraft telemetry and distributing the resulting data to the science community. To minimize costs and maximize operability, the software design focused on automated error recovery, performance, and information management. The system processes telemetry from the Spitzer spacecraft and delivers Level 0 products to the Spitzer Science Center. SirtfTlmProc is a unique system with automated error notification and recovery, with a real-time continuous service that can go quiescent after periods of inactivity. The software can process 2 GB of telemetry and deliver Level 0 science products to the end user in four hours. It provides analysis tools so the operator can manage the system and troubleshoot problems. It automates telemetry processing in order to reduce staffing costs.

Re-Engineering JPL's Mission Planning Ground System Architecture for Cost Efficient Operations in the 21st Century

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fordyce, Jess

1996-01-01

Work carried out to re-engineer the mission analysis segment of JPL's mission planning ground system architecture is reported on. The aim is to transform the existing software tools, originally developed for specific missions on different support environments, into an integrated, general purpose, multi-mission tool set. The issues considered are: the development of a partnership between software developers and users; the definition of key mission analysis functions; the development of a consensus based architecture; the move towards evolutionary change instead of revolutionary replacement; software reusability, and the minimization of future maintenance costs. The current status and aims of new developments are discussed and specific examples of cost savings and improved productivity are presented.

Multi-Mission Laser Altimeter Data Processing and Co-Registration of Image and Laser Data at DLR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stark, A.; Matz, K.-D.; Roatsch, T.

2018-04-01

We designed a system for the processing and storage of large laser altimeter data sets for various past and operating laser altimeter instruments. Furthermore, we developed a technique to accurately co-register multi-mission laser and image data.

Multi-Mission Strategic Technology Prioritization Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weisbin, C. R.; Rodriquez, G.; Elfes, A.; Derleth, J.; Smith, J. H.; Manvi, R.; Kennedy, B.; Shelton, K.

2004-01-01

This viewgraph presentation provides an overview of a pilot study intended to demonstrate in an auditable fashion how advanced space technology development can best impact future NASA missions. The study was a joint project by staff members of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The other goals of the study were to show an approach to deal effectively with inter-program analysis trades, and to explore the limits of these approaches and tools in terms of what can be realistically achieved.

Project Report: Automatic Sequence Processor Software Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benjamin, Brandon

2011-01-01

The Mission Planning and Sequencing (MPS) element of Multi-Mission Ground System and Services (MGSS) provides space missions with multi-purpose software to plan spacecraft activities, sequence spacecraft commands, and then integrate these products and execute them on spacecraft. Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is currently is flying many missions. The processes for building, integrating, and testing the multi-mission uplink software need to be improved to meet the needs of the missions and the operations teams that command the spacecraft. The Multi-Mission Sequencing Team is responsible for collecting and processing the observations, experiments and engineering activities that are to be performed on a selected spacecraft. The collection of these activities is called a sequence and ultimately a sequence becomes a sequence of spacecraft commands. The operations teams check the sequence to make sure that no constraints are violated. The workflow process involves sending a program start command, which activates the Automatic Sequence Processor (ASP). The ASP is currently a file-based system that is comprised of scripts written in perl, c-shell and awk. Once this start process is complete, the system checks for errors and aborts if there are any; otherwise the system converts the commands to binary, and then sends the resultant information to be radiated to the spacecraft.

Venus - 3D Perspective View of Maat Mons

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

Maat Mons is displayed in this three-dimensional perspective view of the surface of Venus. The viewpoint is located 560 kilometers (347 miles) north of Maat Mons at an elevation of 1.7 kilometers (1 mile) above the terrain. Lava flows extend for hundreds of kilometers across the fractured plains shown in the foreground, to the base of Maat Mons. The view is to the south with Maat Mons appearing at the center of the image on the horizon. Maat Mons, an 8-kilometer (5 mile) high volcano, is located at approximately 0.9 degrees north latitude, 194.5 degrees east longitude. Maat Mons is named for an Egyptian goddess of truth and justice. Magellan synthetic aperture radar data is combined with radar altimetry to develop a three-dimensional map of the surface. The vertical scale in this perspective has been exaggerated 22.5 times. Rays cast in a computer intersect the surface to create a three-dimensional perspective view. Simulated color and a digital elevation map developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, are used to enhance small-scale structure. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 spacecraft. The image was produced at the JPL Multimission Image Processing Laboratory.

Cost savings through multimission code reuse for Mars image products

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deen, R. G.

2003-01-01

An overview of the library's design will be presented, along with mission adaptation experiences and lessons learned, and the kinds of additional functionality that have been added while still retaining its multimission character. The application programs using the library will also be briefly described.

Sequence System Building Blocks: Using a Component Architecture for Sequencing Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Streiffert, Barbara A.; O'Reilly, Taifun

2005-01-01

Over the last few years software engineering has made significant strides in making more flexible architectures and designs possible. However, at the same time, spacecraft have become more complex and flight software has become more sophisticated. Typically spacecraft are often one-of-a-kind entities that have different hardware designs, different capabilities, different instruments, etc. Ground software has become more complex and operations teams have had to learn a myriad of tools that all have different user interfaces and represent data in different ways. At Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) these themes have collided to require an new approach to producing ground system software. Two different groups have been looking at tackling this particular problem. One group is working for the JPL Mars Technology Program in the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Focused Technology area. The other group is the JPL Multi-Mission Planning and Sequencing Group . The major concept driving these two approaches on a similar path is to provide software that can be a more cohesive flexible system that provides a act of planning and sequencing system of services. This paper describes the efforts that have been made to date to create a unified approach from these disparate groups.

Sequencing System Building Blocks: Using a Component Architecture for Sequencing Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Streiffert, Barbara A.; O'Reilly, Taifun

2006-01-01

Over the last few years software engineering has made significant strides in making more flexible architectures and designs possible. However, at the same time, spacecraft have become more complex and flight software has become more sophisticated. Typically spacecraft are often one-of-a-kind entities that have different hardware designs, different capabilities, different instruments, etc. Ground software has become more complex and operations teams have had to learn a myriad of tools that all have different user interfaces and represent data in different ways. At Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) these themes have collided to require a new approach to producing ground system software. Two different groups have been looking at tackling this particular problem. One group is working for the JPL Mars Technology Program in the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Focused Technology area. The other group is the JPL Multi-Mission Planning and Sequencing Group. The major concept driving these two approaches on a similar path is to provide software that can be a more cohesive flexible system that provides a set of planning and sequencing system of services. This paper describes the efforts that have been made to date to create a unified approach from these disparate groups.

Lessons Learned from Daily Uplink Operations during the Deep Impact Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stehly, Joseph S.

2006-01-01

The daily preparation of uplink products (commands and files) for Deep Impact was as problematic as the final encounter images were spectacular. The operations team was faced with many challenges during the six-month mission to comet Tempel One of the biggest difficulties was that the Deep Impact Flyby and Impactor vehicles necessitated a high volume of uplink products while also utilizing a new uplink file transfer capability. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Multi-Mission Ground Systems and Services (MGSS) Mission Planning and Sequence Team (MPST) had the responsibility of preparing the uplink products for use on the two spacecraft. These responsibilities included processing nearly 15,000 flight products, modeling the states of the spacecraft during all activities for subsystem review, and ensuring that the proper commands and files were uplinked to the spacecraft. To guarantee this transpired and the health and safety of the two spacecraft were not jeopardized several new ground scripts and procedures were developed while the Deep Impact Flyby and Impactor spacecraft were en route to their encounter with Tempel-1. These scripts underwent several adaptations throughout the entire mission up until three days before the separation of the Flyby and Impactor vehicles. The problems presented by Deep Impact's daily operations and the development of scripts and procedures to ease those challenges resulted in several valuable lessons learned. These lessons are now being integrated into the design of current and future MGSS missions at JPL.

SEQ-POINTER: Next generation, planetary spacecraft remote sensing science observation design tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boyer, Jeffrey S.

1994-01-01

Since Mariner, NASA-JPL planetary missions have been supported by ground software to plan and design remote sensing science observations. The software used by the science and sequence designers to plan and design observations has evolved with mission and technological advances. The original program, PEGASIS (Mariners 4, 6, and 7), was re-engineered as POGASIS (Mariner 9, Viking, and Mariner 10), and again later as POINTER (Voyager and Galileo). Each of these programs were developed under technological, political, and fiscal constraints which limited their adaptability to other missions and spacecraft designs. Implementation of a multi-mission tool, SEQ POINTER, under the auspices of the JPL Multimission Operations Systems Office (MOSO) is in progress. This version has been designed to address the limitations experienced on previous versions as they were being adapted to a new mission and spacecraft. The tool has been modularly designed with subroutine interface structures to support interchangeable celestial body and spacecraft definition models. The computational and graphics modules have also been designed to interface with data collected from previous spacecraft, or on-going observations, which describe the surface of each target body. These enhancements make SEQ POINTER a candidate for low-cost mission usage, when a remote sensing science observation design capability is required. The current and planned capabilities of the tool will be discussed. The presentation will also include a 5-10 minute video presentation demonstrating the capabilities of a proto-Cassini Project version that was adapted to test the tool. The work described in this abstract was performed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

SEQ-POINTER: Next generation, planetary spacecraft remote sensing science observation design tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boyer, Jeffrey S.

1994-11-01

Since Mariner, NASA-JPL planetary missions have been supported by ground software to plan and design remote sensing science observations. The software used by the science and sequence designers to plan and design observations has evolved with mission and technological advances. The original program, PEGASIS (Mariners 4, 6, and 7), was re-engineered as POGASIS (Mariner 9, Viking, and Mariner 10), and again later as POINTER (Voyager and Galileo). Each of these programs were developed under technological, political, and fiscal constraints which limited their adaptability to other missions and spacecraft designs. Implementation of a multi-mission tool, SEQ POINTER, under the auspices of the JPL Multimission Operations Systems Office (MOSO) is in progress. This version has been designed to address the limitations experienced on previous versions as they were being adapted to a new mission and spacecraft. The tool has been modularly designed with subroutine interface structures to support interchangeable celestial body and spacecraft definition models. The computational and graphics modules have also been designed to interface with data collected from previous spacecraft, or on-going observations, which describe the surface of each target body. These enhancements make SEQ POINTER a candidate for low-cost mission usage, when a remote sensing science observation design capability is required. The current and planned capabilities of the tool will be discussed. The presentation will also include a 5-10 minute video presentation demonstrating the capabilities of a proto-Cassini Project version that was adapted to test the tool. The work described in this abstract was performed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Venus - Three-Dimensional Perspective View of Alpha Regio

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

A portion of Alpha Regio is displayed in this three-dimensional perspective view of the surface of Venus. Alpha Regio, a topographic upland approximately 1300 kilometers across, is centered on 25 degrees south latitude, 4 degrees east longitude. In 1963, Alpha Regio was the first feature on Venus to be identified from Earth-based radar. The radar-bright area of Alpha Regio is characterized by multiple sets of intersecting trends of structural features such as ridges, troughs, and flat-floored fault valleys that, together, form a polygonal outline. Directly south of the complex ridged terrain is a large ovoid-shaped feature named Eve. The radar-bright spot located centrally within Eve marks the location of the prime meridian of Venus. Magellan synthetic aperture radar data is combined with radar altimetry to develop a three-dimensional map of the surface. Ray tracing is used to generate a perspective view from this map. The vertical scale is exaggerated approximately 23 times. Simulated color and a digital elevation map developed by the U. S. Geological Survey are used to enhance small scale structure. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 spacecraft. The image was produced at the JPL Multimission Image Processing Laboratory by Eric De Jong, Jeff Hall, and Myche McAuley, and is a single frame from the movie released at the March 5, 1991, press conference.

Space Images for NASA/JPL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boggs, Karen; Gutheinz, Sandy C.; Watanabe, Susan M.; Oks, Boris; Arca, Jeremy M.; Stanboli, Alice; Peez, Martin; Whatmore, Rebecca; Kang, Minliang; Espinoza, Luis A.

2010-01-01

Space Images for NASA/JPL is an Apple iPhone application that allows the general public to access featured images from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). A back-end infrastructure stores, tracks, and retrieves space images from the JPL Photojournal Web server, and catalogs the information into a streamlined rating infrastructure.

Increased User Satisfaction Through an Improved Message System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weissert, C. L.

1997-01-01

With all of the enhancements in software methodology and testing, there is no guarantee that software can be delivered such that no user errors occur, How to handle these errors when they occur has become a major research topic within human-computer interaction (HCI). Users of the Multimission Spacecraft Analysis Subsystem(MSAS) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a system of X and motif graphical user interfaces for analyzing spacecraft data, complained about the lack of information about the error cause and have suggested that recovery actions be included in the system error messages...The system was evaluated through usability surveys and was shown to be successful.

Shared mission operations concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spradlin, Gary L.; Rudd, Richard P.; Linick, Susan H.

1994-01-01

Historically, new JPL flight projects have developed a Mission Operations System (MOS) as unique as their spacecraft, and have utilized a mission-dedicated staff to monitor and control the spacecraft through the MOS. NASA budgetary pressures to reduce mission operations costs have led to the development and reliance on multimission ground system capabilities. The use of these multimission capabilities has not eliminated an ongoing requirement for a nucleus of personnel familiar with a given spacecraft and its mission to perform mission-dedicated operations. The high cost of skilled personnel required to support projects with diverse mission objectives has the potential for significant reduction through shared mission operations among mission-compatible projects. Shared mission operations are feasible if: (1) the missions do not conflict with one another in terms of peak activity periods, (2) a unique MOS is not required, and (3) there is sufficient similarity in the mission profiles so that greatly different skills would not be required to support each mission. This paper will further develop this shared mission operations concept. We will illustrate how a Discovery-class mission would enter a 'partner' relationship with the Voyager Project, and can minimize MOS development and operations costs by early and careful consideration of mission operations requirements.

NASA Tech Briefs, September 2013

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2013-01-01

Topics include: ISS Ammonia Leak Detection Through X-Ray Fluorescence; A System for Measuring the Sway of the Vehicle Assembly Building; Fast, High-Precision Readout Circuit for Detector Arrays; Victim Simulator for Victim Detection Radar; Hydrometeor Size Distribution Measurements by Imaging the Attenuation of a Laser Spot; Quasi-Linear Circuit; High-Speed, High-Resolution Time-to-Digital Conversion; Li-Ion Battery and Supercapacitor Hybrid Design for Long Extravehicular Activities; Ultrasonic Low-Friction Containment Plate for Thermal and Ultrasonic Stir Weld Processes; High-Powered, Ultrasonically Assisted Thermal Stir Welding; Next-Generation MKIII Lightweight HUT/Hatch Assembly; Centrifugal Sieve for Gravity-Level-Independent Size; Segregation of Granular Materials; Ion Exchange Technology Development in Support of the Urine Processor Assembly; Nickel-Graphite Composite Compliant Interface and/or Hot Shoe Material; UltraSail CubeSat Solar Sail Flight Experiment; Mechanism for Deploying a Long, Thin-Film Antenna From a Rover; Counterflow Regolith Heat Exchanger; Acquisition and Retaining Granular Samples via a Rotating Coring Bit; Very-Low-Cost, Rugged Vacuum System; Medicine Delivery Device With Integrated Sterilization and Detection; FRET-Aptamer Assays for Bone Marker Assessment, C-Telopeptide, Creatinine, and Vitamin D; Multimode Directional Coupler for Utilization of Harmonic Frequencies from TWTAs; Dual-Polarization, Multi-Frequency Antenna Array for use with Hurricane Imaging Radiometer; Complementary Barrier Infrared Detector (CBIRD) Contact Methods; Autonomous Control of Space Nuclear Reactors; High-Power, High-Speed Electro-Optic Pockels Cell Modulator; Covariance Analysis Tool (G-CAT) for Computing Ascent, Descent, and Landing Errors; Enigma Version 12; Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris (MMOD) Shield Ballistic Limit Analysis Program; Spitzer Telemetry Processing System; Planetary Protection Bioburden Analysis Program; Wing Leading Edge RCC Rapid Response Damage Prediction Tool (IMPACT2); ISSM: Ice Sheet System Model; Automated Loads Analysis System (ATLAS); Integrated Main Propulsion System Performance Reconstruction Process/Models. Phoenix Telemetry Processor; Contact Graph Routing Enhancements Developed in ION for DTN; GFEChutes Lo-Fi; Advanced Strategic and Tactical Relay Request Management for the Mars Relay Operations Service; Software for Generating Troposphere Corrections for InSAR Using GPS and Weather Model Data; Ionospheric Specifications for SAR Interferometry (ISSI); Implementation of a Wavefront-Sensing Algorithm; Sally Ride EarthKAM - Automated Image Geo-Referencing Using Google Earth Web Plug-In; Trade Space Specification Tool (TSST) for Rapid Mission Architecture (Version 1.2); Acoustic Emission Analysis Applet (AEAA) Software; Memory-Efficient Onboard Rock Segmentation; Advanced Multimission Operations System (ATMO); Robot Sequencing and Visualization Program (RSVP); Automating Hyperspectral Data for Rapid Response in Volcanic Emergencies; Raster-Based Approach to Solar Pressure Modeling; Space Images for NASA JPL Android Version; Kinect Engineering with Learning (KEWL); Spacecraft 3D Augmented Reality Mobile App; MPST Software: grl_pef_check; Real-Time Multimission Event Notification System for Mars Relay; SIM_EXPLORE: Software for Directed Exploration of Complex Systems; Mobile Timekeeping Application Built on Reverse-Engineered JPL Infrastructure; Advanced Query and Data Mining Capabilities for MaROS; Jettison Engineering Trajectory Tool; MPST Software: grl_suppdoc; PredGuid+A: Orion Entry Guidance Modified for Aerocapture; Planning Coverage Campaigns for Mission Design and Analysis: CLASP for DESDynl; and Space Place Prime.

The Multimission Image Processing Laboratory's virtual frame buffer interface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolfe, T.

1984-01-01

Large image processing systems use multiple frame buffers with differing architectures and vendor supplied interfaces. This variety of architectures and interfaces creates software development, maintenance and portability problems for application programs. Several machine-dependent graphics standards such as ANSI Core and GKS are available, but none of them are adequate for image processing. Therefore, the Multimission Image Processing laboratory project has implemented a programmer level virtual frame buffer interface. This interface makes all frame buffers appear as a generic frame buffer with a specified set of characteristics. This document defines the virtual frame uffer interface and provides information such as FORTRAN subroutine definitions, frame buffer characteristics, sample programs, etc. It is intended to be used by application programmers and system programmers who are adding new frame buffers to a system.

Open Source Next Generation Visualization Software for Interplanetary Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trimble, Jay; Rinker, George

2016-01-01

Mission control is evolving quickly, driven by the requirements of new missions, and enabled by modern computing capabilities. Distributed operations, access to data anywhere, data visualization for spacecraft analysis that spans multiple data sources, flexible reconfiguration to support multiple missions, and operator use cases, are driving the need for new capabilities. NASA's Advanced Multi-Mission Operations System (AMMOS), Ames Research Center (ARC) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are collaborating to build a new generation of mission operations software for visualization, to enable mission control anywhere, on the desktop, tablet and phone. The software is built on an open source platform that is open for contributions (http://nasa.github.io/openmct).

COSMO-SkyMed Interoperability, Expandability and Multi-Sensor Capabilities: The Keys for Full Multi-Mission Spectrum Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-08-01

constellation, SAR Bistatic for interferometry, L-band SAR data from Argentinean SAOCOM satellites, and optical imaging data from the French ‘ Pleiades ...a services federation (e.g. COSMO-SkyMed (SAR) and Pleiades (optical) constellation). Its main purpose is the elaboration of Programming Requests...on catalogue interoperability or on a federation of services (i.e. with French Pleiades optical satellites). The multi-mission objectives are

Customizing the JPL Multimission Ground Data System: Lessons learned

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murphy, Susan C.; Louie, John J.; Guerrero, Ana Maria; Hurley, Daniel; Flora-Adams, Dana

1994-01-01

The Multimission Ground Data System (MGDS) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has brought improvements and new technologies to mission operations. It was designed as a generic data system to meet the needs of multiple missions and avoid re-inventing capabilities for each new mission and thus reduce costs. It is based on adaptable tools that can be customized to support different missions and operations scenarios. The MGDS is based on a distributed client/server architecture, with powerful Unix workstations, incorporating standards and open system architectures. The distributed architecture allows remote operations and user science data exchange, while also providing capabilities for centralized ground system monitor and control. The MGDS has proved its capabilities in supporting multiple large-class missions simultaneously, including the Voyager, Galileo, Magellan, Ulysses, and Mars Observer missions. The Operations Engineering Lab (OEL) at JPL has been leading Customer Adaptation Training (CAT) teams for adapting and customizing MGDS for the various operations and engineering teams. These CAT teams have typically consisted of only a few engineers who are familiar with operations and with the MGDS software and architecture. Our experience has provided a unique opportunity to work directly with the spacecraft and instrument operations teams and understand their requirements and how the MGDS can be adapted and customized to minimize their operations costs. As part of this work, we have developed workstation configurations, automation tools, and integrated user interfaces at minimal cost that have significantly improved productivity. We have also proved that these customized data systems are most successful if they are focused on the people and the tasks they perform and if they are based upon user confidence in the development team resulting from daily interactions. This paper will describe lessons learned in adapting JPL's MGDS to fly the Voyager, Galileo, and Mars Observer missions. We will explain how powerful, existing ground data systems can be adapted and packaged in a cost effective way for operations of small and large planetary missions. We will also describe how the MGDS was adapted to support operations within the Galileo Spacecraft Testbed. The Galileo testbed provided a unique opportunity to adapt MGDS to support command and control operations for a small autonomous operations team of a handful of engineers flying the Galileo Spacecraft flight system model.

Venus - 3D Perspective View of Sapas Mons

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

Sapas Mons is displayed in the center of this computer-generated three-dimensional perspective view of the surface of Venus. The viewpoint is located 527 kilometers (327 miles) northwest of Sapas Mons at an elevation of 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) above the terrain. Lava flows extend for hundreds of kilometers across the fractured plains shown in the foreground to the base of Sapas Mons. The view is to the southeast with Sapas Mons appearing at the center with Maat Mons located in the background on the horizon. Sapas Mons, a volcano 400 kilometers (248 miles) across and 1.5 kilometers (0.9 mile) high is located at approximately 8 degrees north latitude, 188 degrees east longitude, on the western edge of Atla Regio. Its peak sits at an elevation of 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) above the planet's mean elevation. Sapas Mons is named for a Phoenician goddess. The vertical scale in this perspective has been exaggerated 10 times. Rays cast in a computer intersect the surface to create a three-dimensional perspective view. Simulated color and a digital elevation map developed by the U.S. Geological Survey are used to enhance small-scale structure. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 spacecraft. The image was produced by the Solar System Visualization project and the Magellan Science team at the JPL Multimission Image Processing Laboratory and is a single frame from a video released at the April 22, 1992 news conference.

Venus - 3D Perspective View of Maat Mons

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

Maat Mons is displayed in this computer generated three-dimensional perspective of the surface of Venus. The viewpoint is located 634 kilometers (393 miles) north of Maat Mons at an elevation of 3 kilometers (2 miles) above the terrain. Lava flows extend for hundreds of kilometers across the fractured plains shown in the foreground, to the base of Maat Mons. The view is to the south with the volcano Maat Mons appearing at the center of the image on the horizon and rising to almost 5 kilometers (3 miles) above the surrounding terrain. Maat Mons is located at approximately 0.9 degrees north latitude, 194.5 degrees east longitude with a peak that ascends to 8 kilometers (5 miles) above the mean surface. Maat Mons is named for an Egyptian Goddess of truth and justice. Magellan synthetic aperture radar data is combined with radar altimetry to develop a three-dimensional map of the surface. The vertical scale in this perspective has been exaggerated 10 times. Rays cast in a computer intersect the surface to crate a three-dimensional perspective view. Simulated color and a digital elevation map developed by the U.S. Geological Survey are used to enhance small-scale structure. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 spacecraft. The image was produced by the Solar System Visualization project and the Magellan Science team at the JPL Multimission Image Processing Laboratory and is a single frame from a video released at the April 22, 1992 news conference.

Science Opportunity Analyzer (SOA): Science Planning Made Simple

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Streiffert, Barbara A.; Polanskey, Carol A.

2004-01-01

.For the first time at JPL, the Cassini mission to Saturn is using distributed science operations for developing their experiments. Remote scientists needed the ability to: a) Identify observation opportunities; b) Create accurate, detailed designs for their observations; c) Verify that their designs meet their objectives; d) Check their observations against project flight rules and constraints; e) Communicate their observations to other scientists. Many existing tools provide one or more of these functions, but Science Opportunity Analyzer (SOA) has been built to unify these tasks into a single application. Accurate: Utilizes JPL Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility (NAIF) SPICE* software tool kit - Provides high fidelity modeling. - Facilitates rapid adaptation to other flight projects. Portable: Available in Unix, Windows and Linux. Adaptable: Designed to be a multi-mission tool so it can be readily adapted to other flight projects. Implemented in Java, Java 3D and other innovative technologies. Conclusion: SOA is easy to use. It only requires 6 simple steps. SOA's ability to show the same accurate information in multiple ways (multiple visualization formats, data plots, listings and file output) is essential to meet the needs of a diverse, distributed science operations environment.

Studying the Sky/Planets Can Drown You in Images: Machine Learning Solutions at JPL/Caltech

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fayyad, U. M.

1995-01-01

JPL is working to develop a domain-independent system capable of small-scale object recognition in large image databases for science analysis. Two applications discussed are the cataloging of three billion sky objects in the Sky Image Cataloging and Analysis Tool (SKICAT) and the detection of possibly one million small volcanoes visible in the Magellan synthetic aperture radar images of Venus (JPL Adaptive Recognition Tool, JARTool).

Simulating Autonomous Telecommunication Networks for Space Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Segui, John S.; Jennings, Esther H.

2008-01-01

Currently, most interplanetary telecommunication systems require human intervention for command and control. However, considering the range from near Earth to deep space missions, combined with the increase in the number of nodes and advancements in processing capabilities, the benefits from communication autonomy will be immense. Likewise, greater mission science autonomy brings the need for unscheduled, unpredictable communication and network routing. While the terrestrial Internet protocols are highly developed their suitability for space exploration has been questioned. JPL has developed the Multi-mission Advanced Communications Hybrid Environment for Test and Evaluation (MACHETE) tool to help characterize network designs and protocols. The results will allow future mission planners to better understand the trade offs of communication protocols. This paper discusses various issues with interplanetary network and simulation results of interplanetary networking protocols.

Java Image I/O for VICAR, PDS, and ISIS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deen, Robert G.; Levoe, Steven R.

2011-01-01

This library, written in Java, supports input and output of images and metadata (labels) in the VICAR, PDS image, and ISIS-2 and ISIS-3 file formats. Three levels of access exist. The first level comprises the low-level, direct access to the file. This allows an application to read and write specific image tiles, lines, or pixels and to manipulate the label data directly. This layer is analogous to the C-language "VICAR Run-Time Library" (RTL), which is the image I/O library for the (C/C++/Fortran) VICAR image processing system from JPL MIPL (Multimission Image Processing Lab). This low-level library can also be used to read and write labeled, uncompressed images stored in formats similar to VICAR, such as ISIS-2 and -3, and a subset of PDS (image format). The second level of access involves two codecs based on Java Advanced Imaging (JAI) to provide access to VICAR and PDS images in a file-format-independent manner. JAI is supplied by Sun Microsystems as an extension to desktop Java, and has a number of codecs for formats such as GIF, TIFF, JPEG, etc. Although Sun has deprecated the codec mechanism (replaced by IIO), it is still used in many places. The VICAR and PDS codecs allow any program written using the JAI codec spec to use VICAR or PDS images automatically, with no specific knowledge of the VICAR or PDS formats. Support for metadata (labels) is included, but is format-dependent. The PDS codec, when processing PDS images with an embedded VIAR label ("dual-labeled images," such as used for MER), presents the VICAR label in a new way that is compatible with the VICAR codec. The third level of access involves VICAR, PDS, and ISIS Image I/O plugins. The Java core includes an "Image I/O" (IIO) package that is similar in concept to the JAI codec, but is newer and more capable. Applications written to the IIO specification can use any image format for which a plug-in exists, with no specific knowledge of the format itself.

JPL-20170926-TECHf-0001-Robot Descends into Alaska Moulin

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-09-26

JPL engineer Andy Klesh lowers a robotic submersible into a moulin. Klesh and JPL's John Leichty used robots and probes to explore the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska this past July. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

SEQ-REVIEW: A tool for reviewing and checking spacecraft sequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maldague, Pierre F.; El-Boushi, Mekki; Starbird, Thomas J.; Zawacki, Steven J.

1994-11-01

A key component of JPL's strategy to make space missions faster, better and cheaper is the Advanced Multi-Mission Operations System (AMMOS), a ground software intensive system currently in use and in further development. AMMOS intends to eliminate the cost of re-engineering a ground system for each new JPL mission. This paper discusses SEQ-REVIEW, a component of AMMOS that was designed to facilitate and automate the task of reviewing and checking spacecraft sequences. SEQ-REVIEW is a smart browser for inspecting files created by other sequence generation tools in the AMMOS system. It can parse sequence-related files according to a computer-readable version of a 'Software Interface Specification' (SIS), which is a standard document for defining file formats. It lets users display one or several linked files and check simple constraints using a Basic-like 'Little Language'. SEQ-REVIEW represents the first application of the Quality Function Development (QFD) method to sequence software development at JPL. The paper will show how the requirements for SEQ-REVIEW were defined and converted into a design based on object-oriented principles. The process starts with interviews of potential users, a small but diverse group that spans multiple disciplines and 'cultures'. It continues with the development of QFD matrices that related product functions and characteristics to user-demanded qualities. These matrices are then turned into a formal Software Requirements Document (SRD). The process concludes with the design phase, in which the CRC (Class, Responsibility, Collaboration) approach was used to convert requirements into a blueprint for the final product.

SEQ-REVIEW: A tool for reviewing and checking spacecraft sequences

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maldague, Pierre F.; El-Boushi, Mekki; Starbird, Thomas J.; Zawacki, Steven J.

1994-01-01

A key component of JPL's strategy to make space missions faster, better and cheaper is the Advanced Multi-Mission Operations System (AMMOS), a ground software intensive system currently in use and in further development. AMMOS intends to eliminate the cost of re-engineering a ground system for each new JPL mission. This paper discusses SEQ-REVIEW, a component of AMMOS that was designed to facilitate and automate the task of reviewing and checking spacecraft sequences. SEQ-REVIEW is a smart browser for inspecting files created by other sequence generation tools in the AMMOS system. It can parse sequence-related files according to a computer-readable version of a 'Software Interface Specification' (SIS), which is a standard document for defining file formats. It lets users display one or several linked files and check simple constraints using a Basic-like 'Little Language'. SEQ-REVIEW represents the first application of the Quality Function Development (QFD) method to sequence software development at JPL. The paper will show how the requirements for SEQ-REVIEW were defined and converted into a design based on object-oriented principles. The process starts with interviews of potential users, a small but diverse group that spans multiple disciplines and 'cultures'. It continues with the development of QFD matrices that related product functions and characteristics to user-demanded qualities. These matrices are then turned into a formal Software Requirements Document (SRD). The process concludes with the design phase, in which the CRC (Class, Responsibility, Collaboration) approach was used to convert requirements into a blueprint for the final product.

Massive stereo-based DTM production for Mars on cloud computers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tao, Y.; Muller, J.-P.; Sidiropoulos, P.; Xiong, Si-Ting; Putri, A. R. D.; Walter, S. H. G.; Veitch-Michaelis, J.; Yershov, V.

2018-05-01

Digital Terrain Model (DTM) creation is essential to improving our understanding of the formation processes of the Martian surface. Although there have been previous demonstrations of open-source or commercial planetary 3D reconstruction software, planetary scientists are still struggling with creating good quality DTMs that meet their science needs, especially when there is a requirement to produce a large number of high quality DTMs using "free" software. In this paper, we describe a new open source system to overcome many of these obstacles by demonstrating results in the context of issues found from experience with several planetary DTM pipelines. We introduce a new fully automated multi-resolution DTM processing chain for NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Context Camera (CTX) and High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) stereo processing, called the Co-registration Ames Stereo Pipeline (ASP) Gotcha Optimised (CASP-GO), based on the open source NASA ASP. CASP-GO employs tie-point based multi-resolution image co-registration, and Gotcha sub-pixel refinement and densification. CASP-GO pipeline is used to produce planet-wide CTX and HiRISE DTMs that guarantee global geo-referencing compliance with respect to High Resolution Stereo Colour imaging (HRSC), and thence to the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA); providing refined stereo matching completeness and accuracy. All software and good quality products introduced in this paper are being made open-source to the planetary science community through collaboration with NASA Ames, United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Advanced Multi-Mission Operations System (AMMOS) Planetary Data System (PDS) Pipeline Service (APPS-PDS4), as well as browseable and visualisable through the iMars web based Geographic Information System (webGIS) system.

SHARP: Automated monitoring of spacecraft health and status

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Atkinson, David J.; James, Mark L.; Martin, R. Gaius

1991-01-01

Briefly discussed here are the spacecraft and ground systems monitoring process at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Some of the difficulties associated with the existing technology used in mission operations are highlighted. A new automated system based on artificial intelligence technology is described which seeks to overcome many of these limitations. The system, called the Spacecraft Health Automated Reasoning Prototype (SHARP), is designed to automate health and status analysis for multi-mission spacecraft and ground data systems operations. The system has proved to be effective for detecting and analyzing potential spacecraft and ground systems problems by performing real-time analysis of spacecraft and ground data systems engineering telemetry. Telecommunications link analysis of the Voyager 2 spacecraft was the initial focus for evaluation of the system in real-time operations during the Voyager spacecraft encounter with Neptune in August 1989.

SHARP - Automated monitoring of spacecraft health and status

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Atkinson, David J.; James, Mark L.; Martin, R. G.

1990-01-01

Briefly discussed here are the spacecraft and ground systems monitoring process at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Some of the difficulties associated with the existing technology used in mission operations are highlighted. A new automated system based on artificial intelligence technology is described which seeks to overcome many of these limitations. The system, called the Spacecraft Health Automated Reasoning Prototype (SHARP), is designed to automate health and status analysis for multi-mission spacecraft and ground data systems operations. The system has proved to be effective for detecting and analyzing potential spacecraft and ground systems problems by performing real-time analysis of spacecraft and ground data systems engineering telemetry. Telecommunications link analysis of the Voyager 2 spacecraft was the initial focus for evaluation of the system in real-time operations during the Voyager spacecraft encounter with Neptune in August 1989.

The WACMOS-ET project – Part 1: Tower-scale evaluation of four remote-sensing-based evapotranspiration algorithms

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Michel, D.; Jimenez, C.; Miralles, D. G.

The WAter Cycle Multi-mission Observation Strategy – EvapoTranspiration (WACMOS-ET) project has compiled a forcing data set covering the period 2005–2007 that aims to maximize the exploitation of European Earth Observations data sets for evapotranspiration (ET) estimation. The data set was used to run four established ET algorithms: the Priestley–Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory model (PT-JPL), the Penman–Monteith algorithm from the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) evaporation product (PM-MOD), the Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) and the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM). In addition, in situ meteorological data from 24 FLUXNET towers were used to force the models, with results from both forcing sets compared tomore » tower-based flux observations. Model performance was assessed on several timescales using both sub-daily and daily forcings. The PT-JPL model and GLEAM provide the best performance for both satellite- and tower-based forcing as well as for the considered temporal resolutions. Simulations using the PM-MOD were mostly underestimated, while the SEBS performance was characterized by a systematic overestimation. In general, all four algorithms produce the best results in wet and moderately wet climate regimes. In dry regimes, the correlation and the absolute agreement with the reference tower ET observations were consistently lower. While ET derived with in situ forcing data agrees best with the tower measurements ( R 2 = 0.67), the agreement of the satellite-based ET estimates is only marginally lower ( R 2 = 0.58). Results also show similar model performance at daily and sub-daily (3-hourly) resolutions. Overall, our validation experiments against in situ measurements indicate that there is no single best-performing algorithm across all biome and forcing types. In conclusion, an extension of the evaluation to a larger selection of 85 towers (model inputs resampled to a common grid to facilitate global estimates) confirmed the original findings.« less

The WACMOS-ET project – Part 1: Tower-scale evaluation of four remote-sensing-based evapotranspiration algorithms

DOE PAGES

Michel, D.; Jimenez, C.; Miralles, D. G.; ...

2016-02-23

The WAter Cycle Multi-mission Observation Strategy – EvapoTranspiration (WACMOS-ET) project has compiled a forcing data set covering the period 2005–2007 that aims to maximize the exploitation of European Earth Observations data sets for evapotranspiration (ET) estimation. The data set was used to run four established ET algorithms: the Priestley–Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory model (PT-JPL), the Penman–Monteith algorithm from the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) evaporation product (PM-MOD), the Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) and the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM). In addition, in situ meteorological data from 24 FLUXNET towers were used to force the models, with results from both forcing sets compared tomore » tower-based flux observations. Model performance was assessed on several timescales using both sub-daily and daily forcings. The PT-JPL model and GLEAM provide the best performance for both satellite- and tower-based forcing as well as for the considered temporal resolutions. Simulations using the PM-MOD were mostly underestimated, while the SEBS performance was characterized by a systematic overestimation. In general, all four algorithms produce the best results in wet and moderately wet climate regimes. In dry regimes, the correlation and the absolute agreement with the reference tower ET observations were consistently lower. While ET derived with in situ forcing data agrees best with the tower measurements ( R 2 = 0.67), the agreement of the satellite-based ET estimates is only marginally lower ( R 2 = 0.58). Results also show similar model performance at daily and sub-daily (3-hourly) resolutions. Overall, our validation experiments against in situ measurements indicate that there is no single best-performing algorithm across all biome and forcing types. In conclusion, an extension of the evaluation to a larger selection of 85 towers (model inputs resampled to a common grid to facilitate global estimates) confirmed the original findings.« less

Reduce costs with multimission sequencing and a multimission operations system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bliss, D. A.; Morales, L. C.

2003-01-01

The paper will then propose extending this multi-mission philosophy to skeleton timeline development, science sequencing, and spacecraft sequencing. Finally, the paper will investigate a multi-mission approach to MOS development.

Full-disk magnetograms obtained with a Na magneto-optical filter at the Mount Wilson Observatory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rhodes, Edward J., Jr.; Cacciani, Alessandro; Garneau, Glenn; Misch, Tony; Progovac, Dusan; Shieber, Tom; Tomczyk, Steve; Ulrich, Roger K.

1988-01-01

The first full-disk magnetograms to be obtained with the Na magneto-optical filter (MOF) which is located at the 60 foot solar tower of the Mount Wilson Observatory are presented. This MOF was employed as a longitudinal magnetograph on June 18, 19, and July 1, 1987. On those three days the MOF was combined with a large format (1024 x 1024 pixel) virtual phase change coupled device camera and a high-speed data acquisition system. The combined system was used to record both line-of-sight magnetograms and Dopplergrams which covered the entire visible solar hemisphere. The pixel size of these magnetograms and Dopplergrams was 2.3 arcseconds. On each of the three days a time series of nine pairs of magnetograms and Dopplergrams was obtained at the rate of one pair every two minutes. On the same three day longitudinal magnetograms have one arcsecond pixels were obtained with the vacuum telescope at Kitt Peak. The MOF and vacuum tower magnetograms were compared at both the JPL Multi-Mission Image Processing Laboratory and at USC and have found the two sets of images to be well correlated both in spatial distribution and strength of the measured magnetic field. The simultaneously-obtained MOF Dopplergrams to remove the crosstalk which was present between the Doppler and Zeeman shifts of the NaD lines from the magnetograms from all three days and will also describe recent improvements to the system which allowed the obtaining of full-disk magnetograms as rapidly as one every 25 seconds.

JPL Testbed Image of Airbag Retraction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

This image shows the deflated airbags retracted underneath the lander petal at the JPL In-Situ Instrument Laboratory. Retracting the airbags helps clear the path for the rover to roll off the lander and onto the martian surface.

Delay and Disruption Tolerant Networking MACHETE Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Segui, John S.; Jennings, Esther H.; Gao, Jay L.

2011-01-01

To verify satisfaction of communication requirements imposed by unique missions, as early as 2000, the Communications Networking Group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) saw the need for an environment to support interplanetary communication protocol design, validation, and characterization. JPL's Multi-mission Advanced Communications Hybrid Environment for Test and Evaluation (MACHETE), described in Simulator of Space Communication Networks (NPO-41373) NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 29, No. 8 (August 2005), p. 44, combines various commercial, non-commercial, and in-house custom tools for simulation and performance analysis of space networks. The MACHETE environment supports orbital analysis, link budget analysis, communications network simulations, and hardware-in-the-loop testing. As NASA is expanding its Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) capabilities to support planned and future missions, building infrastructure to maintain services and developing enabling technologies, an important and broader role is seen for MACHETE in design-phase evaluation of future SCaN architectures. To support evaluation of the developing Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) field and its applicability for space networks, JPL developed MACHETE models for DTN Bundle Protocol (BP) and Licklider/Long-haul Transmission Protocol (LTP). DTN is an Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) architecture providing communication in and/or through highly stressed networking environments such as space exploration and battlefield networks. Stressed networking environments include those with intermittent (predictable and unknown) connectivity, large and/or variable delays, and high bit error rates. To provide its services over existing domain specific protocols, the DTN protocols reside at the application layer of the TCP/IP stack, forming a store-and-forward overlay network. The key capabilities of the Bundle Protocol include custody-based reliability, the ability to cope with intermittent connectivity, the ability to take advantage of scheduled and opportunistic connectivity, and late binding of names to addresses.

SSPI - Space Service Provider Infrastructure: Image Information Mining and Management Prototype for a Distributed Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Candela, L.; Ruggieri, G.; Giancaspro, A.

2004-09-01

In the sphere of "Multi-Mission Ground Segment" Italian Space Agency project, some innovative technologies such as CORBA[1], Z39.50[2], XML[3], Java[4], Java server Pages[4] and C++ has been experimented. The SSPI system (Space Service Provider Infrastructure) is the prototype of a distributed environment aimed to facilitate the access to Earth Observation (EO) data. SSPI allows to ingests, archive, consolidate, visualize and evaluate these data. Hence, SSPI is not just a database of or a data repository, but an application that by means of a set of protocols, standards and specifications provides a unified access to multi-mission EO data.

Development of multi-mission satellite data systems at the German Remote Sensing Data Centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lotz-Iwen, H. J.; Markwitz, W.; Schreier, G.

1998-11-01

This paper focuses on conceptual aspects of the access to multi-mission remote sensing data by online catalogue and information systems. The system ISIS of the German Remote Sensing Data Centre is described as an example of a user interface to earth observation data. ISIS has been designed to support international scientific research as well as operational applications by offering online access to the database via public networks. It provides catalogue retrieval, visualisation and transfer of image data, and is integrated in international activities dedicated to catalogue and archive interoperability. Finally, an outlook is given on international projects dealing with access to remote sensing data in distributed archives.

Proceedings of the 11th JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, Robert O.

2002-01-01

This publication contains the proceedings of the JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop forum held to report science research and applications results with spectral images measured by the NASA Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS). These papers were presented at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from March 5-8, 2001. Electronic versions of these papers may be found at the A VIRIS Web http://popo.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/docs/workshops/aviris.proceedings.html

Roll-Off Test at JPL

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-01-11

This still image illustrates what the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit will look like as it rolls off the northeastern side of the lander on Mars. The image was taken from footage of rover testing at JPL In-Situ Instruments Laboratory, or Testbed.

Deep Space Network (DSN), Network Operations Control Center (NOCC) computer-human interfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ellman, Alvin; Carlton, Magdi

1993-01-01

The Network Operations Control Center (NOCC) of the DSN is responsible for scheduling the resources of DSN, and monitoring all multi-mission spacecraft tracking activities in real-time. Operations performs this job with computer systems at JPL connected to over 100 computers at Goldstone, Australia and Spain. The old computer system became obsolete, and the first version of the new system was installed in 1991. Significant improvements for the computer-human interfaces became the dominant theme for the replacement project. Major issues required innovating problem solving. Among these issues were: How to present several thousand data elements on displays without overloading the operator? What is the best graphical representation of DSN end-to-end data flow? How to operate the system without memorizing mnemonics of hundreds of operator directives? Which computing environment will meet the competing performance requirements? This paper presents the technical challenges, engineering solutions, and results of the NOCC computer-human interface design.

A data distribution strategy for the 1990s (files are not enough)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tankenson, Mike; Wright, Steven

1993-01-01

Virtually all of the data distribution strategies being contemplated for the EOSDIS era revolve around the use of files. Most, if not all, mass storage technologies are based around the file model. However, files may be the wrong primary abstraction for supporting scientific users in the 1990s and beyond. Other abstractions more closely matching the respective scientific discipline of the end user may be more appropriate. JPL has built a unique multimission data distribution system based on a strategy of telemetry stream emulation to match the responsibilities of spacecraft team and ground data system operators supporting our nations suite of planetary probes. The current system, operational since 1989 and the launch of the Magellan spacecraft, is supporting over 200 users at 15 remote sites. This stream-oriented data distribution model can provide important lessons learned to builders of future data systems.

ARC-1994-AC94-0353-2B

NASA Image and Video Library

1994-07-01

Photo Artwork composite by JPL This depiction of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacting Jupiter is shown from several perspectives. IMAGE B shows the perspective from Galileo spacecraft which can observe the impact point directly. For visual appeal, most of the large cometary fragments are shown close to one another in this image. At the time of Jupiter impact, the fragments will be separated from one another by serveral times the distances shown. This image was created by D.A. Seal of JPL's Mission Design Section using orbital computations provIded by P.W. Chodas and D.K. Yeomans of JPL's Navigation Section.

ARC-1994-AC94-0353-2A

NASA Image and Video Library

1994-07-01

Photo Artwork composite by JPL This depiction of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacting Jupiter is shown from several perspectives. IMAGE A is shown from the perspective of Earth based observers. For visual appeal, most of the large cometary fragments are shown close to one another in this image. At the time of Jupiter impact, the fragments will be separated from one another by serveral times the distances shown. This image was created by D.A. Seal of JPL's Mission Design Section using orbital computations provIded by P.W. Chodas and D.K. Yeomans of JPL's Navigation Section.

ARC-1994-AC94-0353-2D

NASA Image and Video Library

1994-07-01

Photo Artwork composite by JPL This depiction of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacting Jupiter is shown from several perspectives. IMAGE D depicts a generic view from Jupiter's south pole. For visual appeal, most of the large cometary fragments are shown close to one another in this image. At the time of Jupiter impact, the fragments will be separated from one another by serveral times the distances shown. This image was created by D.A. Seal of JPL's Mission Design Section using orbital computations provIded by P.W. Chodas and D.K. Yeomans of JPL's Navigation Section.

Earth observation photo taken by JPL with the Shuttle Imaging Radar-A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Earth observation photo taken by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with the Shuttle Imaging Radar-A (SIR-A). This image shows the Los Angeles basin. The area's freeways are visible as dark lines. The Los Angles harbor breakwater off Long Beach is seen as a bright line. Vessels in the harbor show as bright points.

Automatic Command Sequence Generation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fisher, Forest; Gladded, Roy; Khanampompan, Teerapat

2007-01-01

Automatic Sequence Generator (Autogen) Version 3.0 software automatically generates command sequences for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and several other JPL spacecraft operated by the multi-mission support team. Autogen uses standard JPL sequencing tools like APGEN, ASP, SEQGEN, and the DOM database to automate the generation of uplink command products, Spacecraft Command Message Format (SCMF) files, and the corresponding ground command products, DSN Keywords Files (DKF). Autogen supports all the major multi-mission mission phases including the cruise, aerobraking, mapping/science, and relay mission phases. Autogen is a Perl script, which functions within the mission operations UNIX environment. It consists of two parts: a set of model files and the autogen Perl script. Autogen encodes the behaviors of the system into a model and encodes algorithms for context sensitive customizations of the modeled behaviors. The model includes knowledge of different mission phases and how the resultant command products must differ for these phases. The executable software portion of Autogen, automates the setup and use of APGEN for constructing a spacecraft activity sequence file (SASF). The setup includes file retrieval through the DOM (Distributed Object Manager), an object database used to store project files. This step retrieves all the needed input files for generating the command products. Depending on the mission phase, Autogen also uses the ASP (Automated Sequence Processor) and SEQGEN to generate the command product sent to the spacecraft. Autogen also provides the means for customizing sequences through the use of configuration files. By automating the majority of the sequencing generation process, Autogen eliminates many sequence generation errors commonly introduced by manually constructing spacecraft command sequences. Through the layering of commands into the sequence by a series of scheduling algorithms, users are able to rapidly and reliably construct the desired uplink command products. With the aid of Autogen, sequences may be produced in a matter of hours instead of weeks, with a significant reduction in the number of people on the sequence team. As a result, the uplink product generation process is significantly streamlined and mission risk is significantly reduced. Autogen is used for operations of MRO, Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), Mars Exploration Rover (MER), Mars Odyssey, and will be used for operations of Phoenix. Autogen Version 3.0 is the operational version of Autogen including the MRO adaptation for the cruise mission phase, and was also used for development of the aerobraking and mapping mission phases for MRO.

A software architecture for automating operations processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Kevin J.

1994-01-01

The Operations Engineering Lab (OEL) at JPL has developed a software architecture based on an integrated toolkit approach for simplifying and automating mission operations tasks. The toolkit approach is based on building adaptable, reusable graphical tools that are integrated through a combination of libraries, scripts, and system-level user interface shells. The graphical interface shells are designed to integrate and visually guide a user through the complex steps in an operations process. They provide a user with an integrated system-level picture of an overall process, defining the required inputs and possible output through interactive on-screen graphics. The OEL has developed the software for building these process-oriented graphical user interface (GUI) shells. The OEL Shell development system (OEL Shell) is an extension of JPL's Widget Creation Library (WCL). The OEL Shell system can be used to easily build user interfaces for running complex processes, applications with extensive command-line interfaces, and tool-integration tasks. The interface shells display a logical process flow using arrows and box graphics. They also allow a user to select which output products are desired and which input sources are needed, eliminating the need to know which program and its associated command-line parameters must be executed in each case. The shells have also proved valuable for use as operations training tools because of the OEL Shell hypertext help environment. The OEL toolkit approach is guided by several principles, including the use of ASCII text file interfaces with a multimission format, Perl scripts for mission-specific adaptation code, and programs that include a simple command-line interface for batch mode processing. Projects can adapt the interface shells by simple changes to the resources configuration file. This approach has allowed the development of sophisticated, automated software systems that are easy, cheap, and fast to build. This paper will discuss our toolkit approach and the OEL Shell interface builder in the context of a real operations process example. The paper will discuss the design and implementation of a Ulysses toolkit for generating the mission sequence of events. The Sequence of Events Generation (SEG) system provides an adaptable multimission toolkit for producing a time-ordered listing and timeline display of spacecraft commands, state changes, and required ground activities.

Earth observation photo taken by JPL with the Shuttle Imaging Radar-A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Photos of earth observations taken by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with the Shuttle Imaging Radar-A (SIR-A). This image shows Lake Okeechobee (right) and Lake Istokopoga (left) in Central Florida. Lake Okeechobee is bounded on the east by rectangular agricultural fields and to the south and west by swamps and wetlands which appear as bright features.

JPL-20170915-CASSINf-0002-Cassini End of Mission Post Event Press ConferenceAVAIL

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-09-15

This press briefing summarizes the end of NASA-ESA's Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and presents the final images made by the spacecraft before its planned disintegration in Saturn's atmosphere on September 15, 2017. Featured: Earl Maize, Cassini Program Manager, JPL; Linda Spilker, Cassini Project Scientist, JPL; Julie Webster, Cassini Spacecraft operations Manager, JPL; and Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA HQ.

ARC-1994-AC94-0353-2

NASA Image and Video Library

1994-07-01

Photo Artwork composite by JPL This depiction of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacting Jupiter is shown from several perspectives. IMAGE A is shown from the perspective of Earth based observers. IMAGE B shows the perspective from Galileo spacecraft which can observe the impact point directly. IMAGE C is shown from the Voyager 2 spacecraft, which may observe the event from its unique position at the outer reaches of the solar system. IMAGE D depicts a generic view from Jupiter's south pole. For visual appeal, most of the large cometary fragments are shown close to one another in this image. At the time of Jupiter impact, the fragments will be separated from one another by serveral times the distances shown. This image was created by D.A. Seal of JPL's Mission Design Section using orbital computations provIded by P.W. Chodas and D.K. Yeomans of JPL's Navigation Section.

Mission Control, 1964

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-27

This archival image was released as part of a gallery comparing JPL's past and present, commemorating the 80th anniversary of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Oct. 31, 2016. When spacecraft in deep space "phone home," they do it through NASA's Deep Space Network. Engineers in this room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory -- known as Mission Control -- monitor the flow of data. This image was taken in May 1964, when the building this nerve center is in, the Space Flight Operations Facility (Building 230), was dedicated at JPL. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21120

JPL Administration Building

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-27

This archival image was released as part of a gallery comparing JPL's past and present, commemorating the 80th anniversary of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Oct. 31, 2016. The Administration Building of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Building 180) is pictured in January 1965. What appears as a parking lot in this photograph later becomes "The Mall", a landscaped open-air gathering place. A small security control post can be seen at the left of the 1965 image. And Building 167, one of the lab's cafeterias, is on the right. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21121

ARC-1994-AC94-0353-2C

NASA Image and Video Library

1994-07-01

Photo Artwork composite by JPL This depiction of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacting Jupiter is shown from several perspectives. IMAGE C is shown from the Voyager 2 spacecraft, which may observe the event from its unique position at the outer reaches of the solar system. For visual appeal, most of the large cometary fragments are shown close to one another in this image. At the time of Jupiter impact, the fragments will be separated from one another by serveral times the distances shown. This image was created by D.A. Seal of JPL's Mission Design Section using orbital computations provIded by P.W. Chodas and D.K. Yeomans of JPL's Navigation Section.

Global View of Io (Natural and False/Enhanced Color)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

Global view of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io obtained on 07 September, 1996 Universal Time using the near-infrared, green, and violet filters of the Solid State Imaging system aboard NASA/JPL's Galileo spacecraft. The top disk is intended to show the satellite in natural color, similar to what the human eye would see (but colors will vary with display devices), while the bottom disk shows enhanced color to highlight surface details. The reddest and blackest areas are closely associated with active volcanic regions and recent surface deposits. Io was imaged here against the clouds of Jupiter. North is to the top of the frames. The finest details that can discerned in these frames are about 4.9 km across.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Space Images for NASA JPL Android Version

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nelson, Jon D.; Gutheinz, Sandy C.; Strom, Joshua R.; Arca, Jeremy M.; Perez, Martin; Boggs, Karen; Stanboli, Alice

2013-01-01

This software addresses the demand for easily accessible NASA JPL images and videos by providing a user friendly and simple graphical user interface that can be run via the Android platform from any location where Internet connection is available. This app is complementary to the iPhone version of the application. A backend infrastructure stores, tracks, and retrieves space images from the JPL Photojournal and Institutional Communications Web server, and catalogs the information into a streamlined rating infrastructure. This system consists of four distinguishing components: image repository, database, server-side logic, and Android mobile application. The image repository contains images from various JPL flight projects. The database stores the image information as well as the user rating. The server-side logic retrieves the image information from the database and categorizes each image for display. The Android mobile application is an interfacing delivery system that retrieves the image information from the server for each Android mobile device user. Also created is a reporting and tracking system for charting and monitoring usage. Unlike other Android mobile image applications, this system uses the latest emerging technologies to produce image listings based directly on user input. This allows for countless combinations of images returned. The backend infrastructure uses industry-standard coding and database methods, enabling future software improvement and technology updates. The flexibility of the system design framework permits multiple levels of display possibilities and provides integration capabilities. Unique features of the software include image/video retrieval from a selected set of categories, image Web links that can be shared among e-mail users, sharing to Facebook/Twitter, marking as user's favorites, and image metadata searchable for instant results.

Yogi the rock

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Yogi, a rock taller than rover Sojourner, is the subject of this image, taken by the deployed Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) on Sol 3. The soil in the foreground will be the location of multiple soil mechanics experiments performed by Sojourner's cleated wheels. Pathfinder scientists will be able to control the force inflicted on the soil beneath the rover's wheels, giving them insight into the soil's mechanical properties.

The image was taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) after its deployment on Sol 3. Mars Pathfinder was developed and managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The IMP was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Using task analysis to understand the Data System Operations Team

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holder, Barbara E.

1994-01-01

The Data Systems Operations Team (DSOT) currently monitors the Multimission Ground Data System (MGDS) at JPL. The MGDS currently supports five spacecraft and within the next five years, it will support ten spacecraft simultaneously. The ground processing element of the MGDS consists of a distributed UNIX-based system of over 40 nodes and 100 processes. The MGDS system provides operators with little or no information about the system's end-to-end processing status or end-to-end configuration. The lack of system visibility has become a critical issue in the daily operation of the MGDS. A task analysis was conducted to determine what kinds of tools were needed to provide DSOT with useful status information and to prioritize the tool development. The analysis provided the formality and structure needed to get the right information exchange between development and operations. How even a small task analysis can improve developer-operator communications is described, and the challenges associated with conducting a task analysis in a real-time mission operations environment are examined.

Penny for Your Reference

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

15 April 2004 This close-up image of a penny shows the degree to which the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit can zoom in on a target. The penny is seen exactly as it would be on Mars if it were placed under the microscopic imager. This picture was taken by the imager during testing at JPL.

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Spirit's Microscopic Vision Demonstrated

This close-up image of a penny shows the power of the microscopic imager onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit to see fine details. The picture was taken by the imager during testing at JPL.

Former Administration Building

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-27

This archival image was released as part of a gallery comparing JPL's past and present, commemorating the 80th anniversary of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Oct. 31, 2016. Building 11, one of the oldest buildings on lab, was once JPL's central administration building. It is now the Space Sciences Laboratory. This picture dates back to May 1943. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21201

RoboSimian Exits Vehicle

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-09

JPL's RoboSimian exits its vehicle following a brief drive through a slalom course at the DARPA Robotics Challenge in Pomona, California. This image was taken June 6, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19324

RoboSimian Driving

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-09

JPL's RoboSimian drives a four-wheeled vehicle through a slalom course at the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals in Pomona, California. This image was taken on June 6, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19325

JPL, NASA and the Historical Record: Key Events/Documents in Lunar and Mars Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hooks, Michael Q.

1999-01-01

This document represents a presentation about the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) historical archives in the area of Lunar and Martian Exploration. The JPL archives documents the history of JPL's flight projects, research and development activities and administrative operations. The archives are in a variety of format. The presentation reviews the information available through the JPL archives web site, information available through the Regional Planetary Image Facility web site, and the information on past missions available through the web sites. The presentation also reviews the NASA historical resources at the NASA History Office and the National Archives and Records Administration.

Proceedings of the Third Spaceborne Imaging Radar Symposium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

This publication contains summaries of the papers presented at the Third Spaceborne Imaging Radar Symposium held at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, California, on 18-21 Jan. 1993. The purpose of the symposium was to present an overview of recent developments in the different scientific and technological fields related to spaceborne imaging radars and to present future international plans. This symposium is the third in a series of 'Spaceborne Imaging Radar' symposia held at JPL. The first symposium was held in Jan. 1983 and the second in 1986.

Earth observation photo taken by JPL with the Shuttle Imaging Radar-A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Earth observation photo taken by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with the Shuttle Imaging Radar-A (SIR-A). This image shows a 50 by 120 kilometer (30 by 75 mile) area of the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern coast of Central Sardinia (left). The city of Arbatose is seen as a bright area along the coast in the lower part of the image, and the star-like spot off the coast is a ship's reflection. The Gulf of Orsei is near the top of the image. Bright, mottled features in the sea (right) represent surface choppiness.

Image Acquisition in Real Time

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

In 1995, Carlos Jorquera left NASA s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to focus on erasing the growing void between high-performance cameras and the requisite software to capture and process the resulting digital images. Since his departure from NASA, Jorquera s efforts have not only satisfied the private industry's cravings for faster, more flexible, and more favorable software applications, but have blossomed into a successful entrepreneurship that is making its mark with improvements in fields such as medicine, weather forecasting, and X-ray inspection. Formerly a JPL engineer who constructed imaging systems for spacecraft and ground-based astronomy projects, Jorquera is the founder and president of the three-person firm, Boulder Imaging Inc., based in Louisville, Colorado. Joining Jorquera to round out the Boulder Imaging staff are Chief Operations Engineer Susan Downey, who also gained experience at JPL working on space-bound projects including Galileo and the Hubble Space Telescope, and Vice President of Engineering and Machine Vision Specialist Jie Zhu Kulbida, who has extensive industrial and research and development experience within the private sector.

Severe storms observing satellite (STORMSAT)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

The primary payload for this satellite is the Advanced Atmospheric Sounding and Imaging Radiometer which will perform precise infrared temperature sounding and visible/infrared imaging from geostationary orbit. A secondary payload instrument which may be utilized on STORMSAT is the Microwave Atmospheric Sounding Radiometer which provides an independent set of temperature and humidity sounding in cloudy, meteorologically active regions. The study provides satellite designs and identifies mission-unique subsystems using the Multimission Modular Spacecraft using a Shuttle/Interim Upper Stage launch vehicle.

Cloud Arcs

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-19

... series of quasi-circular arcs. Clues regarding the formation of these arcs can be found by noting that larger clouds exist in the ... in Hampton, VA. Image credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team. Other formats available at JPL March 11, 2002 - ...

Test Rover at JPL During Preparation for Mars Rover Low-Angle Selfie

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-19

This view of a test rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, results from advance testing of arm positions and camera pointings for taking a low-angle self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. This rehearsal in California led to a dramatic Aug. 5, 2015, selfie of Curiosity, online at PIA19807. Curiosity's arm-mounted Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera took 92 of component images that were assembled into that mosaic. The rover team positioned the camera lower in relation to the rover body than for any previous full self-portrait of Curiosity. This practice version was taken at JPL's Mars Yard in July 2013, using the Vehicle System Test Bed (VSTB) rover, which has a test copy of MAHLI on its robotic arm. MAHLI was built by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19810

Planetary image conversion task

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, M. D.; Stanley, C. L.; Laughlin, G.

1985-01-01

The Planetary Image Conversion Task group processed 12,500 magnetic tapes containing raw imaging data from JPL planetary missions and produced an image data base in consistent format on 1200 fully packed 6250-bpi tapes. The output tapes will remain at JPL. A copy of the entire tape set was delivered to US Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz. A secondary task converted computer datalogs, which had been stored in project specific MARK IV File Management System data types and structures, to flat-file, text format that is processable on any modern computer system. The conversion processing took place at JPL's Image Processing Laboratory on an IBM 370-158 with existing software modified slightly to meet the needs of the conversion task. More than 99% of the original digital image data was successfully recovered by the conversion task. However, processing data tapes recorded before 1975 was destructive. This discovery is of critical importance to facilities responsible for maintaining digital archives since normal periodic random sampling techniques would be unlikely to detect this phenomenon, and entire data sets could be wiped out in the act of generating seemingly positive sampling results. Reccomended follow-on activities are also included.

Venus - 3D Perspective View of Eastern Edge of Alpha Regio

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

A portion of the eastern edge of Alpha Regio is displayed in this three-dimensional perspective view of the surface of Venus. The viewpoint is located at approximately 30 degrees south latitude, 11.8 degrees east longitude at an elevation of 2.4 kilometers (3.8 miles). The view is to the northeast at the center of an area containing seven circular dome-like hills. The average diameter of the hills is 25 kilometers (15 miles) with maximum heights of 750 meters (2,475 feet). Three of the hills are visible in the center of the image. Fractures on the surrounding plains are both older and younger than the domes. The hills may be the result of viscous or thick eruptions of lava coming from a vent on the relatively level ground, allowing the lava to flow in an even lateral pattern. The concentric and radial fracture patterns on their surfaces suggests that a chilled outer layer formed, then further intrusion in the interior stretched the surface. An alternative interpretation is that domes are the result of shallow intrusions of molten lava, causing the surface to rise. If they are intrusive, then magma withdrawal near the end of the eruptions produced the fractures. The bright margins possibly indicate the presence of rock debris or talus at the slopes of the domes. Resolution of the Magellan data is about 120 meters (400 feet). Magellan's synthetic aperture radar is combined with radar altimetry to develop a three-dimensional map of the surface. A perspective view is then generated from the map. Simulated color and a process called radar-clinometry are used to enhance small-scale structures. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 spacecraft. The image was produced by the JPL Multimission Image Processing Laboratory by Eric De Jong, Jeff Hall, Myche McAuley, and Randy Kirk of the United States Geological Survey, and is a single frame from the movie released at the May 29, 1991 Magellan news conference.

Engineers Test Roll-Off at JPL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

This image taken at JPL shows engineers testing the route by which the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity will roll off its lander. Opportunity touched down at Meridiani Planum, Mars on Jan. 24, 9:05 p.m. PST, 2004, Earth-received time.

Antarctica's Larsen C Ice Shelf Crack

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2016-12-30

... square kilometers), greater than the size of Maryland. Computer modeling by Project MIDAS predicts that the crack will continue to ... Virginia. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.   Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, ...

78 FR 63971 - Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Introduction of the P-8A Multi-Mission...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-25

... the Introduction of the P-8A Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft Into the U.S. Navy Fleet; Rescheduling of... Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Introduction of the P-8A Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft into the... to December 2, 2013. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic...

Multi-mission space science data processing systems - Past, present, and future

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stallings, William H.

1990-01-01

Packetized telemetry that is consistent with the international Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) has been baselined for future NASA missions such as Space Station Freedom. Some experiences from past and present multimission systems are examined, including current experiences in implementing a CCSDS standard packetized data processing system, relative to the effectiveness of the multimission approach in lowering life cycle cost and the complexity of meeting new mission needs. It is shown that the continued effort toward standardization of telemetry and processing support will permit the development of multimission systems needed to meet the increased requirements of future NASA missions.

A multimission three-axis stabilized spacecraft flight dynamics ground support system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Langston, J.; Krack, K.; Reupke, W.

1993-01-01

The Multimission Three-Axis Stabilized Spacecraft (MTASS) Flight Dynamics Support System (FDSS) has been developed in an effort to minimize the costs of ground support systems. Unlike single-purpose ground support systems, which attempt to reduce costs by reusing software specifically developed for previous missions, the multimission support system is an intermediate step in the progression to a fully generalized mission support system in which numerous missions may be served by one general system. The benefits of multimission attitude ground support systems extend not only to the software design and coding process, but to the entire system environment, from specification through testing, simulation, operations, and maintenance. This paper reports the application of an MTASS FDSS to multiple scientific satellite missions. The satellites are the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE), and the Solar Anomalous Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX). Both UARS and EUVE use the multimission modular spacecraft (MMS) concept. SAMPEX is part of the Small Explorer (SMEX) series and uses a much simpler set of attitude sensors. This paper centers on algorithm and design concepts for a multimission system and discusses flight experience from UARS.

Summaries of the Sixth Annual JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop. Volume 2; AIRSAR Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Yun-Jin (Editor)

1996-01-01

The Sixth Annual JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop, held in Pasadena, California, on March 4-8, 1996, was divided into two smaller workshops:(1) The Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) workshop, and The Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) workshop. This current paper, Volume 2 of the Summaries of the Sixth Annual JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop, presents the summaries for The Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) workshop.

Automated Camera Array Fine Calibration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clouse, Daniel; Padgett, Curtis; Ansar, Adnan; Cheng, Yang

2008-01-01

Using aerial imagery, the JPL FineCalibration (JPL FineCal) software automatically tunes a set of existing CAHVOR camera models for an array of cameras. The software finds matching features in the overlap region between images from adjacent cameras, and uses these features to refine the camera models. It is not necessary to take special imagery of a known target and no surveying is required. JPL FineCal was developed for use with an aerial, persistent surveillance platform.

Operations automation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boreham, Charles Thomas

1994-01-01

This is truly the era of 'faster-better-cheaper' at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA/JPL). To continue JPL's primary mission of building and operating interplanetary spacecraft, all possible avenues are being explored in the search for better value for each dollar spent. A significant cost factor in any mission is the amount of manpower required to receive, decode, decommutate, and distribute spacecraft engineering and experiment data. The replacement of the many mission-unique data systems with the single Advanced Multimission Operations System (AMMOS) has already allowed for some manpower reduction. Now, we find that further economies are made possible by drastically reducing the number of human interventions required to perform the setup, data saving, station handover, processed data loading, and tear down activities that are associated with each spacecraft tracking pass. We have recently adapted three public domain tools to the AMMOS system which allow common elements to be scheduled and initialized without the normal human intervention. This is accomplished with a stored weekly event schedule. The manual entries and specialized scripts which had to be provided just prior to and during a pass are now triggered by the schedule to perform the functions unique to the upcoming pass. This combination of public domain software and the AMMOS system has been run in parallel with the flight operation in an online testing phase for six months. With this methodology, a savings of 11 man-years per year is projected with no increase in data loss or project risk. There are even greater savings to be gained as we learn other uses for this configuration.

MARS PATHFINDER CAMERA TEST IN SAEF-2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) workers conduct a systems test of the Mars Pathfinder imager, installed atop the Pathfinder lander (with JPL insignia). The imager is the white cyclindrical structure close to the worker's gloved hand. At left is the small rover that will be deployed from the lander to explore the Martian surface. The rover is mounted on one of three petals that will be attached to the lander. The two-pronged mast extending upward from the lander is for the low-gain antenna. The imager is mounted on a mast that will be extended after the lander touches down on Mars, affording a better view of the area. The imager is a camera that will transmit images of the Martian surface as well as the trail left by the rover, helping researchers to better understand the composition of the soil. It also is equipped with selectable filters for gathering data about the atmosphere of the Red Planet. JPL manages the Mars Pathfinder project for NASA. The journey to Mars is scheduled to begin with liftoff Dec. 2 aboard a Delta II expendable launch vehicle.

The JPL/KSC telerobotic inspection demonstration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mittman, David; Bon, Bruce; Collins, Carol; Fleischer, Gerry; Litwin, Todd; Morrison, Jack; Omeara, Jacquie; Peters, Stephen; Brogdon, John; Humeniuk, Bob

1990-01-01

An ASEA IRB90 robotic manipulator with attached inspection cameras was moved through a Space Shuttle Payload Assist Module (PAM) Cradle under computer control. The Operator and Operator Control Station, including graphics simulation, gross-motion spatial planning, and machine vision processing, were located at JPL. The Safety and Support personnel, PAM Cradle, IRB90, and image acquisition system, were stationed at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Images captured at KSC were used both for processing by a machine vision system at JPL, and for inspection by the JPL Operator. The system found collision-free paths through the PAM Cradle, demonstrated accurate knowledge of the location of both objects of interest and obstacles, and operated with a communication delay of two seconds. Safe operation of the IRB90 near Shuttle flight hardware was obtained both through the use of a gross-motion spatial planner developed at JPL using artificial intelligence techniques, and infrared beams and pressure sensitive strips mounted to the critical surfaces of the flight hardward at KSC. The Demonstration showed that telerobotics is effective for real tasks, safe for personnel and hardware, and highly productive and reliable for Shuttle payload operations and Space Station external operations.

A Snowy Entrance

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-27

This archival image was released as part of a gallery comparing JPL's past and present, commemorating the 80th anniversary of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Oct. 31, 2016. This photograph from 1949 shows the main entrance gate to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, after a snowstorm. To the left is JPL's administration building at the time (Building 67). Building 67 is the Materials Research Building today. The Space Flight Operations Facility (Building 230), which houses JPL's Mission Control, now stands over the parking area on the right. As the lab expanded, the main entrance gate moved farther south. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21118

EOforge: Generic Open Framework for Earth Observation Data Processing Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-01

Allow the use of existing interfaces, i.e. MUIS: ESA multimission catalogue for EO products. • Support last EO systems technologies, i.e. MASS ...5. Extensibility and configurability to allow customisation and the inclusion of new functionality. 6. Multi-instrument and multi-mission processing...such as: • MUIS: ESA multimission catalogue for EO products. • MASS (Multi-Application Support Service System): ESA web services technology standard

Earth observation photo taken by JPL with the Shuttle Imaging Radar-A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Earth observation photo taken by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with the Shuttle Imaging Radar-A (SIR-A). This image shows a 50 by 100 kilometer (30 by 60 mile) area of the Imperial Valley in Southern California and neighboring Mexico. The checkered patterns represent agricultural fields where different types of crops in different stages of growth are cultivated. The very bright areas are (top left to lower right) the U.S. towns of Brawley, Imperial, El Centro, Calexico and the Mexican city of Mexicali. The bright L-shaped line (upper right) is the All-American water canal.

Operation and Performance of the Mars Exploration Rover Imaging System on the Martian Surface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maki, Justin N.; Litwin, Todd; Herkenhoff, Ken

2005-01-01

This slide presentation details the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) imaging system. Over 144,000 images have been gathered from all Mars Missions, with 83.5% of them being gathered by MER. Each Rover has 9 cameras (Navcam, front and rear Hazcam, Pancam, Microscopic Image, Descent Camera, Engineering Camera, Science Camera) and produces 1024 x 1024 (1 Megapixel) images in the same format. All onboard image processing code is implemented in flight software and includes extensive processing capabilities such as autoexposure, flat field correction, image orientation, thumbnail generation, subframing, and image compression. Ground image processing is done at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Multimission Image Processing Laboratory using Video Image Communication and Retrieval (VICAR) while stereo processing (left/right pairs) is provided for raw image, radiometric correction; solar energy maps,triangulation (Cartesian 3-spaces) and slope maps.

Credit WCT. Original 21/4"x21/4" color negative is housed in the ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

Credit WCT. Original 2-1/4"x2-1/4" color negative is housed in the JPL Photography Laboratory, Pasadena, California. This interior view of the Xray chamber shows operator Leonard "Dutch" Sebring positioning the 1 million electron volt X-ray machine to make an image of a Syncom 2 motor (JPL negative no. JPL-10285BC, 27 January 1989) - Jet Propulsion Laboratory Edwards Facility, Radiographic Inspection Building, Edwards Air Force Base, Boron, Kern County, CA

Addressing the Hard Factors for Command File Errors by Probabilistic Reasoning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meshkat, Leila; Bryant, Larry

2014-01-01

Command File Errors (CFE) are managed using standard risk management approaches at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Over the last few years, more emphasis has been made on the collection, organization, and analysis of these errors for the purpose of reducing the CFE rates. More recently, probabilistic modeling techniques have been used for more in depth analysis of the perceived error rates of the DAWN mission and for managing the soft factors in the upcoming phases of the mission. We broadly classify the factors that can lead to CFE's as soft factors, which relate to the cognition of the operators and hard factors which relate to the Mission System which is composed of the hardware, software and procedures used for the generation, verification & validation and execution of commands. The focus of this paper is to use probabilistic models that represent multiple missions at JPL to determine the root cause and sensitivities of the various components of the mission system and develop recommendations and techniques for addressing them. The customization of these multi-mission models to a sample interplanetary spacecraft is done for this purpose.

Florida

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2014-05-15

...     View Larger Image Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) images of Florida ... Center Atmospheric Science Data Center in Hampton, VA. Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Science Team Other formats ...

Close-up of M27, the Dumbbell Nebula

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-02-11

An aging star last hurrah creates a flurry of glowing knots of gas that appear to be streaking through space. This closeup image of the Dumbbell Nebula was taken by the JPL-built and designed WFC3 camera, onboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04249

Photographer : JPL Range : 12.2 million kilometers (7.6 million miles) This images shows Jupiter's

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

Photographer : JPL Range : 12.2 million kilometers (7.6 million miles) This images shows Jupiter's Great Red Spot emerging from the five-hour Jovian night. One of three bright, oval clouds which were observed to form approx. 40 years ago can be seen below the Red Spot. Most other features appearing in this view are too small to be seen clearly from Earth. This black and white photo was taken through a violet filter.

Artwork Separation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1983-01-01

Under a grant from California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) used image enhancement techniques to separate x-ray images of paintings when one had been painted on top of another. The technique is derived from computer processing of spacecraft-acquired imagery, and will allow earlier paintings, some of which have been covered for centuries, to be evaluated. JPL developed the program for "subtracting" the top painting and enhancing the bottom one, and believes an even more advanced system is possible.

Towards a Multi-Mission, Airborne Science Data System Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crichton, D. J.; Hardman, S.; Law, E.; Freeborn, D.; Kay-Im, E.; Lau, G.; Oswald, J.

2011-12-01

NASA earth science instruments are increasingly relying on airborne missions. However, traditionally, there has been limited common infrastructure support available to principal investigators in the area of science data systems. As a result, each investigator has been required to develop their own computing infrastructures for the science data system. Typically there is little software reuse and many projects lack sufficient resources to provide a robust infrastructure to capture, process, distribute and archive the observations acquired from airborne flights. At NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), we have been developing a multi-mission data system infrastructure for airborne instruments called the Airborne Cloud Computing Environment (ACCE). ACCE encompasses the end-to-end lifecycle covering planning, provisioning of data system capabilities, and support for scientific analysis in order to improve the quality, cost effectiveness, and capabilities to enable new scientific discovery and research in earth observation. This includes improving data system interoperability across each instrument. A principal characteristic is being able to provide an agile infrastructure that is architected to allow for a variety of configurations of the infrastructure from locally installed compute and storage services to provisioning those services via the "cloud" from cloud computer vendors such as Amazon.com. Investigators often have different needs that require a flexible configuration. The data system infrastructure is built on the Apache's Object Oriented Data Technology (OODT) suite of components which has been used for a number of spaceborne missions and provides a rich set of open source software components and services for constructing science processing and data management systems. In 2010, a partnership was formed between the ACCE team and the Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE) mission to support the data processing and data management needs. A principal goal is to provide support for the Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) instrument which will produce over 700,000 soundings over the life of their three-year mission. The cost to purchase and operate a cluster-based system in order to generate Level 2 Full Physics products from this data was prohibitive. Through an evaluation of cloud computing solutions, Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) was selected for the CARVE deployment. As the ACCE infrastructure is developed and extended to form an infrastructure for airborne missions, the experience of working with CARVE has provided a number of lessons learned and has proven to be important in reinforcing the unique aspects of airborne missions and the importance of the ACCE infrastructure in developing a cost effective, flexible multi-mission capability that leverages emerging capabilities in cloud computing, workflow management, and distributed computing.

BOREAS RSS-16 Level-3b DC-8 AIRSAR SY Images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, Forrest G. (Editor); Nickeson, Jaime (Editor); Saatchi, Sasan; Newcomer, Jeffrey A.; Strub, Richard; Irani, Fred

2000-01-01

The BOREAS RSS-16 team used satellite and aircraft SAR data in conjunction with various ground measurements to determine the moisture regime of the boreal forest. RSS-16 assisted with the acquisition and ordering of NASA JPL AIRSAR data collected from the NASA DC-8 aircraft. The NASA JPL AIRSAR is a side-looking imaging radar system that utilizes the SAR principle to obtain high-resolution images that represent the radar backscatter of the imaged surface at different frequencies and polarizations. The information contained in each pixel of the AIRSAR data represents the radar backscatter for all possible combinations of horizontal and vertical transmit and receive polarizations (i.e., HH, HV, VH, and VV). Geographically, the data cover portions of the BOREAS SSA and NSA. Temporally, the data were acquired from 12-Aug-1993 to 31-Jul-1995. The level-3b AIRSAR SY data are the JPL synoptic product and contain 3 of the 12 total frequency and polarization combinations that are possible. The data are stored in binary image format files. The data files are available on a CD-ROM (see document number 20010000884), or from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC).

VizieR Online Data Catalog: UV and IR properties for galaxies (Mao+, 2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mao, Y.-W.; Kong, X.; Lin, L.

2017-03-01

Broadband FUV and NUV imaging data were obtained from GALEX observations and downloaded from the Multimission Archive at Space Telescope Science Institute (MAST) Web site (http://galex.stsci.edu/); 8um (dust-only) and 24um images were observed by the Spitzer Space Telescope (Spitzer) and retrieved from the SINGS data distribution service (http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/data/SPITZER/SINGS/). Hα narrowband imaging data are also employed in this work. The Hα narrowband image for NGC 3031 was observed by the 60/90 cm Schmidt telescope at Xing-Long station of the National Astronomical Observatories of China with the filter of transmission profile FWHM~120Å. (2 data files).

Credit WCT. Original 214" x 21/4" color negative is housed ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

Credit WCT. Original 2-14" x 2-1/4" color negative is housed in the JPL Photography Laboratory, Pasadena, California. This image depicts the tray dryer for "AP" (ammonium perchlorate, an oxidizer). The dryer was heated by a water jacket; insulated pipes appear at left in the view. In the extreme left foreground appears a marble table similar to the tables used for scales in the weighing room of Building E-35. Note the use of gloves, fireresistant coveralls and breathing apparatus by the JPL employee in view (JPL negative no. JPL-10283BC, 27 January 1989) - Jet Propulsion Laboratory Edwards Facility, Oxidizer Dryer Blender Building, Edwards Air Force Base, Boron, Kern County, CA

Soil disturbance by airbags

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Disturbance of the drift at the Pathfinder landing site reveals a shallow subsurface that is slightly darker but has similar spectral properties. The top set of images, in true color, shows the soils disturbed by the last bounce of the lander on its airbags before coming to rest and the marks created by retraction of the airbags. In the bottom set of images color differences have been enhanced. The mast at center is the Atmospheric Structure Instrument/Meteorology Package (ASI/MET). The ASI/MET is an engineering subsytem that acquired atmospheric data during Pathfinder's descent, and will continue to get more data through the entire landed mission. A shadow of the ASI/MET appears on a rock at left.

Mars Pathfinder was developed and managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Flow-like Features On Europa

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This image shows features on Jupiter's moon Europa that may be 'flows' from ice volcanoes. It was taken by the Galileo spacecraft solid state imaging (CCD) system during its seventh orbit around Jupiter. North is to the top of the image. The sun illuminates the scene from the left, showing features with shapes similar to lava flows on Earth. Two such features can be seen in the northwest corner of the image. The southern feature appears to have flowed over a ridge along its western edge. Scientists use these types of relationships to determine which feature formed first. In this case, the ridge probably formed before the flow-like feature that covers it.

The image, centered at 22.6 degrees north latitude and 106.7 degrees west longitude, covers an area of 180 by 215 kilometers (112 by 134 miles). The smallest distinguishable features in the image are about 1.1 kilometers (0.7 miles) across. This image was obtained on April 28, 1997, when Galileo was 27,590 kilometers (16,830 miles) from Europa.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Innovative Contamination Certification of Multi-Mission Flight Hardware

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hansen, Patricia A.; Hughes, David W.; Montt, Kristina M.; Triolo, Jack J.

1998-01-01

Maintaining contamination certification of multi-mission flight hardware is an innovative approach to controlling mission costs. Methods for assessing ground induced degradation between missions have been employed by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Project for the multi-mission (servicing) hardware. By maintaining the cleanliness of the hardware between missions, and by controlling the materials added to the hardware during modification and refurbishment both project funding for contamination recertification and schedule have been significantly reduced. These methods will be discussed and HST hardware data will be presented.

Innovative Contamination Certification of Multi-Mission Flight Hardware

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hansen, Patricia A.; Hughes, David W.; Montt, Kristina M.; Triolo, Jack J.

1999-01-01

Maintaining contamination certification of multi-mission flight hardware is an innovative approach to controlling mission costs. Methods for assessing ground induced degradation between missions have been employed by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Project for the multi-mission (servicing) hardware. By maintaining the cleanliness of the hardware between missions, and by controlling the materials added to the hardware during modification and refurbishment both project funding for contamination recertification and schedule have been significantly reduced. These methods will be discussed and HST hardware data will be presented.

Interfacing Space Communications and Navigation Network Simulation with Distributed System Integration Laboratories (DSIL)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jennings, Esther H.; Nguyen, Sam P.; Wang, Shin-Ywan; Woo, Simon S.

2008-01-01

NASA's planned Lunar missions will involve multiple NASA centers where each participating center has a specific role and specialization. In this vision, the Constellation program (CxP)'s Distributed System Integration Laboratories (DSIL) architecture consist of multiple System Integration Labs (SILs), with simulators, emulators, testlabs and control centers interacting with each other over a broadband network to perform test and verification for mission scenarios. To support the end-to-end simulation and emulation effort of NASA' exploration initiatives, different NASA centers are interconnected to participate in distributed simulations. Currently, DSIL has interconnections among the following NASA centers: Johnson Space Center (JSC), Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Through interconnections and interactions among different NASA centers, critical resources and data can be shared, while independent simulations can be performed simultaneously at different NASA locations, to effectively utilize the simulation and emulation capabilities at each center. Furthermore, the development of DSIL can maximally leverage the existing project simulation and testing plans. In this work, we describe the specific role and development activities at JPL for Space Communications and Navigation Network (SCaN) simulator using the Multi-mission Advanced Communications Hybrid Environment for Test and Evaluation (MACHETE) tool to simulate communications effects among mission assets. Using MACHETE, different space network configurations among spacecrafts and ground systems of various parameter sets can be simulated. Data that is necessary for tracking, navigation, and guidance of spacecrafts such as Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV), and Lunar Relay Satellite (LRS) and orbit calculation data are disseminated to different NASA centers and updated periodically using the High Level Architecture (HLA). In addition, the performance of DSIL under different traffic loads with different mix of data and priorities are evaluated.

Processing of Mars Exploration Rover Imagery for Science and Operations Planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alexander, Douglass A.; Deen, Robert G.; Andres, Paul M.; Zamani, Payam; Mortensen, Helen B.; Chen, Amy C.; Cayanan, Michael K.; Hall, Jeffrey R.; Klochko, Vadim S.; Pariser, Oleg;

MARS PATHFINDER CAMERA TEST IN SAEF-2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

In the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-2 (SAEF-2), workers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are conducting a systems test of the imager for the Mars Pathfinder. Mounted on the Pathfinder lander, the imager (the white cylindrical element the worker is touching) is a specially designed camera featuring a stereo-imaging system with color capability provided by a set of selectable filters. It is mounted on an extendable mast that will pop up after the lander touches down on the Martian surface. The imager will transmit images of the terrain, allowing engineers back on Earth to survey the landing site before the Pathfinder rover is deployed to explore the area. The Mars Pathfinder is scheduled for launch aboard a Delta II expendable launch vehicle on Dec. 2. JPL manages the Pathfinder project for NASA.

Galileo Press Conference from JPL. Parts 1 and 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

This two-tape Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) video production presents a Dec. 8, 1992 press conference held at JPL to discuss the final Galileo spacecraft encounter with Earth before beginning its journey to Jupiter. The main theme of the conference was centered on the significance of the 2nd and final Earth/Moon flyby as being the spacecraft's last planetary encounter in the solar system before reaching Jupiter, as well as final flight preparations prior to its final journey. Each person of the five member panel was introduced by Robert MacMillan (JPL Public Information Mgr.) before giving brief presentations including slides and viewgraphs covering their area of expertise regarding Galileo's current status and future plans. After the presentations, the media was given an opportunity to ask questions of the panel regarding the mission. Mr. Wesley Huntress (Dir. of Solar System Exploration (NASA)), William J. ONeill (Galileo Project Manager), Neal E. Ausman, Jr. (Galileo Mission Director), Dr. Torrence V. Johnson (Galileo Project Scientist) and Dr. Ronald Greeley (Member, Imaging Team, Colorado St. Univ.) made up the panel and discussed topics including: Galileo's interplanetary trajectory; project status and performance review; instrument calibration activities; mission timelines; lunar observation and imaging; and general lunar science. Also included in the last three minutes of the video are simulations and images of the 2nd Galileo/Moon encounter.

Topography of Io (color)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

The images used to create this color composite of Io were acquired by Galileo during its ninth orbit (C9) of Jupiter and are part of a sequence of images designed to map the topography or relief on Io and to monitor changes in the surface color due to volcanic activity. Obtaining images at low illumination angles is like taking a picture from a high altitude around sunrise or sunset. Such lighting conditions emphasize the topography of the volcanic satellite. Several mountains up to a few miles high can be seen in this view, especially near the upper right. Some of these mountains appear to be tilted crustal blocks. Most of the dark spots correspond to active volcanic centers.

North is to the top of the picture which merges images obtained with the clear, red, green, and violet filters of the solid state imaging (CCD) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft. . The resolution is 8.3 kilometers per picture element. The image was taken on June 27, 1997 at a range of 817,000 kilometers by the solid state imaging (CCD) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Ganymede Groove Lanes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

An ancient dark terrain surface is cut by orthogonal sets of fractures on Jupiter's moon Ganymede. Subdued pits visible on unbroken blocks are the remnants of impact craters which have degraded with time. Across the top of the image, a line of these subdued pits may have been a chain of craters which are now cut apart by the northwest to southeast trending fractures. North is to the top. Younger craters appear as bright circles. The fractures in this image range from less than 100 meters (328 feet) to over a kilometer (0.62 miles) in width. They display bright walls where cleaner ice may be exposed, and deposits of dark material fill their floors. This 27 by 22 kilometer (17 by 14 mile) image of northern Marius Regio was obtained on September 6, 1996 by NASA's Galileo spacecraft at a resolution of 85 meters (278 feet) per picture element (pixel).

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Earth observation photo taken by JPL with the Shuttle Imaging Radar-A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Earth observation photo taken by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with the Shuttle Imaging Radar-A (SIR-A). Image of California's coast from Point Concepcion (far left) to Ventura (right). The city of Santa Barbara is visible as a bright region (center). The row of bright spots in the ocean are oil drilling platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel, while the random points of brightness in the channel are vessels. Lakes Cachuma (left) and Casitas (right) are seen as large dark areas. Folded sedimentary rock layers are visible in the Santa Ynez Mountain Range which stretches down the coastline; the stratification terminates at the Santa Ynez fault on the island side of the mountains.

Sojourner, Wedge, & Shark

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) image taken near the end of daytime operations on Sol 50 shows the Sojourner rover between the rocks 'Wedge' (foreground) and 'Shark' (behind rover). The rover successfully deployed its Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer on Shark on Sol 52.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Sojourner Sits Near "Rock Garden"

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-02-01

The Mars Pathfinder Rover Sojourner images by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder as it nears the rock "Wedge." Part of the Rock Garden is visible in the upper right of the image. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04318

Anatahan Island

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-19

...     View Larger Image This natural-color image of Anatahan Island from the Multi-angle ... (Acro Service Corporation/Jet Propulsion Laboratory), David J. Diner (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Other formats available at JPL ...

Severe storms observing satellite study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Iwens, R. P.; Stern, D. A.

1976-01-01

Payload distribution and the attitude control system for the multi-mission modular spacecraft/StormSat configuration are discussed. The design of the advanced atmospheric sounder and imaging radiometer (AASIR) gimbal drive and its servomechanism is described. Onboard data handling, data downlink communications, and ground data handling systems are developed. Additional topics covered include: magnetic unloading at synchronous altitude, north-south stationkeeping, and the feasibility and impact of flying the microwave atmospheric sounding radiometer (MASR) as an additional payload.

Hybrid diagnostic system: beacon-based exception analysis for multimissions - Livingstone integration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Park, Han G.; Cannon, Howard; Bajwa, Anupa; Mackey, Ryan; James, Mark; Maul, William

2004-01-01

This paper describes the initial integration of a hybrid reasoning system utilizing a continuous domain feature-based detector, Beacon-based Exceptions Analysis for Multimissions (BEAM), and a discrete domain model-based reasoner, Livingstone.

Photographer : JPL Range :12.2 million kilometers (7.6 million miles) The view in this photo shows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

Photographer : JPL Range :12.2 million kilometers (7.6 million miles) The view in this photo shows Jupiter's Great Red Spot emerging from the five-hour Jovian night. One of the three bright, oval clouds which were observed to form approximately 40 years ago can be seen immediately below the Red Spot. Most of the other features appearing in this view are too small to be seen clearly from Earth. The color picture was assembled from three black and white photos in the Image Processing Lab at JPL.

ARC-1989-AC89-7001

NASA Image and Video Library

1989-08-21

Photo by Voyager 2 (JPL) During August 16 and 17, 1989, the Voyager 2 narrow-angle camera was used to photograph Neptune almost continuously, recording approximately two and one-half rotations of the planet. These images represent the most complete set of full disk Neptune images that the spacecraft will acquire. This picture from the sequence shows two of the four cloud features which have been tracked by the Voyager cameras during the past two months. The large dark oval near the western limb (the left edge) is at a latitude of 22 degrees south and circuits Neptune every 18.3 hours. The bright clouds immediately to the south and east of this oval are seen to substantially change their appearances in periods as short as four hours. The second dark spot, at 54 degrees south latitude near the terminator (lower right edge), circuits Neptune every 16.1 hours. This image has been processed to enchance the visibility of small features, at some sacrifice of color fidelity. The Voyager Mission is conducted by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications. (JPL Ref: A-34611 Voyager 2-N29)

WFIRST-AFTA coronagraph shaped pupil masks: design, fabrication, and characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balasubramanian, Kunjithapatham; White, Victor; Yee, Karl; Echternach, Pierre; Muller, Richard; Dickie, Matthew; Cady, Eric; Prada, Camilo Mejia; Ryan, Daniel; Poberezhskiy, Ilya; Kern, Brian; Zhou, Hanying; Krist, John; Nemati, Bijan; Eldorado Riggs, A. J.; Zimmerman, Neil T.; Kasdin, N. Jeremy

2016-01-01

NASA WFIRST-AFTA mission study includes a coronagraph instrument to find and characterize exoplanets. Various types of masks could be employed to suppress the host starlight to about 10-9 level contrast over a broad spectrum to enable the coronagraph mission objectives. Such masks for high-contrast internal coronagraphic imaging require various fabrication technologies to meet a wide range of specifications, including precise shapes, micron scale island features, ultralow reflectivity regions, uniformity, wave front quality, and achromaticity. We present the approaches employed at JPL to produce pupil plane and image plane coronagraph masks by combining electron beam, deep reactive ion etching, and black silicon technologies with illustrative examples of each, highlighting milestone accomplishments from the High Contrast Imaging Testbed at JPL and from the High Contrast Imaging Lab at Princeton University.

Bright and Dark Slopes on Ganymede

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Ridges on the edge of Ganymede's north polar cap show bright east-facing slopes and dark west-facing slopes with troughs of darker material below the larger ridges. North is to the top. The bright slopes may be due to grain size differences, differences in composition between the original surface and the underlying material, frost deposition, or illumination effects. The large 2.4 kilometer (1.5 mile) diameter crater in this image shows frost deposits located on the north-facing rim slope, away from the sun. A smaller 675 meter (2200 foot) diameter crater in the center of the image is surrounded by a bright deposit which may be ejecta from the impact. Ejecta deposits such as this are uncommon for small craters on Ganymede. This image measures 18 by 19 kilometers (11 by 12 miles) and has a resolution of 45 meters (148 feet) per pixel. NASA's Galileo spacecraft obtained this image on September 6, 1996 during its second orbit around Jupiter.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

JPL-20170811-CASSINf-0001a-A World Unveiled Cassini at TItan

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-08-11

A look at the Cassini-Huygens mission's discoveries at Saturn's moon Titan and a description of how flybys of Titan allowed the mission to change to new orbits repeatedly without wasting fuel. Featuring Linda Spilker, Cassini Project Scientist, JPL; Jonathan Lunine, Cassini Titan Scientist, Cornell University; and Elizabeth "Zibi" Turtle, Cassini Imaging Team, John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

Final Report: MaRSPlus Sensor System Electrical Cable Management and Distributed Motor Control Computer Interface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reil, Robin

2011-01-01

The success of JPL's Next Generation Imaging Spectrometer (NGIS) in Earth remote sensing has inspired a follow-on instrument project, the MaRSPlus Sensor System (MSS). One of JPL's responsibilities in the MSS project involves updating the documentation from the previous JPL airborne imagers to provide all the information necessary for an outside customer to operate the instrument independently. As part of this documentation update, I created detailed electrical cabling diagrams to provide JPL technicians with clear and concise build instructions and a database to track the status of cables from order to build to delivery. Simultaneously, a distributed motor control system is being developed for potential use on the proposed 2018 Mars rover mission. This system would significantly reduce the mass necessary for rover motor control, making more mass space available to other important spacecraft systems. The current stage of the project consists of a desktop computer talking to a single "cold box" unit containing the electronics to drive a motor. In order to test the electronics, I developed a graphical user interface (GUI) using MATLAB to allow a user to send simple commands to the cold box and display the responses received in a user-friendly format.

Gaspra Optical Navigation Image

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-08

This time-exposure picture of the asteroid Gaspra and background stars is one of four optical navigation images made by NASA Galileo imaging system to improve knowledge of Gaspra location for the spacecraft flyby. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00229

Moon - 18 Image Mosaic

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-05

This mosaic picture of the Moon was compiled from 18 images taken with a green filter NASA's Galileo imaging system during the spacecraft flyby on December 7, 1992, some 11 hours before its Earth flyby. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00128

Delta-Doped Back-Illuminated CMOS Imaging Arrays: Progress and Prospects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoenk, Michael E.; Jones, Todd J.; Dickie, Matthew R.; Greer, Frank; Cunningham, Thomas J.; Blazejewski, Edward; Nikzad, Shouleh

2009-01-01

In this paper, we report the latest results on our development of delta-doped, thinned, back-illuminated CMOS imaging arrays. As with charge-coupled devices, thinning and back-illumination are essential to the development of high performance CMOS imaging arrays. Problems with back surface passivation have emerged as critical to the prospects for incorporating CMOS imaging arrays into high performance scientific instruments, just as they did for CCDs over twenty years ago. In the early 1990's, JPL developed delta-doped CCDs, in which low temperature molecular beam epitaxy was used to form an ideal passivation layer on the silicon back surface. Comprising only a few nanometers of highly-doped epitaxial silicon, delta-doping achieves the stability and uniformity that are essential for high performance imaging and spectroscopy. Delta-doped CCDs were shown to have high, stable, and uniform quantum efficiency across the entire spectral range from the extreme ultraviolet through the near infrared. JPL has recently bump-bonded thinned, delta-doped CMOS imaging arrays to a CMOS readout, and demonstrated imaging. Delta-doped CMOS devices exhibit the high quantum efficiency that has become the standard for scientific-grade CCDs. Together with new circuit designs for low-noise readout currently under development, delta-doping expands the potential scientific applications of CMOS imaging arrays, and brings within reach important new capabilities, such as fast, high-sensitivity imaging with parallel readout and real-time signal processing. It remains to demonstrate manufacturability of delta-doped CMOS imaging arrays. To that end, JPL has acquired a new silicon MBE and ancillary equipment for delta-doping wafers up to 200mm in diameter, and is now developing processes for high-throughput, high yield delta-doping of fully-processed wafers with CCD and CMOS imaging devices.

The Earth & Moon

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-06-04

During its flight, NASA’s Galileo spacecraft returned images of the Earth and Moon. Separate images of the Earth and Moon were combined to generate this view. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00342

Planetary Image Geometry Library

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deen, Robert C.; Pariser, Oleg

2010-01-01

The Planetary Image Geometry (PIG) library is a multi-mission library used for projecting images (EDRs, or Experiment Data Records) and managing their geometry for in-situ missions. A collection of models describes cameras and their articulation, allowing application programs such as mosaickers, terrain generators, and pointing correction tools to be written in a multi-mission manner, without any knowledge of parameters specific to the supported missions. Camera model objects allow transformation of image coordinates to and from view vectors in XYZ space. Pointing models, specific to each mission, describe how to orient the camera models based on telemetry or other information. Surface models describe the surface in general terms. Coordinate system objects manage the various coordinate systems involved in most missions. File objects manage access to metadata (labels, including telemetry information) in the input EDRs and RDRs (Reduced Data Records). Label models manage metadata information in output files. Site objects keep track of different locations where the spacecraft might be at a given time. Radiometry models allow correction of radiometry for an image. Mission objects contain basic mission parameters. Pointing adjustment ("nav") files allow pointing to be corrected. The object-oriented structure (C++) makes it easy to subclass just the pieces of the library that are truly mission-specific. Typically, this involves just the pointing model and coordinate systems, and parts of the file model. Once the library was developed (initially for Mars Polar Lander, MPL), adding new missions ranged from two days to a few months, resulting in significant cost savings as compared to rewriting all the application programs for each mission. Currently supported missions include Mars Pathfinder (MPF), MPL, Mars Exploration Rover (MER), Phoenix, and Mars Science Lab (MSL). Applications based on this library create the majority of operational image RDRs for those missions. A Java wrapper around the library allows parts of it to be used from Java code (via a native JNI interface). Future conversions of all or part of the library to Java are contemplated.

Venus - Lakshmi Planum

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-03-07

This image is a full-resolution mosaic of several images from NASA Magellan spacecraft. The radar smooth region in the northern part of the image is Lakshmi Planum, a high plateau region above the mean planetary radius. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00240

Simulating Planet-Hunting in a Lab

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-04-11

Three simulated planets -- one as bright as Jupiter, one half as bright as Jupiter and one as faint as Earth -- stand out plainly in this image created from a sequence of 480 images captured by the High Contrast Imaging Testbed at NASA JPL.

Where on Earth...? MISR Mystery Image Quiz #6

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

Here's another chance to play geographical detective! This Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) image covers an area of about 298 kilometers x 358 kilometers, and was captured by the instrument's vertical-viewing (nadir) camera on December 27, 2001. Use any reference materials you like and answer the following five questions: The large lagoon in the image is named for a particular type of bird. Name the bird. Note the sediment plume emanating from the southern end of the lagoon. Sailors in the 16th century imagined this outlet to be the mouth of a large river. What did they call the river? A series of wave-like points and curls form 'cusps' on the inner shores of the lagoon. Which ONE of the following is most responsible for the formation of these cusps? Violent storm impacts on erosion and accretion Wind and tide-driven sediment transport and circulation Tectonic folding associated with nearby mountain ridges Bathymetric effects of dredging operations True or false: Changes in regional precipitation associated with large scale atmospheric circulation patterns have no effect on the salinity of the lagoon's water. Which one of these is NOT distributed within the area covered by this image? Ruppia maritima Chelonia mydas Tapirus bairdii Microcystis aeruginosa E-mail your answers, name (initials are acceptable if you prefer), and your hometown by Tuesday, February 19, 2002 to suggestions@mail-misr.jpl.nasa.gov. Answers will be published on the MISR web site in conjunction with the next weekly image release. The names and home towns of respondents who answer all questions correctly by the deadline will also be published in the order responses were received. The first 3 people on this list who are not affiliated with NASA, JPL, or MISR and who did not win a prize in the last quiz will be sent a print of the image. A new 'Where on Earth...?' mystery appears as the MISR 'image of the week' approximately once per month. A new image of the week is released every Wednesday at noon Pacific time on the MISR home page http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov. The image also appears on the Atmospheric Sciences Data Center home page, http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov, though usually with a several-hour delay. Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team.

Advanced Radioisotope Power Conversion Technology Research and Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wong, Wayne A.

2004-01-01

NASA's Radioisotope Power Conversion Technology program is developing next generation power conversion technologies that will enable future missions that have requirements that cannot be met by either the ubiquitous photovoltaic systems or by current Radioisotope Power System (RPS) technology. Performance goals of advanced radioisotope power systems include improvement over the state-of-practice General Purpose Heat Source/Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator by providing significantly higher efficiency to reduce the number of radioisotope fuel modules, and increase specific power (watts/kilogram). Other Advanced RPS goals include safety, long-life, reliability, scalability, multi-mission capability, resistance to radiation, and minimal interference with the scientific payload. NASA has awarded ten contracts in the technology areas of Brayton, Stirling, Thermoelectric, and Thermophotovoltaic power conversion including five development contracts that deal with more mature technologies and five research contracts. The Advanced RPS Systems Assessment Team includes members from NASA GRC, JPL, DOE and Orbital Sciences whose function is to review the technologies being developed under the ten Radioisotope Power Conversion Technology contracts and assess their relevance to NASA's future missions. Presented is an overview of the ten radioisotope power conversion technology contracts and NASA's Advanced RPS Systems Assessment Team.

Automating the training development process for mission flight operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scott, Carol J.

1994-01-01

Traditional methods of developing training do not effectively support the changing needs of operational users in a multimission environment. The Automated Training Development System (ATDS) provides advantages over conventional methods in quality, quantity, turnaround, database maintenance, and focus on individualized instruction. The Operations System Training Group at the JPL performed a six-month study to assess the potential of ATDS to automate curriculum development and to generate and maintain course materials. To begin the study, the group acquired readily available hardware and participated in a two-week training session to introduce the process. ATDS is a building activity that combines training's traditional information-gathering with a hierarchical method for interleaving the elements. The program can be described fairly simply. A comprehensive list of candidate tasks determines the content of the database; from that database, selected critical tasks dictate which competencies of skill and knowledge to include in course material for the target audience. The training developer adds pertinent planning information about each task to the database, then ATDS generates a tailored set of instructional material, based on the specific set of selection criteria. Course material consistently leads students to a prescribed level of competency.

Ganymede - Comparison of Voyager and Galileo Resolution

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-09-07

These images demonstrate the dramatic improvement in the resolution of pictures that NASA Galileo spacecraft returned compared to previous images of the Jupiter system. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00277

Mars Science Laboratory Rover and Descent Stage

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-11-19

In this February 17, 2009, image, NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover is attached to the spacecraft descent stage. The image was taken inside the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA JPL, Pasadena, Calif.

Reachability Maps for In Situ Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deen, Robert G.; Leger, Patrick C.; Robinson, Matthew L.; Bonitz, Robert G.

2013-01-01

This work covers two programs that accomplish the same goal: creation of a "reachability map" from stereo imagery that tells where operators of a robotic arm can reach or touch the surface, and with which instruments. The programs are "marsreach" (for MER) and "phxreach." These programs make use of the planetary image geometry (PIG) library. However, unlike the other programs, they are not multi-mission. Because of the complexity of arm kinematics, the programs are specific to each mission.

Rocky terrain & airbags

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

An area of very rocky terrain at the Ares Vallis landing site, along with the lander's deflated airbags, were imaged by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) before its deployment on Sol 2. The metallic object at the bottom is a bracket for the IMP's release mechanism.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Sojourner's APXS at Shark

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

The Sojourner rover is seen next to the rock 'Shark', in this image taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) near the end of daytime operations on Sol 52. The rover's Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer is deployed against the rock. The rock 'Wedge' is in the foreground.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Image inversion analysis of the HST OTA (Hubble Space Telescope Optical Telescope Assembly), phase A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Litvak, M. M.

1991-01-01

Technical work during September-December 1990 consisted of: (1) analyzing HST point source images obtained from JPL; (2) retrieving phase information from the images by a direct (noniterative) technique; and (3) characterizing the wavefront aberration due to the errors in the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) mirrors, in a preliminary manner. This work was in support of JPL design of compensating optics for the next generation wide-field planetary camera on HST. This digital technique for phase retrieval from pairs of defocused images, is based on the energy transport equation between these image planes. In addition, an end-to-end wave optics routine, based on the JPL Code 5 prescription of the unaberrated HST and WFPC, was derived for output of the reference phase front when mirror error is absent. Also, the Roddier routine unwrapped the retrieved phase by inserting the required jumps of +/- 2(pi) radians for the sake of smoothness. A least-squares fitting routine, insensitive to phase unwrapping, but nonlinear, was used to obtain estimates of the Zernike polynomial coefficients that describe the aberration. The phase results were close to, but higher than, the expected error in conic constant of the primary mirror suggested by the fossil evidence. The analysis of aberration contributed by the camera itself could be responsible for the small discrepancy, but was not verified by analysis.

Satellite Radar Detects Damage from Sept. 2017 Chiapas, Mexico Quake

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-09-19

The Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and Caltech, also in Pasadena, created this Damage Proxy Map (DPM) depicting areas of Southern Mexico that are likely damaged (shown by red and yellow pixels) from the magnitude 8.1 Chiapas earthquake of Sept. 7, 2017 (near midnight local time, early morning on Sept. 8 UTC). The map is derived from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from the Copernicus Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-1B satellites, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). The images were taken before (Sept. 7, 2017 UTC) and after (Sept. 13, 2017 UTC) the earthquake. The map covers an area of 155 by 106 miles (250 by 170 kilometers). Each pixel measures about 33 yards (30 meters) across. The color variation from yellow to red indicates increasingly more significant ground surface change. Preliminary validation was done by comparing the SAR images to optical satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe. This damage proxy map should be used as guidance to identify damaged areas, and may be less reliable over vegetated areas. Sentinel-1 data were accessed through the Copernicus Open Access Hub. The image contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2017), processed by ESA and analyzed by the NASA-JPL/Caltech ARIA team. This research was carried out at JPL under a contract with NASA. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21956

Meridiani

NASA Image and Video Library

2006-11-16

This image shows part of the Meridiani region of Mars, home of the Opportunity Rover. Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 1.9N, Longitude 358.4E. 36 meter/pixel resolution. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01790

False Color Image of Volcano Sapas Mons

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-05

This false-color image obtained by NASA Magellan spacecraft shows the volcano Sapas Mons, which is located in the broad equatorial rise called Atla Regio. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00203

Motion in Jupiter's Atmospheric Vortices (Near-infrared filters)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Two frame 'movie' of a pair of vortices in Jupiter's southern hemisphere. The two frames are separated by ten hours. The right oval is rotating counterclockwise, like other anticyclonic bright vortices in Jupiter's atmosphere. The left vortex is a cyclonic (clockwise) vortex. The differences between them (their brightness, their symmetry, and their behavior) are clues to how Jupiter's atmosphere works. The frames span about fifteen degrees in latitude and longitude and are centered at 141 degrees west longitude and 36 degrees south planetocentric latitude. Both vortices are about 3500 kilometers in diameter in the north-south direction.

The images were taken in near infrared light at 756 nanometers and show clouds that are at a pressure level of about 1 bar in Jupiter's atmosphere. North is at the top. The smallest resolved features are tens of kilometers in size. These images were taken on May 7, 1997, at a range of 1.5 million kilometers by the Solid State Imaging system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Lack of visible change around active hotspots on Io

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

Detail of changes around two hotspots on Jupiter's moon Io as seen by Voyager 1 in April 1979 (left) and NASA's Galileo spacecraft on September 7th, 1996 (middle and right). The right frame was created with images from the Galileo Solid State Imaging system's near-infrared (756 nm), green, and violet filters. For better comparison, the middle frame mimics Voyager colors. The calderas at the top and at the lower right of the images correspond to the locations of hotspots detected by the Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer aboard the Galileo spacecraft during its second orbit. There are no significant morphologic changes around these hot calderas; however, the diffuse red deposits, which are simply dark in the Voyager colors, appear to be associated with recent and/or ongoing volcanic activity. The three calderas range in size from approximately 100 kilometers to approximately 150 kilometers in diameter. The caldera in the lower right of each frame is named Malik. North is to the top of all frames.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Rosetta Comet Spreads its Jets

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-10-24

This image was taken by the Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System, Rosetta main onboard scientific imaging system, on Sept. 10, 2014. Jets of cometary activity can be seen along almost the entire body of the comet. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA18886

Overcoming the Challenges of Implementing a Multi-Mission Distributed Workflow System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sayfi, Elias; Cheng, Cecilia; Lee, Hyun; Patel, Rajesh; Takagi, Atsuya; Yu, Dan

2009-01-01

A multi-mission approach to solving the same problems for various projects is enticing. However, the multi-mission approach leads to the need to develop a configurable, adaptable and distributed system to meet unique project requirements. That, in turn, leads to a set of challenges varying from handling synchronization issues to coming up with a smart design that allows the "unknowns" to be decided later. This paper discusses the challenges that the Multi-mission Automated Task Invocation Subsystem (MATIS) team has come up against while designing the distributed workflow system, as well as elaborates on the solutions that were implemented. The first is to design an easily adaptable system that requires no code changes as a result of configuration changes. The number of formal deliveries is often limited because each delivery costs time and money. Changes such as the sequence of programs being called, a change of a parameter value in the program that is being automated should not result in code changes or redelivery.

The Kepler Full Frame Images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dotson, Jessie L.; Batalha, Natalie; Bryson, Stephen T.; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Clarke, Bruce D.

2010-01-01

NASA's exoplanet discovery mission Kepler provides uninterrupted 1-min and 30-min optical photometry of a 100 square degree field over a 3.5 yr nominal mission. Downlink bandwidth is filled at these short cadences by selecting only detector pixels specific to 105 preselected stellar targets. The majority of the Kepler field, comprising 4 x 10(exp 6) m_v < 20 sources, is sampled at much lower 1-month cadence in the form of a full-frame image. The Full Frame Images (FFIs) are calibrated by the Science Operations Center at NASA Ames Research Center. The Kepler Team employ these images for astrometric and photometric reference but make the images available to the astrophysics community through the Multimission Archive at STScI (MAST). The full-frame images provide a resource for potential Kepler Guest Observers to select targets and plan observing proposals, while also providing a freely-available long-cadence legacy of photometric variation across a swathe of the Galactic disk.

MISR High-Resolution, Cross-Track Winds for Hurricane Ida

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-11-10

This image shows JPL Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer instrument onboard NASA Terra satellite on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 as it passed over Hurricane Ida while situated between western Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula.

Venus - False Color Image of Alpha Regio

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-07

NASA's Magellan radar image shows Alpha Regio, a topographic upland. In 1963 Alpha Regio was the first feature on Venus to be identified from Earth based radar. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00147

Moon - Western Near Side

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-08

This image of the crescent moon was obtained by the Galileo Solid State imaging system on December 8 at 5 a.m. PST as NASA Galileo spacecraft neared the Earth. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00224

Multi-Mission Geographic Information System for Science Operations: A Test Case Using MSL Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calef, F. J.; Abarca, H. E.; Soliman, T.; Abercrombie, S. P.; Powell, M. W.

2017-06-01

The Multi-Mission Geographic Information System (MMGIS) is a NASA AMMOS project in its second year of development, built to display and query science products in a spatial context. We present our progress building this tool using MSL in situ data.

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 32

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-22

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles 4,400 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet 410 meters per pixel, was taken on June 25, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19601

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 23

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-09

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 22, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19591

Dawn HAMO Image 16

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-15

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel, was taken on August 24, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19894

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 5

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-16

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles 4,400 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet 410 meters per pixel, was taken on June 6, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19573

Dawn HAMO Image 19

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-18

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel, was taken on August 26, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19897

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 31

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-21

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles 4,400 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet 410 meters per pixel, was taken on June 25, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19600

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 26

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-14

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 24, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19594

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 15

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-26

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles 4,400 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet 410 meters per pixel, was taken on June 10, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19583

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 4

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-15

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles 4,400 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet 410 meters per pixel, was taken on June 6, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19572

Dawn HAMO Image 17

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-16

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel, was taken on August 25, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19895

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 8

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-19

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles 4,400 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet 410 meters per pixel, was taken on June 6, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19576

Dawn HAMO Image 15

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-14

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel, was taken on August 24, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19893

Dawn HAMO Image 21

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-22

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel, was taken on August 27, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19899

Dawn HAMO Image 14

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-11

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel, was taken on August 24, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19892

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 22

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-08

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 18, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19590

Dawn HAMO Image 18

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-17

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel, was taken on August 26, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19896

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 30

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-20

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 24, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19599

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 28

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-16

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 25, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19596

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 12

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-23

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles 4,400 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet 410 meters per pixel, was taken on June 7, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19580

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 27

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-15

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 24, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19595

Dawn HAMO Image 22

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-23

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel, was taken on August 27, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19900

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 7

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-18

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles 4,400 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet 410 meters per pixel, was taken on June 9, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19575

Pre-Dawn Martian Sky

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

On Sol 39 there were wispy blue clouds in the pre-dawn sky of Mars, as seen by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP). The color image was made by taking blue, green, and red images and then combining them into a single color image. The clouds appear to have a bluish side and a greenish side because they moved (in the wind from the northeast) between images. This picture was made an hour and twenty minutes before sunrise -- the sun is not shining directly on the water ice clouds, but they are illuminated by the dawn twilight.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

New perspective of undeployed rover

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This image features a different perspective of one of the first pictures taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) lander shortly after its touchdown at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time on July 4. The image has been transformed to a perspective that would match that of an observer standing at the point the image was taken. Sojourner is seen in the foreground in its stowed position on a solar panel of the lander. Both ramps, the rear of which Sojourner would use on July 5 to safely descend to the Martian surface, were still undeployed when this image was taken. The double hills called 'Twin Peaks' are clearly visible in the background.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Single Still Image

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

This narrow angle image taken by Cassini's camera system of the Moon is one of the best of a sequence of narrow angle frames taken as the spacecraft passed by the Moon on the way to its closest approach with Earth on August 17, 1999. The 80 millisecond exposure was taken through a spectral filter centered at 0.33 microns; the filter bandpass was 85 Angstroms wide. The spatial scale of the image is about 1.4 miles per pixel (about 2.3 kilometers). The imaging data were processed and released by the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations (CICLOPS) at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Tucson, AZ.

Photo Credit: NASA/JPL/Cassini Imaging Team/University of Arizona

Cassini, launched in 1997, is a joint mission of NASA, the European Space Agency and Italian Space Agency. The mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington DC. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA.

The DUV Stability of Superlattice-Doped CMOS Detector Arrays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoenk, M. E.; Carver, A. G.; Jones, T.; Dickie, M.; Cheng, P.; Greer, H. F.; Nikzad, S.; Sgro, J.; Tsur, S.

2013-01-01

JPL and Alacron have recently developed a high performance, DUV camera with a superlattice doped CMOS imaging detector. Supperlattice doped detectors achieve nearly 100% internal quantum efficiency in the deep and far ultraviolet, and a single layer, Al2O3 antireflection coating enables 64% external quantum efficiency at 263nm. In lifetime tests performed at Applied Materials using 263 nm pulsed, solid state and 193 nm pulsed excimer laser, the quantum efficiency and dark current of the JPL/Alacron camera remained stable to better than 1% precision during long-term exposure to several billion laser pulses, with no measurable degradation, no blooming and no image memory at 1000 fps.

Disturbing Pop-Tart

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

The Sojourner rover's front right camera imaged Pop-tart, a small rock or indurated soil material which was pushed out of the surrounding drift material by Sojourner's front left wheel during a soil mechanics experiment.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Photographer : JPL Range : 6.5 million kilometers (4 million miles) Six violet images of Jupiter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

Photographer : JPL Range : 6.5 million kilometers (4 million miles) Six violet images of Jupiter makes the mosaic photo, showing the Great Red Spot as a swirling vortex type motion. This motion is also seen in several nearby white clouds. These bright white clouds and the Red Spot are rotating in a counter clockwise direction, except the peculiar filimentary cloud to the right of the Red Spot is going clockwise. The top of the picture shows the turbulence from the equatorial jet and more northerly atmospheric currents. The smallest clouds shown are only 70 miles (120 km) across.

Photographer: JPL P-21744 C Range: 4.2 million kilometers (2.6 million miles) In this image of

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

Photographer: JPL P-21744 C Range: 4.2 million kilometers (2.6 million miles) In this image of Europa acquired by Voyager 2, global scale dark streaks are becoming visible. Europa, the size of the earth's moon, is apparently covered by water ice as indicated by ground based spectrometers and its brightness. The central longitude of this view is 235 west. Bright rayed impact craters which are abundant on ancient Ganymede and Callisto would easily be visible at this range. The suggestion is that Europa's surface is young and that the streaks are reflections of currently active internal dynamic processes.

JPL-20170427-CASSINf-0002-Cassinis First Dive Between Saturn and Its Rings Video File

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-04-27

After the first-ever dive through the narrow gap between the planet Saturn and its rings, NASA's Cassini spacecraft called home to mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. See highlights from the scene at JPL on April 26-27, 2017, and some of the first raw images the spacecraft sent back from its closest-ever look at Saturn’s atmosphere.

Simplifying operations with an uplink/downlink integration toolkit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murphy, Susan C.; Miller, Kevin J.; Guerrero, Ana Maria; Joe, Chester; Louie, John J.; Aguilera, Christine

1994-01-01

The Operations Engineering Lab (OEL) at JPL has developed a simple, generic toolkit to integrate the uplink/downlink processes, (often called closing the loop), in JPL's Multimission Ground Data System. This toolkit provides capabilities for integrating telemetry verification points with predicted spacecraft commands and ground events in the Mission Sequence Of Events (SOE) document. In the JPL ground data system, the uplink processing functions and the downlink processing functions are separate subsystems that are not well integrated because of the nature of planetary missions with large one-way light times for spacecraft-to-ground communication. Our new closed-loop monitoring tool allows an analyst or mission controller to view and save uplink commands and ground events with their corresponding downlinked telemetry values regardless of the delay in downlink telemetry and without requiring real-time intervention by the user. An SOE document is a time-ordered list of all the planned ground and spacecraft events, including all commands, sequence loads, ground events, significant mission activities, spacecraft status, and resource allocations. The SOE document is generated by expansion and integration of spacecraft sequence files, ground station allocations, navigation files, and other ground event files. This SOE generation process has been automated within the OEL and includes a graphical, object-oriented SOE editor and real-time viewing tool running under X/Motif. The SOE toolkit was used as the framework for the integrated implementation. The SOE is used by flight engineers to coordinate their operations tasks, serving as a predict data set in ground operations and mission control. The closed-loop SOE toolkit allows simple, automated integration of predicted uplink events with correlated telemetry points in a single SOE document for on-screen viewing and archiving. It automatically interfaces with existing real-time or non real-time sources of information, to display actual values from the telemetry data stream. This toolkit was designed to greatly simplify the user's ability to access and view telemetry data, and also provide a means to view this data in the context of the commands and ground events that are used to interpret it. A closed-loop system can prove especially useful in small missions with limited resources requiring automated monitoring tools. This paper will discuss the toolkit implementation, including design trade-offs and future plans for enhancing the automated capabilities.

Simplifying operations with an uplink/downlink integration toolkit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murphy, Susan C.; Miller, Kevin J.; Guerrero, Ana Maria; Joe, Chester; Louie, John J.; Aguilera, Christine

1994-11-01

The Operations Engineering Lab (OEL) at JPL has developed a simple, generic toolkit to integrate the uplink/downlink processes, (often called closing the loop), in JPL's Multimission Ground Data System. This toolkit provides capabilities for integrating telemetry verification points with predicted spacecraft commands and ground events in the Mission Sequence Of Events (SOE) document. In the JPL ground data system, the uplink processing functions and the downlink processing functions are separate subsystems that are not well integrated because of the nature of planetary missions with large one-way light times for spacecraft-to-ground communication. Our new closed-loop monitoring tool allows an analyst or mission controller to view and save uplink commands and ground events with their corresponding downlinked telemetry values regardless of the delay in downlink telemetry and without requiring real-time intervention by the user. An SOE document is a time-ordered list of all the planned ground and spacecraft events, including all commands, sequence loads, ground events, significant mission activities, spacecraft status, and resource allocations. The SOE document is generated by expansion and integration of spacecraft sequence files, ground station allocations, navigation files, and other ground event files. This SOE generation process has been automated within the OEL and includes a graphical, object-oriented SOE editor and real-time viewing tool running under X/Motif. The SOE toolkit was used as the framework for the integrated implementation. The SOE is used by flight engineers to coordinate their operations tasks, serving as a predict data set in ground operations and mission control. The closed-loop SOE toolkit allows simple, automated integration of predicted uplink events with correlated telemetry points in a single SOE document for on-screen viewing and archiving. It automatically interfaces with existing real-time or non real-time sources of information, to display actual values from the telemetry data stream. This toolkit was designed to greatly simplify the user's ability to access and view telemetry data, and also provide a means to view this data in the context of the commands and ground events that are used to interpret it. A closed-loop system can prove especially useful in small missions with limited resources requiring automated monitoring tools. This paper will discuss the toolkit implementation, including design trade-offs and future plans for enhancing the automated capabilities.

STS ancillary equipment study. [user reference book for multimission modular spacecraft missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Plough, J. A.

1977-01-01

Spaceborne and ground ancillary equipment for multimission module spacecraft are listed to provide documentation for potential users interested in utilizing existing equipment rather than developing payload unique designs. The format of the data form contained in the Ancillary Equipment user reference book is discussed.

Europa Global Views in Natural and Enhanced Colors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

This color composite view combines violet, green, and infrared images of Jupiter's intriguing moon, Europa, for a view of the moon in natural color (left) and in enhanced color designed to bring out subtle color differences in the surface (right). The bright white and bluish part of Europa's surface is composed mostly of water ice, with very few non-ice materials. In contrast, the brownish mottled regions on the right side of the image may be covered by hydrated salts and an unknown red component. The yellowish mottled terrain on the left side of the image is caused by some other unknown component. Long, dark lines are fractures in the crust, some of which are more than 3,000 kilometers (1,850 miles) long.

North is to the top of the picture and the sun fully illuminates the surface. Europa is about 3,160 kilometers (1,950 miles) in diameter, or about the size of Earth's moon. The finest details that can be discerned are 25 kilometers across. The images in this global view were taken in June 1997 at a range of 1.25 million kilometers by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft, during its ninth orbit of Jupiter.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Airbag retraction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This image shows that the Mars Pathfinder airbags have been successfully retracted, allowing safe deployment of the rover ramps. The Sojourner rover, still in its deployed position, is at center image, and rocks are visible in the background. Mars Pathfinder landed successfully on the surface of Mars today at 10:07 a.m. PDT.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Rover Soil Experiments Near Yogi

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Sojourner, while on its way to the rock Yogi, performed several soil mechanics experiments. Piles of loose material churned up from the experiment are seen in front of and behind the Rover. The rock Pop-Tart is visible near the front right rover wheel. Yogi is at upper right. The image was taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Dawn HAMO Image 32

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-07

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image was taken on September 9, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19910

Dawn HAMO Image 31

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-06

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image was taken on September 9, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19909

Dawn HAMO Image 33

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-08

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image was taken on September 14, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19971

Dawn HAMO Image 30

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-05

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image was taken on September 9, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19908

Dawn HAMO Image 36

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-13

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image was taken on September 20, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19978

Dawn HAMO Image 35

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-12

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image was taken on August 23, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19972

Dawn HAMO Image 29

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-02

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image was taken on September 9, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19907

Dawn HAMO Image 9

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-03

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of Ceres at mid-latitudes from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel, was taken on August 21, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19885

Dawn HAMO Image 28

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-01

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image was taken on August 24, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19906

Dawn HAMO Image 25

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-28

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image was taken on August 21, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19903

Dawn HAMO Image 26

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-29

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image was taken on August 21, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19904

Dawn HAMO Image 24

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-25

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image was taken on August 21, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19902

Jupiter Great Red Spot

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-12-05

This view of Jupiter was taken by Voyager 1. This image was taken through color filters and recombined to produce the color image. This photo was assembled from three black and white negatives by the Image Processing Lab at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01384

Ceres From Dawn, Processed

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-01-19

This processed image, taken Jan. 13, 2015, shows the dwarf planet Ceres as seen from the Dawn spacecraft. The image hints at craters on the surface of Ceres. Dawn framing camera took this image at 238,000 miles 383,000 kilometers from Ceres. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19167

Jupiter

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-06-04

This processed color image of Jupiter was produced in 1990 by the U.S. Geological Survey from a Voyager image captured in 1979. Zones of light-colored, ascending clouds alternate with bands of dark, descending clouds. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00343

Moon - False Color Mosaic

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-01-29

This false-color mosaic of part of the Moon was constructed from 54 images taken by the imaging system aboard NASA's Galileo as the spacecraft flew past the Moon on December 7, 1992. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00129

Moon - North Pole Mosaic

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-05

This view of the Moon north pole is a mosaic assembled from 18 images taken by NASA's Galileo imaging system through a green filter as the spacecraft flew by on December 7, 1992. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00130

Artist: Ken Hodges Composite image explaining Objective and Motivation for Galileo Probe Heat Loads:

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Artist: Ken Hodges Composite image explaining Objective and Motivation for Galileo Probe Heat Loads: Galileo Probe descending into Jupiters Atmosphere shows heat shield separation with parachute deployed. (Ref. JPL P-19180)

A modeling analysis program for the JPL Table Mountain Io sodium cloud data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smyth, W. H.; Goldberg, B. A.

1986-01-01

Progress and achievements in the second year are discussed in three main areas: (1) data quality review of the 1981 Region B/C images; (2) data processing activities; and (3) modeling activities. The data quality review revealed that almost all 1981 Region B/C images are of sufficient quality to be valuable in the analyses of the JPL data set. In the second area, the major milestone reached was the successful development and application of complex image-processing software required to render the original image data suitable for modeling analysis studies. In the third area, the lifetime description of sodium atoms in the planet magnetosphere was improved in the model to include the offset dipole nature of the magnetic field as well as an east-west electric field. These improvements are important in properly representing the basic morphology as well as the east-west asymmetries of the sodium cloud.

Optical image and laser slope meter intercomparisons of high-frequency waves

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lubard, S. C.; Krimmel, J. E.; Thebaud, L. R.; Evans, D. D.; Shemdin, O. H.

1980-01-01

Spectral analyses of optical images of the ocean surface, obtained by a digital video system, are presented and compared with wave data measured simultaneously by the JPL Waverider-mounted laser slope meter. The image analyses, which incorporate several new ideas, provide two-dimensional wave number spectra of slope, covering wavelengths from 10 cm to 10 m. These slope spectra are converted to wave height spectra by a new technique which includes the effects of sky radiance gradients. Space-time spectra are also presented for waves whose frequencies are less than 2 Hz. The JPL slope frequency spectra are compared with image wave number spectra which have been converted to frequency spectra by use of the gravity wave dispersion relation. Results of comparisons between the frequency spectra obtained from the two different measurements show reasonable agreement for frequencies less than 3 Hz.

Sojourner Sits Near Rock Garden

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

The Mars Pathfinder Rover Sojourner is images by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder as it nears the rock 'Wedge.' Part of the Rock Garden is visible in the upper right of the image.

Pathfinder, a low-cost Discovery mission, is the first of a new fleet of spacecraft that are planned to explore Mars over the next ten years. Mars Global Surveyor, already en route, arrives at Mars on September 11 to begin a two year orbital reconnaissance of the planet's composition, topography, and climate. Additional orbiters and landers will follow every 26 months.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Fabrication of coronagraph masks and laboratory scale star-shade masks: characteristics, defects, and performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balasubramanian, Kunjithapatham; Riggs, A. J. Eldorado; Cady, Eric; White, Victor; Yee, Karl; Wilson, Daniel; Echternach, Pierre; Muller, Richard; Mejia Prada, Camilo; Seo, Byoung-Joon; Shi, Fang; Ryan, Daniel; Fregoso, Santos; Metzman, Jacob; Wilson, Robert Casey

2017-09-01

NASA WFIRST mission has planned to include a coronagraph instrument to find and characterize exoplanets. Masks are needed to suppress the host star light to better than 10-8 - 10-9 level contrast over a broad bandwidth to enable the coronagraph mission objectives. Such masks for high contrast coronagraphic imaging require various fabrication technologies to meet a wide range of specifications, including precise shapes, micron scale island features, ultra-low reflectivity regions, uniformity, wave front quality, etc. We present the technologies employed at JPL to produce these pupil plane and image plane coronagraph masks, and lab-scale external occulter masks, highlighting accomplishments from the high contrast imaging testbed (HCIT) at JPL and from the high contrast imaging lab (HCIL) at Princeton University. Inherent systematic and random errors in fabrication and their impact on coronagraph performance are discussed with model predictions and measurements.

Mars Science Laboratory Rover Taking Shape

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2008-01-01

This image taken in August 2008 in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., shows NASA's next Mars rover, the Mars Science Laboratory, in the course of its assembly, before additions of its arm, mast, laboratory instruments and other equipment.

The rover is about 9 feet wide and 10 feet long.

Viewing progress on the assembly are, from left: NASA Associate Administrator for Science Ed Weiler, California Institute of Technology President Jean-Lou Chameau, JPL Director Charles Elachi, and JPL Associate Director for Flight Projects and Mission Success Tom Gavin.

JPL, a division of Caltech, manages the Mars Science Laboratory project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

NASA/JPL aircraft SAR operations for 1984 and 1985

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, T. W. (Editor)

1986-01-01

The NASA/JPL aircraft synthetic aperture radar (SAR) was used to conduct major data acquisition expeditions in 1983 through 1985. Substantial improvements to the aircraft SAR were incorporated in 1981 through 1984 resulting in an imaging radar that could simultaneously record all four combinations of linear horizontal and vertical polarization (HH, HV, VH, VV) using computer control of the radar logic, gain setting, and other functions. Data were recorded on high-density digital tapes and processed on a general-purpose computer to produce 10-km square images with 10-m resolution. These digital images yield both the amplitude and phase of the four polarizations. All of the digital images produced so far are archived at the JPL Radar Data Center and are accessible via the Reference Notebook System of that facility. Sites observed in 1984 and 1985 included geological targets in the western United States, as well as agricultural and forestry sites in the Midwest and along the eastern coast. This aircraft radar was destroyed in the CV-990 fire at March Air Force Base on 17 July 1985. It is being rebuilt for flights in l987 and will likely be operated in a mode similar to that described here. The data from 1984 and 1985 as well as those from future expeditions in 1987 and beyond will provide users with a valuable data base for the multifrequency, multipolarization Spaceborne Imaging Radar (SIR-C) scheduled for orbital operations in the early 1990's.

Groth Deep Image

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-07-25

This ultraviolet color blowup of the Groth Deep Image was taken by NASA Galaxy Evolution Explorer on June 22 and June 23, 2003. Many hundreds of galaxies are detected in this portion of the image. NASA astronomers believe the faint red galaxies are 6 billion light years away. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04625

Dawn HAMO Image 44

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-23

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the northern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image was taken on Sept. 21, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19986

Dawn HAMO Image 10

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-04

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel, was taken on August 21, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19886

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 53

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-24

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the bright spots of Occator crater on Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 25, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19630

Dawn HAMO Image 52

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-11-04

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres at mid-latitudes from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image was taken on Sept. 29, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19994

Dawn HAMO Image 8

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-02

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the northern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel, was taken on August 21, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19884

Dawn HAMO Image 12

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-10

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel, was taken on August 21, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19888

Dawn HAMO Image 48

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-29

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the northern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image was taken on Sept. 22, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19990

Dawn HAMO Image 6

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-31

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel, was taken on August 21, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19882

Dawn HAMO Image 7

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-01

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel, was taken on August 21, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19883

Dawn HAMO Image 45

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-26

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres at mid-latitudes from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image was taken on Sept. 21, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19987

Dawn HAMO Image 5

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-28

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the northern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel, was taken on August 21, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19881

Dawn HAMO Image 4

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-27

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the northern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel, was taken on August 21, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19635

Dawn HAMO Image 43

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-22

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image was taken on Sept. 21, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19985

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 35

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-27

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows the brightest spots on dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles 4,400 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet 410 meters per pixel, was taken on June 24, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19604

Dawn HAMO Image 38

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-15

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image was taken on Sept. 20, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19980

Dawn HAMO Image 11

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-08

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel, was taken on August 21, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19887

Dawn HAMO Image 49

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-30

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the northern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. The image was taken on Sept. 22, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19991

Jupiterrise

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-19

This image of the sunlit part of Jupiter and its swirling atmosphere was created by a citizen scientist (Alex Mai) using data from Juno's JunoCam instrument. JunoCam's raw images are available at www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam for the public to peruse and process into image products. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21108

Integrated imaging sensor systems with CMOS active pixel sensor technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yang, G.; Cunningham, T.; Ortiz, M.; Heynssens, J.; Sun, C.; Hancock, B.; Seshadri, S.; Wrigley, C.; McCarty, K.; Pain, B.

2002-01-01

This paper discusses common approaches to CMOS APS technology, as well as specific results on the five-wire programmable digital camera-on-a-chip developed at JPL. The paper also reports recent research in the design, operation, and performance of APS imagers for several imager applications.

One Small Collection of Images, Many Giant Strides Forward for MESSENGER

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-07-23

This image compilation shows some of the most exciting images taken thus far on the MESSENGER mission. A mural-sized copy hangs next to the MESSENGER Science Operations Center at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16364

Venus - Aine Corona F-MIDR 59S164

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-05

This radar image from NASA Magellan spacecraft shows a region located in a vast plain to the south of Aphrodite Terra. The data for this image was obtained in January 1991. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00202

Planetary data system requirements: Multi-mission radio science requirements for the 1978 to 1988 era

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, H. T. (Editor)

1979-01-01

The functional and performance requirements for support of multimission radio science are established. The classes of radio science investigation are described and the needed data is discussed. This document is for a sliding ten year period and will be iterated as the mission set evolves.

Effects of Optical-density and Phase Dispersion of an Imperfect Band-limited Occulting Mask on the Broadband Performance of a TPF Coronagraph

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sidiek, Erkin; Balasubramanian, Kunjithapatham

2007-01-01

Practical image-plane occulting masks required by high-contrast imaging systems such as the TPF-Coronagraph introduce phase errors into the transmitting beam., or, equivalently, diffracts the residual starlight into the area of the final image plane used for detecting exo-planets. Our group at JPL has recently proposed spatially Profiled metal masks that can be designed to have zero parasitic phase at the center wavelength of the incoming broadband light with small amounts of' 00 and phase dispersions at other wavelengths. Work is currently underway to design. fabricate and characterize such image-plane masks. In order to gain some understanding on the behaviors of these new imperfect band-limited occulting masks and clarify how such masks utilizing different metals or alloys compare with each other, we carried out some modeling and simulations on the contrast performance of the high-contrast imaging testbed (HCIT) at .JPL. In this paper we describe the details of our simulations and present our results.

Making tomorrow's mistakes today: Evolutionary prototyping for risk reduction and shorter development time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friedman, Gary; Schwuttke, Ursula M.; Burliegh, Scott; Chow, Sanguan; Parlier, Randy; Lee, Lorrine; Castro, Henry; Gersbach, Jim

1993-03-01

In the early days of JPL's solar system exploration, each spacecraft mission required its own dedicated data system with all software applications written in the mainframe's native assembly language. Although these early telemetry processing systems were a triumph of engineering in their day, since that time the computer industry has advanced to the point where it is now advantageous to replace these systems with more modern technology. The Space Flight Operations Center (SFOC) Prototype group was established in 1985 as a workstation and software laboratory. The charter of the lab was to determine if it was possible to construct a multimission telemetry processing system using commercial, off-the-shelf computers that communicated via networks. The staff of the lab mirrored that of a typical skunk works operation -- a small, multi-disciplinary team with a great deal of autonomy that could get complex tasks done quickly. In an effort to determine which approaches would be useful, the prototype group experimented with all types of operating systems, inter-process communication mechanisms, network protocols, packet size parameters. Out of that pioneering work came the confidence that a multi-mission telemetry processing system could be built using high-level languages running in a heterogeneous, networked workstation environment. Experience revealed that the operating systems on all nodes should be similar (i.e., all VMS or all PC-DOS or all UNIX), and that a unique Data Transport Subsystem tool needed to be built to address the incompatibilities of network standards, byte ordering, and socket buffering. The advantages of building a telemetry processing system based on emerging industry standards were numerous: by employing these standards, we would no longer be locked into a single vendor. When new technology came to market which offered ten times the performance at one eighth the cost, it would be possible to attach the new machine to the network, re-compile the application code, and run. In addition, we would no longer be plagued with lack of manufacturer support when we encountered obscure bugs. And maybe, hopefully, the eternal elusive goal of software portability across different vendors' platforms would finally be available. Some highlights of our prototyping efforts are described.

Making tomorrow's mistakes today: Evolutionary prototyping for risk reduction and shorter development time

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Friedman, Gary; Schwuttke, Ursula M.; Burliegh, Scott; Chow, Sanguan; Parlier, Randy; Lee, Lorrine; Castro, Henry; Gersbach, Jim

1993-01-01

In the early days of JPL's solar system exploration, each spacecraft mission required its own dedicated data system with all software applications written in the mainframe's native assembly language. Although these early telemetry processing systems were a triumph of engineering in their day, since that time the computer industry has advanced to the point where it is now advantageous to replace these systems with more modern technology. The Space Flight Operations Center (SFOC) Prototype group was established in 1985 as a workstation and software laboratory. The charter of the lab was to determine if it was possible to construct a multimission telemetry processing system using commercial, off-the-shelf computers that communicated via networks. The staff of the lab mirrored that of a typical skunk works operation -- a small, multi-disciplinary team with a great deal of autonomy that could get complex tasks done quickly. In an effort to determine which approaches would be useful, the prototype group experimented with all types of operating systems, inter-process communication mechanisms, network protocols, packet size parameters. Out of that pioneering work came the confidence that a multi-mission telemetry processing system could be built using high-level languages running in a heterogeneous, networked workstation environment. Experience revealed that the operating systems on all nodes should be similar (i.e., all VMS or all PC-DOS or all UNIX), and that a unique Data Transport Subsystem tool needed to be built to address the incompatibilities of network standards, byte ordering, and socket buffering. The advantages of building a telemetry processing system based on emerging industry standards were numerous: by employing these standards, we would no longer be locked into a single vendor. When new technology came to market which offered ten times the performance at one eighth the cost, it would be possible to attach the new machine to the network, re-compile the application code, and run. In addition, we would no longer be plagued with lack of manufacturer support when we encountered obscure bugs. And maybe, hopefully, the eternal elusive goal of software portability across different vendors' platforms would finally be available. Some highlights of our prototyping efforts are described.

Deep Imaging Survey

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-07-25

This is the first Deep Imaging Survey image taken by NASA Galaxy Evolution Explorer. On June 22 and 23, 2003, the spacecraft obtained this near ultraviolet image of the Groth region by adding multiple orbits for a total exposure time of 14,000 seconds. Tens of thousands of objects can be identified in this picture. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04627

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 21

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-07

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 17, 2015. A bright area called "Spot 1" can be seen in this image. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19589

Finding the Lost City

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

Nicholas Clapp, a filmmaker and archeology enthusiast, had accumulated extensive information concerning Ubar, the fabled lost city of ancient Arabia. When he was unable to identify its exact location, however, he turned to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for assistance in applying orbital remote sensing techniques. JPL scientists searched NASA's shuttle imaging radar, as well as Landsat and SPOT images and discovered ancient caravan tracks. This enabled them to prepare a map of the trails, which converged at a place known as Ash Shisr. An expedition was formed, which found structures and artifacts from a city that predates previous area civilization by a thousand years. Although it will take time to validate the city as Ubar, the discovery is a monumental archeological triumph.

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 40

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-04

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft on June 24, 2015, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles 4,400 kilometers with a resolution of 1,400 feet 410 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19613

Optical Navigation Image of Ganymede

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-06-06

NASA Galileo spacecraft, now in orbit around Jupiter, returned this optical navigation image June 3, 1996, showing that the spacecraft is accurately targeted for its first flyby of the giant moon Ganymede on June 27. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00273

Miranda Fractures, Grooves and Craters

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-01-29

This image of the Uranian moon, Miranda, was taken Jan 24, 1986 by NASA's Voyager 2. This image reveals a bewildering variety of fractures, grooves and craters, as well as features of different albedos reflectancea. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00140

Earth - Departing Image by Galileo

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-08

This color image of the Earth was taken by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft on December 11 as it departed on its 3-year flight to Jupiter, about 2 1/2 days after the second Earth flyby. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00232

Moon - False Color Mosaic

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-05

This false-color mosaic was constructed from a series of 53 images taken through three spectral filters by NASA's Galileo imaging system as the spacecraft flew over the northern regions of the Moon on December 7, 1992. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00131

Moon - False Color Mosaic

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-01-29

This false-color photograph is a composite of 15 images of the Moon taken through three color filters NASA's Galileo solid-state imaging system during the spacecraft passage through the Earth-Moon system on December 8, 1992. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00132

Photographer : JPL Range : 76 million km. ( 47 million miles) P-22892C This, Voyager 1 image shows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

Photographer : JPL Range : 76 million km. ( 47 million miles) P-22892C This, Voyager 1 image shows Saturn and five of its satellites. Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is clearly seen in the upper right corner. The smaller satellites, Dione & Tethys, are shown in the upper left corner, top and bottom respectively. Two of the innermost satellites, Mimas & Enceladus, appear to the lower right of the planet, with Mimas closest to Satun. The bright object to the left of the rings is not a moon, but an artifact of processing. Voyager 1 will make its closest approach November 12th, 1980, ata distance of 124,200 km. (77,176 mi.). this photo is just one of 17,000 images taken of Saturn, its rings, and its satellites by Voyager 1.

Application of modified VICAR/IBIS GIS to analysis of July 1991 Flevoland AIRSAR data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Norikane, L.; Broek, B.; Freeman, A.

1992-01-01

Three overflights of the Flevoland calibration/agricultural site were made by the JPL Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) on 3, 12, and 28 July 1991 as part of MAC-Europe '92. A polygon map was generated at TNO-FEL which overlayed the slant range projected July 3 data set. Each polygon was identified by a sequence of points and a crop label. The polygon map was composed of 452 uniquely identified polygons and 15 different crop types. Analysis of the data was done using our modified Video Image Communication and Retrieval/Image Based Information System Geographic Information System (VICAR/IBIS GIS). This GIS is an extension of the VICAR/IBIS GIS first developed by Bryant in the 1970's which is itself an extension of the VICAR image processing system also developed at JPL.

Regional Mosaic of Chaos and Gray Band on Europa

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This mosaic of part of Jupiter's moon, Europa, shows a region that is characterized by mottled (dark and splotchy) terrain. The images in this mosaic were obtained by Solid State Imaging (CCD) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft during its eleventh orbit around Jupiter. North is to the top of the image, and the sun illuminates the scene from the right. Prior to obtaining these pictures, the age and origin of mottled terrain were not known. As seen here, the mottled appearance results from areas of the bright, icy crust that have been broken apart (known as 'chaos' terrain), exposing a darker underlying material. This terrain is typified by the area in the upper right-hand part of the image. The mottled terrain represents some of the most recent geologic activity on Europa. Also shown in this image is a smooth, gray band (lower part of image) representing a zone where the Europan crust has been fractured, separated, and filled in with material derived from the interior. The chaos terrain and the gray band show that this satellite has been subjected to intense geological deformation.

The mosaic, centered at 2.9 degrees south latitude and 234.1 degrees west longitude, covers an area of 365 kilometers by 335 kilometers (225 miles by 210 miles). The smallest distinguishable features in the image are about 460 meters (1500 feet) across. These images were obtained on November 6, 1997, when the Galileo spacecraft was approximately 21,700 kilometers (13,237 miles) from Europa.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is a division of California Institute of Technology.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Algorithmic formulation of control problems in manipulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bejczy, A. K.

1975-01-01

The basic characteristics of manipulator control algorithms are discussed. The state of the art in the development of manipulator control algorithms is briefly reviewed. Different end-point control techniques are described together with control algorithms which operate on external sensor (imaging, proximity, tactile, and torque/force) signals in realtime. Manipulator control development at JPL is briefly described and illustrated with several figures. The JPL work pays special attention to the front or operator input end of the control algorithms.

JPL Researcher Bruce Chapman at an AirSAR station aboard NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory during the AirSAR 2004 campaign

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-03-03

JPL Researcher Bruce Chapman at an AirSAR station aboard NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory during the AirSAR 2004 campaign. AirSAR 2004 is a three-week expedition by an international team of scientists that will use an all-weather imaging tool, called the Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AirSAR), in a mission ranging from the tropical rain forests of Central America to frigid Antarctica.

Multi-mission space vehicle subsystem analysis tools

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kordon, M.; Wood, E.

2003-01-01

Spacecraft engineers often rely on specialized simulation tools to facilitate the analysis, design and operation of space systems. Unfortunately these tools are often designed for one phase of a single mission and cannot be easily adapted to other phases or other misions. The Multi-Mission Pace Vehicle Susbsystem Analysis Tools are designed to provide a solution to this problem.

Multi-mission telecom analysis tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hanks, D.; Kordon, M.; Baker, J.

2002-01-01

In the early formulation phase of a mission it is critically important to have fast, easy to use, easy to integrate space vehicle subsystem analysis tools so that engineers can rapidly perform trade studies not only by themselves but in coordination with other subsystem engineers as well. The Multi-Mission Telecom Analysis Tool (MMTAT) is designed for just this purpose.

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 20

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-06

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 22, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19588

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 29

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-17

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 25, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19597

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 17

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-30

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 16, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19585

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 25

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-13

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the northern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 24, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19593

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 24

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-10

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the northern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 21, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19592

JPL-19811112-SIRAf-0001-AVC2002151 Shuttle Imaging Radar A Launches

NASA Image and Video Library

1981-11-12

Launch of the first flight of Shuttle Imaging Radar aboard the Space Shuttle. Using radar pulses rather than optical light, imaging radar can "see" through desert sands, for example, to detect the remnants of ancient riverbeds. Earth was mapped from approximately 60° N latitude to 60° S latitude.

JPL-19841005-SIRBf-0001-AVC2002151 Shuttle Imaging Radar B Launches

NASA Image and Video Library

1984-10-05

Launch of the second flight of Shuttle Imaging Radar aboard the Space Shuttle. Using radar pulses rather than optical light, imaging radar can "see" through desert sands, for example, to detect the remnants of ancient riverbeds. Earth was mapped from approximately 60° N latitude to 60° S latitude.

Martian Surface & Pathfinder Airbags

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This image of the Martian surface was taken in the afternoon of Mars Pathfinder's first day on Mars. Taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP camera), the image shows a diversity of rocks strewn in the foreground. A hill is visible in the distance (the notch within the hill is an image artifact). Airbags are seen at the lower right.

The IMP is a stereo imaging system with color capability provided by 24 selectable filters -- twelve filters per 'eye.' It stands 1.8 meters above the Martian surface, and has a resolution of two millimeters at a range of two meters.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Shuttle Imaging Radar B (SIR-B) Weddell Sea ice observations - A comparison of SIR-B and scanning multichannel microwave radiometer ice concentrations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, Seelye; Holt, Benjamin; Cavalieri, Donald J.; Squire, Vernon

1987-01-01

Ice concentrations over the Weddell Sea were studied using SIR-B data obtained during the October 1984 mission, with special attention given to the effect of ocean waves on the radar return at the ice edge. Sea ice concentrations were derived from the SIR-B data using two image processing methods: the classification scheme at JPL and the manual classification method at Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI), England. The SIR ice concentrations were compared with coincident concentrations from the Nimbus-7 SMMR. For concentrations greater than 40 percent, which was the smallest concentration observed jointly by SIR-B and the SMMR, the mean difference between the two data sets for 12 points was 2 percent. A comparison between the JPL and the SPRI SIR-B algorithms showed that the algorithms agree to within 1 percent in the interior ice pack, but the JPL algorithm gives slightly greater concentrations at the ice edge (due to the fact that the algorithm is affected by the wind waves in these areas).

Arecibo/Magellan Composite of Quetzalpetlatl Corona

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-01-16

This composite image was created by inserting approximately 70 orbits of NASA Magellan data into an image obtained at the Arecibo, Puerto Rico radiotelescope and shows a geologically complex region in the southern hemisphere of Venus. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00217

Earth - Antarctica Mosaic

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-01

This color picture of the limb of the Earth, looking north past Antarctica, is a mosaic of 11 images taken during a ten-minute period near 5:45 p.m. PST Dec. 8, 1990, by NASA’s Galileo imaging system. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00116

Earth Moon

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-06-08

NASA Galileo spacecraft took this image of Earth moon on December 7, 1992 on its way to explore the Jupiter system in 1995-97. The distinct bright ray crater at the bottom of the image is the Tycho impact basin. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00405

Dome shaped features on Europa's surface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

The Solid State Imaging system aboard the spacecraft Galileo took this image of the surface of Europa on February 20, 1997 during its sixth orbit around Jupiter. The image is located near 16 North, 268 West; illumination is from the lower-right. The area covered is approximately 48 miles (80 kilometers) by 56 miles (95 kilometers) across. North is toward the top of the image.

This image reveals that the icy surface of Europa has been disrupted by ridges and faults numerous times during its past. These ridges have themselves been disrupted by the localized formation of domes and other features that may be indicative of thermal upwelling of water from beneath the crust. These features provide strong evidence for the presence of subsurface liquid during Europa's recent past.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Topography within Europa's Mannann'an crater

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

This three dimensional effect is created by superimposing images of Jupiter's icy moon, Europa, which were taken from slightly different perspectives. When viewed through red (left eye) and blue (right eye) filters, this product, a stereo anaglyph, shows variations in height of surface features.

This view shows the rim and interior of the impact crater Mannann'an, on Jupiter's moon Europa. The stereo image reveals the rim of the crater which appears as a tall ridge near the left edge of the image, as well as and numerous small hills on the bottom of the crater. One of the most striking features is the large pit surrounded by circular cracks on the right side of the image, with dark radiating fractures in its center.

The right (blue) image is a high resolution image (20 meters per picture element) taken through a clear filter. The left (red) image is composed of lower resolution (80 meters per picture element) color images taken through violet, green, and near-infrared filters and averaged to approximate an unfiltered view.

North is to the top of the picture and the sun illuminates the scene from the east (right). The image, centered at 3 degrees north latitude and 120 degrees west longitude, covers an area approximately 18 by 4 kilometers (11 by 2.5 miles). The finest details that can be discerned in this picture are about 40 meters (44 yards) across. The images were taken on March 29th, 1998 at 13 hours, 17 minutes, 29 seconds Universal Time at a range of 1934 kilometers by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Design considerations for imaging charge-coupled device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1981-04-01

The image dissector tube, which was formerly used as detector in star trackers, will be replaced by solid state imaging devices. The technology advances of charge transfer devices, like the charge-coupled device (CCD) and the charge-injection device (CID) have made their application to star trackers an immediate reality. The Air Force in 1979 funded an American Aerospace company to develop an imaging CCD (ICCD) star sensor for the Multimission Attitude Determination and Autonomous Navigation (MADAN) system. The MADAN system is a technology development for a strapdown attitude and navigation system which can be used on all Air Force 3-axis stabilized satellites. The system will be autonomous and will provide real-time satellite attitude and position information. The star sensor accuracy provides an overall MADAN attitude accuracy of 2 arcsec for star rates up to 300 arcsec/sec. The ICCD is basically an integrating device. Its pixel resolution in not yet satisfactory for precision applications.

A Dark Spot on Europa

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

This view taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft of Jupiter's icy moon Europa focuses on a dark, smooth region whose center is the lowest area in this image. To the west (left), it is bounded by a cliff and terraces, which might have been formed by normal faulting. The slopes toward the east (right) leading into the dark spot are gentle.

Near the center of the dark area, it appears the dark materials have covered some of the bright terrain and ridges. This suggests that when the dark material was deposited, it may have been a fluid or an icy slush.

Only a few impact craters are visible, with some of them covered or flooded by dark material. Some appear in groups, which may indicate that they are secondary craters formed by debris excavated during a larger impact event. A potential source for these is the nearby crater Mannann`an.

North is to the top of the picture which is centered at 1 degree south latitude and 225 degrees west longitude. The images in this mosaic have been re-projected to 50 meters (55 yards) per picture element. They were obtained by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system on March 29, 1998, during Galileo's fourteenth orbit of Jupiter, at ranges as close as 1940 kilometers (1,200 miles) from Europa.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

International, private-public, multi-mission, next-generation Lunar/Martian laser retroreflectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dellagnello, S.

2017-09-01

We describe an international, private-public, multi-mission effort to deploy on the Moon next-generation lunar laser retroreflectors to extend (also to the far side) the existing passive Lunar Geophysical Network (LNG) consisting of the three Apollo and the two Lunokhod payloads. We also describe important applications and extension of this program to Mars Geophysical Network (MGN).

Application of acoustic surface wave filter-beam lead component technology to deep space multimission hardware design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kermode, A. W.; Boreham, J. F.

1974-01-01

This paper discusses the utilization of acoustic surface wave filters, beam lead components, and thin film metallized ceramic substrate technology as applied to the design of deep space, long-life, multimission transponder. The specific design to be presented is for a second mixer local oscillator module, operating at frequencies as high as 249 MHz.

Summaries of the Sixth Annual JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop, March 4-8, 1996. Volume 2; AIRSAR Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Yunjin (Editor)

1996-01-01

This publication contains the summaries for the Sixth Annual JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop, held in Pasadena, California, on March 4-8, 1996. The main workshop is divided into two smaller workshops as follows: The Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) workshop, on March 4-6. The summaries for this workshop appear in Volume 1. The Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) workshop, on March 6-8. The summaries for this workshop appear in Volume 2.

Summaries of the Seventh JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop January 12-16, 1998. Volume 1; AVIRIS Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, Robert O. (Editor)

1998-01-01

This publication contains the summaries for the Seventh JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop, held in Pasadena, California, on January 12-16, 1998. The main workshop is divided into three smaller workshops, and each workshop has a volume as follows: (1) Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) Workshop; (2) Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) Workshop; and (3) Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) Workshop. This Volume 1 publication contains 58 papers taken from the AVIRIS workshop.

Summaries of the Sixth Annual JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop. Volume 1; AVIRIS Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, Robert O. (Editor)

1996-01-01

This publication contains the summaries for the Sixth Annual JPL Airborne Earth Science Workshop, held in Pasadena, California, on March 4-8, 1996. The main workshop is divided into two smaller workshops as follows: (1) The Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) workshop, on March 4-6. The summaries for this workshop appear in Volume 1; (2) The Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) workshop, on March 6-8. The summaries for this workshop appear in Volume 2.

JPL Researcher Tim Miller at the primary AirSAR station aboard NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory during the AirSAR 2004 campaign

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-03-03

JPL Researcher Tim Miller at the primary AirSAR station aboard NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory during the AirSAR 2004 campaign. AirSAR 2004 is a three-week expedition by an international team of scientists that will use an all-weather imaging tool, called the Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AirSAR), in a mission ranging from the tropical rain forests of Central America to frigid Antarctica.

Dominica Hurricane Damage Mapped by NASA's ARIA Team

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-09-29

The Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and Caltech, also in Pasadena, created this Damage Proxy Map (DPM) depicting areas including the Commonwealth of Dominica, that are likely damaged (shown by red and yellow pixels) as a result of Hurricane Maria (a Category 5 storm at landfall in Dominica on Sept. 18, 2017). The map is derived from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). The images were taken before (March 27, 2017) and after (Sept. 23, 2017) the landfall of the storm. The map covers the area within the large red polygon, which measures 53 by 106 miles (85 by 170 kilometers). Each pixel measures about 98 feet (30 meters) across. The color variation from yellow to red indicates increasingly more significant ground surface change. Preliminary validation was done by comparing the data to a crowdsourced map by Clemson Center for Geospatial Technologies and optical satellite imagery feom DigitalGlobe. This damage proxy map should be used as guidance to identify damaged areas, and may be less reliable over vegetated areas. Sentinel-1 data were accessed through the Copernicus Open Access Hub. The image contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2017), processed by ESA and analyzed by the NASA/JPL-Caltech ARIA team. This research was carried out at JPL under a contract with NASA. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22037

Medical Image Analysis Facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

To improve the quality of photos sent to Earth by unmanned spacecraft. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) developed a computerized image enhancement process that brings out detail not visible in the basic photo. JPL is now applying this technology to biomedical research in its Medical lrnage Analysis Facility, which employs computer enhancement techniques to analyze x-ray films of internal organs, such as the heart and lung. A major objective is study of the effects of I stress on persons with heart disease. In animal tests, computerized image processing is being used to study coronary artery lesions and the degree to which they reduce arterial blood flow when stress is applied. The photos illustrate the enhancement process. The upper picture is an x-ray photo in which the artery (dotted line) is barely discernible; in the post-enhancement photo at right, the whole artery and the lesions along its wall are clearly visible. The Medical lrnage Analysis Facility offers a faster means of studying the effects of complex coronary lesions in humans, and the research now being conducted on animals is expected to have important application to diagnosis and treatment of human coronary disease. Other uses of the facility's image processing capability include analysis of muscle biopsy and pap smear specimens, and study of the microscopic structure of fibroprotein in the human lung. Working with JPL on experiments are NASA's Ames Research Center, the University of Southern California School of Medicine, and Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, Downey, California.

Dawn OpNav9 Image 5

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-12

This image of Ceres is part of a sequence taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft on May 22, 2015, from a distance of 3,200 miles 5,100 kilometers with a resolution of 1,600 feet 480 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19567

Dawn OpNav9 Image 4

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-11

This image of Ceres is part of a sequence taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft on May 22, 2015, from a distance of 3,200 miles 5,100 kilometers with a resolution of 1,600 feet 480 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19566

Dawn HAMO Image 75

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-12-11

This view from NASA Dawn spacecraft shows high northern latitudes on Ceres. Dawn acquired the image on Oct. 17, 2015, from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers. It has a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20138

Dawn OpNav9 Image 3

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-10

This image of Ceres is part of a sequence taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft on May 22, 2015, from a distance of 3,200 miles 5,100 kilometers with a resolution of 1,600 feet 480 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19565

Dawn OpNav9 Image 1

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-08

This image of Ceres is part of a sequence taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft on May 22, 2015, from a distance of 3,200 miles 5,100 kilometers with a resolution of 1,600 feet 480 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19563

Dawn OpNav9 Image 2

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-09

This image of Ceres is part of a sequence taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft on May 22, 2015, from a distance of 3,200 miles 5,100 kilometers with a resolution of 1,600 feet 480 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19564

Uranus Ring System

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-01-29

This image captured by NASA's Voyager 2 in 1986 revealed a continuous distribution of small particles throughout the Uranus ring system. This unique geometry, the highest phase angle at which Voyager imaged the rings, allowed us to see lanes of fine dust. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00142

Mariner 9 Anniversary/Landslides on Mars Released 13 November 2002

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-11-15

This canyon system imaged here by NASA Mars Odyssey was named Valles Marineris in honor of its discoverer, NASA Mariner 9 spacecraft. The image covers a portion of the canyon system called Melas Chasma. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04003

Ganymede - Galileo Mosaic Overlayed on Voyager Data in Uruk Sulcus Region

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-09-07

A mosaic of four Galileo high-resolution images of the Uruk Sulcus region of Jupiter moon Ganymede is shown within the context of an image of the region taken by Voyager 2 in 1979. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00281

Gaspra Approach Sequence

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-01-29

This montage of 11 images taken by NASA Galileo spacecraft as it flew by the asteroid Gaspra on Oct. 1991, shows Gaspra growing progressively larger in the field of view of Galileo solid-state imaging camera as the spacecraft approached the asteroid. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00079

Galileo Optical Experiment GOPEX

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-08

Two sets of laser pulses transmitted from Earth to a spacecraft over a distance of 1.4 million kilometers 870,000 miles in a communications experiment are shown in this long-exposure image made by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft imaging system. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00230

Sunset over Twin Peaks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This image was taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) about one minute after sunset on Mars on Sol 21. The prominent hills dubbed 'Twin Peaks' form a dark silhouette at the horizon, while the setting sun casts a pink glow over the darkening sky. The image was taken as part of a twilight study which indicates how the brightness of the sky fades with time after sunset. Scientists found that the sky stays bright for up to two hours after sunset, indicating that Martian dust extends very high into the atmosphere.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Photos of earth observations taken by JPL with the Shuttle Imaging Radar-A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Photos of earth observations taken by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with the Shuttle Imaging Radar-A (SIR-A). The first image show northern Peloponnesia and part of southern Greece. The Corinthian Canal is visible as a bright line cutting across the narrow Corinth Isthmus (upper center). Black area to the right is the Aegian Sea; on the left, the Gulf of Corinth. Islands to the right, starting at the top, are Salamis, Aegene and Angistrion, and the Peninsula of Methana. Southwest of the canal on the gulf coast is the city of Corinth, appearing as bright, white spots (40244); This image shows the Hamersley mountain range in Western Australia. A circular pattern of eroded folds surround a prominent granite dome, remnants of a volcanic past, is seen in the center of the photograph. The Hardey River is seen running vertically to the right of the center circular dome, and the small town of Paraburdoo appears as a patch of tiny bright rectangles in the lower right corner (40245).

Flying Over Mimas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2005-01-01

This movie was made of narrow-angle images taken over a period of seven hours during Cassini's close encounter with Saturn's moon Mimas on Aug. 2, 2005.

In the movie the moon appears to rotate through about 115 degrees and the range varies from 253,000 to 64,000 kilometers (158,000 to 40,000 miles). The image scale in the final pan across the surface is about 760 meters (about 2,500 feet) per pixel.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org .

Solar concentrator panel and gore testing in the JPL 25-foot space simulator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dennison, E. W.; Argoud, M. J.

1981-01-01

The optical imaging characteristics of parabolic solar concentrator panels (or gores) have been measured using the optical beam of the JPL 25-foot space simulator. The simulator optical beam has been characterized, and the virtual source position and size have been determined. These data were used to define the optical test geometry. The point source image size and focal length have been determined for several panels. A flux distribution of a typical solar concentrator has been estimated from these data. Aperture photographs of the panels were used to determine the magnitude and characteristics of the reflecting surface errors. This measurement technique has proven to be highly successful at determining the optical characteristics of solar concentrator panels.

Airbag retraction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This image shows that the Mars Pathfinder airbags have been successfully retracted, allowing safe deployment of the rover ramps. The Sojourner rover is at lower right, and rocks are visible in the background. Mars Pathfinder landed successfully on the surface of Mars today at 10:07 a.m. PDT.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Ghostly Specter Haunts the ‘Coldest Place in the Universe’

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-10-28

The Boomerang nebula, called the "coldest place in the universe," reveals its true shape to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope. The background blue structure, as seen in visible light by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, shows a classic double-lobe shape with a very narrow central region. ALMA’s resolution and ability to see the cold gas molecules reveals the nebula’s more elongated shape, as seen in red. Image credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF/NASA/STScI/JPL-Caltech Read more about this image from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) here: 1.usa.gov/17o22Rz NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Technology Readiness Level (TRL) Advancement of the MSPI On-Board Processing Platform for the ACE Decadal Survey Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pingree, Paula J.; Werne, Thomas A.; Bekker, Dmitriy L.; Wilson, Thor O.

2011-01-01

The Xilinx Virtex-5QV is a new Single-event Immune Reconfigurable FPGA (SIRF) device that is targeted as the spaceborne processor for the NASA Decadal Survey Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystem (ACE) mission's Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (MSPI) instrument, currently under development at JPL. A key technology needed for MSPI is on-board processing (OBP) to calculate polarimetry data as imaged by each of the 9 cameras forming the instrument. With funding from NASA's ESTO1 AIST2 Program, JPL is demonstrating how signal data at 95 Mbytes/sec over 16 channels for each of the 9 multi-angle cameras can be reduced to 0.45 Mbytes/sec, thereby substantially reducing the image data volume for spacecraft downlink without loss of science information. This is done via a least-squares fitting algorithm implemented on the Virtex-5 FPGA operating in real-time on the raw video data stream.

Photographer : JPL Range : 3.4 million km This pair of images shows two of the long-lived white oval

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

Photographer : JPL Range : 3.4 million km This pair of images shows two of the long-lived white oval clouds which have resided in the Jovian southern hemisphere for nearly 40 years. The upper picture shows the cloud that is at a longitude west of the Great Red Spot, and the lower frame, the cloud at a longitude east of this feature. The third oval is currently just south of the Great Red Spot. The clouds show very similar internal structures. To the east of each of them, recirculation currents are clearly seen. In the lower frame, a similar structure is seen to the west of the cloud. Although a recirculation current is associated with the upper western region of the cloud, it is further away from this feature and not seen in the image. This photo was taken by Voyager 2.

Pooh Bear rock and Mermaid Dune

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

One of the two forward cameras aboard Sojourner imaged this area of Martian terrain on Sol 26. The large rock dubbed 'Pooh Bear' is at far left, and stands between four and five inches high. Mermaid Dune is the smooth area stretching horizontally across the top quarter of the image. The Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument aboard Sojourner will be deployed on Mermaid Dune, and the rover will later use its cleated wheels to dig into it.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages and Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Shark

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This false color composite image from the Pathfinder lander shows the rock 'Shark' at upper right (Shark is about 0.69 m wide, 0.40 m high, and 6.4 m from the lander). The rock looks like a conglomerate in Sojourner rover images, but only the large elements of its surface textures can be seen here. This demonstrates the usefulness of having a robot rover geologist able to examine rocks up close.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 38

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-31

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows cratered terrain near the day-night line, called the terminator, on dwarf planet Ceres. The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken at an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers) on June 24, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19611

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 14

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-25

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 9, 2015. The bright feature in the upper-left is also seen in PIA19581. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19582

This view of Jupiter was taken by Voyager 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

This view of Jupiter was taken by Voyager 1. This image was taken through color filters and recombined to produce the color image. This photo was assembled from three black and white negatives by the Image Processing Lab at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. JPL manages and controls the VOyager project for NASA's Office of Space Science.

Dawn LAMO Image 188

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-07

NASA's Dawn spacecraft views Oxo Crater (6 miles, 10 kilometers wide) in this view from Ceres. Dawn took this image on June 4, 2016, from its low-altitude mapping orbit, at a distance of about 240 miles (385 kilometers) above the surface. The image resolution is 120 feet (35 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20950

Sputnik Planum, in Color

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-15

This high-resolution image captured by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft combines blue, red and infrared images taken by the Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC). The bright expanse is the western lobe of the "heart," informally called Sputnik Planum, which has been found to be rich in nitrogen, carbon monoxide and methane ices. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20007

Cross-cutting Relationships of Surface Features on Europa

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This image of Jupiter's moon Europa shows a very complex terrain of ridges and fractures. The absence of large craters and the low number of small craters indicates that this surface is geologically young. The relative ages of the ridges can be determined by using the principle of cross-cutting relationships; i.e. older features are cross-cut by younger features. Using this principle, planetary geologists are able to unravel the sequence of events in this seemingly chaotic terrain to unfold Europa's unique geologic history.

The spacecraft Galileo obtained this image on February 20, 1997. The area covered in this image is approximately 11 miles (18 kilometers) by 8.5 miles (14 kilometers) across, near 15 North, 273 West. North is toward the top of the image, with the sun illuminating from the right.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Jakobshavn Glacier

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-17

...     View Larger Image Vibrant reds, emerald greens, brilliant whites, and pastel blues ... Averill (Raytheon / Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and David J. Diner (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Other formats available at JPL ...

Dawn LAMO Image 134

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-07-22

Liber Crater is featured at lower left in this image from Ceres. Named for the Roman god of agriculture, Liber is 14 miles 23 kilometers. NASA's Dawn spacecraft took this image on June 16, 2016, from its low-altitude mapping orbit, at a distance of about 240 miles (385 kilometers) above the surface. The image resolution is 120 feet (35 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20834

Martian Surface & Pathfinder Airbags

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-07-05

This image of the Martian surface was taken in the afternoon of Mars Pathfinder's first day on Mars. Taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP camera), the image shows a diversity of rocks strewn in the foreground. A hill is visible in the distance (the notch within the hill is an image artifact). Airbags are seen at the lower right. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00612

Real-Time On-Board Processing Validation of MSPI Ground Camera Images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pingree, Paula J.; Werne, Thomas A.; Bekker, Dmitriy L.

2010-01-01

The Earth Sciences Decadal Survey identifies a multiangle, multispectral, high-accuracy polarization imager as one requirement for the Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystem (ACE) mission. JPL has been developing a Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (MSPI) as a candidate to fill this need. A key technology development needed for MSPI is on-board signal processing to calculate polarimetry data as imaged by each of the 9 cameras forming the instrument. With funding from NASA's Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) Program, JPL is solving the real-time data processing requirements to demonstrate, for the first time, how signal data at 95 Mbytes/sec over 16-channels for each of the 9 multiangle cameras in the spaceborne instrument can be reduced on-board to 0.45 Mbytes/sec. This will produce the intensity and polarization data needed to characterize aerosol and cloud microphysical properties. Using the Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA including PowerPC440 processors we have implemented a least squares fitting algorithm that extracts intensity and polarimetric parameters in real-time, thereby substantially reducing the image data volume for spacecraft downlink without loss of science information.

Dawn HAMO Image 37

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-14

This image, taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft on Sept. 20, 2015, shows a portion of the northern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles 1,470 kilometers, and has a resolution of 450 feet 140 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19979

Juling Crater

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-06-05

This image of Juling and Kupalo Craters was obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on May 25, 2018 from an altitude of about 855 miles (1380 kilometers). The center coordinates of this image are about 38 degrees south in latitude and 173 degrees east in longitude. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22470

Neptune in False Color

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-01-29

In this false color image of Neptune, objects that are deep in the atmosphere are blue, while those at higher altitudes are white. The image was taken by Voyager 2 wide-angle camera through an orange filter and two different methane filters. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00051

Ceres Sharper Than Ever Animation

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-01-27

This frame from an animation of the dwarf planet Ceres was made by combining images taken by the Dawn spacecraft on January 25, 2015. These images of Ceres, and they represent the highest-resolution views to date of the dwarf planet. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19171

Jupiter Great Red Spot

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-09-07

This view of Jupiter Great Red Spot is a mosaic of two images taken by NASA Galileo spacecraft. The Great Red Spot is a storm in Jupiter atmosphere and is at least 300 years-old. The image was taken on June 26, 1996. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00296

Smashing the Stovepipe: Leveraging the GMSEC Open Architecture and Advanced IT Automation to Rapidly Prototype, Develop and Deploy Next-Generation Multi-Mission Ground Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swenson, Paul

2017-01-01

Satellite/Payload Ground Systems - Typically highly-customized to a specific mission's use cases - Utilize hundreds (or thousands!) of specialized point-to-point interfaces for data flows / file transfers Documentation and tracking of these complex interfaces requires extensive time to develop and extremely high staffing costs Implementation and testing of these interfaces are even more cost-prohibitive, and documentation often lags behind implementation resulting in inconsistencies down the road With expanding threat vectors, IT Security, Information Assurance and Operational Security have become key Ground System architecture drivers New Federal security-related directives are generated on a daily basis, imposing new requirements on current / existing ground systems - These mandated activities and data calls typically carry little or no additional funding for implementation As a result, Ground System Sustaining Engineering groups and Information Technology staff continually struggle to keep up with the rolling tide of security Advancing security concerns and shrinking budgets are pushing these large stove-piped ground systems to begin sharing resources - I.e. Operational / SysAdmin staff, IT security baselines, architecture decisions or even networks / hosting infrastructure Refactoring these existing ground systems into multi-mission assets proves extremely challenging due to what is typically very tight coupling between legacy components As a result, many "Multi-Mission" ops. environments end up simply sharing compute resources and networks due to the difficulty of refactoring into true multi-mission systems Utilizing continuous integration / rapid system deployment technologies in conjunction with an open architecture messaging approach allows System Engineers and Architects to worry less about the low-level details of interfaces between components and configuration of systems GMSEC messaging is inherently designed to support multi-mission requirements, and allows components to aggregate data across multiple homogeneous or heterogeneous satellites or payloads - The highly-successful Goddard Science and Planetary Operations Control Center (SPOCC) utilizes GMSEC as the hub for it's automation and situational awareness capability Shifts focus towards getting GS to a final configuration-managed baseline, as well as multi-mission / big-picture capabilities that help increase situational awareness, promote cross-mission sharing and establish enhanced fleet management capabilities across all levels of the enterprise.

Test Telemetry And Command System (TTACS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fogel, Alvin J.

1994-01-01

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed a multimission Test Telemetry and Command System (TTACS) which provides a multimission telemetry and command data system in a spacecraft test environment. TTACS reuses, in the spacecraft test environment, components of the same data system used for flight operations; no new software is developed for the spacecraft test environment. Additionally, the TTACS is transportable to any spacecraft test site, including the launch site. The TTACS is currently operational in the Galileo spacecraft testbed; it is also being provided to support the Cassini and Mars Surveyor Program projects. Minimal personnel data system training is required in the transition from pre-launch spacecraft test to post-launch flight operations since test personnel are already familiar with the data system's operation. Additionally, data system components, e.g. data display, can be reused to support spacecraft software development; and the same data system components will again be reused during the spacecraft integration and system test phases. TTACS usage also results in early availability of spacecraft data to data system development and, as a result, early data system development feedback to spacecraft system developers. The TTACS consists of a multimission spacecraft support equipment interface and components of the multimission telemetry and command software adapted for a specific project. The TTACS interfaces to the spacecraft, e.g., Command Data System (CDS), support equipment. The TTACS telemetry interface to the CDS support equipment performs serial (RS-422)-to-ethernet conversion at rates between 1 bps and 1 mbps, telemetry data blocking and header generation, guaranteed data transmission to the telemetry data system, and graphical downlink routing summary and control. The TTACS command interface to the CDS support equipment is nominally a command file transferred in non-real-time via ethernet. The CDS support equipment is responsible for metering the commands to the CDS; additionally for Galileo, TTACS includes a real-time-interface to the CDS support equipment. The TTACS provides the basic functionality of the multimission telemetry and command data system used during flight operations. TTACS telemetry capabilities include frame synchronization, Reed-Solomon decoding, packet extraction and channelization, and data storage/query. Multimission data display capabilities are also available. TTACS command capabilities include command generation verification, and storage.

MACSIGMA0 - MACINTOSH TOOL FOR ANALYZING JPL AIRSAR, ERS-1, JERS-1, AND MAGELLAN MIDR DATA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Norikane, L.

1994-01-01

MacSigma0 is an interactive tool for the Macintosh which allows you to display and make computations from radar data collected by the following sensors: the JPL AIRSAR, ERS-1, JERS-1, and Magellan. The JPL AIRSAR system is a multi-polarimetric airborne synthetic aperture radar developed and operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It includes the single-frequency L-band sensor mounted on the NASA CV990 aircraft and its replacement, the multi-frequency P-, L-, and C-band sensors mounted on the NASA DC-8. MacSigma0 works with data in the standard JPL AIRSAR output product format, the compressed Stokes matrix format. ERS-1 and JERS-1 are single-frequency, single-polarization spaceborne synthetic aperture radars launched by the European Space Agency and NASDA respectively. To be usable by MacSigma0, The data must have been processed at the Alaska SAR Facility and must be in the "low-resolution" format. Magellan is a spacecraft mission to map the surface of Venus with imaging radar. The project is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The spacecraft carries a single-frequency, single-polarization synthetic aperture radar. MacSigma0 works with framelets of the standard MIDR CD-ROM data products. MacSigma0 provides four basic functions: synthesis of images (if necessary), statistical analysis of selected areas, analysis of corner reflectors as a calibration measure (if appropriate and possible), and informative mouse tracking. For instance, the JPL AIRSAR data can be used to synthesize a variety of images such as a total power image. The total power image displays the sum of the polarized and unpolarized components of the backscatter for each pixel. Other images which can be synthesized are HH, HV, VV, RL, RR, HHVV*, HHHV*, HVVV*, HHVV* phase and correlation coefficient images. For the complex and phase images, phase is displayed using color and magnitude is displayed using intensity. MacSigma0 can also be used to compute statistics from within a selected area. The statistics computed depend on the image type. For JPL AIRSAR data, the HH, HV, VV, HHVV* phase, and correlation coefficient means and standard deviation measures are calculated. The mean, relative standard deviation, minimum, and maximum values are calculated for all other data types. A histogram of the selected area is also calculated and displayed. The selected area can be rectangular, linear, or polygonal in shape. The user is allowed to select multiple rectangular areas, but not multiple linear or polygonal areas. The statistics and histogram are displayed to the user and can either be printed or saved as a text file. MacSigma0 can also be used to analyze corner reflectors as a measure of the calibration for JPL AIRSAR, ERS-1, and JERS-1 data types. It computes a theoretical radar cross section and the actual radar cross section for a selected trihedral corner reflector. The theoretical cross section, measured cross section, their ratio in dBs, and other information are displayed to the user and can be saved into a text file. For ERS-1, JERS-1, and Magellan data, MacSigma0 simultaneously displays pixel location in data coordinates and in latitude, longitude coordinates. It also displays sigma0, the incidence angle (for Magellan data), the original pixel value (for Magellan data), and the noise power value (for ERS-1 and JERS-1 data). Grey scale computed images can be saved in a byte format (a headerless format which saves the image as a string of byte values) or a PICT format (a standard format readable by other image processing programs for the Macintosh). Images can also be printed. MacSigma0 is written in C-language for use on Macintosh series computers. The minimum configuration requirements for MacSigma0 are System 6.0, Finder 6.1, 1Mb of RAM, and at least a 4-bit color or grey-scale graphics display. MacSigma0 is also System 7 compatible. To compile the source code, Apple's Macintosh Programmers Workbench (MPW) 3.2 and the MPW C language compiler version 3.2 are required. The source code will not compile with a later version of the compiler; however, the compiled application which will run under the minimum hardware configuration is provided on the distribution medium. In addition, the distribution media includes an executable which runs significantly faster but requires a 68881 compatible math coprocessor and a 68020 compatible CPU. Since JPL AIRSAR data files can be very large, it is often desirable to reduce the size of a data file before transferring it to the Macintosh for use in MacSigma0. A small FORTRAN program which can be used for this purpose is included on the distribution media. MacSigma0 will print statistics on any output device which supports QuickDraw, and it will print images on any device which supports QuickDraw or PostScript. The standard distribution medium for MacSigma0 is a set of five 1.4Mb Macintosh format diskettes. This program was developed in 1992 and is a copyrighted work with all copyright vested in NASA. Version 4.2 of MacSigma0 was released in 1993.

Mannann'an Crater

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

This composite view taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft shows the rim and interior of the impact crater, Mannann'an, on Jupiter's moon, Europa. A high resolution image (20 meters per picture element) was combined with lower resolution (80 meters per picture element) color images taken through violet, green and near-infrared filters, to produce this synthetic color composite image. The color data can be used to distinguish between regions of purer (clean) and more contaminated (dirty) ice on the surface, and also offers information on the size of the ice grains. The reddish brown material is thought to be dirty ice, while the bluish areas inside the crater are purer ice. The crater rim is on the left at the boundary between the reddish brown material and the gray material.

The high resolution data show small features inside the crater, including concentric fractures and a spider-like set of fractures near the right (east) edge of the image. For a more regional perspective, the Mannann'an crater can be seen as a large circular feature with bright rays in the lower left corner of a regional image from Galileo's first orbit of Jupiter in June 1996.

North is to the top of the picture and the Sun illuminates the scene from the east (right). The image, centered at 3 degrees north latitude and 240 degrees west longitude, covers an area approximately 18 by 4 kilometers (11 by 2.5 miles). The finest details that can be discerned in this picture are about 40 meters (44 yards) across. The images were taken by the spacecraft's onboard solid state imaging camera when Galileo flew by Europa on March 29th, 1998 at a distance of 1,934 kilometers (1,200 miles).

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Europa 'Ice Rafts' in local and color context

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

This image of Jupiter's icy satellite Europa shows surface features such as domes and ridges, as well as a region of disrupted terrain including crustal plates which are thought to have broken apart and 'rafted' into new positions. The image covers an area of Europa's surface about 250 by 200 kilometer (km) and is centered at 10 degrees latitude, 271 degrees longitude. The color information allows the surface to be divided into three distinct spectral units. The bright white areas are ejecta rays from the relatively young crater Pwyll, which is located about 1000 km to the south (bottom) of this image. These patchy deposits appear to be superposed on other areas of the surface, and thus are thought to be the youngest features present. Also visible are reddish areas which correspond to locations where non-ice components are present. This coloring can be seen along the ridges, in the region of disrupted terrain in the center of the image, and near the dome-like features where the surface may have been thermally altered. Thus, areas associated with internal geologic activity appear reddish. The third distinct color unit is bright blue, and corresponds to the relatively old icy plains.

This product combines data taken by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft during three separate flybys of Europa. Low resolution color data (violet, green, and 1 micron) acquired in September 1996 were combined with medium resolution images from December 1996, to produce synthetic color images. These were then combined with a high resolution mosaic of images acquired in February 1997.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Arctic Clouds

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-19

...     View Larger Image Stratus clouds are common in the Arctic during the summer months, ... (Acro Service Corporation/Jet Propulsion Laboratory), David J. Diner (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Other formats available at JPL ...

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 34

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-24

This image, taken on June 25, 2015 by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles 4,400 kilometers, with a resolution of 1,400 feet 410 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19603

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 13

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-24

The north pole of Ceres can be seen in this image taken on June 9, 2015 by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles 4,400 kilometers with a resolution of 1,400 feet 410 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19581

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 33

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-23

This image, taken on June 25, 2015 by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles 4,400 kilometers, with a resolution of 1,400 feet 410 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19602

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 45

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-11

This image, taken June 6, 2015 by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows Haulani crater on Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles 4,400 kilometers with a resolution of 1,400 feet 410 meters per pixel. North on Ceres is toward upper right. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19621

Wild 2 Close Look

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-06-17

This image shows the comet Wild 2, which NASA's Stardust spacecraft flew by on Jan. 2, 2004. This image is the closest short exposure of the comet, taken at an11.4-degree phase angle, the angle between the camera, comet and the Sun. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06285

Portrait of Pluto and Charon

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-17

These two images of Pluto and Charon were collected separately by NASA New Horizons during approach on July 13 and July 14, 2015. The relative reflectivity, size, separation, and orientations, and colors are approximated in this composite image, and they are shown in approximate true color. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19717

Crazy Engineering Starshade and Coronagraph

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-04-26

Episode 7 of Crazy Engineering series. Host Mike Meacham, Mechanical Engineer at JPL, learns about the two technologies NASA is investing in to image exoplanets: the Starshade and the Coronagraph. Mike interviews Nick Siegler, Program Chief Technologist, NASA Exoplanet Program in the Starshade lab and the High Contrast Imaging Testbed lab.

Far Side of the Moon

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-08

This image of the moon was obtained by the Galileo Solid State imaging system on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. PST as NASA Galileo spacecraft passed the Earth and was able to view the lunar surface from a vantage point not possible from the Earth. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00225

Galaxy NGC5398

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-07-25

This is an ultraviolet color image of the galaxy NGC5398 taken by NASA Galaxy Evolution Explorer on June 7, 2003. NGC5398 is a barred spiral galaxy located 60 million light-years from Earth. The star formation is concentrated in the two bright regions of the image. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04633

Russel Crater Dunes - IR

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-03-10

In this infrared image of the dunes on the floor of Russell Crater, the dunes are brighter than the surround materials, as shown in this image from NASA 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Latitude: -54.4765 Longitude: 13.0926 Instrument: IR Captured: 2015-01-21 17:09 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19228

Integrating Automation into a Multi-Mission Operations Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Surka, Derek M.; Jones, Lori; Crouse, Patrick; Cary, Everett A, Jr.; Esposito, Timothy C.

2007-01-01

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Space Science Mission Operations (SSMO) Project is currently tackling the challenge of minimizing ground operations costs for multiple satellites that have surpassed their prime mission phase and are well into extended mission. These missions are being reengineered into a multi-mission operations center built around modern information technologies and a common ground system infrastructure. The effort began with the integration of four SMEX missions into a similar architecture that provides command and control capabilities and demonstrates fleet automation and control concepts as a pathfinder for additional mission integrations. The reengineered ground system, called the Multi-Mission Operations Center (MMOC), is now undergoing a transformation to support other SSMO missions, which include SOHO, Wind, and ACE. This paper presents the automation principles and lessons learned to date for integrating automation into an existing operations environment for multiple satellites.

Microscope-on-Chip Using Micro-Channel and Solid State Image Sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Yu

2000-01-01

Recently, Jet Propulsion Laboratory has invented and developed a miniature optical microscope, microscope-on-chip using micro-channel and solid state image sensors. It is lightweight, low-power, fast speed instrument, it has no image lens, does not need focus adjustment, and the total mass is less than 100g. A prototype has been built and demonstrated at JPL.

Dawn LAMO Image 136

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-07-26

Liber Crater is featured at lower left in this image from Ceres. Named for the Roman god of agriculture, Liber is 14 miles (23 kilometers) wide. NASA's Dawn spacecraft took this image on June 16, 2016, from its low-altitude mapping orbit, at a distance of about 240 miles (385 kilometers) above the surface. The image resolution is 120 feet (35 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20834

Natural Satellite Ephemerides at JPL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobson, Robert Arthur; Brozovic, Marina

2015-08-01

There are currently 176 known natural planetary satellites in the solar system; 150 are officially recognized by the IAU and 26 have IAU provisional designations. We maintain ephemerides for all of the satellites at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and make them available electronically through the On-Line Solar System Data Service known as Horizons(http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons) and in the form of generic Spice Kernels (SPK files) from NASA's Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility (http://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/naif). General satellite information such as physical constants and descriptive orbital elements can be found on the JPL Solar System Dynamics Website (http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov). JPL's ephemerides directly support planetary spacecraft missions both in navigation and science data analysis. They are also used in general scientific investigations of planetary systems. We produce the ephemerides by fitting numerically integrated orbits to observational data. Our model for the satellite dynamics accounts for the gravitational interactions within a planetary system and the external gravitational perturbations from the Sun and planets. We rely on an extensive data set to determine the parameters in our dynamical models. The majority of the observations are visual, photographic, and CCD astrometry acquired from Earthbased observatories worldwide and the Hubble Space Telescope. Additional observations include optical and photoelectric transits, eclipses, occultations, Earthbased radar ranging, spacecraft imaging,and spacecraft radiometric tracking. The latter data provide information on the planet and satellite gravity fields as well as the satellite position at the times of spacecraft close encounters. In this paper we report on the status of the ephemerides and our plan for future development, specifically that in support of NASA's Juno, Cassini, and New Horizons missions to Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto, respectively.

A closer look at Chaos on Europa

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

This mosaic of the Conamara Chaos region on Jupiter's moon, Europa, clearly indicates relatively recent resurfacing of Europa's surface. Irregularly shaped blocks of water ice were formed by the break up and movement of the existing crust. The blocks were shifted, rotated, and even tipped and partially submerged within a mobile material that was either liquid water, warm mobile ice, or an ice and water slush. The presence of young fractures cutting through this region indicates that the surface froze again into solid, brittle ice.

The background image in this picture was taken during Galileo's sixth orbit of Jupiter in February, 1997. Five very high resolution images which were taken during the spacecraft's twelfth orbit in December, 1997 provide an even closer look at some of the details. This mosaic shows some of the high resolution data inset into the context of this tumultuous region.

North is to the top of the picture, and the sun illuminates the scene from the east (right). The picture, centered at 9 degrees north latitude and 274 degrees west longitude, covers an area approximately 35 by 50 kilometers (20 by 30 miles). The finest details visible in the very high resolution insets are about 20 meters (22 yards) across, and in the background image, 100 meters (110 yards) across. The insets were taken on December 16, 1997, at ranges as close as 880 kilometers (550 miles) by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Integrated Formulation of Beacon-Based Exception Analysis for Multimissions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mackey, Ryan; James, Mark; Park, Han; Zak, Mickail

2003-01-01

Further work on beacon-based exception analysis for multimissions (BEAM), a method of real-time, automated diagnosis of a complex electromechanical systems, has greatly expanded its capability and suitability of application. This expanded formulation, which fully integrates physical models and symbolic analysis, is described. The new formulation of BEAM expands upon previous advanced techniques for analysis of signal data, utilizing mathematical modeling of the system physics, and expert-system reasoning,

Hierarchthis: An Interactive Interface for Identifying Mission-Relevant Components of the Advanced Multi-Mission Operations System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Litomisky, Krystof

2012-01-01

Even though NASA's space missions are many and varied, there are some tasks that are common to all of them. For example, all spacecraft need to communicate with other entities, and all spacecraft need to know where they are. These tasks use tools and services that can be inherited and reused between missions, reducing systems engineering effort and therefore reducing cost.The Advanced Multi-Mission Operations System, or AMMOS, is a collection of multimission tools and services, whose development and maintenance are funded by NASA. I created HierarchThis, a plugin designed to provide an interactive interface to help customers identify mission-relevant tools and services. HierarchThis automatically creates diagrams of the AMMOS database, and then allows users to show/hide specific details through a graphical interface. Once customers identify tools and services they want for a specific mission, HierarchThis can automatically generate a contract between the Multimission Ground Systems and Services Office, which manages AMMOS, and the customer. The document contains the selected AMMOS components, along with their capabilities and satisfied requirements. HierarchThis reduces the time needed for the process from service selections to having a mission-specific contract from the order of days to the order of minutes.

ARC-1981-AC81-0174

NASA Image and Video Library

1981-03-20

Artist: Ken Hodges Composite image explaining Objective and Motivation for Galileo Probe Heat Loads: Galileo Probe descending into Jupiters Atmosphere shows heat shield separation with parachute deployed. (Ref. JPL P-19180)

Rock Garden

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This false color composite image of the Rock Garden shows the rocks 'Shark' and 'Half Dome' at upper left and middle, respectively. Between these two large rocks is a smaller rock (about 0.20 m wide, 0.10 m high, and 6.33 m from the Lander) that was observed close-up with the Sojourner rover (see PIA00989).

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Goldstone Tracking the Echo Satelloon.

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-27

This archival image was released as part of a gallery comparing JPL’s past and present, commemorating the 80th anniversary of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Oct. 31, 2016. This photograph shows the first pass of Echo 1, NASA's first communications satellite, over the Goldstone Tracking Station managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California, in the early morning of Aug. 12, 1960. The movement of the antenna, star trails (shorter streaks), and Echo 1 (the long streak in the middle) are visible in this image. Project Echo bounced radio signals off a 10-story-high, aluminum-coated balloon orbiting the Earth. This form of "passive" satellite communication -- which mission managers dubbed a "satelloon" -- was an idea conceived by an engineer from NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, and was a project managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. JPL's role involved sending and receiving signals through two of its 85-foot-diameter (26-meter-diameter) antennas at the Goldstone Tracking Station in California's Mojave Desert. The Goldstone station later became part of NASA's Deep Space Network. JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Deep Space Network for NASA. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21114

The Gulch

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-27

This archival image was released as part of a gallery comparing JPL's past and present, commemorating the 80th anniversary of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Oct. 31, 2016. At the northeast end of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, there was a row of rocket test pits and storage buildings that housed explosives. This was near the Arroyo Seco, a dry canyon wash at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The picture was taken in August 1944. Today, this area is a small parking lot behind the Fabrication Shop (Building 103). http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21119

Summaries of the Third Annual JPL Airborne Geoscience Workshop. Volume 1: AVIRIS Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, Robert O. (Editor)

1992-01-01

This publication contains the preliminary agenda and summaries for the Third Annual JPL Airborne Geoscience Workshop, held at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, on 1-5 June 1992. This main workshop is divided into three smaller workshops as follows: (1) the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) workshop, on June 1 and 2; (2) the Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) workshop, on June 3; and (3) the Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) workshop, on June 4 and 5. The summaries are contained in Volumes 1, 2, and 3, respectively.

NASA Damage Map Aids Northern California Wildfire Response

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-10-18

The Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and Caltech, also in Pasadena, created this Damage Proxy Map depicting areas in Northern California that are likely damaged (shown by red and yellow pixels) as a result of the region's current outbreak of wildfires. The map is derived from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). The images were taken before (Sep. 27, 2017, 7 p.m. PDT) and after (Oct. 9, 2017, 7 p.m. PDT) the onset of the fires. The map has been provided to various agencies to aid in the wildfire response. The map covers the area within the large red polygon, and measures 155 by 106 miles (250 by 170 kilometers). The illustrative figure from the map depicted in the inset shows damage in the city of Santa Rosa. Each pixel in the Damage Proxy Map measures about 98 feet (30 meters) across. The color variation from yellow to red indicates increasingly more significant ground surface change. Preliminary validation was done by comparing to optical satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe. This Damage Proxy Map should be used as guidance to identify damaged areas, and may be less reliable over vegetated areas. Sentinel-1 data were accessed through the Copernicus Open Access Hub. The image contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2017), processed by ESA and analyzed by the NASA-JPL/Caltech ARIA team. This research was carried out at JPL under a contract with NASA. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22048

Satellite Radar Detects Damage from Sept. 19, 2017 Raboso, Mexico, Quake

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-09-20

The Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and Caltech, also in Pasadena, created this Damage Proxy Map (DPM) depicting areas of Central Mexico, including Mexico City, that are likely damaged (shown by red and yellow pixels) from the magnitude 7.1 Raboso earthquake of Sept. 19, 2017 (local time). The map is derived from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from the Copernicus Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-1B satellites, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). The images were taken before (Sept. 8, 2017) and after (Sept. 20, 2017) the earthquake. The map covers an area of 109 by 106 miles (175 by 170 kilometers). Each pixel measures about 33 yards (30 meters) across. The color variation from yellow to red indicates increasingly more significant ground and building surface change. Preliminary validation was done by comparing the DPM to a crowd-sourced Google Map (https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1_-V97lbdgLFHpx-CtqhLWlJAnYY&ll=19.41452166501326%2C-99.16498240436704&z=16). This damage proxy map should be used as guidance to identify damaged areas, and may be less reliable over vegetated areas. Sentinel-1 data were accessed through the Copernicus Open Access Hub. The image contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2017), processed by ESA and analyzed by the NASA-JPL/Caltech ARIA team. This research was carried out at JPL under contract with NASA. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21963

Diverse Lithologies on a Crater Floor

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-16

This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows bedrock units with diverse colors indicating different mineral concentrations. More information is available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22434

Appalachian Mountains

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2014-05-15

...     View Larger Image Multi-angle views of the Appalachian Mountains, March 6, 2000 . ... Center Atmospheric Science Data Center in Hampton, VA. Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Science Team Other formats ...

Hazcam Prototype

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-11-01

This image shows one of the enhanced engineering cameras with a prototype lens for the Hazcams, which will watch for obstacles encountered by NASA's Mars 2020 rover. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22102

Craters near the south pole of Callisto

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This image of the south polar region of the Jovian satellite Callisto was taken in twilight by the Galileo spacecraft on its eighth orbit around Jupiter. Craters ranging in size from 60 kilometers (36 miles) down to the limit of resolution are visible in this image. Scientists count the number of craters on a planetary surface to estimate its relative (and sometimes absolute) age. Note that many of the craters are not as sharp in appearance as the two large craters near the bottom of the image. This is an indication that some process has eroded the craters since their formation.

This image is centered at 82.5 south latitude and 62.6 west longitude, and covers an area approximately 370 kilometers (220 miles) by 280 kilometers (170 miles). North is toward the top of the image. This image was taken on May 6, 1997 by the Solid State Imaging system (CCD) on board NASA's Galileo spacecraft at a resolution of 676 meters (417 feet) per picture element.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Clouds over Tharsis

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-03-13

Color composite of condensate clouds over Tharsis made from red and blue images with a synthesized green channel. Mars Orbiter Camera wide angle frames from Orbit 48. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00812

Voyager Testing

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-07-05

This image shows one of the Voyagers in the 25-foot space simulator chamber at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. The photo is dated April 27, 1977. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21737

Ulysses Fossae in Tharsis

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-11-22

Extensional forces in the volcanic province of Tharsis, shown in this image from NASA Mars Odyssey spacecraft, have produced a fractured terrain that resembles wrinkled skin. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04005

Bedrock on a Crater Floor

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-30

This enhanced color image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows eroded bedrock on the floor of a large ancient crater. For more information see https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22439

Moon As Seen By NIMS

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-08

These four images of the Moon are from data acquired by NASA Galileo spacecraft Near-Earth Mapping Spectrometer during Galileo December 1992 Earth/Moon flyby. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00231

Chandra Interactive Analysis of Observations (CIAO)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dobrzycki, Adam

2000-01-01

The Chandra (formerly AXAF) telescope, launched on July 23, 1999, provides X-rays data with unprecedented spatial and spectral resolution. As part of the Chandra scientific support, the Chandra X-ray Observatory Center provides a new data analysis system, CIAO ("Chandra Interactive Analysis of Observations"). We will present the main components of the system: "First Look" analysis; SHERPA: a multi-dimensional, multi-mission modeling and fitting application; Chandra Imaging and Plotting System; Detect package-source detection algorithms; and DM package generic data manipulation tools, We will set up a demonstration of the portable version of the system and show examples of Chandra Data Analysis.

The Black Hull Fleet: Multi-Function Assets for Multi-Mission Duty

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

also conduct annual training and mock ex- ercises using pre-staged vessel of opportunity skimming system gear, and all crews receive hazardous waste...Valdez oil spill in 1989, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 mandated that they be outfittedwith an onboard spilled oil recovery system (SORS) comprised of... outriggers , booms, hydraulic skim- ming equipment, and product storage vessels. The“Black Hull” Fleet Multi-function assets for multi-mission duty. by

Abstract Jupiter Atmosphere (Artist Concept)

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-28

Citizen scientist Rick Lundh created this abstract Jovian artwork using data from the JunoCam imager onboard NASA's Juno spacecraft. The original image captures a close-up view of numerous storms in the northern hemisphere of Jupiter. To produce this artwork, Lundh selected a more contrasting part of one of Jupiter's storms, then cropped the image and applied an oil-painting filter. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21983

Dawn LAMO Image 175

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-09-20

NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained this view of Laukumate Crater (19 miles, 30 kilometers wide) on Ceres on June 2, 2016. Laukumate is named for a Latvian goddess of agriculture. Dawn took this image from its low-altitude mapping orbit, at a distance of about 240 miles (385 kilometers) above the surface. The image resolution is 120 feet (35 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20937

Dawn LAMO Image 185

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-04

NASA's Dawn spacecraft spies Achita Crater on Ceres in this view. Achita is named for a Nigerian god of agriculture and is 25 miles (40 kilometers) wide. Dawn took this image on June 3, 2016, from its low-altitude mapping orbit, at a distance of about 240 miles (385 kilometers) above the surface. The image resolution is 120 feet (35 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20947

Palikir Crater

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-27

Today's VIS image is of Palikir Crater in Terra Sirenum. The inner rim of the crater is dissected with numerous gullies. In higher resolution images from other imagers these gullies are the location of changing linea, which appear to grow and retreat as seasons change. Orbit Number: 65311 Latitude: -41.6177 Longitude: 202.206 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-09-03 13:12 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21152

Samhain Catenae on Ceres

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-11-09

This image made with data from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows pit chains on dwarf planet Ceres called Samhain Catenae. Scientists created this image by draping the grayscale mosaic of Ceres' surface onto the shape model of the dwarf planet. The arrows in the image point to a few of the pit chains investigated in a 2017 study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22086

Melas Chasma - False Color

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-07-13

The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of Melas Chasma. Orbit Number: 59750 Latitude: -10.5452 Longitude: 290.307 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-06-03 12:33 https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21705

Melas Chasma - False Color

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-21

The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of Melas Chasma. Orbit Number: 10289 Latitude: -9.9472 Longitude: 285.933 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2004-04-09 12:43 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19756

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 46

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-12

This image, taken on June 6, 2015 by NASA Dawn spacecraft, shows a mountain on Ceres at center-left that is 4 miles 6 kilometers high, from an altitude of 2,700 miles 4,400 kilometers with a resolution of 1,400 feet 410 meters per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19622

Spirit Stretches Out

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-01-10

This frame from an animation flips back and forth between images taken before and after deployment of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's bogie, a part of the rover's suspension system that extends the wheel base. These images were taken by Spirit's hazard avoidance camera. An animation is available at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05040

Yardangs

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-08-17

Today's VIS image is located in Aeolis Mensae, east of Gale Crater. The linear ridge/valley system near the center of the image was formed by unidirectional winds eroding poorly cemented material. This feature is called yardangs. Orbit Number: 64265 Latitude: -5.37213 Longitude: 145.043 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-06-09 09:32 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20806

Venus in Violet and Near Infrared Light

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-01

These images of the Venus clouds were taken by NASA Galileo Solid State Imaging System February 13,1990, at a range of about 1 million miles. The smallest detail visible is about 20 miles. They show the state of the clouds near the top of Venus cloud. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00071

Io with Loki Plume on Bright Limb

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-06-03

NASA's Voyager 1 image of Io showing active plume of Loki on limb. Heart-shaped feature southeast of Loki consists of fallout deposits from active plume Pele. The images that make up this mosaic were taken from an average distance of approximately 490,000 kilometers (340,000 miles). http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00010

Intricate Valley Glaciers on Pluto

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-17

The backlighting highlights the intricate flow lines on the glaciers. The flow front of the ice is moving into the informally named Sputnik Planum. The origin of the ridges and pits on the right side of the image remains uncertain. This image is 390 miles (630 kilometers) across. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19943

Topography and Volcanoes on Io (color)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

The images used to create this enhanced color composite of Io were acquired by NASA's Galileo spacecraft during its seventh orbit (G7) of Jupiter. Low sun angles near the terminator (day-night boundary near the left side of the image) offer lighting conditions which emphasize the topography or relief on the volcanic satellite. The topography appears very flat near the active volcanic centers such as Loki Patera (the large dark horse-shoe shaped feature near the terminator) while a variety of mountains and plateaus exist elsewhere. The big reddish-orange ring in the lower right is formed by material deposited from the eruption of Pele, Io's largest volcanic plume.

North is to the top of this picture which merges images obtained with the clear, red, green, and violet filters of the solid state imaging (CCD) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft. The resolution is 6.1 kilometers per picture element. The images were taken on April 4th, 1997 at a range of 600,000 kilometers.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Concurrent results from Galileo's exploration of Io appear in the October 15th, 1997 issue of Geophysical Research Letters. The papers are: Temperature and Area Constraints of the South Volund Volcano on Io from the NIMS and SSI Instruments during the Galileo G1 Orbit, by A.G. Davies, A.S. McEwen, R. Lopes-Gautier, L. Keszthelyi, R.W. Carlson and W.D. Smythe. High-temperature hot spots on Io as seen by the Galileo Solid-State Imaging (SSI) experiment, by A. McEwen, D. Simonelli, D. Senske, K. Klassen, L. Keszthelyi, T. Johnson, P. Geissler, M. Carr, and M. Belton. Io: Galileo evidence for major variations in regolith properties, by D. Simonelli, J. Veverka, and A. McEwen.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Exoplanet Coronagraph Shaped Pupil Masks and Laboratory Scale Star Shade Masks: Design, Fabrication and Characterization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Balasubramanian, Kunjithapatha; White, Victor; Yee, Karl; Echternach, Pierre; Muller, Richard; Dickie, Matthew; Cady, Eric; Mejia Prada, Camilo; Ryan, Daniel; Poberezhskiy, Ilya;

Exoplanet coronagraph shaped pupil masks and laboratory scale star shade masks: design, fabrication and characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balasubramanian, Kunjithapatham; White, Victor; Yee, Karl; Echternach, Pierre; Muller, Richard; Dickie, Matthew; Cady, Eric; Mejia Prada, Camilo; Ryan, Daniel; Poberezhskiy, Ilya; Zhou, Hanying; Kern, Brian; Riggs, A. J.; Zimmerman, Neil T.; Sirbu, Dan; Shaklan, Stuart; Kasdin, Jeremy

2015-09-01

Star light suppression technologies to find and characterize faint exoplanets include internal coronagraph instruments as well as external star shade occulters. Currently, the NASA WFIRST-AFTA mission study includes an internal coronagraph instrument to find and characterize exoplanets. Various types of masks could be employed to suppress the host star light to about 10-9 level contrast over a broad spectrum to enable the coronagraph mission objectives. Such masks for high contrast internal coronagraphic imaging require various fabrication technologies to meet a wide range of specifications, including precise shapes, micron scale island features, ultra-low reflectivity regions, uniformity, wave front quality, achromaticity, etc. We present the approaches employed at JPL to produce pupil plane and image plane coronagraph masks by combining electron beam, deep reactive ion etching, and black silicon technologies with illustrative examples of each, highlighting milestone accomplishments from the High Contrast Imaging Testbed (HCIT) at JPL and from the High Contrast Imaging Lab (HCIL) at Princeton University. We also present briefly the technologies applied to fabricate laboratory scale star shade masks.

Miranda - Chevron Grooves

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-01-29

This image of Miranda, obtained by NASA Voyager 2 on approach in 1986, shows an unusual chevron figure and regions of distinctly differing terrain on the Uranian moon. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00038

Celestial Fireworks

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-07-03

Resembling sparks from a fireworks display, this image taken by a JPL camera onboard NASA Hubble Space Telescope shows delicate filaments that are sheets of debris from a stellar explosion in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy.

Amery Ice Shelf

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-16

... funded by NASA and undertaken by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Australian Antarctic Division. The Multi-angle Imaging ... Laboratory), and Helen A. Fricker (Scripps Institution of Oceanography). Other formats available at JPL Oct 6, ...

Venus - Lakshmi Planum and Maxwell Montes

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-03-07

This full resolution radar image from NASA Magellan spacecraft is centered along the eastern edge of Lakshmi Planum and the western edge of Maxwell Montes. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00241

Melas Chasma

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-12-05

Today's VIS image shows part of the canyon wall of Melas Chasma. Orbit Number: 65682 Latitude: -9.38343 Longitude: 289.417 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-10-04 02:52 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21181

Nili Fossae

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-31

The linear depression in today's VIS image is part of Nili Fossae. Orbit Number: 60318 Latitude: 24.7944 Longitude: 80.7404 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-07-20 08:53 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19763

Galaxy NGC 1512

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

A rainbow of colors is captured in the center of a magnificent barred spiral galaxy, as witnessed by the three cameras of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

The color-composite image of the galaxy NGC 1512 was created from seven images taken with the JPL-designed and built Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC-2), along with the Faint Object Camera and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer. Hubble's unique vantage point high above the atmosphere allows astronomers to see objects over a broad range of wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the infrared and to detect differences in the regions around newly born stars.

The new image is online at http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/2001/16 and http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/wfpc .

The image reveals a stunning 2,400 light-year-wide circle of infant star clusters in the center of NGC 1512. Located 30 million light-years away in the southern constellation of Horologium, NGC 1512 is a neighbor of our Milky Way galaxy.

With the Hubble data, a team of Israeli and American astronomers performed one of the broadest, most detailed studies ever of such star-forming regions. Results will appear in the June issue of the Astronomical Journal. The team includes Dr. Dan Maoz, Tel-Aviv University, Israel and Columbia University, New York, N.Y.; Dr. Aaron J. Barth, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Mass.; Dr. Luis C. Ho, The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington; Dr. Amiel Sternberg, Tel-Aviv University, Israel; and Dr. Alexei V. Filippenko, University of California, Berkeley.

The Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md., manages space operations for the Hubble Space Telescope for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Institute is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc., for NASA under contract with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Additional information about the Hubble Space Telescope is online at http://www.stsci.edu . More information about the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 is at http://wfpc2.jpl.nasa.gov.

From the Ground Up: Building an Earth Science Satellite (HyspIRI Hawaii, Part 4)

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-04-20

Flying high aboard NASA’s ER-2, the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) uses over 224 sensors to identify, measure, and monitor natural features of the Earth's surface and atmosphere based on reflective light from the sun. The instrument was recently used for the Hyperspectral InfraRed Imager (HyspIRI) airborne preparatory mission, which focused on observing coral reef health and volcano emissions and eruptions around the Hawaiian Islands. Data from this mission will help develop a NASA satellite to study natural hazards and ecosystems. The Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) instrument is developed and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. NASA’s ER-2 aircraft is managed and based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, Building 703 in Palmdale, California. Read more about the HyspIRI Hawaii mission here: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-tests-observing-capability-on-hawaiis-coral-reefs https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-led-campaign-studies-hawaii-s-iconic-volcanoes

From the Ground Up: Building an Earth Science Satellite (HyspIRI Hawaii, Part 2)

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-04-03

Flying high aboard NASA’s ER-2, the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) uses over 224 sensors to identify, measure, and monitor natural features of the Earth's surface and atmosphere based on reflective light from the sun. The instrument was recently used for the Hyperspectral InfraRed Imager (HyspIRI) airborne preparatory mission, which focused on observing coral reef health and volcano emissions and eruptions around the Hawaiian Islands. Data from this mission will help develop a NASA satellite to study natural hazards and ecosystems. The Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) instrument is developed and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. NASA’s ER-2 aircraft is managed and based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, Building 703 in Palmdale, California. Read more about the HyspIRI Hawaii mission here: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-tests-observing-capability-on-hawaiis-coral-reefs https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-led-campaign-studies-hawaii-s-iconic-volcanoes

From the Ground Up: Building an Earth Science Satellite (HyspIRI Hawaii, Part 3)

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-04-12

Flying high aboard NASA’s ER-2, the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) uses over 224 sensors to identify, measure, and monitor natural features of the Earth's surface and atmosphere based on reflective light from the sun. The instrument was recently used for the Hyperspectral InfraRed Imager (HyspIRI) airborne preparatory mission, which focused on observing coral reef health and volcano emissions and eruptions around the Hawaiian Islands. Data from this mission will help develop a NASA satellite to study natural hazards and ecosystems. The Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) instrument is developed and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. NASA’s ER-2 aircraft is managed and based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, Building 703 in Palmdale, California. Read more about the HyspIRI Hawaii mission here: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-tests-observing-capability-on-hawaiis-coral-reefs https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-led-campaign-studies-hawaii-s-iconic-volcanoes

Wind effects on Martian soil

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This false-color combination image highlights details of wind effects on the Martian soil at the Pathfinder landing site. Red and blue filter images have been combined to enhance brightness contrasts among several soil units. Martian winds have distributed these lighter and darker fine materials in complex patterns around the rocks in the scene (blue). For scale, the rock at right center is 16 centimeters (6.3 inches) long. This scene is one of several that will be monitored weekly for changes caused by wind activity.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages and Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

Sulfuric Acid on Europa

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

Frozen sulfuric acid on Jupiter's moon Europa is depicted in this image produced from data gathered by NASA's Galileo spacecraft. The brightest areas, where the yellow is most intense, represent regions of high frozen sulfuric acid concentration. Sulfuric acid is found in battery acid and in Earth's acid rain.

This image is based on data gathered by Galileo's near infrared mapping spectrometer.

Europa's leading hemisphere is toward the bottom right, and there are enhanced concentrations of sulfuric acid in the trailing side of Europa (the upper left side of the image). This is the face of Europa that is struck by sulfur ions coming from Jupiter's innermost moon, Io. The long, narrow features that crisscross Europa also show sulfuric acid that may be from sulfurous material extruded in cracks.

Galileo, launched in 1989, has been orbiting Jupiter and its moons since December 1995. JPL manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington DC. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA.

NASA Images Show Decreased Clarity in Lake Tahoe Water

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-08-06

Images from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer aboard NASA's Terra satellite, launched in 1999, illustrate the state of gradually decreasing water clarity at Lake Tahoe, one of the clearest lakes in the world. The images are available at: http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/default.htm. In the image on the left, acquired in November 2000, vegetation can be seen in red. The image on the right, acquired at the same time by a different spectral band of the instrument, is color-coded to show the bottom of the lake around the shoreline. Where the data are black, the bottom cannot be seen. Scientists monitoring the lake's water clarity from boat measurements obtained since 1965 have discovered that the lake along the California-Nevada border has lost more than one foot of visibility each year, according to the Lake Tahoe Watershed Assessment, a review of scientific information about the lake undertaken at the request of President Clinton and published in February 2000. The most likely causes are increases in algal growth, sediment washed in from surrounding areas and urban growth and development. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03854

MISR Images Northeastern Botswana

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

MISR images of the Ntwetwe and Sua Pans in northeastern Botswana, acquired on August 18, 2000 (Terra orbit 3553). The left image is a color view from the vertical-viewing (nadir) camera. On the right is a composite of red band imagery in which the 45-degree aft camera data are displayed in blue, 45-degree forward as green, and vertical as red. This combination causes wet areas to appear blue because of the glint-like reflection from water and damp surfaces. Clouds are visible in the upper left corner and right center of each image. The clouds look peculiar in the multi-angle view because geometric parallax resulting from their elevation above the surface causes a misregistration of the individual images making up the composite. This stereoscopic effect provides a way of distinguishing clouds from bright surfaces.

The images are approximately 250 kilometers across. Ntwetwe and Sua pans are closed interior basins that catch rainwater and surface runoff during the wet season. Seasonal lakes form that may reach several meters in depth. During the dry season the collected waters rapidly evaporate leaving behind dissolved salts that coat the surface and turn it bright ('sua' means salt). The mining town of Sowa is located where the Sua Spit (a finger of grassland extending into the pan) attaches to the shore. Sowa represents headquarters for a JPL contingent carrying out MISR field experiments using the evaporite surface and the grasslands as targets and for Botswana scientists studying migration of groundwaters beneath the pans and surrounding areas. These efforts support the Southern Africa Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI-2000), which is now underway.

MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.

For more information: http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov

Mountains and Plateaus on Io

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

These two views of Io were acquired by NASA's Galileo spacecraft during its seventh orbit (G7) of Jupiter. The images were designed to view large features on Io at low sun angles when the lighting conditions emphasize the topography or relief of the volcanic satellite. Sun angles are low near the terminator which is the day-night boundary near the left side of the images. These images reveal that the topography is very flat near the active volcanic centers such as Loki Patera (the large dark horseshoe-shaped feature near the terminator in the left-hand image) and that a variety of mountains and plateaus exist elsewhere.

North is to the top of the picture. The resolution is about 6 kilometers per picture element (6.1 for the left hand image and 5.7 for the right). The images were taken on April 4th, 1997 at a ranges of 600,000 kilometers (left image) and 563,000 kilometers (right image) by the solid state imaging (CCD) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Color Image of Pluto

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-12-31

Pluto nearly fills the frame in this image from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard New Horizons, taken on July 13, 2015, when the spacecraft was 476,000 miles (768,000 kilometers) from the surface. This is the last and most detailed image sent to Earth before the spacecraft's closest approach to Pluto on July 14. The color image has been combined with lower-resolution color information from the Ralph instrument that was acquired earlier on July 13. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20291

MACCS : Multi-Mission Atmospheric Correction and Cloud Screening tool for high-frequency revisit data processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrucci, B.; Huc, M.; Feuvrier, T.; Ruffel, C.; Hagolle, O.; Lonjou, V.; Desjardins, C.

2015-10-01

For the production of Level2A products during Sentinel-2 commissioning in the Technical Expertise Center Sentinel-2 in CNES, CESBIO proposed to adapt the Venus Level-2 , taking advantage of the similarities between the two missions: image acquisition at a high frequency (2 days for Venus, 5 days with the two Sentinel-2), high resolution (5m for Venus, 10, 20 and 60m for Sentinel-2), images acquisition under constant viewing conditions. The Multi-Mission Atmospheric Correction and Cloud Screening (MACCS) tool was born: based on CNES Orfeo Toolbox Library, Venμs processor which was already able to process Formosat2 and VENμS data, was adapted to process Sentinel-2 and Landsat5-7 data; since then, a great effort has been made reviewing MACCS software architecture in order to ease the add-on of new missions that have also the peculiarity of acquiring images at high resolution, high revisit and under constant viewing angles, such as Spot4/Take5 and Landsat8. The recursive and multi-temporal algorithm is implemented in a core that is the same for all the sensors and that combines several processing steps: estimation of cloud cover, cloud shadow, water, snow and shadows masks, of water vapor content, aerosol optical thickness, atmospheric correction. This core is accessed via a number of plug-ins where the specificity of the sensor and of the user project are taken into account: products format, algorithmic processing chaining and parameters. After a presentation of MACCS architecture and functionalities, the paper will give an overview of the production facilities integrating MACCS and the associated specificities: the interest for this tool has grown worldwide and MACCS will be used for extensive production within the THEIA land data center and Agri-S2 project. Finally the paper will zoom on the use of MACCS during Sentinel-2 In Orbit Test phase showing the first Level-2A products.

Messier 101

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-07-25

NASA Galaxy Evolution Explorer took this near ultraviolet image of Messier 101 on June 20, 2003. Messier 101 is a large spiral galaxy located 20 million light-years from Earth. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04631

Radar Imagery of Asteroid 2014 JO25

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-04-19

This composite of 30 images of asteroid 2014 JO25 was generated with radar data collected using NASA Goldstone Solar System Radar in California Mojave Desert. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21594

Venus - False Color of Sacajawea Petera

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-01

This image obtained by NASA Magellan spacecraft reveals Sacajawea Patera, a large, elongate caldera located in western Ishtar Terra on the smooth plateau of Lakshmi Planum. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00216

Planetary Family Portrait

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-05-09

This image shows the HR 8799 planets with starlight optically suppressed and data processing conducted to remove residual starlight. Project 1640, NASA JPL used the Palomar Observatory near San Diego to obtain detailed spectra of the four planets.

Venus - Landslide in Navka Region

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-03-14

NASA Magellan spacecraft observed remnant landslide deposits apparently resulting from the collapse of volcanic structures. This radar image is centered in the southwestern Navka Region of Venus. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00262

Earth - India and Australia

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-08

This color image of the Earth was obtained by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft on Dec. 11, 1990, when the spacecraft was about 1.5 million miles from the Earth. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00122

Occator Topography

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-30

This view, made using images taken by NASA Dawn spacecraft, is a color-coded topographic map of Occator crater on Ceres. Blue is the lowest elevation, and brown is the highest. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19975

Celestial Fireworks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

Resembling sparks from a fireworks display, this image taken by a JPL camera onboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows delicate filaments that are sheets of debris from a stellar explosion in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy.

Earth - Pacific Ocean

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-01-29

This color image of the Earth was obtained by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft early Dec. 12, 1990, when the spacecraft was about 1.6 million miles from the Earth. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00123

Hephaestus Fossae

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-02

The intersecting linear depressions in this VIS image are part of Hephaestus Fossae. Orbit Number: 60373 Latitude: 21.9161 Longitude: 122.075 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-07-24 20:50 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19765

Galaxy NGC5962

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-07-25

NASA Galaxy Evolution Explorer took this ultraviolet color image of the galaxy NGC5962 on June 7, 2003. This spiral galaxy is located 90 million light-years from Earth. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04635

SMAP Flys over Earth Artist Concept

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-12

This image, created at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory JPL, shows the Soil Moisture Active Passive SMAP mission, specifically depicting how the scanning antenna will fly in space and the swath coverage over the Earth.

Europa Broken Ice

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-09-07

Jupiter moon Europa, as seen in this image taken June 27, 1996 by NASA Galileo spacecraft, displays features in some areas resembling ice floes seen in Earth polar seas. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00291

Sojourner near the Rock Garden

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This image of the Sojourner rover was taken near the end of daytime operations on Sol 42. The rover is between the rocks 'Wedge' (left) and 'Flute Top' (right). Other rocks visible include 'Flat Top' (behind Flute Top) and those in the Rock Garden, at the top of the frame. The cylindrical object extending from the back end of Sojourner is the Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

MAKING THE WEASELS WILD AGAIN: ENSURING FUTURE AIR DOMINANCE THROUGH EFFECTIVE SEAD TRAINING

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

both multi-mission design series (MMDS) and joint SEAD training as well as improve the capabilities of its electronic warfare (EW) ranges in order...USAF units to train for multi-mission design series (MMDS) SEAD operations.14 MMDS training includes the use of multiple USAF airborne platforms...not provided SEAD aircrews with either the quantity or quality of training required to conduct effective operations.2 At that time , Major Jon Norman

"Berries" on the Ground

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-02-12

This mosaic image shows an extreme close-up of round, blueberry-shaped formations in the martian soil near a part of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum called Stone Mountain. Scientists are studying these curious formations for clues about the area's past environmental conditions. The image, one of the highest resolution images ever taken by the microscopic imager, an instrument located on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's instrument deployment device or "arm." http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05273

Terra Cimmeria - False Color

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-11

The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows dust devil tracks (dark blue linear feature) in Terra Cimmeria. Orbit Number: 43463 Latitude: -53.1551 Longitude: 125.069 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-10-01 23:55 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21009

Russell Crater - False Color

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-06-01

The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of Russell Crater in Noachis Terra. Orbit Number: 59591 Latitude: -54.471 Longitude: 13.1288 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-05-21 10:57 https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21674

Whirlpool Galaxy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

Scientists are seeing unprecedented detail of the spiral arms and dust clouds in the nearby Whirlpool galaxy, thanks to a new Hubble Space Telescope image, available at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/wfpc/wfpc.html. The image uses data collected January 15 and 24, 1995, and July 21, 1999, by Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, designed and built by JPL. Using the image, a research group led by Dr. Nick Scoville of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, clearly defined the structure of the galaxy's cold dust clouds and hot hydrogen, and they linked star clusters within the galaxy to their parent dust clouds.

The Whirlpool galaxy is one of the most photogenic galaxies. This celestial beauty is easily seen and photographed with smaller telescopes and studied extensively from large ground- and space-based observatories. The new composite image shows visible starlight and light from the emission of glowing hydrogen, which is associated with the most luminous young stars in the spiral arms.

The galaxy is having a close encounter with a nearby companion galaxy, NGC 5195, just off the upper edge of the image. The companion's gravitational pull is triggering star formation in the main galaxy, lit up by numerous clusters of young and energetic stars in brilliant detail. Luminous clusters are highlighted in red by their associated emission from glowing hydrogen gas.

This image was composed by the Hubble Heritage Team from Hubble archive data and was superimposed onto data taken by Dr. Travis Rector of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory at the .9-meter (35-inch) telescope at the National Science Foundation's Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, Ariz. Scoville's team includes M. Polletta of the University of Geneva, Switzerland; S. Ewald and S. Stolovy of Caltech; and R. Thompson and M. Rieke of the University of Arizona, Tucson.

The Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md., manages space operations for the Hubble Space Telescope for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The institute is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., for NASA under contract with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. JPL is a division of Caltech.

Additional information about the Hubble Space Telescope is available at http://www.stsci.edu . More information about the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 is available at http://wfpc2.jpl.nasa.gov

From Pluto Mountains to Its Plains

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-24

Images of Pluto taken by NASA New Horizons spacecraft before closest approach on July 14, 2015, reveal features as small as 270 yards (250 meters) across, from craters to faulted mountain blocks, to the textured surface of the vast basin informally called Sputnik Planum. Enhanced color has been added from the global color image. This image is about 330 miles (530 kilometers) across. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19955

Landslides on Charon

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-18

Scientists from NASA's New Horizons mission have spotted signs of long run-out landslides on Pluto's largest moon, Charon. This image of Charon's informally named "Serenity Chasma" was taken by New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on July 14, 2015, from a distance of 48,912 miles (78,717 kilometers). An annotated image shows arrows in the annotated figure mark indications of landslide activity at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21128

Up Close to Mimas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2005-01-01

During its approach to Mimas on Aug. 2, 2005, the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera obtained multi-spectral views of the moon from a range of 228,000 kilometers (142,500 miles).

This image is a narrow angle clear-filter image which was processed to enhance the contrast in brightness and sharpness of visible features.

Herschel crater, a 140-kilometer-wide (88-mile) impact feature with a prominent central peak, is visible in the upper right of this image.

This image was obtained when the Cassini spacecraft was above 25 degrees south, 134 degrees west latitude and longitude. The Sun-Mimas-spacecraft angle was 45 degrees and north is at the top.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org .

North Twin Peak in super resolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This pair of images shows the result of taking a sequence of 25 identical exposures from the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) of the northern Twin Peak, with small camera motions, and processing them with the Super-Resolution algorithm developed at NASA's Ames Research Center.

The upper image is a representative input image, scaled up by a factor of five, with the pixel edges smoothed out for a fair comparison. The lower image allows significantly finer detail to be resolved.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

The super-resolution research was conducted by Peter Cheeseman, Bob Kanefsky, Robin Hanson, and John Stutz of NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA. More information on this technology is available on the Ames Super Resolution home page at

http://ic-www.arc.nasa.gov/ic/projects/bayes-group/ group/super-res/

PROS: An IRAF based system for analysis of x ray data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Conroy, M. A.; Deponte, J.; Moran, J. F.; Orszak, J. S.; Roberts, W. P.; Schmidt, D.

1992-01-01

PROS is an IRAF based software package for the reduction and analysis of x-ray data. The use of a standard, portable, integrated environment provides for both multi-frequency and multi-mission analysis. The analysis of x-ray data differs from optical analysis due to the nature of the x-ray data and its acquisition during constantly varying conditions. The scarcity of data, the low signal-to-noise ratio and the large gaps in exposure time make data screening and masking an important part of the analysis. PROS was developed to support the analysis of data from the ROSAT and Einstein missions but many of the tasks have been used on data from other missions. IRAF/PROS provides a complete end-to-end system for x-ray data analysis: (1) a set of tools for importing and exporting data via FITS format -- in particular, IRAF provides a specialized event-list format, QPOE, that is compatible with its IMAGE (2-D array) format; (2) a powerful set of IRAF system capabilities for both temporal and spatial event filtering; (3) full set of imaging and graphics tasks; (4) specialized packages for scientific analysis such as spatial, spectral and timing analysis -- these consist of both general and mission specific tasks; and (5) complete system support including ftp and magnetic tape releases, electronic and conventional mail hotline support, electronic mail distribution of solutions to frequently asked questions and current known bugs. We will discuss the philosophy, architecture and development environment used by PROS to generate a portable, multimission software environment. PROS is available on all platforms that support IRAF, including Sun/Unix, VAX/VMS, HP, and Decstations. It is available on request at no charge.

Photographer : JPL Range : 1 million kilometers Voyager 2 completed a dramatic 10 hour time lapse

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

Photographer : JPL Range : 1 million kilometers Voyager 2 completed a dramatic 10 hour time lapse photo sequence to monitor the active volcanos on Jupiter's moon Io following the spacecraft's closest approach to Jupiter. This picture is one of about 200 images that will be used to generate a time lapse motion picture to illustrate Io's volcanic activity. On the bright limb, two of the plumes (P-5 & P-6) discovered in March by Voyager 1 are again visible. The plumes are spewing materials to a height of about 100 kilometers.

Summaries of the 4th Annual JPL Airborne Geoscience Workshop. Volume 1: AVIRIS Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, Robert O. (Editor)

1993-01-01

This publication contains the summaries for the Fourth Annual JPL Airborne Geoscience Workshop, held in Washington, D. C. October 25-29, 1993 The main workshop is divided into three smaller workshops as follows: The Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) workshop, October 25-26 (the summaries for this workshop appear in this volume, Volume 1); The Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TMIS) workshop, on October 27 (the summaries for this workshop appear in Volume 2); and The Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) workshop, October 28-29 (the summaries for this workshop appear in Volume 3).

Jupiter Hot Spot

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-01-03

In this movie clip (of which the release image is a still frame), created from images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, the blue region in the center is a relatively cloud-free area where thermal radiation from warmer, deeper levels emerges. NASA's Galileo probe in 1995 entered Jupiter's atmosphere in a similar area. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02875

Terrain and Rock Yogi

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-07-06

The left portion of this image, taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) on July 5, 1997 (Sol 2), shows a portion of the large rock nicknamed "Yogi." Portions of a petal and deflated airbag are in the foreground. The dark circular object at right is a portion of the lander's high-gain antenna. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00630

Airbag Retraction

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-07-05

This image shows that the Mars Pathfinder airbags have been successfully retracted, allowing safe deployment of the rover ramps. The Sojourner rover, still in its deployed position, is at center image, and rocks are visible in the background. Mars Pathfinder landed successfully on the surface of Mars today at 10:07 a.m. PDT. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00617

Supernova SN 2014C X-ray

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-01-24

This image from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory shows spiral galaxy NGC 7331, center, in a three-color X-ray image. Red, green and blue colors are used for low, medium and high-energy X-rays, respectively. An unusual supernova called SN 2014C has been spotted in this galaxy. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21089

Data analysis for GOPEX image frames

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levine, B. M.; Shaik, K. S.; Yan, T.-Y.

1993-01-01

The data analysis based on the image frames received at the Solid State Imaging (SSI) camera of the Galileo Optical Experiment (GOPEX) demonstration conducted between 9-16 Dec. 1992 is described. Laser uplink was successfully established between the ground and the Galileo spacecraft during its second Earth-gravity-assist phase in December 1992. SSI camera frames were acquired which contained images of detected laser pulses transmitted from the Table Mountain Facility (TMF), Wrightwood, California, and the Starfire Optical Range (SOR), Albuquerque, New Mexico. Laser pulse data were processed using standard image-processing techniques at the Multimission Image Processing Laboratory (MIPL) for preliminary pulse identification and to produce public release images. Subsequent image analysis corrected for background noise to measure received pulse intensities. Data were plotted to obtain histograms on a daily basis and were then compared with theoretical results derived from applicable weak-turbulence and strong-turbulence considerations. Processing steps are described and the theories are compared with the experimental results. Quantitative agreement was found in both turbulence regimes, and better agreement would have been found, given more received laser pulses. Future experiments should consider methods to reliably measure low-intensity pulses, and through experimental planning to geometrically locate pulse positions with greater certainty.

MISR: protection from ourselves

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nolan, T.; Varanasi, P.

2004-01-01

Outlines lessons learned by the Instrument Operations Team of NASA/JPL Terra's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer mission. It narrates a story of MISR: Protection from Ourselves! and describes, in detail, how the MISR instrument survived operator errors.

New South Wales

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-16

... city of Sydney was clouded with smoke when more than 80 wildfires raged across the state of New South Wales. These images were captured ... at JPL December 30, 2001 - Smoke from wildfires covers New South Wales. project:  MISR ...

UAVSAR Radar Imagery of Boreal Forests Around Quebec City, Canada

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-09-01

JPL Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar collected this composite radar image around Québec City, Canada, during an 11-day campaign to study the structure of temperate and boreal forests.

Tiu Valles

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-11-26

The ancient, catastrophic floods on Mars, whose origins remain a mystery, produced a channeled and scoured landscape like this one, which is called Tiu Valles and was imaged by NASA Mars Odyssey spacecraft. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04013

Mars Life? - Microscopic Tubular Structures

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-08-09

This electron microscope image shows tubular structures of likely Martian origin. These structures are very similar in size and shape to extremely tiny microfossils found in some Earth rocks. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00287

Venus - Stein Triplet Crater

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-01-29

NASA Magellan synthetic aperture radar SAR imaged this unique triplet crater, or crater field during orbits 418-421 on Sept. 21, 1990. The three craters appear to have relatively steep walls. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00088

Cylindrical Projection of Jupiter

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-01-29

This computer generated map of Jupiter was made from 10 color images of Jupiter taken Feb. 1, 1979, by NASA Voyager 1, during a single, 10 hour rotation of the planet. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00011

Mercury: Photomosaic of the Tolstoj Quadrangle H-8

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-09-23

This computer generated mosaic from NASA Mariner 10 is of Mercury Tolstoj Quadrangle, named for the ancient Tolstoj crater located in the lower center of the image. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00068

Moon Color Visualizations

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-01-29

These color visualizations of the Moon were obtained by NASA Galileo spacecraft as it left the Earth after completing its first Earth Gravity Assist. The images were acquired Dec. 8-9, 1990. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00075

Channels

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-11-20

Today's VIS image shows a number of unnamed channels located on the northeastern margin of Terra Sabaea. Orbit Number: 61049 Latitude: 33.5036 Longitude: 58.6967 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-09-18 12:54 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20097

Turning in the Testbed

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-01-13

This image, taken in the JPL In-Situ Instruments Laboratory or Testbed, shows the view from the front hazard avoidance cameras on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit after the rover has backed up and turned 45 degrees counterclockwise.

Io Glowing in the Dark

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

Volcanic hot spots and auroral emissions glow on the darkside of Jupiter's moon Io in the image at left. The image was taken by the camera onboard NASA's Galileo spacecraft on 29 June, 1996 UT while Io was in Jupiter's shadow. It is the best and highest-resolution image ever acquired of hot spots or auroral features on Io. The mosaic at right of 1979 Voyager images is shown with an identical scale and projection to identify the locations of the hot spots seen in the Galileo image. The grid marks are at 30 degree intervals of latitude and longitude. North is to the top.

In the nighttime Galileo image, small red ovals and perhaps some small green areas are from volcanic hot spots with temperatures of more than about 700 kelvin (about 1000 degrees Fahrenheit). Greenish areas seen near the limb, or edge of the moon, are probably the result of auroral or airglow emissions of neutral oxygen or sulfur atoms in volcanic plumes and in Io's patchy atmosphere. The image was taken from a range of 1,035,000 kilometers (about 643,000 miles).

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Design definition study of a lift/cruise fan technology V/STOL airplane: Summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zabinsky, J. M.; Higgins, H. C.

1975-01-01

A two-engine three-fan V/STOL airplane was designed to fulfill naval operational requirements. A multimission airplane was developed from study of specific point designs. Based on the multimission concept, airplanes were designed to demonstrate and develop the technology and operational procedures for this class of aircraft. Use of interconnected variable pitch fans led to a good balance between high thrust with responsive control and efficient thrust at cruise speeds. The airplanes and their characteristics are presented.

Development of FIAT-based Thermal Protection System Mass Estimating Relationships for NASA's Multi-Mission Earth Entry Concep

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sepka, Steven Andrew; Zarchi, Kerry Agnes; Maddock, Robert W.; Samareh, Jamshid A.

2011-01-01

Mass Estimating Relationships (MERs) have been developed for use in the Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories II (POST2) as part of NASA's multi-mission Earth Entry Vehicle (MMEEV) concept. MERs have been developed for the thermal protection systems of PICA and of Carbon Phenolic atop Advanced Carbon-Carbon on the forebody and for SIRCA and Acusil II on the backshell. How these MERs were developed, the resulting equations, model limitations, and model accuracy are discussed herein.

Development Of FIAT-Based Thermal Protection System Mass Estimating Relationships For NASA's Multi-Mission Earth Entry Concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sepka, Steven; Trumble, Kerry A.; Maddock, Robert W.; Samareh, Jamshid

2012-01-01

Mass Estimating Relationships (MERs) have been developed for use in the Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories II (POST2) as part of NASA's multi-mission Earth Entry Vehicle (MMEEV) concept. MERs have been developed for the thermal protection systems of PICA and of Carbon Phenolic atop Advanced Carbon-Carbon on the forebody and for SIRCA and Acusil II on the backshell. How these MERs were developed, the resulting equations, model limitations, and model accuracy are discussed herein.

Io's Kanehekili Hemisphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This color composite of Io, acquired by Galileo during its ninth orbit (C9) of Jupiter, shows the hemisphere of Io which is centered at longitude 52 degrees. The dark feature just to the lower right of the center of the disk is called Kanehekili. Named after an Hawaiian thunder god, Kanehekili contains two persistent high temperature hot spots and a 'new' active volcanic plume. NASA's Voyager spacecraft returned images of nine active plumes during its 1979 flyby of this dynamic satellite. To date, Galileo's plume monitoring observations have shown continued activity at four of those nine plume locations as well as new activity at six other locations.

North is to the top of the picture which combines images acquired using violet, green, and near-infrared (756 micrometers) filters. The resolution is 21 kilometers per picture element. The images were taken on June 27, 1997 at a range of 1,033,000 kilometers by the solid state imaging (CCD) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Mosaic of Jupiter's Great Red Spot (Methane Filter)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

Great Red Spot of Jupiter as seen through the methane (886 nm) filter of the Galileo imaging system. The image is a mosaic of six images that have been map-projected to a uniform grid of latitude and longitude. North is at the top. The mosaic was taken over a 76 second interval beginning at universal time 14 hours, 33 minutes, 22 seconds, on June 26, 1996. The Red Spot is 20,000 km long and has been followed by observers on Earth since the telescope was invented 300 years ago. It is a huge storm made visible by variations in the composition of the cloud particles. The Red Spot is not unique, but is simply the largest of a class of long-lived vortices, some of which are visible in the lower part of the image. The range is 1.46 million kilometers.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission for NASA s Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 43

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-07

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 25, 2015. The image was obtained on June 25, 2015 from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers) above Ceres and has a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19616

Dawn HAMO Image 53

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-11-05

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers) around mid-latitudes. The image was taken on Sept. 28, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel. The unusual mountain Ahuna Mons is featured in this image, named for the traditional post-harvest festival of the Sumi tribe of Nagaland, India. It is 4 miles (6 kilometers) tall and 12 miles (20 kilometers) in diameter. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19995

Dawn LAMO Image 158

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-08-25

An area along the rim of the crater at the center of this view from NASA Dawn spacecraft, has collapsed, producing a lobe-shaped feature where the material settled. The image is centered at approximately 52 degrees north latitude, 316 degrees east longitude. NASA's Dawn spacecraft took this image on May 28, 2016, from its low-altitude mapping orbit, at a distance of about 240 miles (385 kilometers) above the surface of Ceres. The image resolution is 120 feet (35 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20880

Pluto in True Color

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-25

Four images from NASA's New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with color data from the Ralph instrument to create this global view of Pluto. (The lower right edge of Pluto in this view currently lacks high-resolution color coverage.) The images, taken when the spacecraft was 280,000 miles (450,000 kilometers) away, show features as small as 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometers), twice the resolution of the single-image view taken on July 13. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19857

A modeling analysis program for the JPL table mountain Io sodium cloud data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smyth, W. H.; Goldberg, B. A.

1984-01-01

A detailed review of 110 of the 263 Region B/C images of the 1981 data set is undertaken and a preliminary assessment of 39 images of the 1976-79 data set is presented. The basic spatial characteristics of these images are discussed. Modeling analysis of these images after further data processing will provide useful information about Io and the planetary magnetosphere. Plans for data processing and modeling analysis are outlined. Results of very preliminary modeling activities are presented.

Russell Crater Dunes - False Color

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-07-07

The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of the large dune form on the floor of Russell Crater. Orbit Number: 59672 Latitude: -54.337 Longitude: 13.1087 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-05-28 02:39 https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21701

Active Volcanic Plumes on Io

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This color image, acquired during Galileo's ninth orbit around Jupiter, shows two volcanic plumes on Io. One plume was captured on the bright limb or edge of the moon (see inset at upper right), erupting over a caldera (volcanic depression) named Pillan Patera after a South American god of thunder, fire and volcanoes. The plume seen by Galileo is 140 kilometers (86 miles) high and was also detected by the Hubble Space Telescope. The Galileo spacecraft will pass almost directly over Pillan Patera in 1999 at a range of only 600 kilometers (373 miles).

The second plume, seen near the terminator (boundary between day and night), is called Prometheus after the Greek fire god (see inset at lower right). The shadow of the 75-kilometer (45- mile) high airborne plume can be seen extending to the right of the eruption vent. The vent is near the center of the bright and dark rings. Plumes on Io have a blue color, so the plume shadow is reddish. The Prometheus plume can be seen in every Galileo image with the appropriate geometry, as well as every such Voyager image acquired in 1979. It is possible that this plume has been continuously active for more than 18 years. In contrast, a plume has never been seen at Pillan Patera prior to the recent Galileo and Hubble Space Telescope images.

North is toward the top of the picture. The resolution is about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) per picture element. This composite uses images taken with the green, violet and near infrared filters of the solid state imaging (CCD) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft. The images were obtained on June 28, 1997, at a range of more than 600,000 kilometers (372,000 miles).

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Ganymede - Ancient Impact Craters in Galileo Regio

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-09-07

Ancient impact craters shown in this image of Jupiter moon Ganymede taken by NASA Galileo spacecraft testify to the great age of the terrain, dating back several billion years. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00279

Flooding Resulting From Hurricane Isidore, Comparing Data from September 12 and 28, 2002

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-10-02

Tropical Storm Isidore was born in mid-September, 2000 north of Venezuela. This images is from Atmospheric Infrared Sounding System AIRS on NASA Aqua. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00365

Mars Life? - Microscopic Tubular Structures

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-08-09

This electron microscope image shows extremely tiny tubular structures that are possible microscopic fossils of bacteria-like organisms that may have lived on Mars more than 3.6 billion years ago. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00285

Mars Life? - Microscopic Egg-shaped Structures

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-08-09

This electron microscope image shows egg-shaped structures, some of which may be possible microscopic fossils of Martian origin as discussed by NASA research published in the Aug. 16, 1996. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00286

THEMIS Art #136

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-06-29

This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft looks like a piece of abstract art. Orbit Number: 63689 Latitude: 79.922 Longitude: 35.9293 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-04-22 23:28 https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21695

Free-Space Optical Communications Program at JPL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hemmati, H.

1999-01-01

Conceptual design of a multi-functional optical instrument is underway for the X2000-Second Delivery Program. The transceiver will perform both free-space optical-communication and science imaging by sharing a common 10-cm aperture telescope.

THEMIS Art #133

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-06-26

Don't be afraid, this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft looks like a ghost! Orbit Number: 58468 Latitude: -85.1331 Longitude: 47.4519 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-02-17 23:28 https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21692

Two Faces of Pluto July 1

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-12-31

Pluto shows two remarkably different sides in these color images of the planet and its largest moon, Charon, taken by NASA New Horizons on June 25 and June 27, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20292

Oberon at Voyager Closest Approach

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-01-29

This image of Oberon, Uranus outermost moon, was captured by NASA Voyager 2 on Jan. 24, 1986. Clearly visible are several large impact craters in Oberon icy surface surrounded by bright rays. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00034

Cameras on Mars 2020 Rover

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-10-31

This image presents a selection of the 23 cameras on NASA's 2020 Mars rover. Many are improved versions of the cameras on the Curiosity rover, with a few new additions as well. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22103

THEMIS Art #127

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-06-16

In this image, NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft spies what looks like a deep water fish yelling. Orbit Number: 52146 Latitude: 31.751 Longitude: 306.831 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-09-15 16:11 https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21685

Global Carbon Dioxide Transport from AIRS Data, July 2009

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-11-09

Created with data acquired by JPL Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument during July 2009 this image shows large-scale patterns of carbon dioxide concentrations that are transported around Earth by the general circulation of the atmosphere.

Curiosity Leaves Its Mark

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-08-29

This image shows a close-up of track marks from the first test drive of NASA Curiosity rover. The rover arm is visible in the foreground. A close inspection of the tracks reveals a unique, repeating pattern: Morse code for JPL.

Eruption on Io

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-09-10

This image, taken by NASA Galileo spacecraft, shows a blue-colored volcanic plume consistent with the presence of sulfur dioxide gas and now condensing from the gas as the plume expands and cools. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00293

Russell Crater Dunes

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-03-27

Today's VIS image shows part of the large dune form on the floor of Russell Crater. Orbit Number: 67151 Latitude: -54.3002 Longitude: 13.0603 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2017-02-02 03:15 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21517

New Changes in Jupiter Great Red Spot

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-13

This image is one of two images from NASA Hubble Space Telescope comparing the movement of Jupiter clouds. The movement of Jupiter's clouds can be seen by comparing the first map to the second one in this animated pair of images. Zooming in on the Great Red Spot at blue (below, at left) and red (below, at right) wavelengths reveals a unique filamentary feature not previously seen. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19648

Dawn Survey Orbit Image 36

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-29

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows Dantu crater on dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 24, 2015. Dantu, at bottom center, is about 75 miles (120 kilometers) across and 3 miles (5 kilometers) deep, has small patches of bright material sprinkled around it. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19609

Radar Images of Asteroid 2017 BQ6

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-02-10

This composite of 11 images of asteroid 2017 BQ6 was generated with radar data collected using NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar in California's Mojave Desert on Feb. 5, 2017, between 5:24 and 5:52 p.m. PST (8:24 to 8:52 p.m. EST / 1:24 to 1:52 UTC). The images have resolutions as fine as 12 feet (3.75 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21453

Dawn HAMO Image 47

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-28

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the northern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image was taken on Sept. 22, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel. Jarovit crater, named for the Slavic god of fertility and harvest, is seen at lower left. Its diameter is 41 miles (66 kilometers). http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19989

Dawn HAMO Image 50

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-11-02

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image was taken on Sept. 28, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel. Urvara crater, named for the Indian and Iranian deity of plants and fields, is featured. Its diameter is 101 miles (163 kilometers). http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19992

Caltech/JPL Conference on Image Processing Technology, Data Sources and Software for Commercial and Scientific Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Redmann, G. H.

1976-01-01

Recent advances in image processing and new applications are presented to the user community to stimulate the development and transfer of this technology to industrial and commercial applications. The Proceedings contains 37 papers and abstracts, including many illustrations (some in color) and provides a single reference source for the user community regarding the ordering and obtaining of NASA-developed image-processing software and science data.

Juno First Slice of Jupiter

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-19

This composite image depicts Jupiter's cloud formations as seen through the eyes of Juno's Microwave Radiometer (MWR) instrument as compared to the top layer, a Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem image of the planet. The MWR can see a couple of hundred miles (kilometers) into Jupiter's atmosphere with its largest antenna. The belts and bands visible on the surface are also visible in modified form in each layer below. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21107

Active Volcanic Eruptions on Io

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

Six views of the volcanic plume named Prometheus, as seen against Io's disk and near the bright limb (edge) of the satellite by the SSI camera on the Galileo spacecraft during its second (G2) orbit of Jupiter. North is to the top of each frame. To the south-southeast of Prometheus is another bright spot that appears to be an active plume erupting from a feature named Culann Patera. Prometheus was active 17 years ago during both Voyager flybys, but no activity was detected by Voyager at Culann. Both of these plumes were seen to glow in the dark in an eclipse image acquired by the imaging camera during Galileo's first (G1) orbit, and hot spots at these locations were detected by Galileo's Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer.

The plumes are thought to be driven by heating sulfur dioxide in Io's subsurface into an expanding fluid or 'geyser'. The long-lived nature of these eruptions requires that a substantial supply of sulfur dioxide must be available in Io's subsurface, similar to groundwater. Sulfur dioxide gas condenses into small particles of 'snow' in the expanding plume, and the small particles scatter light and appear bright at short wavelengths. The images shown here were acquired through the shortest-wavelength filter (violet) of the Galileo camera. Prometheus is about 300 km wide and 75 km high and Culann is about 150 km wide and less than 50 km high. The images were acquired on September 4, 1996 at a range of 2,000,000 km (20 km/pixel resolution). Prometheus is named after the Greek fire god and Culann is named after the Celtic smith god.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Heart Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

James Antaki and a group of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine used many elements of the Technology Utilization Program while looking for a way to visualize and track material points within the heart muscle. What they needed were tiny artificial "eggs" containing copper sulfate solution, small enough (about 2 mm in diameter) that they would not injure the heart, and large enough to be seen in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) images; they also had to be biocompatible and tough enough to withstand the beating of the muscle. The group could not make nor buy sufficient containers. After reading an article on microspheres in NASA Tech Briefs, and a complete set of reports on microencapsulation from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), JPL put Antaki in touch with Dr.Taylor Wang of Vanderbilt University who helped construct the myocardial markers. The research is expected to lead to improved understanding of how the heart works and what takes place when it fails.

Preliminary design trade-offs for a multi-mission stored cryogen cooler

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sherman, A.

1978-01-01

Preliminary design studies were performed for a multi-mission solid cryogen cooler having a wide range of application for both the shuttle sortie and free flyer missions. This multi-mission cooler (MMC) is designed to be utilized with various solid cryogens to meet a wide range of instrument cooling from 10 K (with solid hydrogen) to 90 K. The baseline cooler utilizes two stages of solid cryogen and incorporates an optional, higher temperature third stage which is cooled by either a passive radiator or a thermoelectric cooler. The MMC has an interface which can accommodate a wide variety of instrument configurations. A shrink fit adapter is incorporated which allows a drop-in instrument integration. The baseline design provides cooling of approximately 1 watt over a 60 to 100 K temperature range and about 0.5 watts from 15 to 60 K for a one year lifetime. For low cooling loads and with use of the optional radiator shield, cooling lifetimes as great as 8 years are predicted.

Spacecraft design project multipurpose satellite bus MPS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kellman, Lyle; Riley, John; Szostak, Michael; Watkins, Joseph; Willhelm, Joseph; Yale, Gary

1990-01-01

The thrust of this project was to design not a single spacecraft, but to design a multimission bus capable of supporting several current payloads and unnamed, unspecified future payloads. Spiraling costs of spacecraft and shrinking defense budgets necessitated a fresh look at the feasibility of a multimission spacecraft bus. The design team chose two very diverse and different payloads, and along with them two vastly different orbits, to show that multimission spacecraft buses are an area where indeed more research and effort needs to be made. Tradeoffs, of course, were made throughout the design, but optimization of subsystem components limited weight and volume penalties, performance degradation, and reliability concerns. Simplicity was chosen over more complex, sophisticated and usually more efficient designs. Cost of individual subsystem components was not a primary concern in the design phase, but every effort was made to chose flight tested and flight proven hardware. Significant cost savings could be realized if a standard spacecraft bus was indeed designed and purchased in finite quantities.

Fractured Craters on Ganymede

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Two highly fractured craters are visible in this high resolution image of Jupiter's moon, Ganymede. NASA's Galileo spacecraft imaged this region as it passed Ganymede during its second orbit through the Jovian system. North is to the top of the picture and the sun illuminates the surface from the southeast. The two craters in the center of the image lie in the ancient dark terrain of Marius Regio, at 40 degrees latitude and 201 degrees longitude, at the border of a region of bright grooved terrain known as Byblus Sulcus (the eastern portion of which is visible on the left of this image). Pervasive fracturing has occurred in this area that has completely disrupted these craters and destroyed their southern and western walls. Such intense fracturing has occurred over much of Ganymede's surface and has commonly destroyed older features. The image covers an area approximately 26 kilometers (16 miles) by 18 kilometers (11 miles) across at a resolution of 86 meters (287 feet) per picture element. The image was taken on September 6, 1996 by the solid state imaging (CCD) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov.

Melas Chasma - False Color

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-08

The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of the floor of Melas Chasma. The dark blue region in this false color image is sand dunes. Orbit Number: 12061 Latitude: -12.2215 Longitude: 289.105 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2004-09-02 10:11 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19793

Groth Deep Locations Image

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-07-25

NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer photographed this ultraviolet color blowup of the Groth Deep Image on June 22 and June 23, 2003. Hundreds of galaxies are detected in this portion of the image, and the faint red galaxies are believed to be 6 billion light years away. The white boxes show the location of these distant galaxies, of which more than a 100 can be detected in this image. NASA astronomers expect to detect 10,000 such galaxies after extrapolating to the full image at a deeper exposure level. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04626

Landslides in a Charon Chasm

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-18

perspective view of Charon's informally named "Serenity Chasm" consists of topography generated from stereo reconstruction of images taken by New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) and Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC), supplemented by a "shape-from-shading" algorithm. The topography is then overlain with the PIA21128 image mosaic and the perspective view is rendered. The MVIC image was taken from a distance of 45,458 miles (73,159 kilometers) while the LORRI picture was taken from 19,511 miles (31,401 kilometers) away, both on July 14, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21129

Southern Storms

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-05-25

This image shows Jupiter's south pole, as seen by NASA's Juno spacecraft from an altitude of 32,000 miles (52,000 kilometers). The oval features are cyclones, up to 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) in diameter. Multiple images taken with the JunoCam instrument on three separate orbits were combined to show all areas in daylight, enhanced color, and stereographic projection. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21641

Galle Crater Floor

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-02-05

The unusual texture seen in this image of Galle Crater is likely layered deposits that have been eroded. Small dune and windstreak features in this image from NASA 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, indicate that winds are part of the erosive process. Orbit Number: 57733 Latitude: -51.7743 Longitude: 329.135 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-12-19 11:13 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19191

Polarimetric Hyperspectral Imaging Systems and Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cheng, Li-Jen; Mahoney, Colin; Reyes, George; Baw, Clayton La; Li, G. P.

1996-01-01

This paper reports activities in the development of AOTF Polarimetric Hyperspectral Imaging (PHI) Systems at JPL along with field observation results for illustrating the technology capabilities and advantages in remote sensing. In addition, the technology was also used to measure thickness distribution and structural imperfections of silicon-on-silicon wafers using white light interference phenomenon for demonstrating the potential in scientific and industrial applications.

Wild 2 Features

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-06-17

These images taken by NASA's Stardust spacecraft highlight the diverse features that make up the surface of comet Wild 2, showing a variety of small pinnacles and mesas seen on the limb of the comet and the location of a 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) series of aligned scarps, or cliffs, that are best seen in the stereo images. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06284

A Pluto Color Combo

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-06

This color version of NASA's New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) picture of Pluto taken July 3, 2015, was created by adding color data from the Ralph instrument gathered earlier in the mission. The LORRI image was taken from a range of 7.8 million miles (12.5 million km), with a central longitude of 19°. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19699

Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI) Level 1B2 V006 Announcement

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-05-22

The NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) announce the public ... SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI) Level 1B2 V006 data for all targets acquired for flight campaigns: Radar Definition ... Experiment (RADEX) flight campaign was based out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. The campaign focused on characterizing new ...