HiRISE Team Anxiously Awaits Images
Sleep is secondary to Dr. Alfred McEwen and his HiRISE team. They are eager to see what their instrument is seeing from orbit around Mars. Scientists and engineers at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory are gearing up for the first test images of Mars taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. The camera team expects to begin receiving the images early Friday (March 24, 2006). The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will be farther from Mars when the camera takes these test images than it will be when the mission's main science phase begins next fall, so the resolution of features in the images will not match what is anticipated later. However, this week's testing is the only planned use of the camera until the science phase begins. Stay tuned for the first test images!
Team members for the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter enjoy seeing the first Mars images from the camera, at the instrument's operations center on the University of Arizona campus, Tucson, early Friday, March 24, 2006. Standing, left to right: Eric Eliason, Alfred McEwen. Seated, top to bottom: Ingrid Dauber, Chris Schaller, Anjani Polit, Maria Banks
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
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