First HiRISE Images Coming Soon!, test images to be taken week of March 20 Options

[Guest_paulanderson_*]

Here's hoping for a safe orbital entry...

Powerful Orbiting Camera Will Send Its First View of Mars to UA Soon
http://uanews.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/UANew...ArticleID=12261

"HiRISE scientists will power the HiRISE camera the week of March 20. It will begin taking pictures 18 hours later, and it will take pictures during two orbits. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory mission specialists will decide exactly which orbits will be HiRISE imaging orbits after Mars orbit insertion on March 10.

These will be the camera's only photos for the next six months because it will be turned off while the spacecraft "aerobrakes." This involves dipping repeatedly into the upper atmosphere to scrub off speed and drop into successively more circular orbits.

The camera will take pictures of the middle latitudes of the southern hemisphere, a region where many geologically recent gullies have been seen, gullies possibly carved by water. Researchers won't know the exact area they'll photograph until the spacecraft is safely captured into orbit around Mars.

The camera's first images will be taken when the MRO is flying between about 2,500 miles and 600 miles (4,000 km and 1,000 km) above the planet. After aerobraking, the camera will fly just outside the planet's atmosphere at only 190 miles (about 300 km) above the surface."

[djellison]

There's a conf at 1800 UT tonight, I'll listen in and see if anything's mentioned.

Doug