Viking Lander 1 detailed w/MRO, Results of imaging process VL1 detailed with MRO Options

[vikingmars]

Thanks to the MRO the Viking Lander 1 site has been viewed twice already at nerly the same Mars local time :
- PSP_001521_2025_RED.jp2 taken on 11 November 2006 (w/30.3 cm/pixel resolution) at 3:20 PM ;
- PSP_001719_2025_RED.JP2 taken on 12 december 2006 (w/28.8 cm/pixel resolution) at 3:27 PM.

So I decided to pixel overlap the 2 pictures retrieved from the LPL site at their maximum resolution (as "full JPEG 2000" images), knowing that each individual pixel from those 2 images would not cover exactly the same area on Mars.
The goal was :
1. to gain some resolution over individual pictures ;
2. to assess the reality of some features as seen from orbit ;
3. to determine is some individual Lander components could be seen ;
4. to see an "average" site free from bad pixel and false features.

After a painstaking process, here are the results on the 4 goals :
1. resolution gained : ==> not obvious on overlap image ;
2. reality of some features : ==> real features are seen on overlap image ;
3. Lander components : ==> some individual components discriminated ;
4. "average" site free from bad pixel and false features ==> goal attained.

About the lander itself : the shadow seen for its high-gain antenna mast and for its antenna itself is narrow. This implies that the disk-shaped antenna was not facing the sun when the images were taken, meaning that the high-gain antenna is pointing either towards the north or towards the south.

The same overlap processings were also applied to the area where the backshell touched down the surface with its parachute ==> An overlap image is seen also.

About the landing site itself around Lander 1 with its features, please refer to the explanations given it the previous post :
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...ost&p=79379

Enjoy !

[Phil Stooke]

Olivier, did you make a Viking 2 site model? Viking 1 is excellent.

Phil

[vikingmars]

Olivier, did you make a Viking 2 site model? Viking 1 is excellent. Phil

Dear Phil,
The Lander model itself was to be used also as VL2 on a specific Utopia model. I started modelling the Vl2 site which was to be with winter frost for scenic purposes and for easier differentiation should it was to be shown on exhibits... After the very end of the mission in 1983 when all hopes of recovering VL1 were lost, this Utopia work was never completed. When I worked with Jim French at JPL at the very start of the MGCO project (renamed later as Mars Observer), we did numerous shadows simulations with the Lander model and found that MGCO's hi-res camera (MOC with 1.5 m/pixel resolution) could probably not discern VL1 or VL2 at local hours between 10:00 am to 14:00 pm, because the Lander protruding parts and its small shadows then PLUS the dust covering part of it made the Lander looking very much from above like another pile of rocks... What we understood was that we needed either an higher-resolution camera (50 cm/pixel minimum resolution was required) or MOC images taken with a rising or setting sun which casts long shadows on the Landers...