Monday, March 16, 2009

ASU's THEMIS camera: "Live from Mars"


During the past year, I've posted extensively on the HiRISE camera and the Phoenix Mars Lander, but have mostly forgotten about Arizona's other Martian camera - THEMIS.

Now, in conjunction with the new Google Mars site, THEMIS has launched a "live from Mars" scrolling photo, make up of several hundred images just as they are received by the mission team.

In fact, the images are from a few weeks ago, but the impression you get is watching out a spacecraft window as the scenery flies by beneath you.

The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) is an instrument on board the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. It combines a 5-wavelength visual imaging system with a 9-wavelength infrared imaging system. [right, Terra Sirenum. Credit, ASU THEMIS site]

1 comment:

  1. Nice Blog,

    And to bring it down to earth, ASU has also run the "Rock Around The World" (RATW) program for years. Send in any rock from around the world and ASU will run a spectral analysis for free which can tell you the mineraloid composition. Very cool!

    Brian

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