1999 SPACE SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
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Tape Title | Record ID | Date Produced | TRT: |
Synopsis |
| MARS ORBITER LASER ALTIMETER (MOLA) PREVIEWS POLAR LANDING SITE
| G99-097 | 12/1/99 | 00:09:52 | Data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) played a key role in helping scientists determine the primary landing site for the Mars Polar Lander. Engineers are aiming for a 200 kilometers (125 miles) long and 20 kilometers (12-1/2 miles) wide strip of gentle, rolling planes. Launched on January 3, 1999, Mars Polar Lander will study the soil and look for ice beneath the surface of the Martian south pole. |
TAPE CONTENTS: |
| ITEM (1): LANDING SITE PREVIEW - The sequence begins with an image from Viking, then transitions to a false color image produced by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA). All elevations are relative to the mean height of the equator. White colors indicate elevations in excess of 3012 meters, red shows elevations between 2500m - 3012m, yellow shows elevations 2450m - 2500m, dark cyan shows elevations 2150m-2450m, dark violet shows elevations from 320m - 2150m. The topography in these images is vertically exaggerated by a factor of 5.
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| ITEM (2): LANDING SITE PREVIEW - CLOSEUP VIEW - First sequence shows primary landing site with image from Viking draped over 3-D MOLA data. Second sequence shows primary landing site with false color data and 3-D data from MOLA. All elevations are relative to the mean height of the equator. White colors indicate elevations in excess of 3012 meters, red shows elevations between 2500m - 3012m, yellow shows elevations 2450m - 2500m, dark cyan shows elevations 2150m-2450m, dark violet shows elevations from 320m - 2150m. The topography in these images is vertically exaggerated by a factor of 5.
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| ITEM (3): MYSTERIOUS SOUTH POLE OF MARS - Sequence begins with image from Viking of the southern hemisphere of Mars. Note that the permanent frozen cap is not located directly at the south pole. A false color image is overlayed to show the mean elevation. The permanent frozen cap is mostly composed of carbon dioxide ice. White colors indicate elevations in excess of 3012, and dark violet shows elevations from 320m - 2150m. |
| ITEM (4): SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE TOUR - The first image was created from Viking images. The second, false color, image came from MOLA data. Here the color scale shows the darkest blues as roughly 8 km below the mean equatorial height, while reds indicate elevations up to 5 km above the mean equatorial height.
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| ITEM (5): SOUTH OF HELLAS IMPACT BASIN - The sequence shows an area south of the Hellas Impact Basin. Note the relatively crater free area, possibly resurfaced by polar glaciation in early Martian history.
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| ITEM (6): SOUTH POLAR TOUR - This southern polar tour, first using Viking images and then MOLA data, highlights the differences in elevation between the Hellas Impact Basin and surrounding terrain. The deepest point in Hellas is roughly 8200 meters below the equatorial mean--almost deep enough to hold Earth's Mt. Everest.
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