High Resolution Stereo Camera

High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) is a camera experiment on Mars Express.^[1] A version for Earth called HRSC-AX was also developed, as was a version for Mars 96.^[1] It has four main parts: camera head, super resolution channel, instrument frame, and digital unit.^[1] At an altitude of 250 km from Mars, SRC can produce images with a resolution of 2.3 meters/pixel of 2.35 km square Mars terrain.^[1] It has 9 channels and can produce digital terrain models.^[1] A typical image from HRSC of Mars has a resolution ranging from 12.5 for nadir (directly down) to 25 m/pixel for the farthest off-nadir shots, which can be up to 18.9 degrees.^[2]

By 2012, about 61.5% of the surface of Mars was mapped at a resolution of at least 20 meters per pixel by the Mars Express mission using this camera.^[3] Another area of study is repeat imaging, to allow the study of dynamic processes on Mars.^[2][4] Another trick is to make short videos of the Mars surface by taking advantage of the pushbroom nature of the detector, each section is slightly offset for a different color, but when combined each view be used to make a short animation.^[5]

By the start of 2015, about 70% of Mars had been imaged by Mars at resolutions greater than 20 m per pixel, and 97% at resolutions of least 60 m per pixel.^[6]

Example observation

Orcus Patera, imaged by the HRSC:

Mars Express HRSC view of Orcus Patera (Courtesy of the ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum))

Mars Express HRSC view of Orcus Patera with colors for elevation (Courtesy of the ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum))

See also

• Trace Gas Orbiter (next ESA Mars orbiter, arrived 2016)

References

1. DLR – HRSC on Mars Express Archived 2012-01-17 at the Wayback Machine
2. "High-resolution repeat imaging allows detecting dynamic surface processes on Mars".
3. ESA -Mapping Mars
4. Sidiropoulos, P.; Muller, J.-P. (2015). "On the status of orbital high-resolution repeat imaging of Mars for the observation of dynamic surface processes" (PDF). Planetary and Space Science. 117: 207–222. Bibcode:2015P&SS..117..207S. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2015.06.017.
5. TPS – Capturing Martian Weather in Motion – November 4, 2016
6. THE HIGH RESOLUTION STEREO CAMERA (HRSC): STATUS AND FACTS (2015)

External links

• ESA – High Resolution Stereo Camera
• Aeolis Mons (Mount Sharp) and Gale – Image/HRSCview Archived 2017-08-07 at the Wayback Machine
• Aeolis Mons (Mount Sharp) – HRSCview Archived 2016-08-05 at the Wayback Machine (oblique view looking east)
• HRSC + Phobos Archived 2013-11-11 at the Wayback Machine (with SRC shots overlaid)
  • Phobos by HRSC
• HRSC Press release archive (2004–2012)
• HRSC with SRC of Victoria Crater and area near Opportunity rover's landing site Archived 2016-11-13 at the Wayback Machine
• Clouds in Nilokeras Scopulus
• TPS – Capturing Martian Weather in Motion – November 4, 2016
• THE HIGH RESOLUTION STEREO CAMERA (HRSC): STATUS AND FACTS (2015) (Includes graph of cumulative surface coverage by resolution, up to 2015)