Mars Exploration Rover Athena Panoramic Camera (Pancam) investigation

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Read Full Article (file size: 1773797 bytes) Cited by JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 108, NO. E12, 8063, doi:10.1029/2003JE002070, 2003 Mars Exploration Rover Athena Panoramic Camera (Pancam) investigation J. F. Bell III Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA S. W. Squyres Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA K. E. Herkenhoff U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA J. N. Maki Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA H. M. Arneson Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA D. Brown Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA S. A. Collins Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA A. Dingizian Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA S. T. Elliot Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA E. C. Hagerott Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA A. G. Hayes Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA M. J. Johnson Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA J. R. Johnson U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA J. Joseph Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA K. Kinch Neils Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark M. T. Lemmon Department of Atmospheric Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA R. V. Morris NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, USA L. Scherr Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA M. Schwochert Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA M. K. Shepard Department of Geography and Geosciences, Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, USA G. H. Smith GHS Optics, Pasadena, California, USA J. N. Sohl-Dickstein Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA R. J. Sullivan Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA W. T. Sullivan Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA M. Wadsworth Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA Abstract The Panoramic Camera (Pancam) investigation is part of the Athena science payload launched to Mars in 2003 on NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rover (MER) missions. The scientific goals of the Pancam investigation are to assess the high-resolution morphology, topography, and geologic context of each MER landing site, to obtain color images to constrain the mineralogic, photometric, and physical properties of surface materials, and to determine dust and aerosol opacity and physical properties from direct imaging of the Sun and sky. Pancam also provides mission support measurements for the rovers, including Sun-finding for rover navigation, hazard identification and digital terrain modeling to help guide long-term rover traverse decisions, high-resolution imaging to help guide the selection of in situ sampling targets, and acquisition of education and public outreach products. The Pancam optical, mechanical, and electronics design were optimized to achieve these science and mission support goals. Pancam is a multispectral, stereoscopic, panoramic imaging system consisting of two digital cameras mounted on a mast 1.5 m above the Martian surface. The mast allows Pancam to image the full 360° in azimuth and ±90° in elevation. Each Pancam camera utilizes a 1024 × 1024 active imaging area frame transfer CCD detector array. The Pancam optics have an effective focal length of 43 mm and a focal ratio of f/20, yielding an instantaneous field of view of 0.27 mrad/pixel and a field of view of 16° × 16°. Each rover's two Pancam “eyes” are separated by 30 cm and have a 1° toe-in to provide adequate stereo parallax. Each eye also includes a small eight position filter wheel to allow surface mineralogic studies, multispectral sky imaging, and direct Sun imaging in the 400–1100 nm wavelength region. Pancam was designed and calibrated to operate within specifications on Mars at temperatures from −55° to +5°C. An onboard calibration target and fiducial marks provide the capability to validate the radiometric and geometric calibration on Mars. Received 25 February 2003; accepted 25 July 2003; published 29 November 2003. Index Terms: 6225 Planetology: Solar System Objects: Mars. Read Full Article (file size: 1773797 bytes) Cited by Citation: Bell, J. F., III, et al. (2003), Mars Exploration Rover Athena Panoramic Camera (Pancam) investigation, J. Geophys. Res., 108(E12), 8063, doi:10.1029/2003JE002070. Copyright 2003 by the American Geophysical Union.

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