Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Data Released

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Image of Polar Layers

At long last instrument data files from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have been added to the NASA PDS Imaging Node web site. Present is data from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), Context Camera (CTX), and Mars Color Imager (MARCI). While the Context Camera has returned some great imagery, it is entirely overshadowed by the pictures captured by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment. Most impressive was a HiRISE image that showed not only the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity but the shadow from the PanCam mast. This picture can be seen on the Victoria Crater at Meridiani Planum TRA_000873_1780 page.

For those not familiar with the NASA PDS Imaging Node, this is the place to go to obtain the raw data files for various instruments from a variety of NASA planetary missions. Quoting from the news release about the addition of MRO data, “a PDS data node is designed to provide access to a particular data set during an active mission, when the data are of greatest interest” The Data Holdings Catalog page provides a full index to the data resources available. Note that as of this writing, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter data has not been added to the list. However, you can bypass the PDS home page and go directly to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Online Data Volumes.

The image used to illustrate this entry (see above) is a 100 percent resolution subsection of a Context Camera image. To process the image I used Adobe Photoshop. I began by doing a dual High Pass Filter effect to sharpen the image. I then colorized the image using both a color layer and a Hue Saturation Adjustment layer, applying the two in tandem. The final step was to add a Curves Adjustment layer to increase contrast in the picture.

Some Useful Mar Reconnaissance Orbiter Links

Ad Astra, Jim

| Return to the Blog Index | This entry was posted on Monday, June 25th, 2007 at 11:32 am and is filed under Mars, Photoshop.