A Webcam @ Mars: VMC – a public outreach success for ESA

A Webcam @ Mars: VMC – a public outreach success for esa Jonathan Schulster, VCS GmbH, TIZ, Darmstadt, D. Michel Denis, OPS/OPM, ESA-ESOC, Darmstadt Daniel Scuka, EJR-Quartz, Darmstadt, D. Thomas Ormston & Hannes Greibel, Vega GmbH, Europaplatz 5, Darmstadt, D.

Presentation Overview
A (brief) history of the Visual Monitoring Camera (webcam)
Operating VMC Webcam on Mars Express
Public Outreach on other Inter-Planetary missions
Re-commissioning Process for the Webcam
Public Outreach with VMC on Mars Express
VMC Observations so far…
Developments in VMC Planning & Operations
Future for the VMC Webcam on Mars Express
Lessons Learned

Development of the Visual Telemetry System on Ariane 502 (OIP Sensor Systems, BE)
First flown on XMM-Newton
Used on Cluster in 2000
To capture mechanism deployments: ‘visual telemetry’
640 x 480 pixels, 8-bit sampling, Bayer filter for post-processed colour images
Design life weeks/months
1. History of the VMC

2. Operating VMC webcam on Mars Express
No routine use foreseen
Evolving operational concept
Complex observation planning
Not in Science planning process
‘ lowest priority’
Best-effort basis (no cost!)
Non-interference basis with Science instruments

2a. Beagle-2 Deployment
The original intended (and successful) use of the VMC, to capture the release (and spin-up) of the Beagle-2 lander, 19 December 2003

3. Public Outreach on Planetary Missions
Mars Student Imaging Project (THEMIS, Odyssey – NASA, ASU)
HiWish: ‘Public pick pixels on Mars’ – HiRise on MRO, UoA-LPL/JPL
Cassini ‘scientist for a day’ program (target selection – SOWG)
Saturn Solar Opposition events 2008 ‘whole World looks up to the Sky’
Main instruments on MEX not appropriate to public target identification?

4. Re-commissioning VMC
Started late 2006 “make new instrument from an old sensor”
First exposure tests … camera still works!
Process automation
Special pointing required (and new ones added)
Procedure refinement to minimise commanding
Pointing timeline insertion & constraint-checking tools
VMC Toolkit development

‘1 st Light’ – a new beginning for VMC
VMC Re-commissioned at Mars 26 - Feb-’07
‘ first light’
Vallis Marinaris, taken 8-Oct-’08
4 volcanos, Tharsis ‘bulge’, 5-July-’08

5. Public Outreach with VMC on Mars Express
Images down-linked from Mars Express as ‘lowest priority
… but raw source images made available on website with minimum latency possible (VMC toolkit)
Blog format with calendar showing latest observations and contributions

Clouds on Arsia Mons Image credits: ESA/NASA/JPL/Malin Space Systems/Mike Malaska Estimation of cloud height by topographic features Estimation of cloud height by shadow length

Composite images: clouds and dust-storms
1 st VMC ‘limb’ targeting observation (fixed inertial attitude rather than true tracking)
Images are post-processed composites of about 10 VMC ‘shots’ (H.Griebel, M.Malaska)

Latest examples: Sophisticated image processing
NEXT SLIDES…
“ Flying over Mars: Mosaic by Errol Bruce” (below) – set of images from low-altitude observation on 12 Jan 2010, as MEX flew away from Mars
‘ Flat-fielding’ Rick Hollar, Vallis Marineris & Tharsis Montes .
Ted Stryk, Powell, TN, USA from 24-Mar-2009 (below)

64 Views of Mars
Emily Lakdawalla (Planetary Society) has produced a composite of 64 of the best VMC images
She has also runs ‘web workshops’ as tutorials for the general public on how to process VMC images

Phobos Shadow Transit across Mars

6. VMC observations summary…
Beagle-2 departure
1 st Image of Mars, 1 st low-altitude shots
Clouds from VMC
Low-altitude limb-tracking (Mars atmosphere)
‘ flat-fielding’ techniques
High-Dynamic Range (HDR) processing
64 views of Mars poster
Phobos shadow transit of Mars

7. Current Developments in VMC Planning & Ops.
Automation of VMC pointings
VMC Toolkit fully-automated
Target-pointing tools
MAPPS observation planning
Tuning to Mars Express ‘seasons’

8. The Future for VMC Webcam on Mars Express
Kepler’s orbital elements … education movie (~200 shots)
Public-input to pericenter target selection (2011…)
Refine operation modes to avoid conflicts/constraints
Feedback/integrate into overall ESA Science Communications Plan

8a. Public Outreach ‘Adopt a VMC observation’
Exploit webcam opportunity for education outreach
More direct involvement of Schools and Universities in ops.
Enhance planetary education – cooperative projects
Generate interest in ESA and VMC web content
Low/minimal operations cost (telecon, e-mail support, blog publication)

9. Lessons Learned on Public Outreach
Building Trust
Managing expectations
Data availability
"If I'm asleep and you're awake, you can see the pictures from the rover before I do, … it's really enabled people to share in this voyage of exploration.“ Steve Squyres, MER PI
‘ Know your limits’
Managing the website /Blog

9a. Lessons learned – future missions
Plan for long-term use of all resources on the spacecraft, however small!
Exploit ‘auxilliary payloads’ to augment public outreach
VMC has far wider uses than ever imagined (climate, science, etc.)
Impact on public awareness & support for robotic planetary exploration?

A Webcam @ Mars: VMC – a public outreach success for ESA

by ESA/ESOC - Darmstadt, Germany on Feb 12, 2010

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A Webcam @ Mars: VMC – a public outreach success for ESA — Presentation Transcript

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