HomeWhen can we expect Phobos images?
I have just heard some more news about Sunday’s Phobos flyby from Mars Express Project Scientist Olivier Witasse. He says, “We are now entering a new phase for the Phobos flybys. The dayside encounter phase means that remote sensing can proceed at full speed!”
The MARSIS, SPICAM, OMEGA, ASPERA experiments will all be working, as will, of course, the camera (HRSC). The Sunday flyby will take place at an altitude of 107 km, and provide the opportunity for high-resolution imaging. It is a delicate operation.
The camera is fixed in position on the spacecraft and cannot move independently. So, to keep tracking Phobos the whole spacecraft will have to turn. Because of the large MARSIS antenna, which measures 40 metres end-to-end, the spacecraft is usually only turned at a rate of once every 40 minutes. On Sunday, the team will exceed this a little to keep Phobos centred in the camera. But the tracking does means that we will all have to be patient before seeing the images.
The spacecraft cannot point in two directions at once. It cannot track Phobos and keep pointing its high gain antenna to Earth. So the images will be stored onboard and then downlinked at the next available ground station pass. “The images will arrive on the ground on Monday,” says Witasse. The data will then pass straight to the camera team, who will begin the processing.
Witasse suggests that images may be available by Wednesday, once the processing is complete. Watch the blog for updates to this schedule. -- Stuart
12-03-2010 • 13:40:40
I do care about the images as well as the gravity data. Lars Fisher is certainly correct regarding the Mass Distribution Data. The slightly greater than expcted deviation during approach, suggests to me, a small more solid 'lump' on one side of Phobos. Perhaps Phobos is like Asteroid 253 Mathilde, in as much as it is a rubble pile held together by gravity, with perhaps a more co herent lump in the interior? The images will reveal more about the distribution og small impact craters, grooves & boulders, also vital information regarding Phobos. I still say Phobos & Deimos are captured Type D asteroids. Also they appear spectrally similar to some of Jupoiter's outlying retrograding moons, such as Carme, Pasiphae, Ananke & Sinope.
07-03-2010 • 01:59:14
""The team will receive the data on Friday, and they will begin the full analysis once they receive the precise orbit determination of Mars Express on its way into the flyby. They hope to assess the data and the preliminary results in about two weeks time.""
2wk time.
06-03-2010 • 22:13:33
When will the imaging start? Any selected hires targets?
06-03-2010 • 21:38:55
... for bringing the blog online again. :)
05-03-2010 • 23:38:32
I don't care about the images. When will we get the mass distribution data?
08-03-2010 • 12:26:40
The data analysis of the radio-science data will take some time. In a few weeks from now, the team should be able to get information on the gravity field of Phobos. Then, they will start interpreting the data in terms of mass distribution. This will requires using models of the interior of Phbos, and this step may take a few months.