NASA shows new panorama image from Mars Perseverance
Science
Over the weekend, we deployed the RSM.
If you go to the first picture, there's a picture of the remote sensing mass the RSM, which is that mast on the rover and you can see the navigation cameras up there, the left and right navigation cameras or nav cams as we call them.
This is another new imaging system that we've I developed here specifically for the 2020 mission.
These cameras represent a pretty significant advancement over previous imaging systems that we've flown.
These are 20 megapixel of color cameras with very high resolution and wide angle lenses that we use to basically map out the surface as the river drives and then we use these images to do planning and things.
So we the first thing we did after we deployed the masses, we started imaging the surface.
So the next slide shows one of our first images from the cameras.
This image is actually in low resolution mode.
So it's one quarter of the full resolution of the of the camera.
So it's been it's been shrunk down But you can see right there, the VISTA that we're seeing this is the rover, obviously on Mars, and you can see some of the material that landed on the deck.
But everything looks in good shape.
And so we're using these images to inspect not only the vehicle but the surface around us.
The next slide was the view down towards the surface.
You can see the wheels there.
This is the same surface we saw in the EDL cam videos.
You can see some of the scouring that the rocket plumes did for us clean it off, make it nice and clean so we can take pictures of it and dust it off for us.
The next slide shows a view Looking out towards the South, and this just an amazing scene here.
This is it.
This is Mars where we're here in our place that we're going to be exploring over the next months and coming years.
And it's just really exciting to see the scenes look familiar to us, they look Earth-like in a sense, you see them.
The mountains back there and the rocks and things it's just a really is the surface of an alien world and we just arrived.
You can also see some more scouring there on the right.
The next image looks over towards the west you can see the Delta out there in the horizon.
And again more scouring from the rocket balloons.
And then we take all of these images and stitch them together into panoramas and so that next the next frame shows the full panorama from the nav cam stitch together.
We're still working out with calibration and things.
So this is, you know, approximate color, but it just gives you a feel for.
The VISTA here that we were our new environment that we're going to explore.
And we're hoping everyone will join us in seeing these images for today we're going to be releasing a whole slew of raw images.
It's been a firehose of data.
Basically, we have 1000s of images already from the EDL cameras.
You have camps.
You've you seen it has camps and so we will be putting those out on the website today for people to download and process yourself or just look at the great pictures.
Find your favorite picture and make it make it your screening background.
And then the last image that I just wanted to point out is the first image one of the first images from the mass Kanzi camera.
This is another Next Generation imaging system on the rover, Kimbell's the PII.
I'm the Deputy API for this, working with our industry partners Ms Cube down in San Diego.
This is just a fantastic imaging system.
This is a preview of things to come.
This system has a zoom lens on it.
That's what the Z stands for.
And we're going to get incredibly high resolution photos from this imaging system.
I just want to point out a few things in this picture.
On the far right, you can see those cables that have been cut the video that you just saw, so there's kind of a close up of that.
And then just in the middle to the left of that, that black instrument that's the rover upload camera.
That's the camera that actually took the video of the sky crane.
As we were coming down, and then in the bottom of the frame is the mastcam z calibration target set.
There's two of them.
There's the circular one with the, the shadow post and then the colour chips on the bottom.
There's another Cal target in the back.
That's the super cam instrument.
Our partners from Los Alamos and in France, we're going to be commissioning supercam over the next few days.
And then finally, just as a teaser, I'll point out that there is a little antenna there to the right on that box and center, right.
That is the helicopter antenna.
That's the helicopter base station location, and preview of things to come.
We're excited about that as well.
So with that, I'm gonna turn it over to Jessica to talk.
