1998 SPACE SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
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Tape Title | Record ID | Date Produced | TRT: |
Synopsis |
| FIRST 3D MAP OF MARS POLAR REGION CAPTURED BY MARS ORBITER LASER ALTIMETER | G98-059 | 12/06/98 | 00:11:12 | Measurements by a laser altimeter instrument orbiting aboard NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft are providing striking new views of the north pole of the red planet and the processes that have shaped it.
This first three-dimensional picture of Mars' north pole enables scientists to estimate the volume of its water ice cap with unprecedented precision, and to study its surface variations and the heights of clouds in the region for the first time.
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TAPE CONTENTS: |
| ITEM (1): 3D FLYOVER OF MARS NORTH POLE - The shape, size and depth of the polar cap indicates that it is composed primarily of water (H20) ice. The topographic map reveals that the ice cap is about 750 miles (1200 kilometers) across with a maximum relief of 1.8 miles (3 kilometers). the cap is cut by canyons, and troughs as deep as 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) beneath the surface. Similar features do not occur on any glacial or polar terrain on Earth and appear to be carved by wind and evaporation of ice. In some areas the ice cap is surrounded by dunes several miles across and up to a half mile high. These dunes may be dust covered ice; remnants of the polar cap from a time when it was larger. TRT: 1:38 Courtesy of NASA
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| ITEM (2): 3D MARS ORBITER ALTIMETER (MOLA) FLYOVERS OF INTERESTING FEATURES IN MARS POLAR REGION:
Cut 1 - North Pole fly up to dunes, trough, to cover ice
Cut 2 - North Pole fly up to Sasquatch Crater - impact carters surrounding the cap are observed to be filled with ice and dust that was either deposited by wind or condensation, or perhaps remain from a earlier period when the ice cap was larger.
Cut 3 - North Pole flyover mesa, troughs, dunes and Sasquatch Crater
Cut 4 - Fly in from directly above North Pole to cap is less than half that of the Greenland Ice Cap and about 4% of the Antarctic ice sheet.
TRT: 3:30 Courtesy of NASA |
| ITEM (3): 3D COMPOSITE OF HST IMAGES OF MARS - Hubble Space Telescope view of Mars. This 3-D view was constructed from several Hubble images taken in February 1995. A Mercator Projection of the images was created and mapped onto a sphere. TRT: :33 Courtesy Phil James, University of Toledo & Steven Lee, University of Colorado /NASA
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| ITEM (4): MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR SPACECRAFT ANIMATION - The MOLA instrument onboard the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft has collected about 26 million high quality measurements of the surface topography and cloud height. MOLA is able to measure the height or depth of surface features on Mars with an accuracy of about one foot. Courtesy of NASA TRT: :33
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| ITEM (5): MOLA INSTRUMENT ANIMATION - The Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) fires pulses of infrared light at the surface and measures the time for reflections to return. The Laser Altimeter will map out the height of Mars' mountains and the depths of its valleys.Courtesy of NASA TRT: :21
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| ITEM (6 ): SOUNDBITES: JIM GARVIN, CO-INVESTIGATOR, MARS ORIBTAL LASER ALTIMETER, NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER Courtesy NASA
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