New book gathers Mars images in one spot

Next real leap
Despite the dual rovers being given an A-plus on their photo assignments, the limelight will be shared given future hardware now being readied for Mars.

Next summer, NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander departs for the red planet’s icy north pole. Its cameras are akin to the rover Pancams, using the same detectors and comparable optics.

The next real leap in surface camera equipment is to be toted by NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), a huge rover that blasts off in 2009.

MSL’s mast cameras—Mastcam for short—would capture the martian terrain in color photos, three-dimensional images, and high-definition video. New features on the Mastcam would make it more versatile than previous rover cameras.

Bell is on the Mastcam team led by Michael Malin of Malin Space Science Systems of San Diego, California.

“It’s a wonderful camera system that can go in color to a resolution about three times better than the rover Pancams,” Bell explained. “It’s going to be a beautiful, beautiful imaging system.”

Blood, sweat and tears
Meanwhile, Spirit and Opportunity soldier onward.

Putting together "Postcards from Mars," Bell said was a very emotional experience. “Seeing it all in one place…all the different scenes. It shows the amount of team work and collaboration. It represents the blood, sweat and tears of hundreds and hundreds of people.”

Today, Spirit is perched for more action, ready to tackle new observations near the Columbia Hills.

Planetary partner, Opportunity, is taking astounding imagery from the edge of the huge Victoria Crater. Chances are good that this robot will wheel itself down into that large feature, Bell said.

“It’s incredible how much our attitude has changed from early on…when it was just rush, rush, rush, thinking that we’re going to die at any moment. Now we’re thinking long-term because we’ve been able to,” Bell said. More good news is that the cameras on both rovers remain in good, sharp-shooting shape, he added.

So "Postcards from Mars, Volume 2," might seem right?

“No kidding, with the way we’re going,” Bell concluded.

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