[1] NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission will place a total of 20 cameras (10 per rover) onto the surface of Mars in early 2004. Fourteen of the 20 cameras are designated as engineering cameras and will support the operation of the vehicles on the Martian surface. Images returned from the engineering cameras will also be of significant importance to the scientific community for investigative studies of rock and soil morphology. The Navigation cameras (Navcams, two per rover) are a mast-mounted stereo pair each with a 45°square field of view (FOV) and an angular resolution of 0.82 milliradians per pixel (mrad/pixel). The Hazard Avoidance cameras (Hazcams, four per rover) are a body-mounted, front-and rear-facing set of stereo pairs, each with a 124°square FOV and an angular resolution of 2.1 mrad/pixel. The Descent camera (one per rover), mounted to the lander, has a 45°square FOV and will return images with spatial resolutions of $4 m/pixel. All of the engineering cameras utilize broadband visible filters and 1024 Â 1024 pixel detectors.

[1] The twin Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) delivered an unprecedented array of image sensors to the Mars surface. These cameras were essential for operations, science, and public engagement. The Multimission Image Processing Laboratory (MIPL) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was responsible for the first-order processing of all of the images returned by these cameras. This processing included reconstruction of the original images, systematic and ad hoc generation of a wide variety of products derived from those images, and delivery of the data to a variety of customers, within tight time constraints. A combination of automated and manual processes was developed to meet these requirements, with significant inheritance from prior missions. This paper describes the image products generated by MIPL for MER and the processes used to produce and deliver them.

Abstract. The Mars Pathfinder mission required new capabilities and adaptation of existing capabilities in order to support science analysis and flight operations requirements imposed by the in situ nature of the mission. The Science Data Processing Systems Section of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was responsible for the design, development, and application of the system required to perform telemetry processing, distribution, and archiving of data from the four primary science instruments, and support of flight operations through production of automatically generated stereo and color mosaics, terrain visualizations, and animations. The system developed for Mars Pathfinder incorporated new capabilities in producing computer-generated color mosaics, for cataloging and distribution of science data, and utilized new display technology to support science analysis and flight operations requirements. This paper describes the data processing performed to support the science and operations payload on the Pathfinder lander and Sojourner rover. records and associated ancillary data, enabling parameterbased queries and retrieval using a Web-based system called the MPF Navigator. Remote science users were able to access the data via a JPL-developed capability called the File Exchange Interface, or FEI. FEI supports either individual queries or a subscription service that transfers data records that meet prespecified criteria directly to subscriber sites as it is entered into the database.Systematic processing included mosaic production, production of stereo data products, including rover terrain visualizations and anaglyphs, specific image products for use as press releases, and animation and rendering of data visualization products. Specific data products were transferred to individual science teams, to the flight operations team, and to the Sojourner operations team, to a central Web server used to support public access to released data via the Internet, and to a specific Web site used by the press to access press release information. Data were released in a variety of digital and analog formats.The remainder of this paper describes the processing performed in each area shown in Figure 1. The processing was performed utilizing facilities within the MIPL and the Digital Image Animation Laboratory (DIAL). DIAL is a system that is interfaced electronically with the MIPL facility and digital mission databases maintained by MIPL. DIAL includes specialized equipment for production of science visualization and animation data products.

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