Context Camera Investigation on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Abstract

[1] The Context Camera (CTX) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a Facility Instrument (i.e., government-furnished equipment operated by a science team not responsible for design and fabrication) designed, built, and operated by Malin Space Science Systems and the MRO Mars Color Imager team (MARCI). CTX will (1) provide context images for data acquired by other MRO instruments, (2) observe features of interest to NASA's Mars Exploration Program (e.g., candidate landing sites), and (3) conduct a scientific investigation, led by the MARCI team, of geologic, geomorphic, and meteorological processes on Mars. CTX consists of a digital electronics assembly; a 350 mm f/3.25 Schmidt-type telescope of catadioptric optical design with a 5.7°field of view, providing a $30-km-wide swath from $290 km altitude; and a 5000-element CCD with a band pass of 500-700 nm and 7 mm pixels, giving $6 m/pixel spatial resolution from MRO's nearly circular, nearly polar mapping orbit. Raw data are transferred to the MRO spacecraft flight computer for processing (e.g., data compression) before transmission to Earth. The ground data system and operations are based on 9 years of Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera on-orbit experience. CTX has been allocated 12% of the total MRO data return, or about !3 terabits for the nominal mission. This data volume would cover $9% of Mars at 6 m/pixel, but overlapping images (for stereo, mosaics, and observation of changes and meteorological events) will reduce this area. CTX acquired its first (instrument checkout) images of Mars on 24 March 2006.

Episodes of fluvial and volcanic activity in Mangala Valles, Mars

“…The first objective of this study is to map the Mangala Valles using Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Context Camera (CTX) images (Malin et al, 2007) to achieve a level of detail comparable to Basilevsky et al (2008), but over the outflow channel system in its entirety. CTX images provide a spatial resolution (~6 m/pixel) and coverage that was not available to previous authors, who relied on High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard Mars Express (Jaumann et al, 2007), Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) (Malin and Edgett, 2001), MGS Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) (Smith et al, 2001), and Viking data .…”

A lake in Uzboi Vallis and implications for Late Noachian–Early Hesperian climate on Mars

“…The availability of data from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) (McEwen et al, 2007), Context Camera (CTX) (Malin et al, 2007), and the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft details the 10-m to sub-meter morphology and sedimentary stratigraphy exposed in Uzboi Vallis. These data, particularly HiRISE images of $26-52 cm/pixel-scales, provides evidence for water impoundment along the length of Uzboi Vallis.…”

Identification and mapping of dikes with relatively primitive compositions in Thaumasia Planum on Mars: Implications for Tharsis volcanism and the opening of Valles Marineris

“…Recently, several direct observations of eroded and exposed dikes, including some with unique compositions have been reported on Mars [Shean et al, 2005;Head et al, 2006;Korteniemi et al, 2010;Pedersen et al, 2010;Flahaut et al, 2011]. Here, we report new observations of dikes in Thaumasia Planum (Figure 1a) using imaging and spectral data from THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging System) [Christensen et al, 2004], CTX (Context Camera) [Malin et al, 2007], HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) [McEwen et al, 2007] and CRISM (Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars) [Murchie et al, 2007]. The region in which these dikes occur is characterized by extensive sinuous wrinkle ridges and has been previously mapped as Older Ridged Plains Material (HNr) of Late Noachian to Early Hesperian age [Dohm et al, 2001].…”