- Recently the web page for Malin Space
Science Systems, controller of the Mars Orbiter Camera on the Global Surveyor
spacecraft, announced that the cameras on the Surveyor would be "turned
off" soon. Because an opportunity for imaging the anomalies at Cydonia
is coming up in March, the MSSS announcement caused quite a stir. Some
saw this as proof that NASA, JPL, and Malin are engaged in a conspiracy
to keep images of Cydonia from the public. Demands were made only a few
days ago for people to "blitz" NASA with faxes protesting the
camera shut-off. Others were preparing to mount demonstrations.
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- What is the actual situation? It turns
out that the proposed camera shut-off is to occur only while aerobraking
continues, that is until sometime in March. Camera activity has been going
on during aerobraking by taking advantage of periods of time during which
the craft can be re-oriented from aerobraking configuration to instrument
configuration and back again. However, as the orbits grow shorter in duration
the efficiency of this procedure grows less and less. As a result, the
cameras and other instruments will be turned off until aerobraking is suspended
in March. At that time, according to Florida Today Space Online for Feb.
25, all the onboard instruments, including the camera, will be turned back
on. There will be "a concentrated period of science data collection"
throughout spring and summer. Aerobraking will not resume until September.
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- There should be ample opportunity to
re-image Cydonia during this period of instrument operation. We want to
stress that it is highly desirable for images of Cydonia to be obtained
by the high-resolution camera on MGS during this time period rather than
waiting for the mapping orbit later. The reason for this is that the greater
distance from the planet allows for a wider field of coverage at high resolution
(about 9-11 meters/pixel), thus ensuring that all or most of the anomalies
will be imaged. Later on, during the Mapping orbit, high resolution images
will have a very small field of view and targeting individual objects will
be more difficult. We are currently in conversations with NASA urging that
Cydonia be imaged this spring and summer.
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