Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-74656f9884-npj9w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-08T11:52:24.030Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

12 - Multispectral imaging from Mars Pathfinder

from Part III - Mineralogy and Remote Sensing of Rocks, Soil, Dust, and Ices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2009

W. H. Farrand
Affiliation:
Space Science Institute 4750 Walnut Street, # 205 Boulder, CO 80301, USA
J. F. Bell III
Affiliation:
Cornell University, Department of Astronomy, 402 Space Sciences Building, Ithaca, NY 14853-6801, USA
J. R. Johnson
Affiliation:
Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory Alaska Office PO Box 35170 Ft. Wainwright, AK 99703, USA
J. L. Bishop
Affiliation:
SETI Institute 515 N. Whisman Road Mountain View, CA 94034, USA
R. V. Morris
Affiliation:
NASA/JSC Cose KR, Building 31, Room 120 2101 NASA Road 1 Houston, TX 77058, USA
Jim Bell
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Get access

Summary

ABSTRACT

The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was a mast-mounted instrument on the Mars Pathfinder (MPF) lander which landed on Mars' Ares Vallis floodplain on July 4, 1997. During the 83 sols of MPF landed operations, the IMP collected over 16 600 images. Multispectral images were collected using 12 narrowband filters at wavelengths between 400 and 1000 nm in the visible and near-infrared (VNIR) range. The IMP provided VNIR spectra of the materials surrounding the lander including rocks, bright soils, dark soils, and atmospheric observations. During the primary mission, only a single primary rock spectral class, “Gray Rock,” was recognized; since then, “Black Rock” has been identified. The Black Rock spectra have a stronger absorption at longer wavelengths than do Gray Rock spectra. A number of coated rocks have also been described, the Red and Maroon Rock classes, and perhaps indurated soils in the form of the Pink Rock class. A number of different soil types were also recognized with the primary ones being Bright Red Drift, Dark Soil, Brown Soil, and Disturbed Soil. Examination of spectral parameter plots indicated two trends which were interpreted as representing alteration products formed in at least two different environmental epochs of the Ares Vallis area. Subsequent analysis of the data and comparison with terrestrial analogs have supported the interpretation that the rock coatings provide evidence of earlier Martian environments.

Information

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Multispectral imaging from Mars Pathfinder
    • By W. H. Farrand, Space Science Institute 4750 Walnut Street, # 205 Boulder, CO 80301, USA, J. F. Bell III, Cornell University, Department of Astronomy, 402 Space Sciences Building, Ithaca, NY 14853-6801, USA, J. R. Johnson, Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory Alaska Office PO Box 35170 Ft. Wainwright, AK 99703, USA, J. L. Bishop, SETI Institute 515 N. Whisman Road Mountain View, CA 94034, USA, R. V. Morris, NASA/JSC Cose KR, Building 31, Room 120 2101 NASA Road 1 Houston, TX 77058, USA
  • Edited by Jim Bell, Cornell University, New York
  • Book: The Martian Surface
  • Online publication: 10 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511536076.013
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Multispectral imaging from Mars Pathfinder
    • By W. H. Farrand, Space Science Institute 4750 Walnut Street, # 205 Boulder, CO 80301, USA, J. F. Bell III, Cornell University, Department of Astronomy, 402 Space Sciences Building, Ithaca, NY 14853-6801, USA, J. R. Johnson, Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory Alaska Office PO Box 35170 Ft. Wainwright, AK 99703, USA, J. L. Bishop, SETI Institute 515 N. Whisman Road Mountain View, CA 94034, USA, R. V. Morris, NASA/JSC Cose KR, Building 31, Room 120 2101 NASA Road 1 Houston, TX 77058, USA
  • Edited by Jim Bell, Cornell University, New York
  • Book: The Martian Surface
  • Online publication: 10 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511536076.013
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Multispectral imaging from Mars Pathfinder
    • By W. H. Farrand, Space Science Institute 4750 Walnut Street, # 205 Boulder, CO 80301, USA, J. F. Bell III, Cornell University, Department of Astronomy, 402 Space Sciences Building, Ithaca, NY 14853-6801, USA, J. R. Johnson, Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory Alaska Office PO Box 35170 Ft. Wainwright, AK 99703, USA, J. L. Bishop, SETI Institute 515 N. Whisman Road Mountain View, CA 94034, USA, R. V. Morris, NASA/JSC Cose KR, Building 31, Room 120 2101 NASA Road 1 Houston, TX 77058, USA
  • Edited by Jim Bell, Cornell University, New York
  • Book: The Martian Surface
  • Online publication: 10 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511536076.013
Available formats
×