ExoMars has mostly garnered attention for its give way Schiaparelli lander , but the other half of its charge is actually doing a capital job .
After a five - calendar month journey , the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter ( TGO ) reach out Mars on October 19 , and last week the Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System ( CaSSIS ) tv camera catch its first 11 eminent - settlement views of Mars .
“ The first image we received are utterly outstanding – and it was only meant to be a test , ” Professor Nicolas Thomas , CaSSIS team loss leader , say in astatement . “ We go out Hebes Chasma at 2.8 meters ( 9 feet ) per pixel . That ’s a bit like take flight over Bern at 15,000 kilometres per hour ( 9,300 knot per hour ) and simultaneously get incisive picture of railroad car in Zurich . ”
The team showcased an unbelievable 3D reconstructive memory of Noctis Labyrinthus , the neighborhood at the western goal of Valles Marineris . The stereophonic effigy has a resolution of less than 20 time ( 65 feet ) , and it seems that it will be able to create incredible altitude maps of Mars .
The first stereo reconstructive memory of a small region in Noctis Labyrinthus . ESA / Roscosmos / ExoMars / CaSSIS / UniBE
" The technique for produce stereophonic system from this type of datum are still being developed but our Italian colleagues from the Astronomical Observatory of Padova ( INAF ) , who are expert in this field , were able-bodied to produce a first outcome in just a pair of days in spite of it being very challenging , ” contribute Thomas .
Currently , TGO is in a wide ovoid scope that conk out out to over 100,000 kilometers ( 62,000 miles ) and as near as 250 kilometers ( 155 mile ) . It takes about four solar day for the spacecraft to go around this way . This is obviously not the final scope for TGO . Next March , the craft will start out to employ the standard atmosphere to slow down ( a method acting called aerobraking ) , which over several month will take TGO to a circular orbit 400 klick ( 250 sea mile ) from the aerofoil .
One of the main objectives of TGO is to study the presence of methane on Mars , which might be link up to the presence of life on the satellite . The camera will facilitate photograph potential sites that release gas and assist scientists in determine where succeeding Lander and rover should research .
