{"id":15049,"date":"2016-12-01T01:37:52","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T17:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/europes-new-mars-orbiter-gives-first-taste-of-science-data\/"},"modified":"2016-12-01T01:37:52","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T17:37:52","slug":"europes-new-mars-orbiter-gives-first-taste-of-science-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/europes-new-mars-orbiter-gives-first-taste-of-science-data\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe\u2019s new Mars orbiter gives first taste of science data"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The first ExoMars stereo reconstruction of a small area in a region called Noctis Labyrinthus. The image gives an altitude map of the region with a resolution of less than 20 meters (66 feet). The images used to make the 3D profile were taken on Nov. 22, 2016, and are among the first to be acquired by the Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Credit: ESA\/Roscosmos\/ExoMars\/CaSSIS\/UniBE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A first look at the red planet from the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, now in its second month at Mars, gave scientists a sample of the three-dimensional imagery and detailed atmospheric measurements expected over the spacecraft\u2019s five-year mission.<\/p>\n

The orbiter\u2019s chief objective is to tease out the trace constituents of the Martian atmosphere, particularly methane, a gas detected intermittently over the last decade that scientists think could be produced by microbes or undiscovered ongoing geological activity.<\/p>\n

The Trace Gas Orbiter, or TGO, has two instruments \u2014 one from Europe and one from Russia \u2014 focusing on atmospheric research. A mapping camera from Switzerland and a water-seeking neutron detector from Russia\u2019s Space Research Institute are also aboard the spacecraft.<\/p>\n

The orbiter arrived at Mars on Oct. 19 with the Schiaparelli lander, a technology demonstrator probe that crashed after an apparent measurement error led its computer to misjudge its altitude.<\/p>\n

The Trace Gas Orbiter was the lander\u2019s mothership, and it successfully swung into orbit with a make-or-break engine burn, giving Europe its second satellite around Mars.<\/p>\n

The spacecraft still needs to tighten its orbit, using repeated dips into the upper reaches of the Martian atmosphere next year to create enough drag to tug the satellite into a circular orbit around 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the surface.<\/p>\n

For now, the Trace Gas Orbiter is flying in a highly elliptical orbit not optimized for scientific observations. The craft currently flies as close as 140 miles (230 kilometers) and as far as 61,000 miles (98,000 kilometers) from the planet during each 4.2-day orbit.<\/p>\n

\"Artist's
Artist\u2019s concept of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Credit: ESA\/ATG medialab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But ground controllers switched on the craft\u2019s four science instruments last week to gauge their performance. The results are promising, the European Space Agency said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are extremely happy and proud to see that all the instruments are working so well in the Mars environment, and this first impression gives a fantastic preview of what\u2019s to come when we start collecting data for real at the end of next year,\u201d said H\u00e5kan Svedhem, ESA\u2019s project scientist for the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.<\/p>\n

The orbiter\u2019s science camera \u2014 the Color and Stereo Surface Imaging System, or CaSSIS \u2014 returned its first images of Mars last week, including a three-dimensional reconstruction from a pair of images taken from different view points as the spacecraft soared overheard.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first images we received are absolutely spectacular \u2013 and it was only meant to be a test,\u201d said Nicolas Thomas, principal investigator for the CaSSIS camera from the University of Bern in Switzerland. \u201cA lot of public attention has been on the failed landing of Schiaparelli, but TGO has been working really well so we have been extremely busy in the past month.\u201d<\/p>\n

CaSSIS got one of the closest views of Mars it will get throughout TGO\u2019s mission, snapping images Nov. 22 of the Hebes Chasma region just north of the red planet\u2019s famous Valles Marineris canyon system from an altitude of 146 miles (235 kilometers), much lower than the orbiter\u2019s operational perch of 250 miles.<\/p>\n

Scientists said the 11 images captured by CaSSIS during the Nov. 22 flyby, along with other data on the camera\u2019s performance, will help improve the imager\u2019s on-board software and the quality of images after processing.<\/p>\n