The Mars NetLander panoramic camera

The panoramic camera (PanCam) imaging experiment is designed to obtain high -resolution multispectral stereoscopic panoramic images from each of the fo ur Mars NetLander 2005 sites. The main scientific objectives to be addresse d by the PanCam experiment are (1) to locate the landing sites and support the NetLander network sciences, (2) to geologically investigate and map the landing sites, and (3) to study the properties of the atmosphere and of va riable phenomena. To place in situ measurements at a landing site into a pr oper regional context, it is necessary to determine the lander orientation on ground and to exactly locate the position of the landing site with respe ct to the available cartographic database. This is not possible by hacking alone due to the lack of on-ground orientation and the so-called map-tie pr oblem. Images as provided by the PanCam allow to determine accurate tilt an d north directions for each lander and to identify the lander locations bas ed on landmarks, which can also be recognized in appropriate orbiter imager y. With this information, it will be further possible to improve the Mars-w ide geodetic control point network and the resulting geometric precision of global map products. The major geoscientific objectives of the PanCam land er images are the recognition of surface features like ripples, ridges and troughs, and the identification and characterization of different rock and surface units based on their morphology, distribution, spectral characteris tics, and physical properties. The analysis of the PanCam imagery will fina lly result in the generation of precise map products for each of the landin g sites. So far comparative geologic studies of the Martian surface are res tricted to the timely separated Mars Pathfinder and the two Viking Lander M issions. Further lander missions are in preparation (Beagle-2, Mars Surveyo r 03). NetLander provides the unique opportunity to nearly double the numbe r of accessible landing site data by providing simultaneous and long-term o bservations at four different surface locations which becomes especially im portant for studies of variable surface features as well as properties and phenomena of the atmosphere. Major changes on the surface that can be detec ted by PanCam are caused by eolian activities and condensation processes, w hich directly reflect variations in the prevailing near-surface wind regime and the diurnal and seasonal volatile and dust cycles. Atmospheric studies will concentrate on the detection of clouds, measurements of the aerosol c ontents and the water vapor absorption at 936 nm, In order to meet these ob jectives, the proposed PanCam instrument is a highly miniaturized, dedicate d stereo and multispectral imaging device. The camera consists of two ident ical camera cubes, which are arranged in a common housing at a fixed stereo base length of 11 cm, Each camera cube is equipped with a CCD frame transf er detector with 1024 x 1024 active pixels and optics with a focal lengh of 13 mm yielding a field-of-view of 53 degrees x 53 degrees and an instantan eous filed of view of 1.1 mrad. A filter swivel with six positions provides different color band passes in the wavelength range of 400-950 nm. The cam era head is mounted on top of a deployable scissors boom and can be rotated by 360 degrees to obtain a full panorama, which is already covered by eigh t images. The boom raises the camera head to a final altitude of 90 cm abov e the surface. Most camera activities will take place within the first week and the first month of the mission.