The design of Mars lander cameras for Mars Pathfinder, Mars Surveyor '98 and Mars Surveyor '01

The Mars Pathfinder, Mars Surveyor '98, and Mars Surveyor '01 lander design s all utilize charged coupled device (CCD)-based cameras to conduct scienti fic investigations, assist with navigation of surface revers and/or confirm sample acquisition and delivery by robotic arms (RAs). The extreme tempera ture and pressure environment of the Martian surface, the vibration and sho ck experienced during launch and landing, and the tight volume, mass, and p o,ver budgets challenge the designer and scientist alike to develop instrum ents and associated electronics that will function properly to provide the desired data. This paper provides an overview of the optical and mechanical design of two of the camera configurations, as well as a detailed descript ion of the camera electronics, The cameras described are a gimbal-mounted s tereo multi-spectral imager,vith 1 mrad/pixel resolution, and a variable fo cus robotic arm camera (RAC) capable of 23-mum/pixel resolution and provide d with a self-contained three-color illumination system. The electronics, h oused in the cameras and in separate enclosures, utilizes such subsystems a s Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) for digital control, VME bus-mappe d video memory, and multiplexed stepper motor select/phase driver circuitry .