Malin Space Science Systems
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1990 |
| Headquarters | San Diego, California |
| Key people | Michael C. Malin, CEO |
Malin Space Science Systems (or MSSS) is a San Diego, California company that designs, develops, and operates instruments to fly on unmanned spacecraft. MSSS is headed by chief scientist and CEO Michael C. Malin.
Founded in 1990, their first mission was the failed 1993 Mars Observer for which they developed and operated the Mars Observer Camera Ground Data System. After this mission they were selected to provide the main camera for Mars Global Surveyor. They also developed the cameras that were carried on Mars Polar Lander, Mars Climate Orbiter, 2001 Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Phoenix lander.
One of the most successful of their instruments to date was the Mars Observer Camera (MOC), onboard the Mars Global Surveyor placed into orbit around Mars in September 1997. From that date till November 2006, the MOC took more than 212,000 images of Mars, some at very high resolution. Among the MOCs notable successes was the imaging of the landing sites of the two Mars Exploration Rovers (the discarded heatshield of one of the rovers was located). Even before they landed, images from the MOC were very useful in picking the destinations of the two rovers.
After more than nine years of active duty, the Mars Global Surveyor ceased sending data back to Earth and it is now lost along with all its instruments, including the MOC.
For the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched on August 12, 2005, MSSS built the Mars Color Imager (MARCI) which takes wide angle, daily global views of Mars and the Context Imager (CTX) which has a six metre resolution.
In 2009 the Mars Science Laboratory will be launched and it will carry three MSSS cameras. The MastCam will be the main camera on board taking still and motion images of the surrounding. The 'HandLens Imager' will be on the instrument arm and provide close up images of martian soil and rocks. Finally the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) will provide high resolution images of the ground during descent.
In December 2004, MSSS was selected to provide three cameras for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (2008) mission, under contract to Northwestern University. In addition, MSSS is developing JunoCam for the Juno Jupiter Mission, launching in ~2010.
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[edit] Liquid water on Mars
In June 2000, evidence for water currently under the surface of Mars was discovered in the form of flood-like gullies.[1] The question that was immediately asked was: is this an on-going process or is this ancient and simply well preserved evidence of water/liquid flow? Most scientists agree that it is highly likely that water did flow on Mars in the distant past.[2]
Malin's camera controllers attempted to answer this question by taking photos of the same locations and in 2005 observation showed two areas where change had clearly occurred within the time of the photos (in other words, the activity was happening in present time and was not ancient).
On December 6, 2006, MSSS announced that it had discovered evidence that liquid water had likely flown on Mars within the past five years. At a press conference, NASA showed images taken by the Mars Global Surveyor that suggested that water occasionally flows on the surface of Mars. The images did not actually show flowing water. Rather, they showed changes in craters and sediment deposits, providing the strongest evidence yet that water coursed through them as recently as several years ago, and is perhaps doing so even now. The findings were published in the December 8, 2006 issue of the journal Science.[3]
Malin Systems published several documents which describe what they found:
- New Gully Deposit in a Crater in Terra Sirenum: Evidence That Water Flowed on Mars in This Decade?
- Support for Hypothesis that Groundwater is Source for Fluid Responsible for Erosion in Martian Gullies
- Why the New Gully Deposits Are Not Dry Dust Slope Streaks
Before the December 2006 paper, some researchers were skeptical that liquid water was responsible for the surface features seen by the spacecraft. They said other materials such as sand or dust can flow like a liquid and produce similar results. At this stage, (late 2006) the flowing water hypothesis looks strong, however more evidence is needed. For more, see Life on Mars.
[edit] Dark dune spots
The MSSS cameras onboard the Mars Global Surveyor, produced high resolution images that were also processed by Malin Space Science Systems, and dicovered the intriguing polar features known as 'dark dune spots'.[4] The origin of dark dune spots and the dark slope streaks emanating from them is yet uncertain, and various hypotheses have been put forward on their origin and formation process.[5][6][7]
 Dark dune spots on Mars, taken by the Mars Global Surveyor and released on October 16, 2000. |
 Dark dune spots on Mars, taken by the Mars Global Surveyor on August 10, 1999. |
 Dark dune spots on Mars, taken by the Mars Global Surveyor on August 10, 1999. |
[edit] References
- ^ Malin, Michael C., Edgett, Kenneth S., "Evidence for Recent Groundwater Seepage and Surface Runoff on Mars". Science (2000) Vol. 288. no. 5475, pp. 2330 - 2335.
- ^ MSSS June 2000 article
- ^ Scientists: Water likely flows on Mars, Associated Press, accessed on December 7, 2006
- ^ Albee, A. L.; F. D. Palluconi, R. E. Arvidson (March 1998). "Mars Global Surveyor Mission: Overview and Status". Science Vol. 279 (5357): 1681 - 1685. doi:10.1126/science.279.5357.1681. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/279/5357/1671. Retrieved on 2008-11-24.
- ^ Gánti, Tibor; András Horváth, Szaniszló Bérczi, Albert Gesztesi and Eörs Szathmáry (March 12-16, 2001). "Probable Evidences of Recent Biological Activity on Mars: Appearance and Growing of Dark Dune Spots in the South Polar Region" (PDF). 32nd Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston, Texas, abstract no.1543. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2001/pdf/1543.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-11-20.
- ^ Gánti, Tibor; András Horváth, Szaniszló Bérczi, Albert Gesztesi and Eörs Szathmáry (October 31, 2003). "Dark Dune Spots: Possible Biomarkers on Mars?". Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres Volume 33 (Numbers 4-5): 515-557. doi:10.1023/A:1025705828948. http://www.springerlink.com/content/ut8r78131173254n/. Retrieved on 2008-11-18.
- ^ Vasavada, A.; K. E. Herkenhoff (1999). "SURFACE PROPERTIES OF MARS’ POLAR LAYERED DEPOSITS AND POLAR LANDING SITES.". NASA. http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/sci/fifthconf99/6086.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-08-21.
