From: "Ann L. Kasun" <akasun.grits.valdosta.edu@grits.valdosta.peachnet.edu>
Subject: Hubble's Sharpest Views of Mars Available
Date: Tue, 04 Mar 1997 16:46:03 -0500
Thought you might find this to be of interest! >Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 10:01:34 -0500 (EST) >From: NASANews@hq.nasa.gov >Subject: Hubble's Sharpest Views of Mars Available >Sender: owner-press-release@spinoza.hq.nasa.gov >To: undisclosed-recipients:; > >Donald Savage >Headquarters, Washington, DC March 24, 1997 >(Phone: 202/358-1547) > >Tammy Jones >Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD >(Phone: 301/286-5566) > >Ray Villard >Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD >(Phone: 410/338-4514) > >NOTE TO EDITORS: N97-22 > >HUBBLE'S SHARPEST VIEWS OF MARS AVAILABLE > > New, sharpest-ever views of the planet Mars taken by the Wide >Field Planetary Camera-2 (WFPC2) aboard NASA's Hubble Space >Telescope on March 10, 1997 (following the successful STS-82 >Hubble second servicing mission), clearly show clouds, polar caps >and other bright and dark markings known to astronomers for more >than a century. The images were taken just before Mars opposition >-- when the red planet comes closest to the Earth this year (about >60 million miles or 100 million km). Each picture element (pixel) >in WFPC2's Planetary Camera's image spans 13 miles (22 km) on the >Martian surface. > > These images show the planet during the transition between >spring and summer in the northern hemisphere (summer solstice). >The annual north-polar, carbon-dioxide frost (dry ice) cap is >rapidly subliming, revealing the much smaller permanent water-ice >cap, along with a few nearby detached regions of surface frost. > > Hubble is being used to monitor dust storm activity to >support the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter >Missions, which are currently en route to Mars. Hubble's "weather >report" from these images, is invaluable for Mars Pathfinder, >which is scheduled for a July 4 landing. These images show no >evidence for large-scale dust storm activity, which plagued a >previous Mars mission in the early 1970s. > > Images are available to news media representatives by calling >202/358-1900. photo numbers are: > >Color: Syrtis Major 97-HC-136 Mars at Opposition 97-HC-137 > > Image files are also available on the Internet on GIF and >JPEG formats via anonymous ftp from oposite.stsci.edu in /pubinfo > > GIF JPEG >Syrtis Major gif/marssm97.gif jpeg/marssm97.jpg >Mars at Opposition gif/marssm97.gif jpeg/marssm97.jpg > > Higher resolution digital versions (300 dpi JPEG) of the >image are available in /pubinfo/hrtemp: 97- 09a.jpg (color) and >97-09abw.jpg (black and white). > > GIF and JPEG images, captions and information are available >via World Wide Web at: > >http://www.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/97/09.html and via links in: >http://www.stsci.edu/pubinfo/latest.html or >http://www.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pictures.html > > - end - > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ann L. Kasun, Site Coordinator VSU Kings Bay PO Box 47009 Kings Bay, Ga. 31547 mailto: akasun@valdosta.edu Telephone 912 673 2001 x 8524 Fax: 912 882 9368 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~