In November of 1973 the Mariner 10 spacecraft acquired high resolution images of both the Earth and the Moon as it began its voyage to Venus and then Mercury. The best images had a resolution of approximately l km and were taken from an unusual viewpoint, above the lunar North Pole. At this time the Moon was illuminated such that the eastern limb, including approximately 30 degrees of the farside, was visible. Two high resolution mosaics were acquired during this period which provide excellent views of regions of the Moon poorly seen from the Earth. These include the Frigoris, Humboldtianum, Marginis, and Smythii regions. These images also covered expanses of highlands not visible from the Earth. These data were unique in that they were the only useful robotic spacecraft images of the Moon; and they remained so until December of 1990 when the Galileo spacecraft made its first encounter with the Moon. These Mariner 10 lunar images were acquired and are currently being used in conjunction with Earth-based telescopic spectra as well as Apollo and Lunar Orbiter photographic data to investigate the nature of deposits comprising the Northeast Nearside of the Moon. These Mariner 10 frames have proved useful for photogeologic, photometric, and photoclinometric analyses; they were also used in support of the second Galileo lunar encounter of December 1992.
Preliminary results from Mariner 10: High resolution images of the Moon
1993-01-01
Conference paper
No indication
English
Preliminary Results from Mariner 10: High Resolution Images of the Moon
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1993
|Mariner 10 Multispectral Images of the Moon and Mercury
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1994
|Mariner 10 Multispectral Images of the Moon and Mercury
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1994
|Mariner 9 science experiments: Preliminary Results
NTRS | 1972
|