{"id":250060,"date":"2025-07-12T05:41:21","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T19:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?p=887093"},"modified":"2025-07-12T05:41:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T19:41:21","slug":"advances-in-nasa-imaging-changed-how-world-sees-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=250060","title":{"rendered":"Advances in NASA Imaging Changed How World Sees Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"
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6 min read<\/p>\n

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"NASA\u2019s<\/a><\/figure>
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NASA\u2019s Mariner 4 captured the first-ever close-up image of Mars on July 14, 1965. While waiting for the data to be processed into the image (inset at right), team members hand-colored strips of paper that the data was printed on, assigning hues to value ranges. The result is on display at JPL.<\/div>\n
NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Sixty years ago,<\/em> NASA\u2019s<\/em> Mariner 4 captured groundbreaking views of the Red Planet, leading to a steady stream of advances in the cameras used to study other worlds.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1965, NASA\u2019s Mariner 4 mission brought Mars into American living rooms, where TV sets showed fuzzy black-and-white images of a cratered landscape. The spacecraft took 21 complete pictures \u2014 the first ever captured of another planet \u2014 as it flew by as close as 6,118 miles (9,846 kilometers) above the surface.<\/p>\n

The mission team couldn\u2019t wait to see what the camera aboard the spacecraft would return. When the actual images were delayed, they went so far as to create a color-by-numbers image, assigning hues to specific values in the data.<\/p>\n

Their handiwork wasn\u2019t far off, and the barren landscape Mariner 4 captured ignited the imaginations of future scientists and engineers who would go on to work on a succession of missions, each revealing Mars in a way it had never been seen before.<\/p>\n

Millions of Mars images have been taken since then, many of which are captivating in their own way. The images that follow highlight some of the \u201cfirsts\u201d in the way the agency has used imaging to help unlock the secrets of Mars.<\/p>\n

Viking 1 Sets Foot on Mars<\/strong><\/h3>\n

July 20, 1976<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"This<\/a><\/figure>
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This historic image \u2014 the first from the surface of Mars \u2014 confirmed that NASA\u2019s Viking 1 lander had become the first spacecraft to touch down on the Red Planet on July 20, 1976. <\/div>\n
NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Viking<\/a> 1 became the first spacecraft to touch down on Mars on July 20, 1976. The first high-resolution image it sent to Earth captured a dry, rocky landscape that dashed any hope among scientists of discovering life on the surface. But the crisp images<\/a> that followed from the lander\u2019s 360-degree cylindrical scan camera underscored the scientific value of seeing Mars from the ground and generated excitement for a more ambitious visit: a robotic spacecraft that could drive across this alien world.<\/p>\n

Portrait of Mars by Viking 1 Orbiter<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1980<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"Portrait<\/a><\/figure>
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NASA\u2019s twin Viking landers didn\u2019t travel alone. Two accompanying orbiters circled Mars to study it from above. The Viking 1 orbiter captured many images in 1980 that were combined to produce this view of Valles Marineris, the \u201cGrand Canyon of Mars.\u201d<\/div>\n
NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/USGS<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

When the twin Viking landers arrived at Mars, each descended from an orbiter that used cameras to map Mars in a way Earth-based telescopes couldn\u2019t. They began capturing images before the landers even touched down, continuing until 1980. That year, the Viking 1 orbiter captured images that were later stitched into a defining portrait of Valles Marineris \u2014 the \u201cGrand Canyon of Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sojourner Starts to Explore<\/strong><\/h3>\n

July 5, 1997<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"NASA\u2019s<\/a><\/figure>
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The size of a microwave oven, NASA\u2019s Sojourner rover was the first spacecraft to drive on Mars, as seen in this image taken by NASA\u2019s Pathfinder lander on July 5, 1997. The rover explored the Martian surface for 83 days, well beyond its planned seven-day mission.<\/div>\n
NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

By the time NASA returned to the Martian surface in 1997 with the Pathfinder<\/a> lander and its microwave-oven-size Sojourner rover, much had changed on Earth since Mariner 4\u2019s images beamed to TV viewers: Now, the internet was bringing around-the-clock news to personal computers, allowing a young generation of space fans to witness the tentative first steps of a new form of planetary exploration. The panoramic images from the ground were the first since Viking and, as part of NASA\u2019s \u201cfaster, better, cheaper\u201d initiative, offered more detail and a comparatively lower cost.<\/p>\n

Opportunity Spots Passing Dust Devil<\/strong><\/h3>\n

March 31, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"Opportunity<\/a><\/figure>
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NASA\u2019s Spirit and Opportunity rovers crossed many miles of Martian terrain, capturing stunning vistas and passing dust devils along the way. The twins far outlasted their planned mission of 90 days: Spirit traveled the Red Planet for more than six years, while Opportunity journeyed for almost 15.<\/div>\n
NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In 2004, NASA\u2019s golf-cart-size twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity<\/a> set down on the Red Planet, beginning a new phase of Martian exploration. Equipped with both mast-mounted panoramic and arm-mounted microscopic imagers, the roving spacecraft let scientists, engineers, and the world discover new terrain each day. They captured colorful views of Martian vistas<\/a> and revealed details of pebble-size \u201cblueberries<\/a>.\u201d Mars was beginning to feel less like an unfamiliar world than a place with recognizable landmarks.<\/p>\n

MRO\u2019s HiRISE Views Victoria Crater<\/strong><\/h3>\n

July 18, 2009<\/strong><\/p>\n

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More advanced orbiters have brought a different perspective of the Red Planet \u2014 especially NASA\u2019s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which uses its HiRISE camera to see surface features that appeared blurry in earlier images. Here, HiRISE views Victoria Crater.<\/div>\n
NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/University of Arizona<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Since Viking, a series of increasingly advanced orbiters have arrived at Mars with new science tools and cameras. Using increasingly sophisticated imagers, they have mapped the planet\u2019s hills and valleys, identified significant minerals, and found buried glaciers. A camera that has been in operation aboard NASA\u2019s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter<\/a> since 2006, the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE<\/a>) frequently captures individual dunes, boulders, and craters, as with this picture of Victoria Crater, revealing features that had been blurry in previous images. The camera has also identified landing sites and places where future rovers (perhaps even astronauts) could explore.<\/p>\n

Curiosity, Perseverance Bring More Cameras and Color<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Aug. 5, 2012 and Feb. 18, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

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