Do you use the IAS Viewer to view our JPEG2000 (JP2) image files at full-resolution (which we highly recommend!)? If you use a Mac running OSX, you might be having trouble. Don’t worry, there’s a solution!

It appears that a recent Java patch causes problems launching the IAS Viewer client and other Java-based software launched via Java Web Start. The update changed the location of the Java Web Start application so that the system opens the downloaded JNLP file as a text file, most likely with something called Dashcode. One of our system administrators found a solution on an Apple support discussion archive. You should only have to do this once to fix the problem:

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Now you can explore Mars with version 5 of Google’s 3D exploration software (still called Earth)! HiRISE team members worked with Google to make this possible. Previously, you had to perform a few tricks to get it going, but now it is all built in smoothly. To switch to Mars. select the planet drop-down at the top center.

You can enable footprints for HiRISE, CTX, CRISM, Mars Express’ HRSC and Global Surveyor’s MOC.

By clicking on a HiRISE footprint, you can get a window with a hi-res preview and a link to the observation page on our website.

A nice addition is text from (our fellow Tucsonan) William K. Hartmann’s A Traveler’s Guide To Mars, explaining the geologic provinces on Mars (click on the green ‘hiker’ icons).

You can see screenshots and get more info from the unofficial Google Earth blog and download Windows, Mac or Linux versions from Google’s Earth site.

It looks like there is some broad-scale elevation data. Shift+up or down tilts your view, shift + right or left spins, and page up / page down zooms.

Have fun exploring Mars!

One of our team members, Ross Beyer, put together a way of getting MRO data into the Google Earth tool: http://orrery.us/node/54

I finally got around to trying it out, and it’s very easy to set up following his instructions. It allows you to see the footprints of acquired HiRISE images on a larger context map, and the Google [Planet] interface is really easy to use. Clicking on a red H footprint gives you a short description of the image, and a link right to our image release page, where you can browse or download the image products. CTX footprints are available, too. If I’m understanding this right, these KML files pull all currently released data from the PDS, so whenever we release data, the new stuff is automatically included.

The basemaps aren’t in 3-D (yet – maybe someday?!), so the perspective view isn’t much use, but you can kind of trick yourself into thinking it looks 3-D with the shaded relief maps. You can “fly” over the planet, zooming in & out, which is really fun.

I had trouble trying to get two basemaps visible at once (colorized MOLA elevation over the greyscale MDIM). With just one basemap, though, it works just fine, and it’s very fast (this probably depends a lot on your internet connection).

One really nice thing about the Google interface is when there are two overlapping footprints (which all of our stereo images are), clicking on them expands the choices and allows you to pick one or the other. Other tools I’ve used don’t handle this as nicely, and sometimes it’s impossible to select the “bottom” one.

Nice job, Ross & Google!

On Monday morning, I started up HiPlan, our image planning and targeting tool (see this post for more about HiPlan), and this unexpected window popped up:

My first pre-coffee reaction was to panic, but then I read it more closely and realized what day it was. Turns out the HiCommander had snuck some “special” updates into a recent release of HiPlan.

The HiWall was also displaying a certain department head’s “face on Mars” all day.

We’re just finishing up four days of having the whole HiRISE team visiting us here in Tucson. It’s been a great team meeting! We had updates on operations, and heard a lot about science results from HiRISE images. Some CRISM and THEMIS team members participated, too, so we got to see what other teams are doing and talk about collaborating and using multiple data sets. People are doing really exciting things with HiRISE data!

Also, our team is really growing!

You’ll notice a lot of new faces compared to a few years ago!

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The HiRISE project has developed a fairly significant amount of software. I’ve been privileged to play a part in that development, which continues even as we get deeper into the primary mission. So, rather than space science or operations, this post will discuss one of the nittier, grittier aspects of our work.

The processing pipelines have been introduced in earlier entries. Thanks to the efforts of HiRISE developers (mostly before my time with the project) these have provided a very solid foundation for our automated ground data system. There has been very little need for trouble-shooting or fine-tuning of the core software.

One issue that did come up earlier in PSP however was a strange failure that happened periodically, though not predictably. If you are a programmer, there is nothing so dreadful as a bizarre, non-repeatable bug… not counting Monday morning meetings, of course.

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Well, it’s been a while since we’ve been posting a lot, so I thought I’d just give you guys some kind of an idea as to what we’re doing these days.

The uplink team is constantly looking where to point the camera next. There is a program which is in beta testing now called HiWeb which allows scientists and other people to input suggestions. The Uplink team reviews the suggestions in the database, assigns a priority to each of these suggestions, and then finds when we can point the camera at the part. They also make sure a certain percentage of the upcoming pictures are assigned to look for a Phoenix landing spot, as this is a high priority item at the moment. They are still learning exactly how to best command the camera, and are constantly sharpening their skills.

The downlink team is making sure operations run smoothly at HiROC. They are verifying that the processing has taken place, make sure that the images have been calibrated correctly, that there are no image processing artifacts on the images we are about to release. If there is any artifacts created from processing the image, the source of the problem is identified and fixed, and then the image is reprocessed. While previously we have sent images to the public that had some small processing artifacts during the post-MOI and Transition imaging, we currently are waiting until the images have been completely validated. The downlink team is also taking a quick look at each image that comes down, and making sure there isn’t something unexpected, for example, haze at Mars, lots of saturated pixels, etc. If any such problems are found, they notify the uplink team, to ensure that we don’t have continuing problems. These problems are very rare, but on occasion happen, due to the changing nature of Mars. (more…)

Some of you out there may be asking: what happens to a HiRISE image between the time that it is taken and the time that it is released to the public? Well, I’d like to give a summary here.

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And I would like to thank the HiCommander for giving us the software that allowed us to plan these wonderful images. Without your work we wouldn’t have them. So, even though you make fun of my attachment to my cell phone, thank you!

I’ve come to realize something over the past 24 hours—Mars is awesome. Every little piece of that planet is ten times more awesome than the previous, even if it’s one I just looked at fifteen minutes ago. I don’t know if that’s fractally, recursively, or circularly awesome, but I do know this: We’ve got a ton of people to thank for their, yes, awesome efforts. As HiRISE’s ground data system uplink software developer, I’ve got a handful I want to thank personally, if a blog can be considered personal.

Wayne Sydney (LMA) and Roy Gladden (JPL) taught me how to talk to our spacecraft. Ira Becker (BATC), Rick Battistelli (BATC), and Steve Tarr (BATC) taught me how to talk to our instrument. Peter Xayprayseuth (JPL) bends so far over backwards for us he appears to be standing upright. He and Curt Eggemeyer (JPL) make sure what I’m saying to the spacecraft isn’t complete gibberish. Mark Johnson (LMA) checked my math. Finally, Michael Weiss-Malik (ASU), Eric Engle (ASU), Saadat Anwar (ASU), and Noel Gorelick (ASU) built a fantastic piece of software for me to hook into for our observation planning.

There are dozens more, of course, but these are the ones that directly apply to me, and without them, none of this would have happened. So thanks, guys. If I were to wear a hat, it would be off to you.