Extra! Extra!
The Latest News About
the Thermal Emission Spectrometer

• This workshop is an opportunity for interested planetary scientists to learn about thermal IR spectroscopy specifically within the context of MGS TES data analysis. See the TES Workshop webpage for more details.

• The TES team has been monitoring atmospheric conditions on a daily basis during the MGS mission, looking for dust storm activity. Several movies, based on newly acquired data (updated daily), show the development and spread of a new global dust storm.

• The MGS mission officially ended its nominal mission, completing one full martian year (~2 Earth years) in orbit, on Wednesday, 31 January 2001. MGS now enters an extended mission phase, to continue to return data of the Red Planet. Much of the next (Earth) year will be spent manuvering the spacecraft to make special observations of potential landing sites for the 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers (which will carry Mini-TES to Mars' surface). TES will continue to collect data over these and other sites on Mars.

• One of the TES instrument capabilities is that of measuring the broadband (0.3 - ~3.0 microns) visible and near-infrared reflectance, or albedo, of Mars. These measurements are given color values and plotted on rotating globes in these new animations.

• Today's issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets contains a special section with 14 papers on results from the Thermal Emission Spectrometer and laboratory studies. Go to the JGR - Planets website for details.

• In Friday's (3 March 2000) issue of the journal Science, TES scientists present a global map of Martian surface compositions. The distribution of the two primary surface compositions is split approximately along the planetary dichotomy. A basaltic composition is found in the older, southern highlands, and a more silicic (silica-rich) composition is concentrated in the younger northern plains. Look here for a PDF version of the paper.

• We've added two new features to the TES website -- new daily data and new south polar science images. Both were in support of the '98 Mars Polar Lander mission. Be sure to check them out!

• This new image shows the surface brightness (albedo) of Mars as measured by the Thermal Emission Spectrometer during the first 1500 orbits of the Mars Global Surveyor mapping mission.

• New data acquired during the mapping phase of the MGS mission allow us to add to our inital image of the hematite deposit in Sinus Meridiani. Images of daytime surface temperatures are also included as well as spectra representing typical TES data. The Sinus Meridiani and spectra were recently presented at the 5th International Conference on Mars, in Pasadena, California (19-23 July).

• Global images of Mars' nighttime surface temperatures. Look here for the pictures and descriptions.

• New results from the TES instrument are being presented at the annual meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences. Check here to see the images and descriptions of the data presented at today's press conference.

• On 26 September 1998, the TES was powered on following a shutdown initiated by the MGS spacecraft on 17 September. TES collected data in bolometer mode until 4 October 1998 at which time the interferometer was turned on. TES will continue collecting spectrometer data until the instrument is turned off in December due to aerobraking constraints.

• As of 11 September 1998, MGS instruments have had three opportunities to collect data of the martian moon Phobos. Today's press release describes some of the data collected during these observations, including spectral data of Phobos. The final observation of Phobos will occur this Saturday, 12 September 1998. MGS is scheduled to end Science Phasing Orbit 2 (SPO2) next week and begin the final phase of aerobraking, which will conclude in the spring of 1999. Mapping operations will begin shortly after the conclusion of aerobraking.

• Phobos , the larger of Mars' two small moons, will be in prime viewing position during the months of August and September, allowing MGS science instruments to collect new data about this little potato-shaped satellite of the Red Planet. The first encounter will be on 7 August 1998 (14:11 UTC) during the 476th orbit of MGS around Mars. The distance from the spacecraft to Phobos will be approximately 1430 km. There will be a second encounter during orbit 501 on 19 August 1998 (17:03 UTC) at a distance of 1040 km. Third and fourth observations are planned for 31 August and 12 September, at distances of 880 km and 150 km, respectively. The TES instrument will be collecting spectra during these encounters so that we can acquire data which will help us understand more about the composition of the moon.

• The TES instrument has identified a region on Mars with a large accumulation of the mineral hematite, a ferric (iron) oxide. The well-crystallized material is typically derived from thermal activity and standing bodies of water. A complete copy of the press release provides a detailed explanation of the TES findings and a map of the region where the hematite was found.

• MGS temporarily ceased aerobraking on March 27, 1998 (orbit 201) in a planned effort to acquire science data while Mars' location in its orbit around the sun migrates. During this period, called the Science Phasing Orbit, instruments on the spacecraft are collecting science data. Between April 29 and May 25, 1998 (orbits 270 - 329), science instruments will not collect data as the spacecraft (and Mars) move behind the sun (relative to Earth), a period referred to as solar conjunction. On May 25, 1998, the science instruments will resume data collection until September 11, 1998 (orbit 550), when they will be turned off and aerobraking will resume. Aerobraking will continue until February 1999, and mapping will begin when MGS is in its final orbit, sometime around April 1, 1999.

  Previously released science results can be found here.

(5 January 1998)

• The Archives of TES News (to Jan. 1998) are now available online, containing information about the TES Project and early science results.

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