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Mars Orbiter Camera
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<h2 id="design">Design</h2> <p>Originally named Mars Observer Camera, it was selected by <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a> in 1986 for the <a href="/facts/Mars_Observer/eyPL7Hgt">Mars Observer</a> mission, but it returned only three images of planet <a href="/facts/Mars/AQGtVvz0">Mars</a> before the loss of the spacecraft in 1993. A second camera of the same specifications, renamed to Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC), was built (with assistance by <a href="/facts/California_Institute_of_Technology/3FPcp7BL">California Institute of Technology</a>) and launched on board the <a href="/facts/Mars_Global_Surveyor/MGXbPxdx">Mars Global Surveyor</a> (MGS) spacecraft in 1996. The camera returned 243,668 images while in orbit around Mars, before the loss of the MGS spacecraft in 2006.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> Mars Orbiter Camera was operated by its manufacturer, Malin Space Science Systems, from its facilities in San Diego, California.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p><p>The scientific instrument consisted of three elements: a black-and-white narrow-angle camera with a <a href="/facts/Spatial_resolution/ll8LNYxN">spatial resolution</a> of 1.4 metres per <a href="/facts/Pixel/UzwBvXBV">pixel</a> (from an altitude of 378 km), and two <a href="/facts/Push_broom_scanner/jgGG9C8w">pushbroom</a> <a href="/facts/Wide-angle_camera/mjm0RsjB">wide-angle cameras</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> (one red, the other blue) with resolution capabilities spanning 230 m per pixel to 7.5 km/pixel. The narrow-angle camera provided 97,097 (roughly 40%) of the 243,668 images returned by Mars Orbiter Camera.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p><p>The narrow-angle camera was placed inside an 80 cm-long cylinder with a diameter of 40 cm, and the two wide-angle cameras were attached above the cylinder's front area. All cameras were based on <a href="/facts/Charge-coupled_device/l6xffIcz">CCD</a> technology and were supported by state-of-the-art 1980s electronics, including a 32-bit <a href="/facts/Radiation_hardening/nB4Wbctl">radiation-hardened</a> 10 <a href="/facts/Megahertz/6Wshj5qm">MHz</a> processor (capable of 1 <a href="/facts/Million_instructions_per_second/N23PAFGV">million instructions per second</a>) and 12 <a href="/facts/Megabyte/RBF4XpWb">MB</a> of <a href="/facts/Dynamic_random_access_memory/koI9FGo5">DRAM</a> memory buffer.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p><p>In addition to taking images, the MOC instrument's 12 MB memory buffer serviced the Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Relay antenna as temporary data storage for communications between Earth and landed spacecraft on Mars. For example, more than 7.6 <a href="/facts/Terabit/aaConqna">terabits</a> of data were transferred to and from the <a href="/facts/Mars_Exploration_Rovers/74WxIsHS">Mars Exploration Rovers</a> (<i>Spirit</i> and <i>Opportunity</i>). The camera also enabled NASA scientists to choose suitable landing sites for other exploration missions.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="images">Images</h2> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Long_Range_Reconnaissance_Imager/gnhFt2op">Long Range Reconnaissance Imager</a> (A telescopic imager on the New Horizons spacecraft to Pluto)</li> <li><a href="/facts/MOC_Public_Targeting_Program/DK7qPhmM">MOC Public Targeting Program</a></li></ul> <ul> <li>Astronomy portal</li><li>Solar System portal</li><li>Spaceflight portal</li></ul> <p>Malin also built and operated other cameras for NASA, including: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Mars_Reconnaissance_Orbiter/7odg7YfX">Context (CTX) Camera</a> also for the MRO spacecraft</li> <li><a href="/facts/JunoCam/KKW8m8Xf">JunoCam</a>, on board the <a href="/facts/Juno_(spacecraft)/UzlYPApe">Juno</a> spacecraft, deployed in Jupiter orbit in 2016</li> <li><a href="/facts/Mars_Reconnaissance_Orbiter/7odg7YfX">Mars Color Imager</a> for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Michael C. Malin; Kenneth S. Edgett; Bruce A. Cantor; Michael A. Caplinger; G. Edward Danielson; Elsa H. Jensen; Michael A. Ravine; Jennifer L. Sandoval; Kimberley D. Supulver (6 January 2010). "An overview of the 1985–2006 Mars Orbiter Camera science investigation". Mars - the International Journal of Mars Science and Exploration. 5. Mars Informatics Inc.: 1–60. Bibcode:2010IJMSE...5....1M. doi:10.1555/mars.2010.0001. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Michael C. Malin; Kenneth S. Edgett; Bruce A. Cantor; Michael A. Caplinger; G. Edward Danielson; Elsa H. Jensen; Michael A. Ravine; Jennifer L. Sandoval; Kimberley D. Supulver (6 January 2010). "An overview of the 1985–2006 Mars Orbiter Camera science investigation". Mars - the International Journal of Mars Science and Exploration. 5. Mars Informatics Inc.: 1–60. Bibcode:2010IJMSE...5....1M. doi:10.1555/mars.2010.0001. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Defrosting Polar Dunes--"They Look Like Bushes!". Malin Space Science Systems. 10 August 1999. Retrieved 4 December 2013. <a href="http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/8_10_99_releases/moc2_166/" target="_blank">http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/8_10_99_releases/moc2_166/</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Hoekzema, Nick. "Planetary & Cometary Exploration Cameras on Orbiters and Landers". Archived from the original on August 11, 2003. Retrieved 2 February 2014. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030811185544/http://www.solar-system-school.de/lectures/space_instrumentation/11.ppt" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20030811185544/http://www.solar-system-school.de/lectures/space_instrumentation/11.ppt</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Michael C. Malin; Kenneth S. Edgett; Bruce A. Cantor; Michael A. Caplinger; G. Edward Danielson; Elsa H. Jensen; Michael A. Ravine; Jennifer L. Sandoval; Kimberley D. Supulver (6 January 2010). "An overview of the 1985–2006 Mars Orbiter Camera science investigation". Mars - the International Journal of Mars Science and Exploration. 5. Mars Informatics Inc.: 1–60. Bibcode:2010IJMSE...5....1M. doi:10.1555/mars.2010.0001. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Michael C. Malin; Kenneth S. Edgett; Bruce A. Cantor; Michael A. Caplinger; G. Edward Danielson; Elsa H. Jensen; Michael A. Ravine; Jennifer L. Sandoval; Kimberley D. Supulver (6 January 2010). "An overview of the 1985–2006 Mars Orbiter Camera science investigation". Mars - the International Journal of Mars Science and Exploration. 5. Mars Informatics Inc.: 1–60. Bibcode:2010IJMSE...5....1M. doi:10.1555/mars.2010.0001. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Michael C. Malin; Kenneth S. Edgett; Bruce A. Cantor; Michael A. Caplinger; G. Edward Danielson; Elsa H. Jensen; Michael A. Ravine; Jennifer L. Sandoval; Kimberley D. Supulver (6 January 2010). "An overview of the 1985–2006 Mars Orbiter Camera science investigation". Mars - the International Journal of Mars Science and Exploration. 5. Mars Informatics Inc.: 1–60. Bibcode:2010IJMSE...5....1M. doi:10.1555/mars.2010.0001. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>