ESA Details ExoMars Cameras Which Will Help Study the Red Planet

ESA said the cameras are capable of clicking pictures in both panorama and closeup techniques.

ESA Details ExoMars Cameras Which Will Help Study the Red Planet

Photo Credit: ESA

ExoMars is planned to be launched in 2022

Highlights
  • ExoMars is a joint collaboration by ESA and Roscosmos
  • ESA explained the various cameras of the Mars rover in detail
  • ExoMars was initially planned to take off in 2020, but got delayed
Advertisement

The European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia's Roscosmos plan to launch their joint Mars rover mission in 2022. It was earlier planned to take off in 2020, but got delayed for several reasons. The main cause behind the delay is that the journey from Earth to Mars is only attempted when the planets are favourably aligned. As the agencies are again gearing up for the launch of the ExoMars "Rosalind Franklin" vehicle, the ESA has shared an Instagram post explaining the incredible features of the cameras aboard it and how they intend to explore the Red Planet.

“These eyes are ready for Mars,” ESA said, sharing a video and some images captured by the cameras. It said the cameras are capable of clicking pictures in panorama and close-up techniques. They can also take 3D maps and a wheel selfie. Currently, the rover is testing the wide range of its photo settings ESA added that engineers have packed as much science as they could into the camera system.

Here's a look at the cameras and their features in five quick points:

  1. The Panoramic Camera suite, known as PanCam, is the scientific eyes of the rover. While humans and smartphones can only see colours in visible light, PanCam can ‘see' in 19 colours in the visible and near-infrared wavelengths.
  2. There are two wide-angle cameras (WACs), which are set 50cm apart. The pair captures what is in front of the rover from 2m above the ground. Each WAC has a filter wheel to look at the colours of the rocks and the Martian sky. This will allow the rover to stare at the Sun, measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere and water vapour content during sunsets on Mars.
  3. Then there's a High-Resolution Camera (HRC). It has a resolution of eight times the wide-angle cameras. This helps in closely examining rock texture and grain size in colour.
  4. Below it is the Infrared Spectrometer (ISEM). It analyses the geochemistry of the rocks. “HRC and ISEM are a well-matched couple. They are co-aligned so that scientists can see in the HRC images where ISEM took its measurements,” explains ESA.
  5. Another camera will be used to take Martian shots and it will be tested in the coming days. The Close-Up Imager, CLUPI, will provide detailed views of the soil that is churned out by the drilling action.

Is Red Notice more (or less) than the sum of its leads: Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.
Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Tecno Pop 5C Entry-Level Smartphone With 2,400mAh Battery, 5-Megapixel Rear Camera Goes Official
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Full Specifications, Marketing Images Leak Online
Share on Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat Share Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News
 
 

Advertisement

Follow Us

Advertisement

© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »