ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) has snapped its first photo of the Red Planet.
ExoMars acquired its first image of Mars on June 13. The line-of-sight distance to the planet was 25.5 million miles (41 million km). The Tharsis region of Mars, home to the planet’s largest volcanoes, faces the spacecraft in this view. Image credit: ESA / Roscosmos / ExoMars / CaSSIS / UniBE.
The ExoMars program is a joint endeavor between ESA and Roscosmos. Its primary goal is to address the question of whether life has ever existed on Mars.
The program comprises two missions: ExoMars 2016 (consists of TGO and Schiaparelli, an entry, descent and landing demonstrator module) and ExoMars 2018.
TGO and Schiaparelli were launched on March 14, 2016, and have already traveled just under half of their nearly 310 million mile (500 million km) journey.
While the orbiter’s ‘first-light’ image of a star field was successfully acquired within the first month following launch, it has now set sights on its destination.
The new image was taken by the CaSSIS (Color and Stereo Surface Imaging System) camera on TGO on June 13, 2016, at a distance of 25.5 million miles (41 million km) from Mars.
Although it does not compare to the high-resolution scenes that will be returned once the spacecraft is finally at the planet, it is an important milestone for the CaSSIS team.
“The images have confirmed the sensitivity of the instrument and are sharp,” said Dr. Antoine Pommerol, a member of the CaSSIS team and a researcher at the University of Bern.
“It seems to be well-focused and the signal level seems to be close to prediction.”
“CaSSIS is a high resolution imaging system designed to complement the data acquired by the other payload on TGO and other Mars orbiters while also enhancing our knowledge of the surface of Mars,” Dr. Pommerol and his colleagues explained.
“The camera is a cooperation between the University of Bern, the Astronomical Observatory of Padua, and the Space Research Center in Warsaw with the support of local industries and funded by the Swiss Space Office, the Italian Space Agency and the Polish Space Agency.”
“The instrument will obtain stereo images of the surface in color at a resolution of better than 16 feet (5 m).”
As TGO approaches Mars, the images will start to become ever more impressive.
The orbiter is set to enter orbit around Mars on October 19, 2016, on the same day that Schiaparelli — released from TGO three days earlier – will land on the planet.
