Universe
Jet PropulsionLaboratorySeptember 3, 1999
Pasadena, California
Vol. 29, No. 18
Cassini’s
Moon shots
New images and brief movies of the
Moon, taken by the camera system on JPL’s
Saturn-bound Cassini spacecraft when it
flew through the Earth-Moon system two
weeks ago, are now available online at
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov.
The black-and-white lunar images were
among a sequence taken of the Moon by
Cassini’s sophisticated camera during the
Aug. 17 flyby of Earth. Cassini flew past
Earth to gain enough energy to reach distant
Saturn in 2004, where the spacecraft will
make detailed studies for four years.
“These are the first images taken by
Cassini for both photogenic and scientific
purposes, and they illustrate that the cameras
are functioning beautifully,” said Dr. Carolyn
Porco, leader of the 14-member Cassini imag-
ing team and an associate professor of plane-
tary sciences at the University of Arizona in
Tucson.
The images released Sept. 1 are a wide-
angle movie, a narrow-angle video clip, the
Moon in ultraviolet and a “triptych” (a
three-paneled composite image) of the
Moon. The face of the Moon seen in these
images is nearly identical to that seen from
Earth.
They were taken from a distance of about
377,000 kilometers (234,000 miles) approx-
Cassini’s imaging science subsystem photographed Earth’s moon on its Aug. 17 flyby.
imately 80 minutes prior to Cassini’s closest
approach to Earth. The lunar images were
taken to calibrate the camera system using a
familiar and well-studied target. No images
of Earth were planned or taken during
Cassini’s flyby. q
CASSINI IMAGING TEAM / UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA / JPL / NASA
Mars Polar Lander to arrive on smooth, layered terrain
By JANE PLATT
A strip of gentle, rolling plains near the
Martian south pole will serve as a welcome mat
when JPL’s Mars Polar Lander touches down
on the red planet on Dec. 3.
NASA unveiled the landing site, a swath of
terrain measuring about 4,000 square kilome-
ters (1,500 square miles), at an Aug. 25 briefing
at NASA Headquarte