Downlink – We Have a Routine?
My new temporary daily routine here at HiRISE Operations:
- Validate the image data that have arrived since last time I checked. Are the raw image files we receive gap-free and are the file sizes as expected? Did the Uplink team command the HiRISE camera properly? So far, they have a perfect record!
- Keep checking to see if new data is arriving for processing.
- Are our automated processes running properly?
- Is the data being stored correctly and can the team access the images in the appropriate places?
- Finally! Actually look at the new images. In between “oohs” and “ahhs” check to see that the images look good. Did our automated software handle the data correctly? Do I need to do any manual reprocessing of image data?
- Report my findings to the team via email.
- Get up and see what the scientists and other team members are up to.
- Eat some Cheetos.
- Repeat as necessary.
- A million other tasks.
By the end of the day I am covered in Cheeto dust (joking) and amazed by some new vista of Mars (seriously).
What is it we find so amazing? I can only speak for myself, but in observation TRA_000823_1720, the boulders lying about casting shadows indicate just how “Hi” resolution the HiRISE camera can go. In the second observation – TRA_000825_2665 – the stack of water ice and dust layers and the patches of water frost make for a distinctive landscape. At this resolution, there is a marked difference between the north polar region on Mars and the pictures I have seen of the Earth’s own polar regions.
To me, this is the great joy of planetary science: seeing new vistas that are at once familiar and unfamiliar, and never, ever routine.
