Here we are over two weeks into PSP, and we haven’t even finished releasing our TRA images!

Actually, today we got 31 TRA images out the door, just about completing that set. In addition, the previous 32 grayscale images have been reprocessed with our improved geometry—no more jagged edges on the reprojected “Red Mosaics”.

Furthermore, the full-res images are now available as lossless JPEG-2000 (JP2) files. At HiROC we are using the ExpressView application from a company called LizardTech… a subsidiary of some Japanese company (that has no affiliation to us FWIW).

ExpressView is available for Mac and Windows. Their download page describes it only as a browser plug-in, but the installer contains an application as well.

ExpressView provides progressive rendering (though you still have to have the entire file first—we are considering moving to a streaming model using the JPIP protocol but there are even fewer clients available). It should also reduce the amount of memory (RAM) needed to view our largest images.

There are a few options available to Linux users, but nothing we have tried is as fast or as feature-rich. In any case, let us know what works or doesn’t work for you.

All of these images are available at the usual location.

A system for streamlining the process of editing captions, highlighting cut-out areas and pushing out web pages is in the works. We will get caught up.

In the meantime, look for the first set of PSP releases by this time next week.

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving.

The first HiRISE image data of the Primary Science Phase (PSP) arrived in Tucson last night sometime around 9 PM. Although we thought the first data might not arrive until early this morning, I was a little antsy and took a look from home around 9:40 PM to see a complete first observation ready for validation.

We are waiting for reconstructed SPICE ephemeris data, which comes out every Wednesday – starting next week – before sending these data through our geometry pipelines, and ultimately releasing them to the scientific community and public. Last time, we forced images through our geometry pipelines using predicted SPICE kernels; we do not want to double our workload by continuing that practice. The SPICE kernels released next Wednesday will cover some of the images captured this week.

Once the images have been visually and statistically validated and the matching SPICE kernels have arrived, one of the downlink folks will send the images through the geometry pipelines. We also need to get a select group of captions written and automatic caption information generated for the rest.

We are producing JPEG2000 products now in addition to smaller jpeg browse images, to be ready for our viewing client when it is ready for public release. However, there are many different JPEG2000 viewers and plugins already out there to start practicing with. One example is ExpressView from LizardTech.

Once we are on a roll, the data release will be steady and no one will be able to keep up with the wealth of Mars data coming in. Until the first public release of PSP images, we will try to provide here on HiBlog more details about the many tasks that must still be completed.