14 March 2000 MISR continues to send back fascinating images of Earth! NASA has decided to release an initial set of "engineering" images from each of the Terra instruments. MISR's contribution is our set of "first light" images over James Bay, Ontario, Canada, acquired just after cover opening on February 24. The set shows this ice-covered area, located at the south end of Hudson Bay, as viewed by three of MISR's nine cameras. You can view these pictures on the home page of the MISR web site
http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov. Click on the image to get a larger, clearer version. They are also available at NASA's Planetary Photojournal,
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov. The engineering images from the other Terra instruments are viewable at
http://terra.nasa.gov. The complete Terra status report that accompanies the pictures can be found at
http://terra.nasa.gov/Events/terra_status_report_8.html. Last Friday a set of instructions to improve the data content of the MISR calibration sequences was successfully uploaded to the instrument's computer. Based on analysis of the engineering data from the motors that activate the deployable calibration panels, we decided to proceed with use of the "north" panel (the one that is cycled when the spacecraft is near the north pole), and a successful sequence was run yesterday. Further use of the "south" panel is awaiting the results of tests on the MISR engineering model, as we attempt to better understand some features in the motor current profile. An 18-second propulsion maneuver to maintain the Terra orbit altitude occurred today. We believe the risk of contamination to the camera optics is extremely low for such a short burn, and we opted to leave MISR's cover open. To minimize risk to the overall mission, our philosophy is to close the cover only when absolutely necessary. AirMISR has returned to California from its deployment aboard a NASA high-altitude aircraft in Wisconsin and Oklahoma. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate in Wisconsin but the data acquired in Oklahoma over both clear and cloudy skies in conjunction with MISR overflights promise to be very exciting. The AirMISR team has worked long and hard to nurture this instrument through a mischievous adolescence to a reliable adulthood, and it has performed flawlessly. Distribution of AirMISR data through the Atmospheric Sciences Data Center in Virginia is scheduled to begin in a few weeks, with the first data sets available to the public consisting of images acquired last summer over the Kansas prairie and California coast. You can see earlier status reports by checking the "News" link of the MISR web site at
http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov.
David Diner