Compact reconnaissance imaging spectrometer for MARS (CRISM)

The Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars CRISM (CRISM) carried aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), is the first visible-infrared spectrometer toffy on a NASA Mars mission. CRISM scientists are using the instrument to look for the residue of minerals that form in the presence of water: The fingerprints´ left by evaporated hot springs, thermal vents, lakes or ponds. With unprecedented clarity, CRISM is mapping regions on the Martian surface at scales as small as 60 feet (about 18 meters) across, when the spacecraft is 186 miles (300 kilometers) above the planet. CRISM is reading 544 ´colors´ in reflected sunlight to detect certain minerals on the surface, including signature traces of past water. CRISM alone will generate more than 10 terabytes of data, enough to fill more than 15,000 compact discs. Given that quantity of data being returned by MROCRISM, this project partners with Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Applied Physics Laboratory (API,) scientists of the CRISM team to assist in the data analysis process. The CRISM operations team has prototyped and will provide the necessary software analysis tools. In addition, the CRISM operations team will provide reduced data volume representations of the data as PNG files, accessible via a web interface without recourse to specialized user tools. The web interface allows me to recommend repeating certain of the CRISM observations as survey results indicate, and to enter notes on the features present in the images.