Visual Monitoring Camera: Difference between revisions

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'''Visual Monitoring Camera'''<ref>http://blogs.esa.int/vmc/faq/</ref> (or Video Monitoring Camera<ref>http://www.lpi.usra.edu/vexag/mission_definition.pdf , p.3</ref>), also known as "Mars Webcam", is a small camera (65x60x108 mm) mounted on [[Mars Express]] spacecraft, with the unique purpose of monitoring [[Beagle 2]] deployment, happened on December 19, 2003 at 8:31 UTC (9:31 CET).

After performing this task, VMC remained unused, having no scientific purposes or any clear purpose until in 2007 it was checked out and turned on for education and science outreach.<ref>[http://sci.esa.int/mars-express/57864-mars-webcam-goes-pro/]</ref> The Mars webcam was born and proved hugely popular with the public, offering wide-angle shots of Mars on regular basis.<ref>[http://sci.esa.int/mars-express/57864-mars-webcam-goes-pro/]</ref> Eventually, the Mars webcam was adopted as a science instrument in May 2016 and some of the scientific observations intended to be made include the monitoring of Mars weather such as dust storms and clouds.<ref>[http://sci.esa.int/mars-express/57864-mars-webcam-goes-pro/]</ref> The camera now having produced over 19,000 images by 2016, will continue to have images offered to the public.<ref>[http://sci.esa.int/mars-express/57864-mars-webcam-goes-pro/]</ref>

Sometimes [[ESA]] started public campaigns inviting people to propose subjects to be shot by the camera, for example there was one planned for 25–27 May 2015.<ref>VMC Imaging campaign 2015 - http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Have_you_ever_used_a_camera_on_board_an_interplanetary_spacecraft</ref>

== Technical specifications<ref>VMC technical specifications - http://blogs.esa.int/vmc/faq/</ref> ==

* [[CMOS]] based (IMEC IRIS-1)

* [[Black-and-white|B/W]] + [[RGB]] filters

* Image size: 640x480 pixels

* Pixel depth: 8 bits

* [[Field of View]]: 40 x 31 degrees

* Distance from [[Mars]] surface: 300–10000&nbsp;km<ref>Mars Express orbit video - https://www.flickr.com/photos/esa_marswebcam/16707518966/</ref>

* Calculated<ref>tan(31°/2) * 10000km / 240pixel</ref> resolution at 10000&nbsp;km: 11.5&nbsp;km/pixel

* Calculated<ref>tan(31°/2) * 300km / 240pixel</ref> resolution at 300&nbsp;km: 0.347&nbsp;km/pixel

* Mass: 430 g

* Size: 65 x 60 x 108&nbsp;mm

[[File:Mars-Haze-VMC.jpeg|thumbnail|Valles Marineris on Mars in haze]]

[[File:Beagle-2-separation.png|thumbnail|Beagle 2 separation]]

The '''Visual Monitoring Camera''' ('''VMC'''),<ref name="faq">{{cite web |url=http://blogs.esa.int/vmc/faq/ |title=Mars Webcam: FAQ |publisher=European Space Agency}}</ref> also known as the Video Monitoring Camera<ref name="bulletin109">{{cite journal |url=http://www.esa.int/esapub/bulletin/bullet109/chapter9_bul109.pdf |title=Studies on the Re-use of the Mars Express Platform |journal=ESA Bulletin |first1=A. |last1=Gimenez |first2=J-P. |last2=Lebreton |first3=H. |last3=Svedhem |first4=J. |last4=Tauber |issue=109 |date=February 2002}}</ref> and Mars Webcam, is a small camera mounted on [[Mars Express]] spacecraft. It is operated by the Mars Express Flight Control Team at [[ESOC]] in Darmstadt, Germany.

VMC is not operated by scientists as other onboard instruments; it's instead operated by the '''Mars Express Flight Control Team''', based at [[ESOC]], Darmstadt, Germany.

MEFCT is currently uploading VMC images to its Flickr account in a fully automated process which makes images available to the public as soon as they are downloaded from the spacecraft,<ref>http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2012/12190600-mars-express-vmc.html</ref> and all pictures taken till now are available for free download, including images of [[Beagle 2]] separation occurred in 2003.<ref>8 images of Beagle 2 separation - https://www.flickr.com/photos/esa_marswebcam/sets/72157632218100711/</ref>

== External resourcesHistory ==

The camera was included on the Mars Express mission with the singular goal of monitoring the deployment of the [[Beagle 2]] lander, which occurred on 19 December 2003 at 08:31&nbsp;[[UTC]]. After performing this task, the VMC remained unused, having no intended scientific purpose. In 2007 it was checked out and turned on for educational and science outreach. The Mars Webcam project was born and proved popular with the public, offering wide-angle shots of Mars on a regular basis.<ref name="vmc57864">{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Mars_Webcam_goes_pro |title=Mars Webcam goes pro |publisher=European Space Agency |date=25 May 2016 |accessdate=10 November 2016}}</ref>

* VMC blog: http://blogs.esa.int/vmc/

* VMC [[FAQ]]: http://blogs.esa.int/vmc/faq/

* [[Flickr]] archive: https://www.flickr.com/photos/esa_marswebcam/with/16707518966/

The VMC was adopted as a science instrument in early 2016 in a collaboration between ESA and the [[University of the Basque Country]]{{'s}} Planetary Sciences Group. This collaboration will conduct a two-year study of the images returned by VMC, which provide a global view of the planet and allow for the study of planetary phenomena, including changes in the ice caps, dust storms and cloud activity.<ref name="vmc57864" />

== Images copyright<ref>Copyright info - https://www.flickr.com/people/esa_marswebcam/</ref> ==

All VMC images, past and present, are released by ESA under a [[CC license]], as follows:

The European Space Agency occasionally establishes campaigns inviting people to propose targets to be imaged by the cameras, such as the event on 25-27 May 2015.<ref name="esa20150306">{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Have_you_ever_used_a_camera_on_board_an_interplanetary_craft |title=Have you ever used a camera on board an interplanetary craft? |publisher=European Space Agency |date=6 March 2015 |accessdate=10 November 2016}}</ref>

''This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO) licence. The user is allowed to reproduce, distribute, adapt, translate and publicly perform this publication, without explicit permission, provided that the content is accompanied by an acknowledgement that the source is credited as 'ESA - European Space Agency’, a direct link to the licence text is provided (see example below) and that it is clearly indicated if changes were made to the original content. Adaptation/translation/derivatives must be distributed under the same licence terms as this publication. To view a copy of this license, please visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo

As of May 2016, the camera has returned over 19,000 images.<ref name="vmc57864" /> New images are published to the camera's Flickr account in a fully automated process as they are received from the spacecraft,<ref name="planetary20121219">{{cite web |url=http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2012/12190600-mars-express-vmc.html |title=Mars Express VMC resumes raw data posting |publisher=The Planetary Society |first=Emily |last=Lakdawalla |date=19 December 2012 |accessdate=10 November 2016}}</ref> and all images produced by the VMC are released under a [[Creative Commons]] Attribution/ShareAlike license (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO).<ref name="flickr">{{cite web |url=https://www.flickr.com/people/esa_marswebcam/ |title=VMC The Mars Webcam |work=Flickr.com |accessdate=10 November 2016}}</ref>

Credit: ESA - European Space Agency, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO''

== Technical specifications ==

Specifications of the VMC are:<ref name="faq" />

* [[CMOS]] based (IMEC IRIS-1)

* [[Black- and- white|B/W]] + [[RGB]] filters

* Image size: 640x480640×480 pixels

* Pixel depth: 8 bits

* [[Field of View]]: 40 x 3140×31 degrees

* Approximate distance from Mars surface: {{convert|300|-|10000|km|mi|abbr=on}}<ref name="sfnow20031225">{{cite news |url=https://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/marsexpress/031225update.html |title=Mars Express a success, but no one hears Beagle's bark |work=Spaceflight Now |first=Stephen |last=Clark |date=25 December 2003 |accessdate=10 November 2016}}</ref>

* Calculated<ref group="n">tan(31°/2) * 300km300&nbsp;km / 240pixel240&nbsp;px</ref> resolution at 300&nbsp; km: {{convert|0.347&nbsp;|km|mi|abbr=on|disp=x|/pixel (|/px)}}

* Calculated<ref group="n">tan(31°/2) * 10000km10000&nbsp;km / 240pixel240&nbsp;px</ref> resolution at 10000&nbsp;10,000 km: {{convert|11.5&nbsp;|km|mi|abbr=on|disp=x|/pixel (|/px)}}

* Mass: {{convert|430|g|lb|abbr=on}}

* Size: {{convert|65|xx|60|xx|108|mm|abbr=on}}

==Science instrumentNotes ==

{{reflist|group=n}}

The Planetary Sciences Group of the University of the Basque is conducting a two-year mission using the Mars webcam.<ref>[http://sci.esa.int/mars-express/57864-mars-webcam-goes-pro/]</ref>

== References ==

{{reflist|2}}

== External links ==

* [[Flickr]] archive: https://www.flickr.com/photos/esa_marswebcam/with/16707518966/ Mars Webcam Photostream] at [[Flickr|Flickr.com]]

*[http://sci.esa.int/mars-express/57865-looking-at-the-limb-of-mars-with-vmc/ Looking at the limb of Mars with VMC] (Video made with the VMC)

* [http://blogs.esa.int/vmc/ Mars Webcam Blog] by the European Space Agency

{{Marsexpress}}

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[[Category:Mars imagers]]

[[Category:Spacecraft instruments]]

[[Category:Space cameras]]