News Release Archive: 2001

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October 11, 2001 01:00 PM (EDT)

News Release Number: STScI-2001-31

Scientists Track "Perfect Storm" on Mars

Technical facts about this news release:

About this Object 
Object Name: Mars
Object Description: Global Dust Storm on Mars
Distance from
the Sun: 		The semi-major axis of Mars' orbit about the sun is 1.52 Astronomical Units (A.U.) or 142 million miles (228 million km).
Distance from
the Earth: 		At the 2001 Mars opposition, the planet was approximately 43 million miles (68 million km) from Earth.
Dimensions:

The planet has a diameter of 4,222 miles (6,794 km) at the equator.
About the HST Data 
Instrument: HST/WFPC2
Exposure Dates: June 26, 2001
August 9, August 10, August 14, and September 4, 2001
Filters/Wavelengths: [Jun 01]: 410nm, 502nm, 588nm, 631nm, 673nm, 1042nm
[Aug/Sep 01]: 255nm, 336nm, 410nm, 502nm, 547nm, 588nm, 631nm, 673nm, 680nm, 868nm, 953nm, 1042nm.
Principal Astronomers:

[Jun 01]: J. Bell (Cornell U.), P. James (U. Toledo), M. Wolff (Space Science Institute), A. Lubenow (STScI), J. Neubert (MIT/Cornell), K. Noll, H. Bond, C. Christian, S. Crawshaw, L. Frattare, F. Hamilton, J. Lee, Z. Levay, T. Royle (Hubble Heritage Team/STScI)
[Aug/Sep 01]: J. Bell (Cornell U.), M. Wolff (Space Science Institute), R. Morris (JSFC)
Image Credit: NASA, J. Bell (Cornell U.), M. Wolff (SSI) and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
About the TES Data 
Mission:

Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
Instruments:

Thermal Emission Spectrograph (TES)
Exposure Dates: June 17 - August 26, 2001
Filters/Wavelengths: Infrared wavelengths: 2.3 - 15.4nm
Principal Scientists:

P. Christensen (Arizona State University)
Image Credit: NASA and P. Christensen (Arizona State University)
About the MOC Data 
Mission:

Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
Instruments:

Mars Orbital Camera (MOC)
Exposure Dates: June 10 - September 24, 2001
Filters/Wavelengths: Wide-angle red: 600 - 630nm
Wide-angle blue: 420 - 450nm
Principal Scientists:

M. Malin, B. Cantor and R. Zimdar (Malin Space Science Systems)

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
About this Release 
Release Date: October 11, 2001 1:00 p.m. (EDT)
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