EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS)

In the past decade, science and technology have reached levels that permit assessments of global environmental change. Scientific success in understanding global environmental change depends on integration and management of numerous data sources. The Global Change Data and Information System (GCDIS) must provide for the management of data, information dissemination, and technology transfer. The Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is NASA's portion of this global change information system

An Exobiological Strategy for Mars Exploration

The idea of searching for evidence of life on Mars may strike some as far-fetched, even fanciful. But there is a compelling logic to such a quest, as well as an equally compelling excitement. Early environments were apparently sufficiently similar on Mars and Earth, and life arose so rapidly on Earth once conditions became clement, that emergence of life on both planets at that time is scarcely less plausible than emergence on only one. Furthermore, although a fossil on Mars might seem at first like a proverbial needle in a haystack, experience on Earth tell us that if we know where to look, finding evidence of ancient life is not particularly difficult, especially when one considers that such evidence can be relatively widely disseminated in the form of chemical or isotopic signatures. The key is to recognize that the search for ancient life on Mars will involve a logically designed sequence of missions, each of which will focus on defining ever more closely where and how biosignatures may be found. Although one can never rule out a chance discovery, this quest should not be approached as one that will yield to a single, expeditious mission. (In fact, the proposed strategy lends itself particularly well to the use of a series of relatively small, inexpensive spacecraft, rather than a single flagship-class mission). The search for life on Mars will take time and commitment, but the reward could be a discovery of inestimable importance, not just to science, but to humanity as a whole

Paper Session III-B - Potential European Involvement in the US Pathfinder Program

In conjunction with a long-range space programme planning also in Europe ideas exist for planetary exploratory missions, such as for Mars and the necessary infrastructure and technologies, required. Of course, this can only be realized in international cooperation as proposed by NASA with the pathfinder initiative. Europe has been engaged in a number of unmanned scientific missions, some of them still have to be flown - such as Galileo, Ulysses, and/or Cassini - and further unmanned explorations of Mars will still have to be done as well as experiences to be gained on longer-duration stays of man in space before a manned exploration of Mars can be realized. Also advances in technologies have to be made such as for energy and life support systems, required for such long-duration space missions. Since Europe already has been engaged in the manned Spacelab programme and a further involvement in the US Space Station programme has been decided - together with European programme in the area of advanced launchers with manned reentry capabilities - it is believed that Europe can also play an adequate role eventually in the pathfinder programme. In the paper alternatives for an efficient transport to the Moon and/or Mars and the return to Earth will be discussed, showing the logistics for certain assumptions with respect to the evolutionary missions. Some efforts will also be devoted to the various technologies, which will have to be gradually developed and demonstrated, before the actual goal of a manned exploration of Mars can take place with a certain degree of efficiency. It surely will be a big challenge for international cooperation in space in the 21st century

Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Mast Camera Zoom (Mastcam-Z) Multispectral, Stereoscopic Imaging Investigation

Mastcam-Z is a multispectral, stereoscopic imaging investigation on the Mars 2020 mission’s Perseverance rover. Mastcam-Z consists of a pair of focusable, 4:1 zoomable cameras that provide broadband red/green/blue and narrowband 400-1000 nm color imaging with fields of view from 25.6° × 19.2° (26 mm focal length at 283 μrad/pixel) to 6.2° × 4.6° (110 mm focal length at 67.4 μrad/pixel). The cameras can resolve (≥ 5 pixels) ∼0.7 mm features at 2 m and ∼3.3 cm features at 100 m distance. Mastcam-Z shares significant heritage with the Mastcam instruments on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover. Each Mastcam-Z camera consists of zoom, focus, and filter wheel mechanisms and a 1648 × 1214 pixel charge-coupled device detector and electronics. The two Mastcam-Z cameras are mounted with a 24.4 cm stereo baseline and 2.3° total toe-in on a camera plate ∼2 m above the surface on the rover’s Remote Sensing Mast, which provides azimuth and elevation actuation. A separate digital electronics assembly inside the rover provides power, data processing and storage, and the interface to the rover computer. Primary and secondary Mastcam-Z calibration targets mounted on the rover top deck enable tactical reflectance calibration. Mastcam-Z multispectral, stereo, and panoramic images will be used to provide detailed morphology, topography, and geologic context along the rover’s traverse; constrain mineralogic, photometric, and physical properties of surface materials; monitor and characterize atmospheric and astronomical phenomena; and document the rover’s sample extraction and caching locations. Mastcam-Z images will also provide key engineering information to support sample selection and other rover driving and tool/instrument operations decisions

Platte River Basin Study

Under the Western Water Policy Review Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-575, Title XXX), Congress directed the President to undertake a comprehensive review of Federal activities in the 19 Western States that directly or indirectly affect the allocation and use of water resources, whether surface or subsurface, and to submit a report of findings to the congressional committees having jurisdiction over Federal Water Programs

Pathfinder autonomous rendezvous and docking project

Capabilities are being developed and demonstrated to support manned and unmanned vehicle operations in lunar and planetary orbits. In this initial phase, primary emphasis is placed on definition of the system requirements for candidate Pathfinder mission applications and correlation of these system-level requirements with specific requirements. The FY-89 activities detailed are best characterized as foundation building. The majority of the efforts were dedicated to assessing the current state of the art, identifying desired elaborations and expansions to this level of development and charting a course that will realize the desired objectives in the future. Efforts are detailed across all work packages in developing those requirements and tools needed to test, refine, and validate basic autonomous rendezvous and docking elements

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Mast Camera Zoom (Mastcam-Z) Multispectral, Stereoscopic Imaging Investigation

Mastcam-Z is a multispectral, stereoscopic imaging investigation on the Mars 2020 mission's Perseverance rover. Mastcam-Z consists of a pair of focusable, 4:1 zoomable cameras that provide broadband red/green/blue and narrowband 400-1000 nm color imaging with fields of view from 25.6 degrees x19.2 degrees (26 mm focal length at 283 mu rad/pixel) to 6.2 degrees x4.6 degrees (110 mm focal length at 67.4 mu rad/pixel). The cameras can resolve (>= 5 pixels) similar to 0.7 mm features at 2 m and similar to 3.3 cm features at 100 m distance. Mastcam-Z shares significant heritage with the Mastcam instruments on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover. Each Mastcam-Z camera consists of zoom, focus, and filter wheel mechanisms and a 1648x1214 pixel charge-coupled device detector and electronics. The two Mastcam-Z cameras are mounted with a 24.4 cm stereo baseline and 2.3 degrees total toe-in on a camera plate similar to 2 m above the surface on the rover's Remote Sensing Mast, which provides azimuth and elevation actuation. A separate digital electronics assembly inside the rover provides power, data processing and storage, and the interface to the rover computer. Primary and secondary Mastcam-Z calibration targets mounted on the rover top deck enable tactical reflectance calibration. Mastcam-Z multispectral, stereo, and panoramic images will be used to provide detailed morphology, topography, and geologic context along the rover's traverse; constrain mineralogic, photometric, and physical properties of surface materials; monitor and characterize atmospheric and astronomical phenomena; and document the rover's sample extraction and caching locations. Mastcam-Z images will also provide key engineering information to support sample selection and other rover driving and tool/instrument operations decisions

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INSTREAM FLOW RIGHTS ON NATIONAL FOREST LANDS IN MONTANA

A unique opportunity exists to create instream water rights on national forest lands in Montana as a result of the US Forest Service Reserved Water Rights Compact between the US Forest Service (USFS) and the state of Montana, which went into law in 2007. Instream water rights on national forest lands are important because they have the potential to protect streamflows that support many vital ecosystem functions in our forests from water development pressures. Montana Trout Unlimited has an interest in advancing and accelerating this effort by providing stream recommendations to the USFS for the establishment of future water rights. The primary purposes of this paper are to offer recommendations to Montana Trout Unlimited for streams in Montana that would benefit the most from a US Forest Service instream water right and why, to develop an effective process for doing so, and to identify how Montana Trout Unlimited can help in this larger effort. Through the solicitation of stream recommendations from biologists and fisheries manager across the state and the development of a ranking worksheet to prioritize these recommendations, the final product of this research was a ranked stream list to help guide future efforts to establish USFS instream water rights. The USFS need to act on these recommendations and increase their investment in this effort before new water development pressures adjacent to national forests occur. Establishing water rights will enable the USFS to be a legal stakeholder in the water resources on national forest lands in Montana and ensure the long term health of our forests in the state