Abstract

Planetary explorations in the majority of past missions involved direct framing imaging for the purpose of obtaining scientific information. With the exception of the Viking Missions to Mars, scientific planetary explorations were done remotely to avoid contact with potentially hostile environment. Recently, there has been a renewed interest in manned planetary missions. As a precursor to establishing man's presence on the other planets, it is considered wise that an autonomous vehicle be landed, allowed to explore on its own, and collect scientifically interesting samples for later analysis back on earth. The dual requirement of high resolution imaging and accurate feature positioning in some inertial reference system has led to push-broom imaging with stretch for the initial conceptual design of the orbiter sensor, configured for the landing site selection.¹ A comparison between the framing array cameras used in the past for scientific remote planetary explorations and the push-broom cameras on the scanning platform for site certification is presented. The analysis includes an exposition of a different set of imaging requirements for remote scientific exploration and for site certification for landing and the roll-off of an autonomous vehicle. Also, the significance of the surface feature identification and positioning is discussed.

© 1989 Optical Society of America