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u/HolgerIsenberg

r/Astronomy r/Mars r/Cameras r/moon r/space r/nasa r/PerseveranceRover r/july4th
Image 1 — White rock with thin black filled fractures looks like highly siliceous rock, similar to white river pebbles in the Alps Mountains
Image 2 — White rock with thin black filled fractures looks like highly siliceous rock, similar to white river pebbles in the Alps Mountains
Image 3 — White rock with thin black filled fractures looks like highly siliceous rock, similar to white river pebbles in the Alps Mountains
Image 4 — White rock with thin black filled fractures looks like highly siliceous rock, similar to white river pebbles in the Alps Mountains
▲ 46 r/PerseveranceRover

White rock with thin black filled fractures looks like highly siliceous rock, similar to white river pebbles in the Alps Mountains

u/HolgerIsenberg — 5 days ago
▲ 55 r/nasa

ISS crew may be able to view partial phase of August 12 total solar eclipse

The ISS crew will most likely have the rare opportunity on August 12 to observe a partial solar eclipse! At least that's my result for an orbit calculation based on its current position and estimated drag and solar radiation pressure using the NASA GMAT tool.

Around 13:10 EDT the station will be inside the penumbra for 8 minutes above Canada and later at 14:56 maybe again for a few seconds.

A total solar eclipse in the strict sense, where the Moon and Sun appear under the same angular diameter, was only once publicly documented as being observed by humans in space: By Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin on Gemini XII (other 3 photos).

Image shows screenshot I took of my GMAT orbit simulation.

u/HolgerIsenberg — 24 days ago
▲ 1 r/Cameras

First usable digital color images on Earth found with those 512 x 512 px from 1974 taken with the Viking Lander spare cameras?

The first digital color image on Earth was taken in 1972 by Michael Francis Tompsett at Bell Labs and published in the Electronics Magazine. But it was at an unusable low resolution and with a CCD prototype. In 1974 RGB images of 512 x 512 x 3x6 bits were shot with the Viking Lander spare camera around Denver and at Great Sand Dunes national park. Those were actually usable as the same camera type produced thousands of color images on the surface of Mars between 1976 and 1982. A few of those test images I converted to sRGB and published on https://x.com/areoinfo/status/2079798282361164172?s=61&t=PtFEVc1RMesFAyd-6ZmXZA

Or does anyone know about other usable color images before 1974?

reddit.com
u/HolgerIsenberg — 27 days ago
▲ 23 r/space

Viking Lander 1 & 2 original digital images first time published in the same processing as normal digital cameras

Viking Lander 1 was on Monday tomorrow exactly 50 years ago on July 20th 1976 the first successful landing on Mars. It was also the first with color images from another planet. The Soviet Venus lander was earlier a year before, but only in monochrome.

While the Viking Lander camera teams worked hard to get the images processed correctly, at JPL in Pasadena and NASA Langley in Hampton, VA and also at Brown University, RI, where Tim Mutch the camera PI came from, they couldn't come to a consensus and in the end, the NASA Administrator himself, James Fletcher, had to decide about such a presumedly profane topic as color processing.

This week I published all color images from Viking Lander 1 & 2 processed in the same way as every commercial digital camera does it, when switching the camera to manual white balance for a sunny day on Earth. As far I could find out, that's the first time all color images are processed that consistent way. Individual images have been created in that way especially by the team from Brown University, and they also worked together with the photo experts at National Geographic magazine, but their results were never published.

Now everyone can find their favorite Martian Sky Color in those original Mars pictures from 1976 - 1982! Blue and white during the usual clear weather, over gray and yellow to red during dust storm activity later in the mission. Even water ice surface frost on Viking Lander 2 during the winter!

All can be viewed for free via this link: https://areo.info

Currently you need the areoHDR for Android and iPhone / iPad for viewing them. In a few weeks I also plan to move them to a normal website.

reddit.com
u/HolgerIsenberg — 1 month ago
▲ 197 r/Mars

Viking Lander 1 & 2 digital images in never seen before high quality now available for the 50th anniversary of the first successful Mars Landing on July 20th 1976

Everyone can find their favorite Martian Sky Color in those original Mars pictures from 1976 - 1982! Blue and white during the usual clear weather, over gray and yellow to red during dust storm activity later in the mission. Even water ice surface frost on Viking Lander 2 during the winter!

I recently processed the original Viking Lander 1 & 2 digital 3x6 bits / pixel images in the same way as every digital camera converts raw sensor data into a visual images. Technically that's creating a camera profile (see last image info graphic) and applying it to create a standard sRGB JPEG. All color images from both Viking Landers from their mission duration 1976 - 1982 can be viewed for free via this link: https://areo.info

u/HolgerIsenberg — 1 month ago
▲ 6 r/july4th

Top 10 list of still continuously king-free countries

Top 10 countries ranked by their years of continuously king-free existence up to the present:

San Marino: 1725 years

Iceland: 1096 years

Switzerland: 735 years

United States: 250 years

Haiti: 222 years

Liberia: 179 years

Dominican Republic: 182 years

El Salvador: 185 years

Costa Rica: 178 years

Guatemala: 187 years

u/HolgerIsenberg — 2 months ago
▲ 43 r/Mars

NatGeo 1977 centerfold: great info graphics about Viking Lander Life Detection Experiments

A great info graphic about the 3 Viking Lander life detection experiments was the centerfold in the article "Sifting for Life in the Sands of Mars" by Rick Gore in National Geographic January 1977 edition, Vol.151 No.1. The trinity: Pyrolytic Release Experiment (PR, PI Dr. Norman Horowitz, Caltech), Labeled Release Experiment (LR, PI Dr. Gilbert Levin, Biospherics Inc.), Gas Exchange Experiment (GEX, PI Dr. Vance Oyama, NASA Ames Research Center). I got the original old edition on ebay recently.

u/HolgerIsenberg — 2 months ago
▲ 303 r/PerseveranceRover+1 crossposts

As above so below, the Perseverance Rover tracks are visible on sol 1900, on the surface and from 300 km in orbit

As above so below, the Perseverance Rover tracks are visible. 1900 Mars days (sols) now on the surface yesterday, 24 June 2026!

The 2nd image was taken by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter 10 days ago and shows the rover from 300 km above. That's only possible with a clear atmosphere, like the sky seen from ground also shows.

Navcam / Watson images: https://areo.info/mars20/ecams/1900/ and even better with the areoHDR app

2nd image: PIA26726 from https://jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26726-nasas-hirise-captures-perseverance-marking-a-milestone-on-mars/

u/HolgerIsenberg — 2 months ago
▲ 5 r/moon+1 crossposts

Proposal to return original 1651 Galilaei name to the swirl today known as Reiner Gamma to revert the name change in 1834

Almagestum Novum in 1651 by Riccioli shows the lunar swirl today known as Reiner Gamma labeled as Galilæus. Then in 1834 Mädler's Mappa Selenographica changed the swirl label to γ and moved the name Galiläi to a small crater northwest where it remained until present.

I propose to revert this 1834 undocumented change and return Galilei Galileo to the original location at the swirl. To avoid confusion, using a new name, Galilaei Impulsus and keep the Galilaei name at the small crater.

More details, maps and photos and link to petition: https://areo.info/galileo

If you agree with the renaming, please sign the petition (also anonymously possible): https://c.org/q7QJTnj2Xx

u/HolgerIsenberg — 2 months ago
▲ 139 r/PerseveranceRover

Ingenuity Helicopter holding with its "arms" still on the rover and legs dangling above the ground. The early days in March 2021, sol 31 - 46.

u/HolgerIsenberg — 3 months ago