The successful 2020 launch and 2021 landing of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Perseverance Mars rover initiated the first phase of the NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign. The goal of the MSR campaign is to collect scientifically interesting samples from the Martian surface and return them to Earth for further study in terrestrial laboratories. The MSR campaign consists of three major spacecraft components to accomplish this objective: the Perseverance Mars rover, the Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL) and the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO). Onboard the ERO spacecraft is the Capture, Containment and Return System (CCRS). CCRS will capture, process and return to Earth the samples that have been collected after they are launched into Mars orbit by the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), which is delivered to Mars onboard the SRL. To facilitate the processing of the orbiting sample (OS) via the CCRS, we have designed and developed a vision system to determine the OS capture orientation. The vision system is composed of two cameras sensitive to the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum and two illumination modules constructed from broadband light emitting diodes (LED). Vision system laboratory tests and physics-based optical simulations predict CCRS ground processing will be able to correctly identify the OS post-capture orientation using only a single vision system image that is transmitted to Earth from Mars orbit.

IntroductionNASA’s Juno spacecraft, orbiting Jupiter, had three close encounters with Io in 2023 and 2024, during which JunoCam acquired ~20 visible color images at 1 to 12 km/pixel. The area covered by these images included high latitudes not well imaged on previous missions. These images show significant changes from previous imaging. JunoCam also observed a total of nine plumes associated with volcanic features. JunoCam instrumentJunoCam has a CCD detector with a strip filter array enabling imaging in three color bands—blue, green and red (Hansen et al. [1]). The JunoCam lens maps 58° across the 1600 pixel detector width, which is scanned by spacecraft rotation. Repeated readout of the of the CCD provides overlapping coverage in each band. A color image is generated by reprojecting each “framelet” so that each color can be mosaicked and the three colors can be composited. Io EncountersDuring the Juno extended mission (2021-present), Juno had multiple flybys of Io, the best of which occurred associated with perijove passes PJ57, PJ58 and PJ60. On PJ57 (30 December 2023), JunoCam imaged Io’s high northern latitudes from as close as 2,800 km, with a scale as small as 1.9 km/pixel (Figure 1). The dayside JunoCam images from the PJ58 Io encounter (3 February 2024) covered the mid-latitudes from as close as 3,800 km and a scale of 2.6 km/pixel (Figure 2). JunoCam also captured nightside images, illuminated by Jupiter. While the signal levels were lower in these images, the scale was as small as 1.0 km/pixel. Most recently, the PJ60 Io encounter (9 April 2024) images were from a greater distance (17,300 km) and with a larger scale (11.7 km/pixel), but they did provide coverage of the high southern latitudes. ResultsFigure 3 shows a map of Io, assembled from JunoCam coverage from PJ55, 57, 58 and 60. The map indicates the locations of surface changes either from lava flows or volatiles deposits from the JunoCam images.ChangesSome instances of changes observed by JunoCam are as follows:Kanehekili Fluctus (17.2° S, 33.4° W): Kanehekili was imaged by Jupiter-shine on PJ58 at 1.8 km/pixel. It appears as an integrated, single flow field, 210 kilometers north-south and 120 kilometers east-west, similar to its appearance in the Voyager imaging, but different from the two distinct flow fields in the Galileo coverage. JunoCam also shows a large, diffuse red deposit fanning out from the western side. East of Kanehekili (17.7° S, 23.2° W): about 300 km east of Kanehekili, is a feature that was not seen previously, with two long, thin sets of flows, running roughly to the west and southwest from the active volcanic region at 17.2° S, 21.9° W. A diffuse red deposit, 60 by 90 km, is just to the east of this source. The terminal ends of the flows are surrounded by dark gray diffuse deposits, ~100 km across. Masubi Fluctus (43° S, 52.5° W): JunoCam imaged Masubi by Jupiter-shine on PJ58 and PJ60. Two new flows formed at Masubi since the New Horizons observations of 2007, running south and east from common source. The eastern flow is 120 kilometers long, while the southern flow is 170 kilometer long. The eastern flow has two distal flow lobes, each with associated dark and bright diffuse deposits. Nusku Patera (65° S, 3.6° W): in the sixty-six days between Juno’s PJ58 and PJ60 encounters of Io, a circular red ring, 1100 km in diameter, formed around Nusku Patera, likely from a large, Pele-type plume rich in S2. High phase albedo reversalThe PJ58 encounter acquired images with phase angles ranging from ~130° for the first to ~90° for the fourth. This sequence shows the floors of three paterae quite bright at high phase. The floor of Loki (Figure 4), progresses from whiteish gray at high phase to darker gray at lower phase (though still brighter than the near-black seen low phase). This phase dependence would be expected from a surface with significant areal fraction of glassy component at the sub-pixel scale, like fresh lava flows. PlumesNine volcanic plumes were identified in JunoCam images (Figure 5). Four came from active volcanic regions without previous plume detections (Seth, Mixcoatl, Tonatiuh, and Culann). Estimated heights of these plumes ranged from 50 to 100 km. These heights and brightness in the red-filter framelets suggest they are SO2 and dust-rich “Prometheus” type plumes. The plumes at Kanehekili, Masubi, Tonatiuh, Volund, and Xihe are associated with regions of flow-like surface changes, consistent with them being caused by mobilization of surface volatiles. Multiple plume columns were observed at Xihe and Kanehekili during the PJ58 encounter, suggesting multiple active flow lobes at these locations.AcknowledgementsThis work was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through the Juno Project. Junocam images are available at https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu and are archived with NASA’s Planetary Data System (PDS). References[1] Hansen, C. J., et al. Junocam: Juno’s outreach camera. Space Sci. Rev. 2014. doi10.007/s/11214-014-0079-xFiguresFigure 1. JunoCam PJ57 Io encounter image sequence (the first image shows Io illuminated by Jupiter-shine). Figure 2. JunoCam PJ58 Io encounter image sequence (the first two images show Io illuminated by Jupiter-shine). Figure 3. Io mapped with JunoCam (PJ55, 57, 58 and 60), indicating changes or activity. Cyan ovals denote areas of new, faded, or shifted plume and/or volatile deposits. Yellow ovals denote areas of probable new lava flows. Figure 4. Four views of Loki Patera from PJ58, time progressing left to right. Because of encounter trajectory, the phase angle progresses from ~130° in the leftmost image to ~90° in the rightmost image. Note the darkening of the floor of Loki as the phase angle decreases, while the rest of the region shown appears the same. Figure 5. Plumes observed by JunoCam: a) Xihe double plume observed during orbit 58 (02/2024); b) Prometheus plume observed during orbit 55 (10/2023); c) Prometheus (left) and Seth (right) plumes observed during orbit 60 (04/2024); d) Volund plume observed during orbit 55; e) Mixcoatl plume observed during orbit 60; f) Kanehekili double plume observed during orbit 58; g) Tonatiuh plume observed at the terminator during orbit 17 (12/2018).

Perseverance's Mastcam-Z instrument provides high-resolution stereo and multispectral images with a unique combination of spatial resolution, spatial coverage, and wavelength coverage along the rover's traverse in Jezero crater, Mars. Images reveal rocks consistent with an igneous (including volcanic and/or volcaniclastic) and/or impactite origin and limited aqueous alteration, including polygonally fractured rocks with weathered coatings; massive boulder-forming bedrock consisting of mafic silicates, ferric oxides, and/or iron-bearing alteration minerals; and coarsely layered outcrops dominated by olivine. Pyroxene dominates the iron-bearing mineralogy in the finegrained regolith, while olivine dominates the coarse-grained regolith. Solar and atmospheric imaging observations show significant intra- and intersol variations in dust optical depth and water ice clouds, as well as unique examples of boundary layer vortex action from both natural (dust devil) and Ingenuity helicopter-induced dust lifting. High-resolution stereo imaging also provides geologic context for rover operations, other instrument observations, and sample selection, characterization, and confirmation.

The Lucy Mission accomplishes its science during a series of five flyby encounters with seven Trojan asteroid targets. This mission architecture drives a concept of operations design that maximizes science return, provides redundancy in observations where possible, features autonomous fault protection and utilizes onboard target tracking near closest approach. These design considerations reduce risk during the relatively short time-critical periods when science data is collected. The payload suite consists of a color camera and infrared imaging spectrometer, a high-resolution panchromatic imager, and a thermal infrared spectrometer. The mission design allows for concurrent observations of all instruments. Additionally, two spacecraft subsystems will also contribute to the science investigations: the Terminal Tracking Cameras will obtain wide field-of-view imaging near closest approach to determine the shape of each of the Trojan targets and the telecommunication subsystem will carry out Doppler tracking of the spacecraft to determine the mass of each of the Trojan targets.

The Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) is a robotic arm-mounted instrument on NASA’s Perseverance rover. SHERLOC has two primary boresights. The Spectroscopy boresight generates spatially resolved chemical maps using fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy coupled to microscopic images (10.1 μm/pixel). The second boresight is a Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering (WATSON); a copy of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) that obtains color images from microscopic scales (∼13 μm/pixel) to infinity. SHERLOC Spectroscopy focuses a 40 μs pulsed deep UV neon-copper laser (248.6 nm), to a ∼100 μm spot on a target at a working distance of ∼48 mm. Fluorescence emissions from organics, and Raman scattered photons from organics and minerals, are spectrally resolved with a single diffractive grating spectrograph with a spectral range of 250 to ∼370 nm. Because the fluorescence and Raman regions are naturally separated with deep UV excitation (<250 nm), the Raman region ∼ 800 – 4000 cm −1 (250 to 273 nm) and the fluorescence region (274 to ∼370 nm) are acquired simultaneously without time gating or additional mechanisms. SHERLOC science begins by using an Autofocus Context Imager (ACI) to obtain target focus and acquire 10.1 μm/pixel greyscale images. Chemical maps of organic and mineral signatures are acquired by the orchestration of an internal scanning mirror that moves the focused laser spot across discrete points on the target surface where spectra are captured on the spectrometer detector. ACI images and chemical maps (< 100 μm/mapping pixel) will enable the first Mars in situ view of the spatial distribution and interaction between organics, minerals, and chemicals important to the assessment of potential biogenicity (containing CHNOPS). Single robotic arm placement chemical maps can cover areas up to 7x7 mm in area and, with the < 10 min acquisition time per map, larger mosaics are possible with arm movements. This microscopic view of the organic geochemistry of a target at the Perseverance field site, when combined with the other instruments, such as Mastcam-Z, PIXL, and SuperCam, will enable unprecedented analysis of geological materials for both scientific research and determination of which samples to collect and cache for Mars sample return.

Within the first 26 orbits of the Juno spacecraft around Jupiter, we have identified a variety of wave-like features in images made by its public-outreach camera, JunoCam. Because of Juno’s unprecedented and repeated proximity to Jupiter’s cloud tops during its close approaches, JunoCam has detected more wave structures than any previous surveys. Most of the waves appear in long wave packets, oriented east-west and populated by narrow wave crests. Spacing between crests were measured as small as ~30 km, shorter than any previously measured. Some waves are associated with atmospheric features, but others are not ostensibly associated with any visible cloud phenomena and thus may be generated by dynamical forcing below the visible cloud tops. Some waves also appear to be converging and others appear to be overlapping, possibly at different atmospheric levels. Another type of wave has a series of fronts that appear to be radiating outward from the center of a cyclone. Although we have detected wave-like phenomena covering latitudes between 20°S and 45°N, most appear within 5° of latitude from the equator. Most waves appear in regions associated with prograde motions of the mean zonal winds. Although Juno was unable to measure the velocity of wave features to diagnose the wave types due to its close and rapid flybys, both by our own upper limits on wave motions and by analogy with previous measurements, we expect that the waves JunoCam detected near the equator are inertia-gravity waves.

In the first 20 orbits of the Juno spacecraft around Jupiter, we have identified a variety of wave‐like features in images made by its public‐outreach camera, JunoCam. Because of Juno's unprecedented and repeated proximity to Jupiter's cloud tops during its close approaches, JunoCam has detected more wave structures than any previous surveys. Most of the waves appear in long wave packets, oriented east‐west and populated by narrow wave crests. Spacing between crests were measured as small as ~30 km, shorter than any previously measured. Some waves are associated with atmospheric features, but others are not ostensibly associated with any visible cloud phenomena and thus may be generated by dynamical forcing below the visible cloud tops. Some waves also appear to be converging, and others appear to be overlapping, possibly at different atmospheric levels. Another type of wave has a series of fronts that appear to be radiating outward from the center of a cyclone. Most of these waves appear within 5° of latitude from the equator, but we have detected waves covering planetocentric latitudes between 20°S and 45°N. The great majority of the waves appear in regions associated with prograde motions of the mean zonal flow. Juno was unable to measure the velocity of wave features to diagnose the wave types due to its close and rapid flybys. However, both by our own upper limits on wave motions and by analogy with previous measurements, we expect that the waves JunoCam detected near the equator are inertia‐gravity waves.

The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover conducted a reconnaissance traverse across the Pahrump Hills outcrop within Gale crater from Sols 780–797. During the traverse, the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) acquired a continuous imaging record of primary and secondary sedimentary features throughout the outcrop. The characteristics of the features (laminae, resistant features, fractures, gray clasts) and their spatial distribution provide insight into the processes that contributed to the formation of Pahrump Hills. Thin, regular laminae (mm-scale) are ubiquitous in the bedrock, implying that depositional processes at that scale did not change appreciably during deposition of the mudstone succession at Pahrump Hills. Higher bedrock slopes correlate with undulatory bedrock surfaces, bedrock with elevated Mg contents, and fractures exhibiting wide, raised edges. These collective features are consistent with increased erosional resistance caused by greater quantities of erosionally-resistant, Mg-bearing cement within the bedrock permitted by coarser grain sizes. Resistant features exhibit a range of morphologies, elevated Mg contents, and do not deflect laminae within the bedrock. Their characteristics implicate the involvement of Mg-enriched fluids in a late diagenetic overprint affecting the bedrock. The variations of fracture fill and edge morphologies and chemistries further suggest repeated fracturing and fluid interaction events within the strata exposed at Pahrump Hills. Gray clasts strongly resemble fragments eroded from sandstone horizons interspersed throughout the Pahrump Hills outcrop.

MRO-MARCI daily global mapping images from 16 November 2006 (L-s = 111.4 degrees) through 15 July 2017 (L-s = 33.5 degrees), covering portions of seven consecutive Martian years (MY 28 - MY 34), were used in a survey of dust storm activity within 2000 km radius of the final three candidate sites for the 2020 Mars Rover mission (Columbia Hills at 14.59 degrees S 175.53 degrees E, North East Syrtis at 17.89 degrees N 77.16 degrees E, and Jezero at 18.39 degrees N 77.54 degrees E). A total of 1321 dust storms (1228 local, 93 regional) were observed. Storms were observed in all seasons, but showed distinct seasonal trends. Columbia Hills monitoring area experienced eastward traversing polar hood/seasonal cap edge storms during southern autumn and winter, with a gradual transition during southern spring to northern hemisphere storms along the Elysium and Arcadia-Amazonis tracks with winter dominated by the northern hemisphere storms. Syrtis sitess were dominated by cap edge storms during northern spring, transitioning to subtropical (Syrtis Major and north of Hellas Basin) storms in both hemispheres during northern summer, with autumn bringing continued storm activity in the southern subtropics and increased activity along the Utopia cross-equatorial storm-track, followed in winter by a transition back to north polar hood/seasonal cap edge storms. Peak storm frequency occurs during autumn for the Syrtis sites and winter for Columbia Hills site. During the entry, descent, and landing (EDL) season, L-s = 345-25 degrees, the daily probability of dust storm activity at the landing sites ranged from <= 1.6% for the Columbia Hills to <= 3.2% for Syrtis sites. For EDL sol (L-s similar to 6 degrees), storm probabilities drop to approximately 0.0% for Columbia Hills and ranged from 0.6-1.2% for the other sites, indicating that storms are of minimum concern for EDL.

During Juno's first perijove encounter, the JunoCam instrument acquired the first images of Jupiter's polar regions at 50-70 km spatial scale at low emission angles. Poleward of 64-68 degrees planetocentric latitude, where Jupiter's east-west banded structure breaks down, several types of discrete features appear on a darker background. Cyclonic oval features are clustered near both poles. Other oval-shaped features are also present, ranging in size from 2000 km down to JunoCam's resolution limits. The largest and brightest features often have chaotic shapes. Two narrow linear features in the north, associated with an overlying haze feature, traverse tens of degrees of longitude. JunoCam also detected an optically thin cloud or haze layer past the northern nightside terminator estimated to be 58 +/- 21 km (approximately three scale heights) above the main cloud deck. JunoCam will acquire polar images on every perijove, allowing us to track the state and evolution of longer-lived features.

The Mars Science Laboratory Mast camera and Descent Imager investigations were designed, built, and operated by Malin Space Science Systems of San Diego, CA. They share common electronics and focal plane designs but have different optics. There are two Mastcams of dissimilar focal length. The Mastcam‐34 has an f/8, 34 mm focal length lens, and the M‐100 an f/10, 100 mm focal length lens. The M‐34 field of view is about 20° × 15° with an instantaneous field of view (IFOV) of 218 μrad; the M‐100 field of view (FOV) is 6.8° × 5.1° with an IFOV of 74 μrad. The M‐34 can focus from 0.5 m to infinity, and the M‐100 from ~1.6 m to infinity. All three cameras can acquire color images through a Bayer color filter array, and the Mastcams can also acquire images through seven science filters. Images are ≤1600 pixels wide by 1200 pixels tall. The Mastcams, mounted on the ~2 m tall Remote Sensing Mast, have a 360° azimuth and ~180° elevation field of regard. Mars Descent Imager is fixed‐mounted to the bottom left front side of the rover at ~66 cm above the surface. Its fixed focus lens is in focus from ~2 m to infinity, but out of focus at 66 cm. The f/3 lens has a FOV of ~70° by 52° across and along the direction of motion, with an IFOV of 0.76 mrad. All cameras can acquire video at 4 frames/second for full frames or 720p HD at 6 fps. Images can be processed using lossy Joint Photographic Experts Group and predictive lossless compression.

The small crater Airy‐0 was selected from Mariner 9 images to be the reference for the Mars prime meridian. Initial analyses in the year 2000 tied Viking Orbiter and Mars Orbiter Camera images of Airy‐0 to the evolving Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter global digital terrain model to update the location of Airy‐0. Based upon this tie and radiometric tracking of landers/rovers from Earth, new expressions for the Mars spin axis direction, spin rate, and prime meridian epoch value were produced to define the orientation of the Martian surface in inertial space over time. Since the Mars Global Surveyor mission and Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter global digital terrain model were completed some time ago, a more exhaustive study has been performed to determine the accuracy of the Airy‐0 location and orientation of Mars at the standard epoch. Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) IR image cubes of the Airy and Gale crater regions were tied to the global terrain grid using precision stereo photogrammetric image processing techniques. The Airy‐0 location was determined to be about 0.001° east of its predicted location using the currently defined International Astronomical Union (IAU) prime meridian location. Information on this new location and how it was derived will be provided to the NASA Mars Exploration Program Geodesy and Cartography Working Group for their assessment. This NASA group will make a recommendation to the IAU Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements to update the expression for the Mars spin axis direction, spin rate, and prime meridian location.

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) investigation will use a 2-megapixel color camera with a focusable macro lens aboard the rover, Curiosity, to investigate the stratigraphy and grain-scale texture, structure, mineralogy, and morphology of geologic materials in northwestern Gale crater. Of particular interest is the stratigraphic record of a ∼5 km thick layered rock sequence exposed on the slopes of Aeolis Mons (also known as Mount Sharp). The instrument consists of three parts, a camera head mounted on the turret at the end of a robotic arm, an electronics and data storage assembly located inside the rover body, and a calibration target mounted on the robotic arm shoulder azimuth actuator housing. MAHLI can acquire in-focus images at working distances from ∼2.1 cm to infinity. At the minimum working distance, image pixel scale is ∼14 μm per pixel and very coarse silt grains can be resolved. At the working distance of the Mars Exploration Rover Microscopic Imager cameras aboard Spirit and Opportunity, MAHLI’s resolution is comparable at ∼30 μm per pixel. Onboard capabilities include autofocus, auto-exposure, sub-framing, video imaging, Bayer pattern color interpolation, lossy and lossless compression, focus merging of up to 8 focus stack images, white light and longwave ultraviolet (365 nm) illumination of nearby subjects, and 8 gigabytes of non-volatile memory data storage.