Thermal Emission Imaging System

Thermal Emission Imaging System
Name	Thermal Emission Imaging System
Mission	Mars Odyssey
Operator	NASA
Manufacturer	Arizona State University; Malin Space Science Systems
Launch	2001 Mars Odyssey
Type	Infrared imaging spectrometer
Applications	Planetary geology; mineralogy; climate studies

Contents

Thermal Emission Imaging System is a multispectral thermal infrared imager flown aboard 2001 Mars Odyssey that mapped surface composition and thermophysical properties of Mars. Developed by teams at Arizona State University and Malin Space Science Systems, the instrument complemented missions such as Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and Mars Express, providing global thermal-emission datasets used by researchers at institutions including Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution, and California Institute of Technology.

Overview

THEMIS was part of the payload on 2001 Mars Odyssey launched by NASA in 2001 and entered orbit around Mars in 2001. It operated alongside instruments on spacecraft such as Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey's own suite, contributing to joint studies with teams from Brown University, University of Arizona, and University of California, Berkeley. The instrument delivered data products used by projects at European Space Agency, Russian Academy of Sciences, and Indian Space Research Organisation investigators.

THEMIS consisted of a thermal infrared subsystem and a visible imaging subsystem built through collaboration among Arizona State University, Malin Space Science Systems, and contractors including Ball Aerospace and Honeywell. Optical components were qualified to standards used by Jet Propulsion Laboratory mission payloads and flight electronics followed heritage from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter instruments. Its detectors included linear arrays cooled to operational temperatures dictated by thermal design teams at Caltech and testing facilities such as Ames Research Center and Langley Research Center. The instrument used telescope optics, calibration blackbodies, and onboard radiometric calibration hardware modeled after systems in Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Voyager era instruments.

THEMIS aimed to map mineralogical composition, rock and soil thermophysical properties, and surface temperature variations across Mars at regional to local scales. Science teams from Arizona State University, University of Hawaii, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University, and University of Colorado Boulder used THEMIS data to identify silicates, carbonates, oxides, and volcanic materials by comparing spectra to libraries at Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey. The visible channel provided context imaging used in conjunction with datasets from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE, Mars Express's OMEGA, and Mars Global Surveyor's MOLA topography, enabling stratigraphic correlation and landing site selection studies for missions such as Mars Science Laboratory and Phoenix (spacecraft).

Mission operations for THEMIS were coordinated by teams at Arizona State University and flight operations at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, integrating spacecraft commands with navigation support from Deep Space Network assets at Goldstone Complex, Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, and Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex. Raw telemetry was processed at the Planetary Data System nodes maintained by NASA and distributed to investigators at Caltech, Smithsonian Institution, and international partners such as Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble. Data pipelines included radiometric calibration, geometric correction tied to Mars Global Surveyor MOLA elevations, and spectral unmixing algorithms developed in collaboration with researchers at University of Oxford and University of Paris VI.

THEMIS data contributed to identification of phyllosilicates and hydrated minerals in ancient terrains studied by teams at Brown University, University of Minnesota, and Purdue University, supporting hypotheses about early aqueous environments proposed by investigators at Caltech and MIT. THEMIS helped map volcanic provinces such as Tharsis, Elysium Mons, and Olympus Mons and constrained thermal inertia variations used by atmospheric modelers at National Center for Atmospheric Research and University of Michigan. The instrument supported selection of candidate landing sites for Mars Exploration Rover and Mars Science Laboratory missions and informed geomorphology studies by researchers at University of Arizona, University of Texas at Austin, and Stanford University.

Radiometric calibration used in-flight blackbody references and vicarious calibration campaigns involving Earth analog sites examined by teams at US Geological Survey, Smithsonian Institution, and Natural History Museum, London. Validation combined THEMIS retrievals with orbital spectroscopy from Mars Express OMEGA and rover-based measurements from Spirit (rover), Opportunity (rover), and Curiosity (rover), enabling cross-instrument comparisons coordinated by Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA science working groups. Limitations included spatial resolution trade-offs relative to HiRISE and spectral resolution constraints compared with OMEGA and CRISM on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which affected detection thresholds for mixed mineral phases studied by teams at University of California, Los Angeles and University of Colorado Denver.

THEMIS legacy persists in datasets archived at the Planetary Data System and through follow-on instruments and missions such as CRISM, OMEGA, MERTIS, and thermal imagers proposed for missions by European Space Agency, Roscosmos, and China National Space Administration. The calibration, processing, and science methodologies developed with THEMIS influenced instrument design at Malin Space Science Systems and science planning at Arizona State University for subsequent planetary imaging spectrometers and supported comparative planetology studies involving Moon, Mercury, and Vesta investigations conducted by teams at Lunar and Planetary Institute, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research.

Category:Planetary science instruments