Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) is a San Diego, California-based private technology company that designs, develops, and operates instruments and technical equipment to fly on unmanned spacecraft. MSSS is headed by chief scientist and CEO Michael C. Malin. Founded in 1990, their first mission was the failed 1993

Mars Observer The ''Mars Observer'' spacecraft, also known as the ''Mars Geoscience/Climatology Orbiter'', was a robotic space probe launched by NASA on September 25, 1992, to study the Martian surface, atmosphere, climate and magnetic field. During the int ...

for which they developed and operated the Mars Observer Camera Ground Data System. After this mission they were selected to provide the main camera for

Mars Global Surveyor ''Mars Global Surveyor'' (MGS) was an American robotic space probe developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched November 1996. MGS was a global mapping mission that examined the entire planet, from the ionosphere down through t ...

. They also developed the cameras that were carried on

Mars Polar Lander The Mars Polar Lander, also known as the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander, was a 290-kilogram robotic spacecraft lander launched by NASA on January 3, 1999, to study the soil and climate of Planum Australe, a region near the south pole on Mars. It form ...

Mars Climate Orbiter The ''Mars Climate Orbiter'' (formerly the Mars Surveyor '98 Orbiter) was a robotic space probe launched by NASA on December 11, 1998, to study the Martian climate, Martian atmosphere, and surface changes and to act as the communications re ...

, 2001 Mars Odyssey,

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' (MRO) is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005, an ...

and '' ''Phoenix'' lander. Mars Climate Orbiter - mco marci

One of the most successful of their instruments to date was the Mars Observer Camera (MOC), on board the Mars Global Surveyor placed into orbit around

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

in September 1997. From that date until November 2006, the MOC took more than 243,000 images of Mars, some at very high resolution. Among the MOCs notable successes was the imaging of the landing sites of the two

Mars Exploration Rover NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission was a robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers, ''Spirit (rover), Spirit'' and ''Opportunity (rover), Opportunity'', exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the launch of the two rover ...

s (the discarded heatshield of one of the rovers was located). Even before they landed, images from the MOC were very useful in picking the destinations of the two rovers. After more than nine years of active duty, the Mars Global Surveyor ceased sending data back to Earth and it is now lost along with all its instruments, including the MOC. For the

, launched on August 12, 2005, MSSS built the Mars Color Imager (MARCI) which takes wide angle, daily global views of Mars and the Context Imager (CTX) which has a six-metre resolution. The

Mars Science Laboratory Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed ''Curiosity'', a Mars rover, in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012. The overall objectives include investigati ...

was launched in 2011 and it carries three MSSS cameras. The MastCam is the main camera on board taking still and motion images of the surroundings. The 'HandLens Imager' is on the instrument arm and provides close up images of martian soil and rocks. Finally the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) provided high resolution images of the ground during descent. In December 2004, MSSS was selected to provide three cameras for the

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a NASA robotic spacecraft currently orbiting the Moon in an eccentric polar mapping orbit. Data collected by LRO have been described as essential for planning NASA's future human and robotic missions t ...

(2008) mission, under contract to Northwestern University. Recently, The MSSS has developed

JunoCam JunoCam (or JCM) is the visible-light camera/telescope onboard NASA's ''Juno'' spacecraft currently orbiting Jupiter. The camera is operated by the JunoCam Digital Electronics Assembly (JDEA). Both the camera and JDEA were built by Malin Space ...

for the ''Juno'' Jupiter Mission, which launched in 2011. In July 2014, NASA announced the selection of the

Mastcam-Z Mastcam-Z is a multispectral, stereoscopic imaging instrument. It serves as the primary science camera on NASA's ''Perseverance'' rover. The Principal Investigator is Jim Bell of Arizona State University. The instrument was designed and built ...

proposal for the

Mars 2020 Mars 2020 is a Mars rover mission forming part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program that includes the rover '' Perseverance'', the small robotic, coaxial helicopter '' Ingenuity'', and associated delivery vehicles. Mars 2020 was launched from ...

rover mission, provided by MSSS. It is an improved zoom version of the original MastCam. Mars Observer - MOC2 cb

Liquid water on Mars

In June 2000, evidence for water currently under the surface of Mars was discovered in the form of flood-like gullies.Malin, Michael C., Edgett, Kenneth S.,
"Evidence for Recent Groundwater Seepage and Surface Runoff on Mars"
''

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

'' (2000) Vol. 288. no. 5475, pp. 2330–2335. The question that was immediately asked was: is this an ongoing process or is this ancient and simply well preserved evidence of water/liquid flow? Most scientists agree that it is highly likely that water did flow on Mars in the distant past. Malin's camera controllers attempted to answer this question by taking photos of the same locations and in 2005 observation showed two areas where change had clearly occurred within the time of the photos (in other words, the activity was happening in present time and was not ancient). On December 6, 2006, MSSS announced that it had discovered evidence that liquid water had likely flowed on

within the past five years. At a press conference,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

showed images taken by the

that suggested that water occasionally flows on the surface of Mars. The images did not actually show flowing water. Rather, they showed changes in craters and sediment deposits, providing the strongest evidence yet that water coursed through them as recently as several years ago, and is perhaps doing so even now. The findings were published in the December 8, 2006 issue of the journal ''

''. Malin Systems published several documents which describe what they found:
New Gully Deposit in a Crater in Terra Sirenum: Evidence That Water Flowed on Mars in This Decade?

* ttp://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2006/12/06/gullies/not_dust/index.html Why the New Gully Deposits Are Not Dry Dust Slope Streaks Before the December 2006 paper, some researchers were skeptical that liquid water was responsible for the surface features seen by the spacecraft. They said other materials such as sand or dust can flow like a liquid and produce similar results. At this stage, (late 2006) the flowing water hypothesis looks strong, however more evidence is needed. For more, see

Life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ...

Geysers on Mars

The MSSS cameras on board the Mars Global Surveyor, produced high resolution images that were also processed by Malin Space Science Systems, and discovered the intriguing polar features informally known as 'dark dune spots' and 'spiders'. The origin of dark dune spots and the dark slope streaks emanating from them is yet uncertain, and various hypotheses have been put forward on their origin and formation process. The current model proposed by NASA and European teams propose cold geyser-like systems that eject CO₂ and dark basaltic sand. The seasonal frosting of some areas near the southern ice cap results in the formation of transparent 1 metre thick slabs of dry ice above the ground. With the arrival of spring, sunlight warms the subsurface and pressure from subliming CO₂ builds up under a slab, elevating and ultimately rupturing it. This leads to geyser-like eruptions of CO₂ gas mixed with dark basaltic sand or dust. This process is rapid, observed happening in the space of a few days, weeks or months, a growth rate rather unusual in geology – especially for Mars. The gas rushing underneath a slab to the site of a geyser carves a spider-like pattern of radial channels under the ice. Image:Mars Global Surveyor 1.jpg, Dark dune spots on Mars, taken by the Mars Global Surveyor and released on October 16, 2000. Image:Moc2 166a msss.gif, Dark dune spots on Mars, taken by the

on August 10, 1999. Image:Moc2 166b msss.gif, Dark dune spots on Mars, taken by the

on August 10, 1999. File:PIA11858 Starburst Spider.jpg, A large 'spider' feature apparently emanating sediment to give rise to dark dune spots. Area size: across.

List of products

Malin manufactured the following cameras for NASA spacecraft: * Context (CTX) Camera *

Mars Color Imager The Mars Color Imager (MARCI) is a wide-angle, relatively low-resolution camera built for ''Mars Climate Orbiter'' and ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter''. MARCI views the surface of Mars in five visible and two ultraviolet bands. Each day, MARCI coll ...

* Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) * Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) *

Mars Orbiter Camera The Mars Orbiter Camera and Mars Observer Camera (MOC) were scientific instruments on board the Mars Observer and Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. The camera was built by Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) for NASA and the cost of the whole MOC s ...

* Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Cameras (LROC) Wide Angle Camera (WAC), Sequence and Compressor System (SCS) and 2 Narrow Angle Cameras (NACs) * Mast Camera on Mars ''Curiosity'' Rover (MastCam) *TAGCAMS, a set of three navigation and sample stow cameras for

OSIRIS-REx OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) is a NASA asteroid-study and sample-return mission. The mission's primary goal is to obtain a sample of at least from 101955 Bennu, a carbona ...

References

External links

Malin Space Science Systems
* {{Authority control Missions to Mars Space organizations Privately held companies based in California