Location: Prescott Public Library, Founder’s Suite
Speaker: Ernest Cisneros, Arizona State University
Comments:
Ernest will talk about the Mastcam-Z, the mast-mounted camera system that is equipped with a zoom function on the Perseverance rover. Mastcam-Z has cameras that can zoom in, focus, and take 3D pictures and video at high speed to allow detailed examination of distant objects. This camera supports Perseverance’s primary mission to find signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth.
Bio:
Ernest has been at Arizona State University for the last 13 years, supporting the LRO
Cameras (LROC), Mars 2020 Mastcam-Z, and the Psyche Imager & Science Data
Center. His expertise is in programming, system engineering, system & network
administration, as well as having a degree in Geology. During his 27+ year career,
Ernest has worked at the U.S. Geological Survey, Northwestern University and Duke
University, and he has worked on various missions/projects – Apollo Image Archive,
NEAR Shoemaker, Mars Exploration Rover, ROLO, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter,
Mars Science Laboratory, LunaH-Map, Mars 2020, and PsycheE.