A group of students and faculty from Northern Arizona University are sending four cameras into space Sunday. The cameras are part of NASA’s ESCAPADE mission to Mars.
Over the course of three semesters, 35 students studying subjects like planetary science and mechanical engineering helped develop the two traditional and two infrared cameras.
The cameras will ride aboard the Blue Origin New Glenn rocket and will provide scientists with information about Martian auroras and polar caps. The cameras could also capture true-color views of Mars from never-before-seen angles.
Christopher Edwards is an NAU planetary professor who oversaw the student work.
“So this is really a technology demonstration. It’s an education opportunity. And because I’m a scientist and a lot of the students in the class are scientists, we focused on calibrating these instruments really well,” he said.
It will be a while before the team can start analyzing the images. The mission is expected to arrive on Mars by September 2027.
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