Mars Global Surveyor: SPICE

The SPICE kernel files contain geometric and much other ancillary information needed to recover the full value of science instrument data. In particular, SPICE kernels provide spacecraft and planetary ephemerides, instrument mounting alignments, spacecraft orientation, spacecraft sequences of events, data needed for certain time conversions, etc. SPICE kernels are produced by the JPL Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility (NAIF) and are archived by the PDS NAIF Node.

The SPICE data files were produced on a UNIX workstation. Those that are binary files can be used as is on all popular computing platforms. If using a Windows OS, care must be taken to ensure that the text files included in the data set are first converted to Windows text style: this may be accomplished using the "bingo" utility program provided in the SPICE Toolkit, or using a freely available utility such as "unix2dos."

The MGS SPICE data set contained in the single, online volume named MGSP_1000 contains the entire MGS mission's SPICE archive.

You will need a copy of the SPICE Toolkit (see below) to use these data.

MGS Instrument I-Kernel Updates

The MOC I-Kernel was updated in August 2001 to incorporate in-flight calibrated mounting offset values and radial distortion coefficients provided by USGS. The file version was changed to 2.0 (MGS_MOC_V20.TI). The new version of the file is provided on the MGS SPICE volumes starting with volume MGSP_0010 and may be retrieved via this link:

MOC I-Kernel Version 2.0

The MOLA I-Kernel was updated in June 2001 to incorporate timing bias values provided by the MOLA Team. The file version was changed to 2.6 (MGS_MOLA_V26.TI). The new version of the file is provided on the MGS SPICE volumes starting with volume MGSP_0010 and may be retrieved via this link:

MOLA I-Kernel Version 2.6

SPICE Toolkit

Data in the SPICE kernel files must be accessed using SPICE Toolkit software, which is available from the NAIF ftp site at ftp://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/toolkit/.   IDL, MATLAB, ANSI C, and ANSI FORTRAN 77 versions of the Toolkit are available for many popular platform/operating system combinations. The principal element of the Toolkit is a subroutine library; the customer integrates appropriate library modules into his/her own application program to accomplish whatever is needed: reading SPICE kernels and computing derived quantities. Instructions for installing the Toolkit and a complete description of what you get with the Toolkit are included. The current version ID of the Toolkit is recorded in a file at the ftp site, e.g. N0051. Each new version of the Toolkit is always backwards compatible with older versions and with older SPICE kernel files.