MESSENGER MASCS Visible-Infrared Spectrometer (VIRS)

PDS Geosciences Node: PDS Source Information

The MESSENGER Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS) instrument consists of an Ultraviolet-Visible Spectrometer (UVVS) and a Visible-Infrared Spectrograph (VIRS). UVVS covers the wavelength ranges of the far ultraviolet (115-180 nm), middle ultraviolet (160-320 nm), and visible (250-600 nm), with an average spectral resolution of 0.6 nm. VIRS covers the wavelength ranges of the visible (300-1050 nm) and near infrared (850-1450 nm), with an average spectral resolution of 5 nm. MASCS will investigate the composition and structure of Mercury’s exosphere and map surface reflectance over Mercury’s surface on spatial scales of 5 km.

MESSENGER MASCS Products that use the PDS3 standard:

Type	Description	PDS3 Data Set
MASCHK	Housekeeping Experiment Data Record used for the support of both UVVEDR and VIREDR records. The record is described in both UVVS EDR Data Product SIS and VIRS EDR Data Product SIS documents but is the same product. NOTE: ODE lists all MASCHK files as part of the MESS-E/V/H-MASCS-2-UVVS-EDR-V1.0 data set only, but it is also part of the MESS-E/V/H-2-VIRS-EDR-V1.0 data.	MESS-E/V/H-MASCS-2-UVVS/VIRS-EDR-V1.0
VIREDR	Visible and Infrared Spectrometer Experiment Data Record. For more information: MASCS VIRS EDR Data Product SIS (PDF)	MESS-E/V/H-MASCS-2- VIRS-EDR-V1.0
VIRCDR	Visible and Infrared Spectrometer Calibrated Data Record. For more information: MASCS VIRS CDR/DDR/DAP Data Product SIS (PDF)	MESS-E/V/H-MASCS-3-VIRS-CDR-CALDATA-V1.0
VIRDDR	Visible and Infrared Spectrometer Derived Data Record. For more information: MASCS VIRS CDR/DDR/DAP Data Product SIS (PDF)	MESS-E/V/H-MASCS-4-VIRS-DDR-V1.0
VIRDAP	Visible and Infrared Spectrometer Derived Analysis Product. For more information: MASCS VIRS CDR/DDR/DAP Data Product SIS (PDF)	MESS-E/V/H-MASCS-5-VIRS-DAP-V1.0

ACT-REACT QuickMap allows users to explore images and data from MESSENGER's orbital mission. Once data are publically available at the PDS, the images are also available to be explored here in QuickMap. An online tutorial for using ACT-REACT QuickMap is available at https://messenger-act.actgate.com/msgr_public_released/act_docs/qmap.pdf .

More information about MASCS can be found in:

McClintock, W. E. and M. R. Lankton, 2007, The Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer for the MESSENGER Mission, Space Science Reviews, 131, p. 481-521, doi: 10.1007/s11214-007-9264-5.