After my first degree, I studied for an MSc in Remote Sensing, Image Processing and Applications, at the University of Dundee. The 1 year course included a 6 month taught element, and a 6 month research element. The subjects on the taught element included:
The 6 month research thesis was titled:
An analysis of Martian surface anomalies using the Phobos-2 spacecraft.
This involved collaboration with and visits to Research Institutes in Russia, to gain a detailed understanding into the nature of the research, and into Russian spacecraft design and operations. The research also resulted in a number of poster presentations and papers.
Data was analysed predominantly from the Hesperia Planum region of Mars, using the Thermoscan Optical / Infrared Spectrometer onboard the Phobos-2 spacecraft - a spacecraft which went dead after only a few days in Mars orbit, but still managed to return some superb images of Mars in the visible and infra-red ranges. The research examined the hypothesis that the surface origin of airborne plumes observed by the Thermoscan instrument were endogenic in nature, and caused by Martian permafrost deposits outgassing.
Richard Osborne, 1995-1997.