This view of Phoenix descending on its parachute was captured by the high resolution camera of the Mars Reconnaissence Orbiter that orbits about 200 miles above the Martian surface. Never before have we had an image of any spacecraft landing on another body of the solar system. To give you a sense of exactly what they mean by "high resolution" you need to see the complete image this one was cropped from:
Click on the image to see full resolution. The crater is actually well in the background. A trick of perspective makes it seem like the spacecraft is about to land in the crater.
The pictures that really capture my imagination, though, are the ones from the surface looking out toward the horizon. We've only seen a few of those so far from Phoenix. But here is a dramatic example from Opportunity, one of the Mars Exploration Rovers that have been studying the surface of Mars for the past four years:
Again, click on the image for full resolution (416KB). This panorama shows part of the rim of Victoria Crater. To give you an idea of the dimensions, the steep cliff in the foreground is about 20 feet high. The far rim of the crater is about a quarter mile away.
What I love about these images of Mars is that it seems like a real place! Now, I don't mean to suggest I ever thought Mars is imaginary. What I mean is that it looks like you could just step out into that picture. It might have been taken in a desert here on Earth. It looks like real estate, not a "celestial body". It's not just something to study, it's a place to explore. Alas, I'm not sure humans will ever walk on the surface of Mars in my lifetime. I'm 52 years old, so maybe they will. I hope so. Never did I imagine when the world was watching the Apollo 11 astronauts on the moon that it would be so long before we went exploring again.
1 comment:
As a proud member of the manned spaceflight community, I've got to give credit to what's going on onboard ISS. But the robotic missions over the last 10-15 years have returned some of the most astoundingly awesome information ever. And not just from Mars: Galileo and Cassini are amazing, and once New Horizons gets to Pluto, we'll get some great pictures there. For that matter, we're still getting stuff from Voyager, and those launched like 30 years ago!
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