Amazing photo: Phoenix Landing

ne0h

"hi, I am explorer.exe. sometimes when you are doing anything at all, I will just freeze for ten minutes. All of my brother and sister windows will also freeze, because they are sad for me. Maybe we will come back, maybe not, it will be a surprise!"

Maximilien

The programmed the Orbiter to aim the camera at the projected descent trajectory and it was there! Quite a feat.

This signature was proudly tested on animals.

Bert delaVega

Thanks! I was hoping they'd see it. Here's another view: Click

Richard Jones

Reminds me of when NASA wanted to film the upper half of the moon lander taking off, using a remote camera on the moon. The guy controlling the tilt on the camera had to account for the transmission lag to the moon and back, and start tilting the camera before the piece even took off. Luckily for us, he got it perfect, and we have a smooth takeoff filmed for history.:cool:

"Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit..." "There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain..."

hairy_hats

Yes that's a superb piece of footage. You can't even see the string where the guy in black up a stepladder behind the backdrop lifted the upper half of the LEM model up...

Dan Neely

Seems to be the same image; just processed to a different brightness level and with slightly less noise smoothing. Check the bright/dark areas of the background between the two images: They're in the same locations.

You know, every time I tried to win a bar-bet about being able to count to 1000 using my fingers I always got punched out when I reached 4.... -- El Corazon

Richard Jones

Ah, someone's in a Capricorn One mood today I see. :-D

"Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit..." "There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain..."

Douglas Troy

This is truly incredible, and BA captured that with the following 'blurb' about that photo: "That is exactly what you think it is: Phoenix descending to the Martian surface underneath its parachute. This incredible shot was taken by the HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. You can easily see the ‘chute, the lander (still in its shell) and even the tether lines! Think on this, and think on it carefully: you are seeing a manmade object falling gracefully and with intent to the surface of an alien world, as seen by another manmade object already circling that world, both of them acting robotically, and both of them hundreds of million of kilometers away. Never, ever forget: we did this. This is what we can do." - Bad Astronomy

:..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..
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QuiJohn

Douglas Troy wrote:

Never, ever forget: we did this. This is what we can do.

That is an awesome sentiment. Big kudos.

Faith is a fine invention For gentlemen who see; But microscopes are prudent In an emergency! -Emily Dickinson

Bert delaVega

Yeah, it's the same image. I guess I was trying to say it was a different view (of the same image). What an awesome display of engineering just getting even one shot! Everything that went into place to make that happen is just great. Kudos to them all. Me? I was hoping for something other than: *thud* ~static~ -silence- Can't wait for the next update later tonight.