Phoenix Lander Still Visible in New HiRISE Images from Mars
Posted by brandoniswrite on February 8, 2012
The Phoenix lander still visible at Mars north polar region, nearly 4 Earth years and 2 Mars years after the spacecraft landed on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
I spy Phoenix! said the HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter! This new image acquired on January 26, 2012 shows that the Phoenxi lander and its backshell are still visible from Mars’ orbit, but not the parachute or the dark halo around the lander which are both likely covered by dust, said HiRISE Principal Investigator, Alfred McEwen. This is one of a series of images to monitor frost patterns at the Phoenix landing site. McEwen added that this is the same appearance to the hardware as 1 Mars years ago, in 2010. See larger versions of this image at the HiRISE website.
See below for comparison images from orbit from 2008, shortly after Phoenix landed and 2010, after the mission had ended.
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Read the rest of Phoenix Lander Still Visible in New HiRISE Images from Mars (143 words)
© nancy for Universe Today, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), Mars, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), Missions, Phoenix Lander
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