Pheonix Lander

[MadRat]

Link: http://fawkes4.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=402&cID=8

Go to the upper right corner and zoom in as far as possible. There is something out in the distance that looks like a fence post or something. Anyone have an idea what it is? Just curious if its some geological anomaly or something like that. Would of been nice if they were going to send a probe 400 million miles they'd at least put a higher powered lens on the sucker.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: MadRat
Link: http://fawkes4.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=402&cID=8

Go to the upper right corner and zoom in as far as possible. There is something out in the distance that looks like a fence post or something. Anyone have an idea what it is? Just curious if its some geological anomaly or something like that. Would of been nice if they were going to send a probe 400 million miles they'd at least put a higher powered lens on the sucker.

The cameras are pretty high powered. You're limited by what you can send back (bandwidth), what can handle the intense amounts of radiation in open flight between planets, and the weight of the equipment. The cameras are high powered in the sense that they produce extremely low noise images compared to even the best SLRs on the market today (paraphrased from one of Jeff7's posts).

 

[Moonbeam]

Did I hear they see the parachute somewhere?

 

[MadRat]

It road down to the landing on pulsating jets this time rather than a parachute.

 

[Jeff7]

It looks like it could be a cosmic ray hit. When they hit the CCD, they can make pretty big streaks like that.


Link
The bottom image there shows the night sky. The streaks going in one direction are stars. The rest of the "noise" is from cosmic ray hits.

There was one really good one I remember seeing a long time ago in the MER image sets. I don't know if I'll be able to find it now though.


Ah, here we go.
See that funky white arrow thing? Cosmic ray hit on the CCD. You can also see some other noise throughout the shot, in the form of white pixels here and there.

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Did I hear they see the parachute somewhere?

This could be the heat shield, or possibly the parachute and backshell.
If that is the heatshield, it looks like it inverted itself on impact, like Opportunity's heatshield did.

And here's the very shallow "whomp" of a crater it made.

 

[Moonbeam]

Originally posted by: MadRat
It road down to the landing on pulsating jets this time rather than a parachute.

After parachuting

 

[MadRat]

Those cosmic rays seem pretty consistent.

The object I'm talking about appears in several pictures.

I'm thinking its an outcropping of rock.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: MadRat
Those cosmic rays seem pretty consistent.

The object I'm talking about appears in several pictures.

I'm thinking its an outcropping of rock.

Got links?

It might be the backshell, or yes, perhaps a wind-polished rock catching the light.


I do see it here, but not anywhere else yet.
If you're talking about the little white streak, it looks too sharply defined toward the top to be a rock or parachute. I'm voting cosmic ray hit.
OR possibly a shiny component of the spacecraft.

 

[Soundmanred]

It's a viral ad for Transformers 2.

 

[StageLeft]

It is, in fact, what the OP thought, a fence post. These pictures were taken in Arizona in February. You dolts think they can actually get something to Mars when they've yet to even land on the moon?

 

[Kntx]

Mars is so boring.

 

[TechBoyJK]

Originally posted by: Kntx
Mars is so boring.

gimme something like bigfoot and an oxygen tank for breathing and I bet that shit would be a blast.. so much open terrain!!!! weeeeeeeeeeeeee

Seriously though, we should map it, and create a mmrpg and let people colonize it

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
It is, in fact, what the OP thought, a fence post. These pictures were taken in Arizona in February. You dolts think they can actually get something to Mars when they've yet to even land on the moon?

I agree with the first part. It's a fence post with a sign, but on Mars.

"Keep out
No trespassing- Earthlings will be shot.
Marvin K. Martian"

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: MadRat
Link: http://fawkes4.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=402&cID=8

Go to the upper right corner and zoom in as far as possible. There is something out in the distance that looks like a fence post or something. Anyone have an idea what it is? Just curious if its some geological anomaly or something like that. Would of been nice if they were going to send a probe 400 million miles they'd at least put a higher powered lens on the sucker.

NASA Mars Lander Prepares to Move Arm

HiRISE has taken a new color image of Phoenix on the ground about 22 hours after it landed. It shows the parachute attached to the back shell, the heat shield and the lander itself against red Mars.

The parachute and lander are about 300 meters, roughly 1,000 feet, apart.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Originally posted by: TechBoyJK

Originally posted by: Kntx
Mars is so boring.

gimme something like bigfoot and an oxygen tank for breathing and I bet that shit would be a blast.. so much open terrain!!!! weeeeeeeeeeeeee

Seriously though, we should map it, and create a mmrpg and let people colonize it

Now that's an interesting thought in all seriousness.
NASA could provide a starting list of materials with real world properties and construct a Mars environment on a computer.

People could then try to make a colony, substitute alternative "real" materials and scenarios, all constricted by the environment. No Unobtanium, no warp drive.

Failed colonies are axed, ones that fare well prosper.

It might provide some useful insight into a future project.

 

[manowar821]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam

Originally posted by: MadRat
It road down to the landing on pulsating jets this time rather than a parachute.

After parachuting

Yes. You are most correct Moonbeam, the orbiter even captured a photo of it descending with the parachute.

 

[sportage]

All I can make out is some writing "save 50% with vonage". Hummmm

 

[BoomerD]

When you land
On Planet Mars
Earth gets mixed
up in the stars
Burma Shave

 

[Kadarin]

That would be the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator...

 

[polarmystery]

Originally posted by: Kadarin
That would be the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator...

I see what you did there...

 

[MadRat]

Jeff7, you sound fairly informed on this whole Mars thing. How are astronauts going to survive this constant cosmic ray bombardment if we ever send them to Mars? These cosmic rays look like a real impediment to their safety let alone their survival.

 

[ericlp]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21...0/vp/24892621#24892621

Here it is!!! Found out what that was after all!

 

[MadRat]

I cannot view the video, what is it?

 

[CaptnKirk]

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.critchley.ca/Images/FridgeMagnet2.jpg">Due to the interest applied this specific area of the Poenix lander's viewpoint,
which was noticed on the Anandtech Forums, NASA carfully rescanned the suspect area,
and applied optical filters to enhance the image</a>

 

[Moonbeam]

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.critchley.ca/Images/FridgeMagnet2.jpg">Due to the interest applied this specific area of the Poenix lander's viewpoint,
which was noticed on the Anandtech Forums, NASA carfully rescanned the suspect area,
and applied optical filters to enhance the image</a>

Is that Barack Obama?