Except that movie — the descent — won’t be filmed. Very cool, though, to get that external subjective view, especially the final few miles. Makes it look quite daunting, almost preposterous. Good luck!!!
rakkity
No movie of the descent of course, but look at the field of permafrost Phoenix is sitting on! If you’ve ever been to a glaciated pass in the Rockies or Norway, a similar pattern of polygons overlies the permafrost beneath.
When Phoenix starts digging, we may see a movie of it.
michael
Looks like our southwest. Where are the klieg lights?
rakkity
A very cold southwest! The klieg lights are behind the camera, being controlled by Fox News.
rakkity
Look at
this — a snapshot by the Mars Orbiter showing Phoenix to Mars descending under its parachute.
Who said there would be no movie of the landing? I’m not naming names, because I happened to agree with the nay-sayer!
el Kib
Couldn’t be happier to be wrong … ! How cool is THAT!?
rakkity
Another view of Phoenix from above by the Mars Observer. This one, in the “larger view”, shows the strange mottled pattern of the permafrost in Phoenix’s vicinity.
Jen
“Fuk Li, manager of the Mars exploration program for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said the problem was a UHF radio on the orbiter, which he said appeared to have shut down after an unknown “transient event” in space.”
Love it.
michael
That’s his real name?
rakkity
Apparently. Just google Fuk Li JPL and he comes up on the jPL website, as well as Wiki.
rakkity
Here’s a mind-boggling picture from the Mars Orbiter showing a magnificent crater — almost 3-dimensional — behind, and apparently below (but not really), the descending Phoenix. I’m not sure if this is a shot made at a slightly different time, or made with different processing, but it gives a wildly different impression than the other shot.
el Kib
I know they know where exactly to point said telescopic orbiting camera, but the timing and the resolution nevertheless seem — to endorse your highly-appropriate phrase — mind-boggling … Wowza! Heck, depending on that satellite’s capabilities, maybe they even DID take a movie …
rakkity
Here’s a
pano of the area around Phoenix, from Phoenix itself, done in the form of a movie. The same website also shows the latest picture of ice unearthed by Phoenix’s digging tool. I guess the next step is to drill into that ice and put it into Phoenix’s spectrometer to find out what’s in the ice.
jennifer
I’ve been having a little trouble with movies and websites, so I haven’t yet successfully visited these links. I just wanted to share my reaction to the Recent Comments beginning of the quote from El Kib. I read it as “I know exactly where …” so I was expecting a “been there, done that” type story about Mars.
el Kib
Except that movie — the descent — won’t be filmed. Very cool, though, to get that external subjective view, especially the final few miles. Makes it look quite daunting, almost preposterous. Good luck!!!
rakkity
No movie of the descent of course, but look at the field of permafrost Phoenix is sitting on! If you’ve ever been to a glaciated pass in the Rockies or Norway, a similar pattern of polygons overlies the permafrost beneath.
When Phoenix starts digging, we may see a movie of it.
michael
Looks like our southwest. Where are the klieg lights?
rakkity
A very cold southwest! The klieg lights are behind the camera, being controlled by Fox News.
rakkity
Look at
this — a snapshot by the Mars Orbiter showing Phoenix to Mars descending under its parachute.
Who said there would be no movie of the landing? I’m not naming names, because I happened to agree with the nay-sayer!
el Kib
Couldn’t be happier to be wrong … ! How cool is THAT!?
rakkity
Another view of Phoenix from above by the Mars Observer. This one, in the “larger view”, shows the strange mottled pattern of the permafrost in Phoenix’s vicinity.
Jen
“Fuk Li, manager of the Mars exploration program for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said the problem was a UHF radio on the orbiter, which he said appeared to have shut down after an unknown “transient event” in space.”
Love it.
michael
That’s his real name?
rakkity
Apparently. Just google Fuk Li JPL and he comes up on the jPL website, as well as Wiki.
rakkity
Here’s a mind-boggling picture from the Mars Orbiter showing a magnificent crater — almost 3-dimensional — behind, and apparently below (but not really), the descending Phoenix. I’m not sure if this is a shot made at a slightly different time, or made with different processing, but it gives a wildly different impression than the other shot.
el Kib
I know they know where exactly to point said telescopic orbiting camera, but the timing and the resolution nevertheless seem — to endorse your highly-appropriate phrase — mind-boggling … Wowza! Heck, depending on that satellite’s capabilities, maybe they even DID take a movie …
rakkity
Here’s a
pano of the area around Phoenix, from Phoenix itself, done in the form of a movie. The same website also shows the latest picture of ice unearthed by Phoenix’s digging tool. I guess the next step is to drill into that ice and put it into Phoenix’s spectrometer to find out what’s in the ice.
jennifer
I’ve been having a little trouble with movies and websites, so I haven’t yet successfully visited these links. I just wanted to share my reaction to the Recent Comments beginning of the quote from El Kib. I read it as “I know exactly where …” so I was expecting a “been there, done that” type story about Mars.