Posted on 06/09/2008 9:22:12 AM PDT by BubbaBasher
This image, one of the first captured by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, shows the vast plains of the northern polar region of Mars. The flat landscape is strewn with tiny pebbles and shows polygonal cracking, a pattern seen widely in Martian high latitudes and also observed in permafrost terrains on Earth. The polygonal cracking is believed to have resulted from seasonal contraction and expansion of surface ice.
Phoenix touched down on the Red Planet at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53 Eastern Time), May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called Vastitas Borealis, at 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude.
This image was taken shortly after landing by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager.
In this image there is a very strange object near the horizon and just to the right of center. It is white, narrow, vertical, and appears to be reflecting light. I've seen no discussion of this object on any of the Phoenix sites. Click here to view a high resolution version of this photo. Any intelligent speculation as to what it might be?
Either the heat shield, or a metallic part of the parachute system. Both landed relatively near Phoenix.
That is odd. Looks like a small pole atop a bigger pole. Then again, when you save to your computer and really zoom in it looks like a light refraction.
Its a pixel saturation. Like I said, probably sunlight reflected right off (likely) the backplate of the Phoenix lander which held the parachute system.
The Spirit and Opportunity rovers both saw this when they looked at their heat shields.
Its not unusual or strange at all.
The first Martian - and he’s white!
I was going to say it was a periscope.
It looks like either saturated, or dead (stuck) pixels.
Sometimes a bright light can saturate several pixels in a row, making a straight line. It’s common enough that nobody would remark on it.
It looks like the space where I parked my car at the last Pats game I attended. And distance seems spot on!
Puny Earthlings:
What you see is the tip of a Martian Interplanetary Ballistic Missile (IPBM)!
Those “mounds” you see are more missile silos.
Cease your aggression, or we will destroy your planet.
Cordially, John Carter
32nd Degree Mason, Barsoon, Mars
It’s obviously a survey stake. KB Homes is starting a development there. And despite all that room they will still place the houses 10 feet apart.
Seriously though, it is easy for CCDs and APSs to get a row saturated, If that’s the case it can cause a line in the image. Those electrons got stuck.
My first thought was the heat shield but I figured it would be black and charred. I think it would be unlikely that it would stick straight up and down into the surface. However the inside of the shield might be shiney and I once dropped a nickel and it landed on it's edge so it could happen.
the monolith
I’ve revised it and I’m pretty sure its the backplate with the parachute.
Just the landing skid marks from John Carter’s one-man flyer.
Big Foot?
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