Probe's Powerful Camera Spots Vikings On Mars

New Scientist ^ | 12-5-2006 | David Chandler

[blam]

Probe's powerful camera spots Vikings on Mars

12:29 05 December 2006
NewScientist.com news service
David Chandler

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spots Spirit's backshell and parachute (Image: NASA)

After three decades lost on the Red Planet, Viking 2's backshell is spotted from space (Image: NASA)

It is a feat millions of times more impressive than finding a needle in a haystack. The new Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has spotted about a dozen spacecraft on the Martian surface and, incredibly, taken pictures of such sharpness that scientists have been able to identify individual rocks that were first photographed by the Viking landers in 1976.

The new series of pictures released late on Monday show both of the Viking landers, never spotted from orbit before, as well as their nearby heat shields and backshells. These are the top and bottom covers of the capsules in which the rovers decended through the Martian atmosphere to land.

The MRO has also found the Mars rover Spirit , the pyramid-shaped structure in which it landed, its backshell and parachute. The satellite probe had already found the rover Opportunity and its landing structure, sending back images within its first week of operations in October 2006.

Picturing the Viking landers from orbit is quite a coup for MRO. Tim Parker, a planetary geologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, told New Scientist that it was possible to clearly identify them by analysing the Martian landscape, even though the images show little detail.

Parker carefully matched rocks and other topographic features seen in the orbital views with those seen images the landers took on the ground. "I found a much better location match" than had been made from earlier orbital pictures, he says. It turns out Viking 1 is about 6 kilometres (3.8 miles) away..

[Tactical]

that photo caught me way off guard! FUNNY!

[bert]

.....So our space program is reduced to planting human debris ........

Your misunderstanding is immense. The space vehicles can walk and chew gum at he same time the photos shown are a mere fraction of the total effort.

[CottShop]

That second picture isn't mars, it's a close-up of the commanders face on battlestar show.

[RightWhale]

Some camera imaged one of the landing sites. The resolution was about one pixel per Lunar Module base. Very tough to pick out anything.

[bert]

Good job ol man!!

[SlowBoat407]

The new series of pictures released late on Monday show both of the Viking landers, never spotted from orbit before, as well as their nearby heat shields and backshells. These are the top and bottom covers of the capsules in which the rovers decended through the Martian atmosphere to land.

I'm impressed that the Viking landers both managed to sprout tracks or wheels and become rovers.

[cpdiii]

on the third rock from the Sun.

Mercury first rock, Venus second rock, Earth third rock, Mars is the fourth rock, not the third,

[Psycho_Bunny]

It is a feat millions of times more impressive than finding a needle in a haystack

?

It's an awesome feat but it's not THAT amazing.  It's not like the folks at NASA didn't have a clue where, on Mars, this stuff came down.

[Tokra]

[#1CTYankee]

"So our space program is reduced to planting human debris on other planets and then trying to find it from Earth."

Not meant to be funny but it sure was!

[COBOL2Java]

Probe's Powerful Camera Spots Vikings On Mars

Wait'll his wife finds out!

[amigatec]

bttt

[jonno]

LOLOL!

Thanks - I needed that...

[dfwgator]

And Brad Johnson threw three more interceptions to the Martians.

[taxesareforever]

LOL!

[N3WBI3]

The thin oxygen deficient martian air would explain their quarterback situation..

[taxesareforever]

What about the Hubble telescope?

[Tribune7]

drive their ships to new lands

bump

[taxed2death]

hahahah...
well, I just think that the hi-res stuff is pretty kewl.

[BushMeister]