In that case what is the orange splodge in the middle of the picture? the picture stated it was released by Nasa , if it isnt of the decent what is it? the object looks to be burning to me? and im sure it it was to depict the landing zone the splodge would have been bigger.

Im not saying your wrong, seems a bit strange to me that they released that picture with the news the probe had been snapped.. Interesting.


Can anyone shed anymore light on this?

[edit on 27/5/2008 by azzllin]

Originally posted by azzllin


Im not saying your wrong, seems a bit strange to me that they released that picture with the news the probe had been snapped.. Interesting.


Can anyone shed anymore light on this?

[edit on 27/5/2008 by azzllin]

As stated above, yes, the orange dot is the middle of where they were aiming for the lander to land. And as I stated, that pic you posted was released well before the lander made it's final touchdown...it was your news source (Yahoo UK) that chose to run that picture with the story, and they actually caption the pic accordingly, saying the image showed where the lander was supposed to land (they have now changed the picture that accompanies the story by the way).

Can you imagine the types of calculations necessary to use a camera on an orbiting spacecraft, wherever it was in its orbit and speed, to nail a photograph of another spacecraft on its special trajectory/speed on its entry into the martain atmosphere, and then throw in that fact that there is a automatic delay in the tranfer of data between Earth and Mars. Those HiRise guys are good...impressive. That math had to be perfect.

I didn't realize they dropped into a crater. I saw pictures of the horizon posted? It did not seem to be a crater. Where did those come from?


DISREGARD - I stopped being lazy and checked the site... duh

[edit on 27-5-2008 by Maxmars]

It didnt drop into a crater. That crater could be hundreds of miles in the background with the orbiter 20-30 miles from the surface still. It could of travelled a few hundred miles further down range from that crater.

This amazing image was captured as Phoenix came in for its Mars landing on May 25, 2008. The HiRISE camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter pointed at Phoenix, which is seen here against the background of a 10-kilometer-diameter crater called Heimdall. The dramatic view makes it appear that Phoenix is falling into the crater, but in fact Phoenix was 20 kilometers closer to HiRISE than Heimdall, and it landed nowhere near the crater. The photo was taken 20 seconds after Phoenix' parachute opened. Credit: NASA / JPL / U. Arizona

[edit on 27-5-2008 by Rapacious]

[edit on 27-5-2008 by Rapacious]

According to the Project spokesman on CNN this afternoon, the image of it entering into a crater is an optical illusion due to the perspective of the MRO when it took the photo. He assured the press during the conference that it did not land in the crater, that it was still far above it at the time the MRO snapped the shot.

I dont know where to find the video at present because it was a live CNN stream at the time. It may not have been archived yet.



[edit on 27-5-2008 by Lost_Mind]

see there is a parachute but I thought this was a rocket thruster powered decent?????

did you even attempt to find any information for yourself? - theres tons of computer simulations showing the entry , descent & landing. Theres also footage showing them testing the parachute on earth-

The parachute is jettisoned at 1000 meters the thrusters do the rest from there.