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Descent of the Phoenix! [Astronomy Photo of the Day]

apod.nasa.gov — In this sweeping view, the 10 kilometer-wide crater Heimdall lies on the north polar plains of Mars. But the bright spot highlighted in the inset is the Phoenix lander parachuting toward the surface. The amazing picture was captured on May 25th by the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

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  • HallEffected, on 05/30/2008, -8/+56It's weird to think that I'm looking at a man-made machine land on an actual alien planet. something that's 40 billion miles away. that no human has ever even come close to.
    • SEANWOOKIE, on 05/30/2008, -0/+25Actually it's 42 million miles.
      • Chairboy, on 05/30/2008, -0/+12He probably meant fathoms instead of miles. It's a common mistake.
      • Drazzim12, on 05/31/2008, -0/+2Actually 420 million. But a million, a billion, once you reach distances like this, the numbers gradually lose their meaning.
      • MrSlumberjack, on 05/31/2008, -0/+1It actually fluctuates from 56 mil to 400 million miles
    • okaroleo, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2billion-shmillion. That's just ***** sweet!
    • mu0p, on 06/01/2008, -0/+2i keep saying the same thing, like ill be at dinner and be like "I cant believe...I mean like really, i CANT believe we have a man-made robot on mars right now, at this very second, as I speak this sentence"

      and everyone just says "so.."

      I think its the most amazing thing, ill never get over it.


      SPACE..


      THE FINAL FRONTIER
      • EricJD, on 06/01/2008, -0/+2Actually, we've had robots on the surface since 1976. Viking 1 & 2, Mars Pathfinder, the Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit & Opportunity), and now Phoenix.
        • mu0p, on 06/09/2008, -0/+1Yes I am aware of all of those, I remember going to the JPL for exhibits on the pathfinder.

          Ive always been a fan of space travel
    • mu0p, on 06/01/2008, -0/+2actually, I just was also thinking about the 2 images on digg today

      1. The un contacted tribes in brazil
      and
      2. Phoenix on mars

      from one amazing discovery, to another, simply amazing, I wonder how these indigenous people would think of a man made machine on a distant planet
  • Gogf, on 05/30/2008, -1/+31This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
  • Vet4Peace, on 05/30/2008, -0/+96I love science news. It's the only news that is actually encouraging rather than depressing.
    • whahaa, on 05/30/2008, -4/+1i find sports news non-depressing as well, usually.
      • chevyorange, on 05/30/2008, -0/+5Then you're not a Seattle Mariners fan.
    • peterjmag, on 05/30/2008, -0/+3That's why APOD is so awesome.
  • jamessavik, on 05/30/2008, -7/+46Congrats to NASA for landing in a crater rather than creating one.
    Landing on another planet is no small feat- in this case comparable to firing a bullet from New York, hitting a bulleye in Sydney Australia and having someone from Perth photograph it.
    • Yoweigh, on 05/30/2008, -4/+25RTFA. It landed about 20km short of the crater.
    • googooly, on 05/30/2008, -1/+9lol, still it didn't crash
    • FallOutBoyTonto, on 05/30/2008, -0/+8but the bullet would need to be able to have the ability make multiple course corrections too
  • geekchic, on 05/30/2008, -0/+18It's not often that I look at the APOD site in the morning and genuinly let out a "wow" exclamation. Today was one of those moments.
    • magicalhobo, on 05/30/2008, -1/+5Mine was a "Holy *****!"
    • macosta5811, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2In my case, I look at the APOD site before I go to sleep...
  • marially, on 05/30/2008, -1/+8I don't think the 40 billion miles is quite right. At its furthest, it's 249 million miles. Still, this whole thing is totally amazing. Imagine the fact that it can transmit pictures back to us across that distance and we can communicate with it. Makes one marvel at what we are capable of doing. I wish we could put some of this knowledge to end our dependence on foreign oil.
    • geekchic, on 05/30/2008, -0/+3Someone is going to have to explain the link between receiving a radio signal from a few million miles away - and "foreign oil"
      • orangefly, on 05/30/2008, -0/+3if we find oil on mars and claim it, it wont technically be foreign....
      • marially, on 06/04/2008, -0/+0C'mom guys. I mean that if we can be so technologically advanced as to accomplish this mission, surely we have the knowledge and ability to find alternative sources of energy. It wasn't oil that got us to Mars........................
  • RunJun, on 05/30/2008, -7/+2Nothin' but crater...
  • tcpik, on 05/30/2008, -2/+10"It's in the hole."
  • tripledjr, on 05/30/2008, -1/+32There we are on a completely different planet, when some tribes on earth don't even know what an aircraft is. Its insane how non-contigent everything is.
    • loneBoat, on 05/30/2008, -1/+4"Non-contigent"?
      • tripledjr, on 05/30/2008, -2/+3contigent - things that are: constant, consistent, in parallel, related.
        non-contigent - I think you can get this one.
        • Bobski, on 05/30/2008, -2/+6There is no such word as /contigent/ - There is, however, the word contingent and it does not mean anything like your made-up word/definition.
    • luckyguy2000, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2yeah, the same thought amazed me today too.
    • peterjmag, on 05/30/2008, -1/+1http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/continge ...
    • plethorex, on 05/30/2008, -1/+2Some people from the same country who landed that robot on another planet still believe in the invisible man. I'd say we really haven't come that far.
  • zadadka, on 05/30/2008, -8/+1Without wishing to take ANYTHING away from the acheivement....they missed !!
    Here's the intended target : http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/multimed ...
    The crater they dropped in is clearly seen at the centre-right of the elipse.
    • kingofinternet, on 05/30/2008, -0/+5There's something called perspective, boy.
      • zadadka, on 05/30/2008, -2/+1I see...Bob Harris (kingofinternet), A 52 year-old transgender from Transgenderville, KY (US).....
        ....do I call you "boy"?
        As I clearly said, I sought to take nothing away from the achievement...I'm a fan and supporter of the whole space program and all it represents...but landing in the crater was an error, either way.
        • xBDVx, on 05/30/2008, -0/+3um....you're an idiot. RTFA.
        • zadadka, on 05/30/2008, -0/+4I am indeed an idiot...apologies..... *crawls back under terran rock*
  • Hockey13, on 05/30/2008, -0/+8Anyone know why half of these pictures from NASA are in black and white?
    • Fabozz, on 05/30/2008, -0/+30Virtually every picture NASA takes is in black and white, because black and white sensors have better light sensitivity and higher resolution. When you see a color picture, it's usually computer-generated from two monochrome pictures taken through different-colored filters.
      • fudged71, on 05/31/2008, -0/+1also, color photos take longer to send

        The lander has 36 photo filters on it, btw, fyi. That's pretty neat
        • Azselendor, on 05/31/2008, -0/+2It's a 20 billion dollar wet dream for a camera man
    • Sulzer, on 05/30/2008, -14/+6there's no color in space, it can't travel through the vaccum... duh
    • felix21685, on 05/30/2008, -1/+3My guess would be bandwidth between mars and here, I'm sure that the decreased size of the b&w photographs make sending images faster.. just a guess
    • fracai, on 05/30/2008, -1/+3Because color images take 3 times as long to image and then there's processing time.
      Scientists are greedy for data and the for the trade-off color just isn't worth it.

      The color images typically start showing up a few days into the mission. Phoenix has been there almost a week, so there are still far more black and white than color images.
    • xsuite, on 05/30/2008, -5/+1Because the potatoshoppers cant make color ones AND meet their deadlines.
  • Ksg89, on 05/30/2008, -0/+6http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/232962main_S_00 ...

    Between 150 and 160 degrees near the very top, is that the parachute?
    • macaddct1984, on 05/30/2008, -1/+1Yup, or the the other part gear used in the landing.
    • wzpgsr, on 05/31/2008, -0/+1No, that's Megatron.
    • kristoaster, on 05/31/2008, -0/+1It's nice that we've already started dumping ***** all over another planet.
  • d686, on 05/30/2008, -0/+13Contrast this to the latest celebrity ***** news... Amazing that the same creatures that are obsessed with Britney's meltdown can pull something like this off.
    • gonknet, on 05/30/2008, -0/+8Actually, I'm guessing that the specific creatures that pulled this off are not at all interested in Britney's meltdown.
    • Homet, on 05/31/2008, -0/+2Who the hell is Britney?
  • generalchaoz, on 05/30/2008, -0/+0so exciting
  • googooly, on 05/30/2008, -6/+1whats the robot doing in the Marshole ?
  • KnifeEdged, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1its not in the hole. explanation says its actually infront of it. I was thinking the same thing lol
  • gothrus, on 05/30/2008, -1/+33D Anaglyph photos from the Phoenix Lander here:

    http://digg.com/space/First_3_D_Anaglyph_Phoenix_M ...
  • hauntedchippy, on 05/30/2008, -0/+8Now to meet these aliens that are supposedly free from original sin. Lucky bastards.
    • levitron, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2C. S. Lewis reference?
    • edwartica, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1Maybe we'll land on Venus next and sleep on the moving islands.
  • mlbwebdesign, on 05/30/2008, -10/+1They ***** super-imposed that *****.
    • edwartica, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1Or so the germans would have us believe.
  • marciot, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1Holy smokes! The inset is only a couple pixels on the zoomed out photo, yet it has a great deal of detail. How many megapixels does the camera on that thing have?
    • baylat, on 05/30/2008, -0/+24.5 Petrapixel
    • dusanmal, on 05/30/2008, -1/+2Image is scanned in motion over time so the ordinary camera Megapixel measurement does not apply correctly. What can give you better understanding is the approximate pixel size at the surface of Mars. Due to different possible angles (distances) and available sensors, one pixel is somewhere between 0.25 m to 1 m (or in archaic units one pixel approximately 10 to 40 inches).
  • 1plant1world, on 05/30/2008, -1/+4So why can't we have pictures of the junk left on the moon?
    • deanoplex, on 05/30/2008, -0/+3The equipment on the moon is too small and too far away (even the Hubble can't image it) The degrees of arc is the limiting factor:http://hubblesite.org/reference_desk/faq/answer.ph ...
    • edwartica, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1The little green men are too busy playing with it.
    • jorisb, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1The camera that took this picture, HiRise, is the most powerful deep space camera ever built. It can take pictures with a resolution of 0.3m from a 300km orbit.
      Japan's selene spacecraft that orbits the moon right now at 100km, can only take images at a resolution of 10m.
    • misguidedmonkey, on 05/30/2008, -6/+0That's what Mr. NASA would have you believe. But in reality, we don't have enough technology to land on the moon. YOU *****.

      You know how many miles away the moon is??
      • deanoplex, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1I've DRIVEN farther than the distance to the moon.(238,857 mile)
    • Trigat, on 05/30/2008, -0/+5Be a little patient. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will take photos of Apollo artifacts and it will do that within the year 2008. Those photos will be of a quality comparable to or better than those made by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Reconnaissance_ ...

      Of course that photo evidence will not convince any of the conspiraloons that they were wrong. Instead they will claim that NASA faked those photos like they faked Apollo. If you really want to believe nothing will convince you.
  • rdolishny, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2Truly one of the most amazing of the series I've ever seen.
  • Borgcube636, on 05/30/2008, -1/+12***** this - where is that Alien video?!?
  • Phoenix219, on 05/30/2008, -0/+4I thought this was a black and white pic of some fat guy's gut when viewing a thumbnail of it.
  • guymac, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1Gigapixels. 'Nuff said!
  • sgtunix, on 05/30/2008, -3/+11I played around in Photoshop and turned this photo into a color photo.
    http://www.rasterburn.org/~sgt/stuff/phoenixchutec ...

    Let me know your opinions of my choice of colors. What is realistic? I suspect they are too warm, and that in reality (through human eyes) Mars looks like a much colder place.
    • ligyron, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2Looks like I'm seeing it through a thermal lens
  • kingramo, on 05/30/2008, -1/+2What about giving credit to the trained space monkey that took this picture from the orbiter!
  • Phych, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2Here's an glimpse of the system that's similar to what NASA uses to control things like the Phoenix!

    http://www.frontiernet.net/~imaging/lunar_lander_g ...
  • zaldoe, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2high rez for wallpapers http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/images/2008/details/ ...
  • Lingxor, on 05/30/2008, -1/+0like a hot dog thrown down a hallway
  • bouche, on 05/30/2008, -7/+3I've got news for you. There is an RSS feed for the APOD photos that you can subscribe to and spare us on digg from seeing APOD every single frikkin' day.

    Who's going to help me bury these? I can't be the only one that sees how ridiculous the APOD post daily to digg is.
    • SetecAstronomy, on 05/30/2008, -1/+2Even more astonishing is that this one photo has been submitted by five different idiots. I've become so sick of XKCD and APOD that I no longer come here for anything but voting these submissions down. Alas, though, the lemmings vote it up every single time in amazing numbers. It seems to be a losing battle - the monkeys have a very firm grip on the football here. Our only hope is that some admin with some frikkin sense will someday give us an option to "not display such and such crap"... Until then, I login, bury, and leave.
      • RealmDown, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1Massively reduce your carbon footprint and stay gone.
        • SetecAstronomy, on 05/31/2008, -0/+1Case in point.

          Carbon footprint? You've failed to address anything I mentioned. If you want to perpetuate a popular website's headlong rush into mediocrity, fine, be my guest. Don't expect me to help. Digg might actually be much better if everyone was *just like you.*

          I love APOD and XKCD, but if they continue to dominate the top submissions, Digg becomes (and has become) just another friendster/myspace/facebook popularity tool. That's not why I signed up. Honestly, I could frackin' care less who your friends are, or what they think.

          Show me something original. Show me something that requires a bit more thought than "gosh that's beautiful". Of course it is. Of course it makes good wallpaper. God, NASA's been around for FIFTY years this season. The lemmings that I mentioned in my previous post are always modded up for those exact comments.

          And, by the way, RealmDown, gamerboy, you can kiss my shiny metal 6502 @$$.
      • Linzee82, on 05/31/2008, -0/+1I get your frustration but please understand that a lot of people enjoy discussing the photos. At least that's why I digg APOD. It's more about the discussion. Yes, there is a lot of useless "Ohh, how pretty" comments, but I will just skip those and read who's really got info on the pic.
        • bouche, on 06/01/2008, -0/+2digg is not really a discussion forum.
    • jpurdy, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1It appears that there are a lot of diggers who appreciate the photos. All you have to do is not look at them.
      • SetecAstronomy, on 05/31/2008, -0/+1Yeah, but when I login, I'd like to have an option *not* to. It would allow me the simple indulgence of "perhaps there's someone new to Digg that has never heard of APOD." Mind blowing, I know.
  • cryonix, on 05/30/2008, -1/+1wow, the thumbnail looked like a fat hairy mans stomach with a nice roll across the bellybutton.
  • venson, on 05/30/2008, -0/+4I bet these guys are good at 'Where's Waldo' pics
    • Azselendor, on 05/31/2008, -0/+1They beat the weapon inspectors every year 241-0 om the Where's Waldo World Tournament
  • goddessophia, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1It just seems odd to read something say the descent of Phoenix because in theory the Phoenix ascends from its own ashes...
    • RealmDown, on 05/30/2008, -0/+1It has to burn down before it can rise again.
  • Marlic, on 05/30/2008, -1/+1Yah, we as human, are so proud of what we can achieve technologically.
    But yet at the same time, we also have pictures of "Uncontacted tribes" on our very own planet who still live in the stone age.
    http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/sciencetech/article- ...

    It's from extreme end to another end..
  • zaxnyd, on 05/30/2008, -5/+1Photoshopped.
  • trammell, on 05/30/2008, -0/+2Astronomy Picture of the Day editor and Michigan Tech professor Robert Nemiroff is lecturing at the Digg office today. Have any questions for him?
    http://twitter.com/trammell/statuses/823598233
  • nydwarf, on 05/30/2008, -1/+1They got the pics, so it definitely happened!
  • Anomaly100, on 05/31/2008, -0/+1That's right where I'm going to put my pool when we colonize.
  • rac1234, on 05/31/2008, -0/+3http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/images/2008/details/ ...

    That one's pretty amazing too. See http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/phoenix-hardware.php for an explanation.
  • sara1861, on 06/02/2008, -0/+0For all of you that hate these Astronomy Pictures of the day don't view them! I have never seen such grousing and complaining about a picture. What is wrong with you guys? Bored? Go watch the skanky
    half-naked teen dope-head girls that are on the news every day.
  • sym666, on 06/03/2008, -0/+0Well, it won't be the Puppeteers' hull n°1, but that view gives me the shivers anyway. Astounding, powerful, amazing.
    Does nobody know which light was the magnified image taken?
  • KawkawlinJack, on 06/09/2008, -0/+1Wow! How do they DO that???
  •  

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