NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander can be seen parachuting down to Mars, in this image captured by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This is the first time that a spacecraft has imaged the final descent of another spacecraft onto a planetary body.

From a distance of about 310 kilometers (193 miles) above the surface of Mars, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter pointed its HiRISE camera obliquely toward Phoenix to capture this shot. Phoenix had just opened its parachute 46 seconds earlier, jettisoned its heat shield and was two minutes and 52 seconds away from landing on the Red Planet. The image reveals the parachute and a dangling Phoenix below. The chords attaching the spacecraft's back shell and parachute are faintly visible. The surroundings look dark, but correspond to the fully illuminated Martian surface, which is much darker than the parachute and back shell.

Phoenix released its parachute at an altitude of about 12.6 kilometers (7.8 miles).

The HiRISE, acquired this image on May 25, 2008, at 4:36 p.m. Pacific Time (7:36 p.m. Eastern Time). It is a highly oblique view of the Martian surface, 26 degrees above the horizon, or 64 degrees from the normal straight-down imaging of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The image has a scale of 0.76 meters per pixel.

This image has been brightened to show the patterned surface of Mars in the background.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

SOURCE: NASA Phoenix Lander

Phoenix Descent with Color and the Heat Shield in Free-Fall  (PSP_008579_9020-B)
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

HiRISE acquired this now famous image of the Phoenix Lander during its descent through the atmosphere. The lander was still inside the backshell hanging from its parachute at the moment this image was taken. It was an engineering triumph to capture the lander within the HiRISE field of view. We had hoped for it to be within the color portion of the HiRISE camera, but unfortunately it missed that area.

For this reason, processing the color bands did not take a high priority in the days following acquisition of this image. The unusual geometry of the image prevented the color processing from running through the automated software pipelines. It had to be processed "by hand" which means processing parameters were adjusting manually until good registration of the color bands was achieved.

Normally, the 10 CCDs that span the HiRISE image area overlap by 48 pixels at their edges. The gaps in the image are due to the fact that Mars surface was moving through the HiRISE field of view at an angle, which also caused some image smear. (The slew was designed to get an unsmeared image of the parachute.) Some CCDs have gaps between them, while others overlap more than usual. Map projection takes the image and transforms it so it looks like you are looking straight down at the surface. The lander is very distorted in the map projection, because it is not actually on the surface.

In the non-map projected image, the gaps have been closed to make a more aesthetic image. Some discontinuities are visible along the seams between CCDs where this has been done.

The color does give some more information about the crater. There is frost or ice in the bowl of the crater which shows up as blue in the false color HiRISE data. Here the color has been adjusted for a more natural appearance. The frost is visible in the right side of the non-projected image.

The Phoenix Lander discarded its heat shield after deploying the parachute. Scientists and engineers at JPL believe that the heat shield should also be visible in this image. After some analysis, the small dark dot located below the lander looks like a stong candidate for the heat shield. It is in the right location based on descent trajectories and timing. 

Another sign that the small dark spot is the heat shield is that its pixel value is lower than any other dark spot in the vicinity. The lander is approximately 20 kilometers in front of the crater, so there is at least 20 km less atmosphere between the HiRISE camera and the lander and heat shield than between the camera and the surface. The size is right, too. The heat shield protected the bottom of the lander through atmospheric entry, so its external surface would be a charred black. It is visible in the images taken of the actual landing site.

SOURCE: HiRISE Page

MRO's HiRISE camera acquired this dramatic oblique image of Phoenix descending on its parachute. Shown here is a a wider view of the full image, showing a 10 kilometer diameter crater informally called "Heimdall" and an improved full-resolution image of the parachute and lander. 

Although it appears that Phoenix is descending into the crater, it is actually about 20 kilometers in front of the crater. It is difficult to believe that it is in front of the crater because it is so much smaller, but in reality it is, and that's a good thing because landing on the steep rocky slopes of the crater would have been far too exciting (or risky). 

Images from the lander clearly show that it sits on a flat plain, although the rim of Heimdall may be visible on the horizon. Given the position and pointing angle of MRO, Phoenix is at about 13 km above the surface, just a few seconds after the parachute opened. This improved image shows some details of the parachute, including the gap between upper and lower sections. At the time of this observation, MRO had an orbital altitude of 310 km, traveling at a ground velocity of 3.4 kilometers/second, and a distance of 760 km to the Phoenix lander. 

The image was rotated to a position that seems approximately parallel to the horizon based on the elongation of Heimdall crater, but this is not exact. Thus, although Phoenix appears to hang from the parachute at an angle, as if swaying in the wind, the exact geometry has not yet been determined. The parachute image is very sharp as its apparent motion was straight down the HiRISE TDI (time delay integration) columns. However, the surface of Mars was moving at an angle to the TDI columns, and thus is smeared by a few pixels, although the smear is not apparent at the reduced scale of the image shown here.

SCALE INFORMATION
Map projected scale: No map projected products
Original image scale range: 0.792712 cm/pixel 

UNANNOTATED IMAGES
For those interested in larger, unannotated versions, you may select a TIF image here:
PSP_008579_9020 (2048 samples x 1019 lines; 4MB)
PSP_008579_9020 (4096 samples x 2038 lines; 16MB.)

PSP_008579_9020 Parachute insert (756KB)

TIFF WITH INSET
A TIFF version of the descent image with its inset is PSP_008579_9020_descent (4096x2038; 24 MB)

ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS AND COLOR
HiRISE has managed to produce a version of this image with a color swath. 

*NOTE ON NOMENCLATURE
When this caption was written, the name "Heimdall" (with the double "L") was an informal one. Since then, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has officially named the crater "Heimdal" with one "L." We decided to keep the original spelling in the caption as part of the historical moment of this incredible image.

SOURCE: HiRISE Page - HiRISE Image

MRO's HiRISE camera acquired this image of the Phoenix landing site 11 hours after landing. The image shows three unusual features, which were not present in the earlier, pre-landing HiRISE image. 

We expect to find three main pieces of hardware: the parachute attached to the backshell, the heat shield, and the lander itself. The parachute (lower right) is easy to identify because it is especially bright, although this image doesn't clearly reveal the backshell. 

The double dark marking at upper right seems most consistent with disturbance of the ground from impact and bouncing of the heat shield, which fell from a height of about 13 kilometers.

The last object (upper left) appears to be a about the right size and height for the lander, and with dark objects on each side (to the east and west) consistent with the solar arrays.

This image was acquired in the nighttime, when the arctic sun was only 12 degrees above the horizon to the northeast. Later images will be acquired in the daytime with the sun higher in the sky and to the southwest, and could confirm our initial interpretations. North is about 7 degrees to the left of straight up in this image.

These objects were later confirmed on the subsequent HiRISE observation acquired 22 hours after landing.

SCALE INFORMATION
Map projected scale:     = 0.25
Original image scale range:     = 0.314742 cm/pixel

SOURCE: HiRISE Page

MRO’s HiRISE camera acquired this image of the Phoenix landing site 22 hours after landing. The image shows three unusual features; seen also is the image acquired 11 hours after landing. These three features were not present in a pre-landing HiRISE image. 

We expect to find three main pieces of hardware: the parachute attached to the backshell, the heat shield, and the lander itself.

The parachute (bottom) is easy to identify because it is especially bright, and this image also clearly shows the backshell. We can even see the stripes on the parachute. 

The dark marking (middle right) appears most consistent with disturbance of the ground from impact and bouncing of the heat shield, which fell from a height of about 13 kilometers.

The last object (top) is the lander, and we can clearly see the solar arrays on each side. The solar arrays were relatively dark in the image acquired 11 hours after landing, but are brighter than the Mars surface in this daytime image acquired with the HiRISE blue-green filter. 

There are dark halos around all three locations, perhaps due to disturbing a thin dust coating. North is about 7 degrees to the right of straight up in this image and illumination is from the lower left.

ANAGLYPH IMAGE
HiRISE has created an anaglyph image of the landing site.

SCALE INFORMATION
Map projected scale:     = 0.25
Original image scale range:     = 0.34551 cm/pixel

SOURCE: HiRISE Page

These anaglyph images reveal the Phoenix landing site to have uniform terrain with little topographic relief. However, it is possible to see some terrain differences.

The parachute and backshell anaglyph shows the backshell projecting up above the surrounding terrain explaining why it is visible in images from the Phoenix Lander SSI camera. The parachute is flat on the surface and situated in a small depression making it unseen by the SSI.

The Phoenix Lander anaglyph shows the Lander also projecting above the surrounding terrain. A topographic rise is visible to the left of the lander. The troughs and bulges of the polygonal terrain can also be seen.

A larger view of the Phoenix landing site is available here. The topographic relief is exaggerated because of the large differences in look angles (approximately 27 degrees) between the two images (PSP_008644_2485 and PSP_008591_2485) that make up the anaglyph. The anaglyph images maintain the original viewing geometry with north down. 

SCALE INFORMATION
Map projected scale:    = 0.25 
Original image scale range:    = 0.313812 cm/pixel

SOURCE: HiRISE Page

The image above was taken from Mars orbit by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft. It spans about 400 metres across the surface of the Red Planet, and shows the Mars rover Opportunity as a small black dot (circled at lower left).

The image was taken during the afternoon of Opportunity's 1,783rd sol (Mars day) on the Red Planet. Opportunity had driven 130 metres on the previous sol; you can see wheel tracks crossing dark dune ripples to the upper right of the rover. The ripples, which trend mostly north-south in this area, can be easily crossed by the rover unless they are very large (such as those right of centre).

The availability of MRO images of the terrain that Opportunity is crossing allow traverses to be planned in detail, avoiding potential hazards and targeting features of interest (such as the small craters below and left of centre).

MRO images are routinely used by the Opportunity operations team for these purposes, and to plan the route to distant Endeavour Crater, the long-term goal of Opportunity's mission, about 17 kilometres to the southeast.

The full-circle image below (made up of a mosaic of multiple images) was taken by Opportunity only days after MRO photographed it from above. Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this view of the rover's surroundings just after driving 60.86 metres (200 feet) on the 1,806th sol of its surface mission (February 21, 2009).

SOURCE: Spaceinfo.com.au

A photo taken from orbit by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows Opportunity's landing site and its tracks through Meridiani Planum, ending at the rover itself, visible as a speck. The rover's landing platform also can be seen within Eagle Crater. - One amazing year for Opportunity rover - MSNBC

Mars orbiter spots rover’s landing site. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image shows “Eagle crater," the small impact crater where Opportunity’s lander came to rest. The image is one of a gallery of photos released by NASA on Wednesday. - Mars orbiter spots rover’s landing site - MSNBC

This map shows the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity and its lander on the surface of Mars. The robotic geologist landed inside a small crater at Meridiani Planum on Jan. 24, 2004, PST. The white spot is the lander, and the small black spot northeast of it is believed to be the rover (see inset). The image was taken by the camera onboard the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter.

Image Addition Date: 2004-02-09

SOURCE: NASA Photo Journal PIA05230

Two Earth years ago, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit touched down in Gusev Crater. The rover marked its first Mars-year (687 Earth days) anniversary in November 2005. On Nov. 2, 2005, shortly before Spirit's Martian anniversary, the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor acquired an image centered on the rover's location in the "Columbia Hills." The location of Spirit on that date is circled on the image on the right. On the left, for comparison, is an image from Jan. 10, 2004, when few dreamed that the Spirit would ever reach the hills from its landing site about three kilometers (two miles) away.

The newer image has a resolution of about 50 centimeters (1.6 feet) per pixel. North is up; illumination is from the left. The location is near 14.8 degrees south latitude, 184.6 degrees west longitude. Dr. Timothy J. Parker of the Mars Exploration Rover team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., confirmed the location of the rover in the 2005 image. The scale bar is 50 meters (164 feet).

Image Addition Date: 2006-01-03

SOURCE: NASA Photo Journal PIA03255

NASA's Viking Lander 1 touched down in western Chryse Planitia on July 20, 1976. The lander, which has a diameter of about 3 meters (10 feet), has been precisely located in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Also, likely locations have been found for the heat shield, back shell, and parachute attached to the back shell. The lander location has been confirmed by overlaying the lander-derived topographic contours on the high-resolution camera's image, which provides an excellent match. Viking Lander 1 was one element of an ambitious mission to study Mars, with a four-spacecraft flotilla consisting of two orbiters and two landers. Four cutouts from this image are shown. The first is an overview showing the relative locations of the lander and candidate back shell and heat shield, and the others are enlargements of each of these components. Large boulders, dunes, and other features visible in Lander images can be located in the image.

A prime motivation for early viewing of these Viking sites is to calibrate imagery taken from orbit with the data previously acquired by the landers. In particular, determining what sizes of rocks can be seen from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aids the interpretation of data now being taken to characterize sites for future landers, such as the Phoenix Mars Lander mission to be launched in 2007.

Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.

Image Addition Date: 2006-12-05

SOURCE: NASA Photo Journal PIA01881

NASA's Viking Lander 2 landed on Mars on Sept. 3, 1976, in Utopia Planitia. The lander, which has a diameter of about 3 meters (10 feet), has been precisely located in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Also, likely locations have been found for the heat shield and back shell. The lander location has been confirmed by overlaying the lander-derived topographic contours on the high-resolution camera's image, which provides an excellent match. Viking Lander 2 was one element of an ambitious mission to study Mars, with a four-spacecraft flotilla consisting of two orbiters and two landers. Four cutouts from this image are shown. The first is an overview showing the relative locations of the lander and candidate back shell and heat shield, and the others are enlargements of each of these components. Large boulders, dunes, and other features visible in Viking Lander 2 images can be located in the high-resolution camera's image. The polygonal pattern of the surface is typical at these latitudes and may be due to the presence of deep subsurface ice.

As chance would have it, this image is blurred in some places due to the abrupt motion associated with the restart of the orbiter's high-gain antenna tracking during the very short image exposure. This is the first time after acquiring hundreds of pictures that a High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment image has been unintentionally smeared; overall performance has been excellent.

A prime motivation for early viewing of the Viking sites is to calibrate imagery taken from orbit with the data previously acquired by the landers. In particular, determining what sizes of rocks can be seen from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aids the interpretation of data now being taken to characterize sites for future landers, such as the Phoenix Mars Lander mission to be launched in 2007.

Image Addition Date: 2006-12-05

SOURCE: NASA Photo Journal PIA01882

• NASA Photo Journal PIA01881
• NASA Photo Journal PIA01882
• NASA Phoenix Mission
• Opportunity Rover - Spaceinfo.com.au - MSNBC
• Viking Landers 1 and 2
• Mars orbiter spots rover’s landing site - MSNBC
• One amazing year for Opportunity rover - MSNBC