Phoenix lander descending to Mars, shot taken by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Awesome! awesome! A photo of the Phoenix lander was captured in mid drop to Mars, you can see it still hanging from its parachute, still in it’s back shell and heat shield. This amazing shot was taken by the HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The Phoenix Lander descending to Mars
How cool is it to be human right at this moment in time? because we did this, look at what we’ve done! we have sent a robot 423 million miles away safely to another planet. Good to see us back on Mars….
A quote from Bad Astronomy summed up the whole experience:
Think on this, and think on it carefully: you are seeing a manmade object falling gracefully and with intent to the surface of an alien world, as seen by another manmade object already circling that world, both of them acting robotically, and both of them hundreds of million of kilometers away.
Never, ever forget: we did this. This is what we can do.
Zoom: the Phoenix Lander descending
[via boingboing]
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