The landing of the Phoenix spacecraft on the polar region of Mars using rockets to slow down its descent was a great success. In fact, the folks at NASA were able to take a picture of the spacecraft as it fell through the Mars atmosphere with parachute in tow. In the past, such a picture would have been absolutely impossible but that was before NASA had the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter snapped the first picture of its kind. It was the first time one spacecraft had taken a photo of another spacecraft as it descended onto a planet. The photo shows a bright spacecraft with parachute deployed. There is enough detail so that you can actually make out the chords which attach the Phoenix Lander to the shoot. The photo was shot at 7:36pm Eastern on Sunday and the spacecraft landed a few minutes later at 7:53pm.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took the photo while orbiting 193 miles above the Martian surface. The photo was taken using its High Resolution Imaging Science Experience (HiRISE) camera. Now to be fair, the Phoenix Lander wasn’t the first man made object captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Back in October 6th, the spacecraft took a picture of the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, near the rim of “Victoria Crater”.
Read more from the NASA press release.
What an additional surprise for the NASA team in charge of the Phoenix Lander. I’m sure the photograph taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of the Phoenix Lander will be hung in the offices and cubicles of team members or plastered on computer desktops for all to see. It must have been a real treat for those responsible for the parachute system on the Phoenix Lander. It’s not very often you get an opportunity to see your parachute deployed on an alien world. Usually the best they can hope for is seeing the parachute on the ground after the spacecraft has landed.
It probably wouldn’t be too surprising to see the number of satellites around Mars increase as the date for a manned mission to Mars gets closer. We are already starting to see the benefits of having a single satellite in orbit around Mars now. Just imagine the possibilities as those numbers increase. If missions to Mars become more regular it may be only a matter of time before XM Radio or Direct TV sends their own satellite over there. After all, in the media market it’s all about market share and you can’t beat 100% market share on Mars.
With the recent successes under NASA’s belt there is no doubt in my mind that the exploration of space is back on track. I think a key part of the future of space travel is the elimination of the space shuttle, which really is not designed to travel to the Moon and beyond. It has also proven that it has some engineering gaps in regards to safety that can be more easily addressed in a new spacecraft.