PIA10696: How to Take a Picture of a Spacecraft Landing


How to Take a Picture of a Spacecraft Landing

Caption:

Click here for animation of PIA10696 How Phoenix Talks to Earth
Click on the image for the animation

This artist's animation shows how NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was able to snap a picture of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander as it parachuted down to the surface of Mars.

The purple lines shows Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's field of view.

The image of Phoenix on its parachute (see PIA10698 ) was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Background Info:

Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Phoenix Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
Instrument Host Phoenix Lander Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Host Type Lander Orbiter
Instrument Solid-State Imaging (SSI)
Detector
Extra Keywords Artwork, Color, Movie
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2008-05-26
Date in Caption
Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10696
Identifier PIA10696