PIA10759: Martian Surface Beneath Phoenix


Martian Surface Beneath Phoenix

Caption:

This is an image of the Martian surface beneath NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. The image was taken by Phoenix's Robotic Arm Camera (RAC) on the eighth Martian day of the mission, or Sol 8 (June 2, 2008). The light feature in the middle of the image below the leg is informally called "Holy Cow." The dust, shown in the dark foreground, has been blown off of "Holy Cow" by Phoenix's thruster engines.

Background Info:

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

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
Instrument Host Phoenix Lander
Host Type Lander
Instrument Robotic Arm Camera (RAC)
Detector
Extra Keywords Dust, Grayscale
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2008-06-04
Date in Caption 2008-06-02
Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10759
Identifier PIA10759