How Phoenix Gets a Look at its Footing - This artist's animation shows how NASA's three-legged Phoenix Mars Lander is able to get a better look at its footing and the physical characteristics of the underlying soil on the surface of the Red Planet. Because the Surface Stereo Imager is able to swivel in any compass direction as well as up and down, it can "see" and take snapshots of the footpad beneath the camera's location near one edge of the spacecraft deck. Each footpad is about the size of a large dinner plate, measuring 11.5 inches from rim to rim. The base of the footpad is shaped like the bottom of a shallow bowl to provide stability. The footpad image was taken by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager at 17:07 local Mars time, shortly after landing May 25, 2008. Video credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M.
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Phoenix's Position on Mars - This animation shows an orbital view sweeping upward from Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano in the solar system, to the location of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander in the northern polar reaches of Mars. The animation then zooms in on the flat terrain where Phoenix touched down May 25, 2008. Phoenix eased down to the surface of Mars at approximately 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude, landing in the center of the red circle at the end of the animation. Before Phoenix landed, engineers had predicted it would land within the blue ellipse. Phoenix touched down on the Red Planet at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53 p.m. Eastern Time), May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called Vastitas Borealis. The shaded relief map is based on data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. Video credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona.
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How to Take a Picture of a Spacecraft Landing - 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 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Video credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona.
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Looking out Across the Martian Polar Plains - This movie shows the vast plains of the northern polar region of Mars, as seen by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shortly after touching down on the Red Planet. The flat landscape is strewn with tiny pebbles and shows polygonal cracking, a pattern seen widely in Martian high latitudes and also observed in permafrost terrains on Earth. The polygonal cracking is believed to have resulted from seasonal contraction and expansion of surface ice. Phoenix touched down on Mars at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53 p.m. Eastern Time), May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called Vastitas Borealis, at 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude. This is an approximate-color image taken by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager, inferred from two color filters, a violet, 450-nanometer filter and an infrared, 750-nanometer filter. Video credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona.
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How Phoenix Talks to Earth - This animation shows how NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander stays in contact with Earth. As NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter passes overhead approximately every two hours, Phoenix transmits images and scientific data from the surface to the orbiter, which then relays the data to NASA's Deep Space Network of antennas on Earth. Similarly, NASA's Deep Space Network transmits instructions from Earth to Odyssey, which then relays the information to Phoenix. Video credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona.
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