In 1999, NASA’s Mars Polar Lander, sent to the unexplored south pole of Mars, was lost just before it was supposed to land. It is unknown what happened, but it’s assumed the debris (or the simply uncommunicative probe) is on the surface of Mars.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been taking lots of incredible high-res images of the planet, including the likely areas where MPL hit. However, that’s a lot of data to sift through! So the HiRISE folks have put the data together, and they’re asking you, me droogs, to help them look. Maybe you’ll be the first person to see the doomed spacecraft since it was lost!
May 10th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
I see a crater in PSP_005391_1030, but doubt the probe could have caused that (can’t see into it).
Pretty cool stuff.
May 10th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Did they check under the couch cushions? Sometimes when I lose my polar landers that’s where they show up.
May 10th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Sir, yes Sir!
Looking at the photographs right now Sir!
May 10th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Its not on the first one… or in my pocket
May 10th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Did they check their other pants? I usually check there first, unless of course I’m already wearing my other pants, that is.
Send up another polar lander and drop it from orbit. They’ll probably land together. Of course then you’ll just have two lost landers. But maybe then you’ll find both of them in your shoe.
May 10th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention:
“All these worlds are yours, except Mars. Attempt no landings there.”
May 10th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
There! That’s it! Right over there. SEE? (pause) Oh, wait, that’s not… nope, nevermind.
May 10th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
There’s an interesting scar about midway down this one: http://hirise-pds.lpl.arizona.edu/PDS/EXTRAS/RDR/PSP/ORB_005100_005199/PSP_005180_1035/PSP_005180_1035_RED.abrowse.jpg
It’s right at the edge of the darkened area on the left, immediately above where it curves up. You’ll see a lighter streak running through a darker area.
May 10th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I see something that looks like some of the sample lander images from the supporting PDF file in the file PSP_005114_1035_RED.abrowse.jpg It is likely a rock, but it seems out of place compared to the surroundings. Look at X=737 Y=1244
May 10th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Psh, everyone knows it fell through a wormhole to the other side of the galaxy, but it should be back in about 200 years to merge with the creator. Let’s just hope William Shatner is still around to save us.
May 10th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Don’t you know, the polar probe bounced off Nibiru, sending it to the secret Nazi base on the moon, causing some a geomagnetic disturbance that caused UFO sightings.
May 10th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I’d suggest using the “JP2 QUICKLOOK (IAS Viewer)” links, rather than the jpegs. It’s unlikely you can see the lander at anything but full resolution.
May 10th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
OK. Just calm down a minute and try to remember where they were when they last saw it. It’s always the last place you look. What were they doing when they lost it?
May 10th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
I don’t know, man… to be serious, in past search-and-rescue type mass image investigations linked to here, there’s been an organized, user-friendly kind of interface that guided ignernt folks like me in order to maximize the effectiveness of the search. In this case, there doesn’t seem to be any sort of organization. It’s just “here’s the pictures, have a look”, but it’s massive amounts of imagery, and if you do find something, how do you even tell someone where you found it? Am I missing an important page somewhere? And that powerpoint somebody made about backshells and parachutes? Don’t even get me started. That is a classical powerpoint disaster. Didn’t they read that Tufte paper on how powerpoint makes you dumb… and maybe impotent? It’s late, now I’m ranting at people I don’t even know…
May 10th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Yeah so if I do see it, how do I tell who? where? I Found no way to say?
CUL8R Winslow
May 10th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
this would be much better if they’d import everything to Google erf.
May 10th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
An image of the Mars Polar Lander appeared as a rust stain on the sidewalk in front of my house yesterday, and now my street is overrun with scientists lighting candles and attempting to contact the MPL via homemade radios.
May 10th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
If you believe the moon landing was a hoax, please help NASA by searching for the wreckage of the Mars Polar Lander in this satellite photo of the Nevada desert:
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=37.60444~-116.846466&style=h&lvl=12&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1
May 10th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
dre:
I read the HiRISE blog post more as “here’s the images, feel free to take a look” than an appeal for help. It would be neat to find, but it’s not a pressing matter at this point.
Realistically, it’ll take a lot of luck to spot it. Even if it is in the imaged area, and stayed in big enough pieces to show up, the polar environment is quite different from where we have seen other landers and rovers. It’s also very dynamic, since CO2 frost comes and goes seasonally.
Some history of the search can be found here:
http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/10/17/
May 10th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
We need to find that thing before it runs amuck. Remember what happened back in the ’70s when the Soviet Union’s Venus probe mistakenly landed back on Earth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWybcicxpE8
May 10th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Quick, someone call Richard C. Hoagland. He’s really good at looking at images and seeing things no one else can spot.
May 11th, 2008 at 12:10 am
After viewing that remarkable video of the USSR’s Venus probe, I have two questions. First, how much of the original $6,000,000 went toward that cheesy mustache? Second, was the USSR ahead of us in teaching our planetary robots fencing?
May 11th, 2008 at 12:16 am
I think I found it!
Oh wait, it’s just Marsquatch taking a stroll…
May 11th, 2008 at 12:43 am
I remember going to be the night it was supposed to land, grumbling audibly about how frustrating it was (everyone was pretty sure it had been lost). My new wife had to tell me to give it a rest.
May 11th, 2008 at 12:45 am
Anyone who wants to shrink their links use this code:
(A HREF=”URL goes here”)name of link goes here(/A)
Replace the curved brackets (parentheses) with angled brackets “”
May 11th, 2008 at 1:25 am
It’s like frikkin’ Where’s Waldo
May 11th, 2008 at 1:39 am
It’s prolly in my Son’s bedroom somewhere but I ain’t going in there to find it without a full environment suit, goggles and breathing apparatus. If you don’t hear from me in 24 hours send HELP!
May 11th, 2008 at 2:13 am
and they’re asking you, me droogs, to help them look.
Horror show!
May 11th, 2008 at 2:27 am
Richard C. Hoagland knows. It went in a hyperdimensional vortex. NASA is keeping it secret due to the ongoing Cydonia investigation. It is detailed in his next book.
May 11th, 2008 at 4:25 am
Anyone suspecting UFOs and Martians ? Great stuff
May 11th, 2008 at 5:08 am
My GF once lost her cell phone. It turned up the next day in the freezer. Did anyone check next to the Rock Road or the frozen peas?
Seriously, you would think a multi-million dollar probe would have LoJack or OnStar. What were they thinking?
-OEJ
May 11th, 2008 at 8:49 am
i wonder how long it is before we see ‘alien technology found on mars’ headlines with a picture of the lost lander. hah
i say 2 weeks.
May 11th, 2008 at 9:43 am
My family named one of the fish in our pond Waldo since he blends in so well…
May 11th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Can´t find my keys, I´m taking photos of my entire house and uploading them, please people, help me, I got a date.
May 11th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Wow, I found it!!!
It looks just like… some sort of … arrow; cooool!
Oh wait, it’s the mouse pointer.
May 11th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Everyone knows the Mysterons got to it… Earthmen!
May 11th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
No luck locating the probe, but I did spot several rocks that look like Jesus. Not sure what the hell he’s doing on Mars, though.
May 11th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
I say we let Richard Hoagland look for it. He’s so good at finding artificial stuff on Mars, after all. So good in fact he can find it where it is not there — he should be able to find it when it IS there.
May 11th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Here is a link to the image in question. I isolated the object. Its in the center.
http://homepage.mac.com/zizban/pics/landercandidate.jpg
May 11th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Here is a link to the image in question. I isolated the object. Its in the center.
Yeah, that’s the same one I mentioned up there.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Has anyone tried checking the lot at the Helping Hand Acceptance Corporation?
I’m guessing its in the trunk of an old Chevy Malibu. Look for the pine tree air freshener.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Found it!
Oh wait, that’s just one of those Martian bunnies.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Have they renamed the lost probe “Waldo,” by any chance?
~David D.G.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Actually, right now the Mars Probe is thinking to itself “I’m not lost, I know exactly where I am. It’s all those pesky humans that are lost!!”
May 12th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Didn’t you people see Transformers?? The Decepticons destroyed it! Duh!
May 12th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Should farm it out to Mechanical Turk.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Here is a high res image of the one Chris showed;
Clicky clicky.