Emily is the person-on-the-spot at JPL, writing everything up as it comes in… including this first image of the horizon from Phoenix!
Very cool. They wanted to land it in a boring place: no rocks or anything that might damage the platform when it landed. So that worked! And it’s very close to the target landing zone. So this is looking like they’re doing very very well.
Of course, amidst all this incredible scientific achievement, I can’t help but notice this part of the horizon. Cue the "Anomaly Researchers" in 3…2…1…
May 25th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Anomaly? It’s probably a Starbuck’s.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
It’s obviously a yeti standing on Mars.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
tears in my eyes…
May 25th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Wow. So fun!
May 25th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Forget the horizon, look at that UFO at the top of the image! MARTIANS!
May 25th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
That spot ont he horizon? Mars Polar Lander.
But seriously, I beat our local media to the punch. They haven’t mentioned the landing or the images, and I had it on our astronomy and space blog first. Of course, since science isn’t a part of their “if it bleeds it leads” format, they might not even know about Phoenix.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
It’s an “Obama for President” billboard that Phil ordered.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Am I the only one who can’t access the Planetary Society blog? Whenever I go there, I only see the intro page, no posts at all. I’ve been using Spaceflight Now’s Phoenix status page for my updates.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Phoenix may have made a perfect landing but the Planetary Society site has crashed.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
In case you’re not already there… more images uploaded all the time at the Phoenix site.
Though actually viewing more than the thumbnails seems to be difficult at the moment. At least for me. The site is probably bogged down by visitors.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
I can’t agree with BA, that big red arrowshaped structure floating in the air above the horizon is clearly an artificial object.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
On the horizon? Duh, that’s Nibiru rising. QUIT HIDING THE TRUTH.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
That little dot? I want to know what is the white thing here.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I had just finished reading:
http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/24/dear-phoenix-all-our-hopes
Unfortunately I had a job interview scheduled (11am NZST) for an hour before touch down which was close to noon in New Zealand, or I would have been glued to my computer screen. Fortunately the interview went well, and if I get it, then I will be able to use Linux at work & at home!
I was attending a stage 1 Physics lecture about solonoids at Auckland University, when Man first landed on the Moon.
All the very best to the huge team who worked to get the lander safely to Mars, those who prepared the experiments – and not least, those who will look after it from Earth.
Warm regards,
Gavin
P.S. We all _KNOW_ the landing was faked! Right Phil?
P.P.S. I accidentally submitted this as a comment to http://www.universetoday.com first…
May 25th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Below the horizon, to the right is clearly a duck. Now how did they let that thing on the set.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Can’t wait to see those dust tornadoes!
May 25th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
On a less silly note, I very much enjoyed watching the broadcast of the live feed from JPL, Arizona, and Denver, and seeing the response from enthusiasts trickle out from the web as things happened. I’m just concerned for my health now! If I thought the 7 minutes of terror was nerve-wracking, watching SM4 progress in October is gonna give me an ulcer…..
May 25th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
My kids are fascinated.
There’s the reward.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Here’s another link with all the images…
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=0&cID=7
Has high res links too
May 25th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Damn, I’m watching the team on NASA TV wearing 3D glasses, all of them looking at something out of camera! Argh!
I want to see those images… I want 3D glasses… :S
May 25th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
@Randall: turn on your javascript
Looks like the heat of the engines melted something in the soil??
May 25th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Aaron, I noticed the Martian Snail…Turtle..thing in a photo from the University of Arizona site. But more importantly, I want to know WHAT WAS IN THE BIG CENSORED AREA IN THE LOWER RIGHT?
http://fawkes3.lpl.arizona.edu/images/gallery/lg_371.jpg
Obviously it must have been the Martian Sasquatch! Look at the proportions of the blacked out area! There can be no other explanation!!!!!
This is fantastic, amazing stuff. I am so glad it didn’t crash! And if these are the earliest photos, what sort of great stuff will we be getting tomorrow?
May 25th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
It seems the aliens have also carved a nipple on Mars.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Darnit. My “woo” html tags didn’t show up in my last comment.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
I tried to go to the show on the UA campus in Tucson where the Phoenix people showed it on big screens but it was totally mobbed! There must have been a thousand people, so I couldn’t get in. But it’s really cool that so many people show…
May 25th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
That white object could well be either the heat shield or parachute.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
The high resolution images on the NASA website show structures that look like numbers on the edges. Our extraterrestrial enemies are obviously numerical. Our world will be destroyed by math.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
I was talking with someone and we were wondering what the average and peak data transfer rate was from the Phoenix. If anyone cold answer that I’d say thanks!
May 25th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
OMG one picture is missing two of six panels, they are actively trying to stop us from seeing something!
May 25th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Duh!
The anomoly is obviously the place they are hiding the presidential candidates personalities.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Maybe the face on Mars has a pimple?
May 25th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
According to the press kit, the transmit data rates for Phoenix when doing relay communications are 8,000 bits per second, 32,000 bits per second, or 128,000 bits per second. To get all those photos sent up to Odyssey in a fifteen-minute pass along with all the other data would have taken at least the 32k rate.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
BA-
The ’structure’ on the horizon. Could it be the backshell/parachute? I haven’t tried to estimate distance or size from picture, but given how flat the area is, it stands to reason it might be visible.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
The landing pad in 3D looks nice. I just put two of the images side by side and crossed my eyes. Now if I can get them unstuck from the screen! Neat!
May 25th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
I can’t wait to hear what people will make of this: http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u303/gryfin210/Mars1-1.jpg
Of course, the first thing I thought was:
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u303/gryfin210/Moarmars.jpg
May 25th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
woohoo!
May 25th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
I can’t wait to hear what people will make of this thingy here: http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u303/gryfin210/Mars1-1.jpg
Of course, the first thing I thought was:
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u303/gryfin210/Moarmars.jpg
May 25th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
In this image:
http://fawkes3.lpl.arizona.edu/images/gallery/lg_371.jpg
To the right side of the horizon there appears to be a white thing projecting up from the ground. My guess is that if someone seizes on “anomalies” in the pix, that’ll be it.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Re: http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u303/gryfin210/Mars1-1.jpg
I think someone dropped a Scream mask. Martian costume party anyone?
May 25th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
By employing my hyper-secret proprietary enhancement technology (stolen from Area 51 and the Roswell UFO), I have solved the mystery of the bump.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Nicholas: it’s Drama Prairie Rock!
May 25th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Well, there is a very interesting blob of darkish goo in in pic 371. it would be interesting to see if thats just some chemical process or something more exotic.
http://fawkes3.lpl.arizona.edu/images/gallery/lg_371.jpg
May 25th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
[...] blogs regarding real-time data streaming from the Martian Phoenix lander 100 million miles away right now. Just trying to get the hang of blogging, I don’t yet have the experience to play with the [...]
May 25th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Obviously, it’s gramma’s house!
(You’ll get the joke if you are watching the press conference going on at nasa.tv right now)
May 25th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Whoops, sorry for the double post there…
Of course, I’d like to think that we’re seeing the Martians’ reactions to the landing.
Of course, “IMMA FIRIN’ MAH LAZAAR!11!!” also came to mind.
(*SHOOP DA WHOOP*)
May 25th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Forget the bump on the horizon! Phoenix appears to have touched down on a slight angle (horizon appears to slope). Therefore, I hypothesize that Phoenix has in fact landed on the Wicked Witch of Mars. Does the lander have a downward camera?
May 25th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Is that a….wait a minute…
It’s a Jawa Sandcrawler!!!
May 25th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
It’s just that annoying “can you hear me now” guy… the real question is how he got there so fast.
May 25th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Interesting that most of the images received so far have been “right eye” images. I could find only one that was a left image (one of the lander feet). I found its matched right pair and put together a 3D image. ( http://degroof.blogspot.com/2008/05/phoenix-stereo-image.html ) Not the best quality but it gave me a feel for how deep the lander’s footprint is.
May 25th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
It’s official: Polar Bear
May 25th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
It was a great experience to watch the countdowns and the people through NASA TV and CNN International (which was about 15-30 seconds early than NASA TV – or my internet connection is pretty bad), especially to see that everything worked very well.
But it is sad to call my brother and mother to watch it with me and, after de landing confirmation, to hear the dissapointment from my mother: “Where is the video camera to confirm (landing) like I watched live when they reached the Moon?”
Why radar confirmation is not enough to ordinary public?
May 25th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
So that’s where they moved the island.
May 25th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Aaron asks: “That little dot? I want to know what is the white thing here.”
Oh darn! I knew I should have landed further away. I was just struggling getting into that “Bat-Rat-Spider-Martian-Monster” suit from the movie “Angry Red Planet”. I was going to saunter over to the Phoenix camera and have some fun with the JPL folks. Oh well.
May 25th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
They’re talking about that at the Phoenix presser. Inconclusive until higher res images are taken.
May 25th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
I’m worried that the pictures are grey, is it possible that they landed on the moon instead of mars.?
May 25th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Oh, please, you know that Hoagland will be all over it. Besides, everyone knows it’s not an anomaly. It’s a Decepticon.
May 25th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
It’s a mile-high skyscraper that NASA forgot to cover up.
May 25th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
It’s Waldo.
May 25th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Earth may once have had three moons
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1993
May 25th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Richie, if not the Wicked Witch, perhaps it’s John Carradine, The Wizard of Mars!
May 25th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
It’s a beautiful spacious three bedroom stuco with a family room. fire place, and two and a half baths. Pool, fenced yard, plenty of privacy, yours for only….
May 26th, 2008 at 12:22 am
My kids were watching one of their shows when I told them I wanted to change the change to Discovery Science. At first they complained, as a 6 and 4 year old will do when you want to turn off Scooby Doo, but when I mentioned that I wanted to see the space ship land on Mars, their eyes lit up. “Mars! Thats where Digger is from!” Digger is a character from a series of toys called Planet Heroes. Phil had posted about them a couple months ago. They then started to rattle off some of the what they knew about Mars, some from the toys, and some from a lesson they had in school.
Anyway, they thought the computer simulation was the actually landing, and of course I saw no harm in them believing that, since it was more important for me to see them getting excited about this. When I started cheering after Phoenix landed, they started cheering along. Then, after about ten minutes, they went up stairs to watch the end of Scooby Doo.
My wife was disappointed we didn’t see pictures right away, but I told her we see them in a couple of hours. I am thrilled to see everything worked out. I think Nasa needed this.
More importantly, I am thrilled that at such a young age, my boys were excited about this. I hope this is just the beginning.
May 26th, 2008 at 12:32 am
The phoenix at arizona site is uploading duplicate pictures with different numbers
for some reason. here is an early list.
same
lg_347.jpg
lg_364.jpg
lg_386.jpg
lg_440.jpg
same
lg_371.jpg
lg_372.jpg
lg_406.jpg
May 26th, 2008 at 12:33 am
No. It’s obviously one of these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Luke-Treadwell_close_large.jpg
Search for water? Check.
May 26th, 2008 at 12:47 am
It’s Captain Black, preparing to destroy the lander so that the Mysterons can replicate it for their own purposes.
May 26th, 2008 at 12:56 am
some more duplicates
same
lg_346.jpg
lg_402.jpg
same
lg_392.jpg
lg_404.jpg
and similars yet different
lg_346.jpg
differ from
lg_392.jpg
and
lg_401.jpg and lg_403.jpg which differ from all
May 26th, 2008 at 1:06 am
What site is releasing the false colors?
May 26th, 2008 at 1:32 am
The dark object on the horizon, roughly proportioned at 1:4:9? I would say it’s origin and purpose are still a total mystery…
May 26th, 2008 at 1:43 am
Oh wow. Mysterious spot on the horizon! This is, like, so bleedin’ edge science.
.
.
.
Of course, if it’s bleedin’ edge, you’re holding that darn knife wrong!
May 26th, 2008 at 2:08 am
That’s not a Starbucks, it’s a Marsbucks, home of the best damn coffie in all of the inner solar system!
May 26th, 2008 at 2:12 am
Mima mounds on Mars?
http://hollowaypages.com/mima.htm
- Clark
May 26th, 2008 at 2:26 am
I wonder how much solar flux the Marshian Poles get on average….I’ll bet it can’t be a lot, so I figure that the rovers function on a very energy efficient system of telemetry, sensors, controls and motors. They are rovers, right?
May 26th, 2008 at 2:55 am
@ Aaron: Do I smell a “Lost” joke?
May 26th, 2008 at 3:00 am
[...] new Mars lander Phoenix touched down last night, everything seems to have worked well, scientists cheer about the first images – and what do I see: THERE ARE MOLES ON [...]
May 26th, 2008 at 3:31 am
I’ve allways wondered why the pictures taken from the surface of mars by the various interplanetary landers are allways in black and white and not taken in full colour?
May 26th, 2008 at 4:03 am
Here’s the enlarged version of that object.
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/4586/enlargedhorizonbumpjpgot8.jpg
May 26th, 2008 at 4:26 am
@Harold,
Obviously, it was censored to hide the cameraman’s shadow.
May 26th, 2008 at 4:45 am
Allynd Dudniko
Maybe the face on Mars has a pimple?
Looks like the planets are starting to reach puberty:
http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2008/05/22/jupiters-got-acne/
J/P=?
May 26th, 2008 at 5:23 am
Hurray for Phoenix!
May 26th, 2008 at 6:25 am
This is too cool! I’m a Mars junkie, so I’m rather like a little kid right now.
May 26th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Looks like a Bantha. Wait a minute, Sandpeople…
;-D
May 26th, 2008 at 6:49 am
I cooked up an anaglyphic 3D picture from the raw images. If you’ve got red/blue or red/green glasses give it a go (red over left eye).
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/kinetic-arts/3D_Mars/3D_lg_432.jpg
Come on NASA phoenix has a Left camera too!
May 26th, 2008 at 7:31 am
It’s obviously a lizard man who is using drinking water to mind control the President so he’ll follow the will of the illuminati! Also, the image is obviously of a faked moon landing staged in Area 51 by little aliens who will bring forth Nibiru on the equinox!
/tinfoil hat
May 26th, 2008 at 7:42 am
It’s clearly a Martian antenna.
In all seriousness though… Awesome news! That’s some pretty amazing work the NASA people did to make this happen.
May 26th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Good morning Mars!
May 26th, 2008 at 8:13 am
I’m no expert…at all. But:
Quantum Flux: No, Phoenix is not a rover. It’s designed to sit in one place and sample the area around itself. And when the solar angle gets too low to feed its solar panels, it will go to sleep. Maybe forever.
Matthew: My understanding of how these photos work is that they are all black and white. To get color photos you would use filters while taking photos, or take images sensitive to specific wavelengths, but these would also be “black-and-white” images – strings of digital ones and zeroes. Take three images through filters or at wavelengths that correspond to – is it blue, cyan, and magenta? – and combine them and you get a color image. (The Planetary Society blog suggested that this could be done with TWO images, so obviously my knowledge is stale.) The Viking landers had color calibration grids that allowed them to get the colors right – I believe the very first pictures released by Viking showed a blue sky, instead of the pinkish one that’s really there.
May 26th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Matthew: Courtesy of Emily’s Planetary Society Blog, here’s the link to the Texas A&M site about the camera:
http://www.met.tamu.edu/mars/
May 26th, 2008 at 8:31 am
I swear that looks like Jimmy Hoffa waving…
May 26th, 2008 at 9:04 am
it’s a Seazoria Dragon rock!
May 26th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Maybe it’s a big rock.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Here is a unofficial leaked photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unsmecher/2523192233/
May 26th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Here is an unofficial leaked photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unsmecher/2523192233/
May 26th, 2008 at 10:55 am
But where can I get a Jovian Sunspot?
May 26th, 2008 at 10:58 am
<– stocking up for a million-year picnic
May 26th, 2008 at 11:01 am
The bump on the horizon is probably some sort of bump on the horizon. Maybe a hill or large rock or something like that.
Yeah, I’m old…
May 26th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Have you considered the order of parsimonity in hypotheses of a tilted camera, probe, or photo cut?
And in fact the reported angle is one quarter of a degree, which is better than my own floors. I would hire NASA to build apartments, for sure.
My own slant (*OBA pun*) on this is that, if this high latitude/low altitude area was supposed to be an ancient sea bottom, it has passed a successful test. Let’s hope for more scientific returns, the probe willing.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:12 am
So, the Martians allowed this one to land . . . it’s all part of the conspiracy. I’ve stopped using fluoridated water, taken the plastic things off my shoelaces, and covered all my windows with aluminum foil.
But I still can’t stop Them from operating on Mars. Now I just need to discover if Phil is a shill for the conspiracy or just a dupe. . .
Oh wait, it’s conspiracy, so he could be both!
See how easy it is ?
/joke.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:14 am
My wife says she’s pretty sure that it is Jesus walking towards the camera…
Obviously, he got lost on the way back and was too proud to ask for directions…
Messiahs always thinkin’ they know where they goin’….
May 26th, 2008 at 11:27 am
It’s interesting to read how the cameras work. But I can’t help thinking it would have been nice to also have something basic like a “prosumer” level 12 Megapixel Digital SLR, with wide angle and telephoto options. Think Canon would have stepped forward with money?
May 26th, 2008 at 11:27 am
I believe you should be able to do poor artificial color photos by considering the spectral sensitivity of your detector, but I’m no expert. Of course if it is too flat in the wavelength range of interest, say our own color vision spectra, it will not work.
Combining two or more differently narrow filtered images would immensely improve on that, and three different ranges would probably be the minimum to meet our own eyes wavelength resolution. Now, I hear the awesome predators known as mantis shrimps (not really shrimps) have 16 different color photoreceptors, trinocular vision, and complete resolution of light polarization (orthogonal linear and circular).
Independently in each eye! Apparently polarization helps them resolve those pesky transparent sea creatures better when they hunt for their daily calamari.
Now that is some serious photo equipment, making it seem like NASA is doing this on the cheap.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Or if the considered landscape have too much different materials (light absorption). Different light conditions would be difficult but resolvable at a guess. (Well, all of this is a guess, of course.)
May 26th, 2008 at 11:41 am
As pointed out in the spanish blog Microsiervos we can follow the mission via Twitter if you don’t belive me check the first post Phoenix made today “I’m awake for my sol 1 duties. Have received commands from Earth and will spend the day carrying them out”.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:41 am
D’oh! Should have read the mantis shrimp thread more thoroughly. They mantis shrimps may also have polarization detection for the same reason we use polarization shades, they filter out reflexes. Shallow water abounds with reflexes, moving ones at that.
May 26th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I emailed the arizona.edu Phoenix lander people early this morning about the vertical white object on the horizon. Maybe they’ll respond in their FAQ section.
May 26th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
It looks like Omar Sharif to me.
May 26th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
In one of the latest color images, do the green patches in the upper left corner look odd? It may be the tool NASA or JPL used to colorize the grayscale photo is in error, but it looks like lichen to me. What do you think?
I’ve blogged about it here.
May 26th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Its the Statue of Liberty–Oh my God. I’m back. I’m home. All the time, it was… We finally really did it. ARRGH! You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell! Soylent Green is people!!
–err wrong conspiracy–
Never Mind!
May 26th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Oops. Messed up the first link. c00lest. space. photo. evar.
BA, can we PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZ get a Preview button?
May 26th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
It’s a rock…
Or an Ice Warrior :}
May 26th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
One of the coolest things about this picture…
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/230122main_false_color_postcard_edr.jpg
… (aside from the discarded front end of a Space Shuttle – or is that a Space Plane? – model visible in the center left) is the rock in the lower left corner. The one that looke like it’s just been dislodged from the hole that’s just above it!
Did Phoenix knock this rock out of its hole? Phreeeeeow! The excavation has begun! Maybe there’s a higher resolution view from earlier on that shows Martian ants and worms and pillbugs surrying for cover!
May 26th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
The white object has come up in the press conferences each time. They don’t know what it is, but they will be doing higher resolution images over the coming days.
May 27th, 2008 at 3:18 am
Cue conspiracy theorist round-table on the Communist News Network in 5…
May 27th, 2008 at 4:37 am
They spend billions of dollars to get it there but can only afford a black and white camera.
May 29th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
[...] blogs regarding real-time data streaming from the Martian Phoenix lander 100 million miles away right now. Just trying to get the hang of blogging, I don’t yet have the experience to play with the [...]
May 29th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
The nutters are already starting to blog about it:
http://pantherinternet.com/stovepipe.php
And even more leaked images:
http://terrafirmascapers.com/index.php/topic,24053.msg391790.html#msg391790
May 30th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Found a site that is all about Mars Anomaly Research: http://marsanomalyresearch.com/
They even look at one of the first images from Phoenix and “prove” NASA has doctored the pictures to remove objects from the sky, and has this little gem of a quote:
“I suspect that, what ever the Phoenix mission will ultimately reveal publicly, it is something that has been decided upon long before the Phoenix craft ever set sail for Mars and has nothing to do with what ever is really going on with Phoenix on Mars. If they are smart, they will at least make out like it is revealing the presence of water ice in the soil and, if they are smarter, they may even throw in a little microbial life to sweeten the pot and turn the corner. To do this, they can just bounce their desired processed data here on Earth off of the orbiting Mars satellite with the appropriate signatures and codes and no scientists here on Earth end receiving them will be the wiser.”
July 7th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
nznemioj
nznemioj