MARS POLAR LANDER MISSION
Now that we know the outcome of the Mars Polar Lander we are all pretty disappointed.
On December 3rd, Mars Polar Lander and the Deep Space 2 Microprobes (Scott and Amundsen) will land somewhere in the picture shown here. This Mars Global Survyeor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) wide angle camera view of the polar landing ellipse was taken on November 28, 1999. Dark patches within the ellipse are sand and small fields of windblown sand dunes. The bright patches toward the top of the image are frost. It is late spring in this portion of the martian south polar region, and much of the winter frost has finally sublimed away. The ellipse center is located at 76°S 195°W. In this view, north is toward the bottom and sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower right. The image covers an area approximately 105 km (65 miles) wide by 335 km (210 miles) long.
Images credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
When you see what this area really looks where the Mars Polar Lander needs to decend to
You get an idea just how dangerous of a ride this is.
At this point we don't know what has happened to the MPL.
I can just see it tipped on its side, in that big hole right above in the top pic.
I hope my vision is from frustration.
This is such a nice picture of Mars and any white that you see is ice.
All the people who have worked so hard at NASA to make this a go deserves a cheer.
But if somebody goofed again, YOUR FIRED!!
This image shows Viking data of the landing corridor draped over the terrain. The landing corridor is approximately 225 km long. The topography in these images is vertically exaggerated.
On this image, the ellipse appears within a false color image produced by the MOLA instrument on board Mars Global Surveyor; it is the probable landing corridor for the Mars Polar Lander. The blue hues represent elevations lower than 2 km while red hues are higher than 2.8 km. The landing target elevation is approx 2.4 km relative to the mean height of the equator. NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
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Lizz Edwards, All Rights Reserved
Page Created: - Friday - December 3, 1999