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Mars Express Sends Back First Photo of Mars
Andrew Browne writes "Today the European Space Agency received the first photo of Mars from its Mars Express probe. The photo was taken on December 1st and processed by the DLR Institute for Planetary Research and by the Freie Universitat Berlin. Mars Express was launched June 2nd of this year and is due to arrive at the Red planet later this month. The extremely speedy voyage is thanks to our close approach to Mars this summer. Other probes taking advantage of the launch window include NASA's Spirit and Opportunity Mars Exploration Rovers. You can track the progress of all the probes heading to Mars with NASA's solar system simulator."
I hope the quality of the photos improves before they get there, this photo is very blurry, but still better that what I could do with a telescope from my back yard.
09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
Pale blue dot much. Wow the solar system simulator really puts things in perspective. Thank America and Russia's donations to the space industry, as well as Nazi-Germany for the work we bought from the V2, with the promise of immunity.
Or, maybe we could thank the Chinese and their contributions to the first explosions of inspiration. (heh)
Well, whatever If we can get to the NEARest planetary body and settle it MAYBE we can think about doing so to mars..... but I wouldn't hold my breath. Not until the acid rain falling periodically around the world actually starts eating through the oil rigs, and other foundations of "natural" resources we plunder the long dead veins of the earth for.
Not that currently there are any better options (most would require a larger research base, and battery style storage is not feasible as this damages the environment upon eventual disposal of said batteries.)
We'll have better chances only when a probe penetrates the ice crust of Europa.
As they imply they will show a new photo each day until Christmas (Advent Calendar of photos), I hope they will produce some false colour images from the OMEGA and SPICAM instruments.
THe first two both look like images from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), which do look cool but I would like to see some of the atmospheric and mineralogic data as maps.
Interesting article on the color of Mars.
ahhh... so they've woken the onboard pixie up then... just wish she could hold the camera a little steadier...
Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
The Law of Falling Bodies
The ESA has some restrictive terms of use. No reproduction for a fee, educational or informational use only, etc., and that's only for a low-resolution thumbnail gallery.
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NASA typically rescinds copyright and puts its images in the public domain, so everyone can use them, plus they usually release the best resolutions they can get.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueM
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/viewrec
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/
The good thing about that is that people can make posters, etc. without worrying about trying to sell them at or above cost.
http://www.cafeshops.com/redundant_blue
I think he was referring to the moon...
Does anyone else a face (upside down) on that picture?
...are yours except Europa. Attempt no landings there.
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglass
I figured he had been reduced to selling dime bags.
Well, considering that the picture was taken in a distance of 5.5 million km, by a spacecraft moving aproximatly 11-12 km pr sec. by a camera, which resolution could be maximum 20 megapixel, I think it's a rather good picture...
Have a nice day!