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."

Comments

Tiny ... very tiny.

[Oriumpor]

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.)

Re:Tiny ... very tiny.

[njchick]

The problem with the nearest planetary body (Venus) is that it's very hot and has a very thick atmosphere. For modern technology it's almost a black hole - you can get there, but you cannot get back.

Good chances to discover ET life in year 2004

[njchick]

The are good chances that the extraterrestrial life will be found in year 2004 if it exists in the Solar system. Mars will be inspected by three probes specifically designed to look for life. Also, Cassini will drop a probe on Titan, a moon of Saturn. It may not find bacteria, but if Titan is populated by macroscopic organisms, we'll know it in year 2004.

We'll have better chances only when a probe penetrates the ice crust of Europa.

Photo Types

[fven]

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.

The color of Mars

[Anonymous Coward]

Interesting article on the color of Mars.

Wakeup call...

[advocate_one]

ahhh... so they've woken the onboard pixie up then... just wish she could hold the camera a little steadier...

Licensing

[n.wegner]

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.

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/BlueMa rb le/
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/viewreco rd?58 26
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

Consider this

[*themotterfukker*]

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!