Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Mars Hi-Res & Thermal Images Payoff

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the pretty-redness dept.

eldavojohn writes "The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter & Mars Odyssey Orbiter took high resolution images (and shots of each other) earlier this year and after studying them, experts believe that there are too many boulders around the proposed Phoenix Mars Lander landing site. From the article, 'At the end of January 2007, scientists will meet to see if there is an obvious choice for a landing site. If not, they will keep analyzing the data until summer 2007. They are comparing HiRISE's data with that taken by the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera on the Mars Odyssey orbiter. Since boulders hold heat better than soil or sand, they show up in THEMIS images taken early in the morning.'"

3 of 36 comments (clear)

  1. On the plus side by Shadow+Wrought · · Score: 2, Funny

    If it gets cold it can just use its phasers to heat a nearby boulder for warmth.

    --
    If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
  2. Intelligent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "experts believe that there are too many boulders around the proposed Phoenix Mars Lander landing site."

    Uh huh. It just happens to be by RANDOM CHANCE that there are too many boulders around the proposed landing site. Sure. I think that the chances of there being too many boulders is astronomically unlikely. Boulders require a "boulderer", as it were. This must be the result of Intelligent Geology. How else can you explain it?

  3. waste? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    billions of dollars and we now know: if we send something to land on mars, it may or may not land on rocks.