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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.'"

10 of 36 comments (clear)

  1. this is good by xsalmon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I would prefer that they exercise careful scrutiny and second-guessing of their decision here. Considering how long it actually takes us to build, launch, and deploy these bots, I'd rather them take their time and get it right, rather than dropping it on the surface and then WTFing when they encounter an "unforseen problem".

    It's the Blizzard approach to NASA that is preferable :)

  2. Night shots? by Darlantan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Wouldn't it make more sense to take thermal image shots a little while after sundown instead? Doing in the morning strikes me as being less accurate, as depressions in the ground/shadowed spots will heat less quickly than other areas. At night, once the sun has gone down, soil should more or less cool at about the same rate. It seems like they'd get less false positives at night. Maybe I'm just crazy.

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    1. Re:Night shots? by SilentOneNCW · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'd generally trust NASA and its scientists on this one.

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    2. Re:Night shots? by camperdave · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'd guess it's much easier to pick up reflected heat than reflected cold.

      At sundown, the entire area will be at about the same temperature, having been heated all day. Picking up reflected infrared sunlight on the warm landscape doesn't leave for a lot of thermal variation. In the morning, however, all of the landscape is cool. Picking up reflected infrared sunlight against a cool background gives you a lot larger thermal contrast.

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    3. Re:Night shots? by Dolphinzilla · · Score: 3, Interesting

      based on my own experience, and a quick zoom in on the picture, the black signature of the boulders appears to be due to shadows cast by the boulders - not any kind of temperature differential.

  3. 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.

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  4. 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.

    1. Re:waste? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Scout missions are cost-capped at about $500M. Even with overruns, Phoenix will not cost billions.

  5. What would the martians do? by stunt_penguin · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Offtopic I know, but here's a flipside question that occurred to me when RTFA: if we were an alien species sending probes to land on Earth, where would we pick to land based on imagery of at the resolution we're getting back from Mars?

    And don't say here

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    1. Re:What would the martians do? by Viadd · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, since we know that Mars-like conditions are required for intelligent life, the most promising region is Chile's Atacama desert. There are places in this optimal region that can go for centuries without being bombarded by corrosive dihydrogen monoxide falling from the sky, as too often happens on other places on that desolate planet.

      It is rather hot, but not far beyond what some extremophiles face here on Mars.

      The dry valleys of Antarctica are also promising.