Phoenix over Heimdall Crater, - a signature image in space exploration Options

[MarsEngineer]

Wow. I am glad that you all feel the same about this image as I do. (actually you may feel stronger about it ... I am simply way too biased)

Oersted, while being compared with Henri Cartier-Bresson would make my photo-loving wife laugh her head off ... the truth of the matter is a bizarre multistate photography session.

In Denver CO: the MRO team first points the UHF antenna (and camera by default)
In Pasadena CA: (in a final PHX EDL risk review) they casually mention that we really ought to click
In Pasadena CA: I frantically yell "CLICK!" (many meetings ensue to discuss risk - all the way to the east coast)
In Tucson AZ: the HiRISE team adjusts the exposure settings (via a new small sequence)
In Denver CO: the MRO team adjusts the pointing orientation and sets the camera to go "click" (a 50-something sec long click)
In Pasadena CA: We say GO!
Everywhere: Days later we discover what we where really taking a piicture of!

In addition to the great HiRISE team (did I mention I love HiRISE?), I had to thank the "can-do" MRO S/C team, and especially MRO's Jim Erickson who understood the technical importance (for fault reconstruction) and I (assume) also the potential historical importance. Also I stressed out some members of the PHX team (they were stressed as it was and I made them more worried we would be "breaking" something on the MRO side that was working).

One of the ironies is that in our presentation to upper management that stressed the fault reconstruction benefits (and balanced them against the risk of causing a loss of MRO Electra UHF open loop record data or worse) we did not talk about whether this image might have historical or "cool" importance ... we did not have to.

Thanks again all!

You all made my day!

-Rob Manning

[helvick]

I like the idea of making it a colour image but I agree with Emily - I'd prefer to see (far more) muted colours.

[GuyMac]

I've put together a new version of the descent image with inset using the higher-resolution versions. It is 4096x2038 and 5.1 MB.

Just re-did it at 16 bits per pixel to match the TIFFs, the file is now 7.4 MB.

[Tman]

Could that be the heat shield? It looks rounder and sharper than most of the other "spots".

http://www.greuti.ch/mro/phoenixheatshield.jpg

[ugordan]

Looks to me to be in the wrong direction. I'd expect it to be somewhere in the extension of the parachute-backshell line and somewhat downwards. This appears to be sideways too much and there are some other dark pixels like that in other places of the image.

Btw, GuyMac, I'm curious how you managed to produce such a nice enhanced color view of the chute, I was under the impression the source data was badly underexposed and noisy? Nice work!

[djellison]

I'd expect the heat shield to be below, and a little downrange (right) of the chute - that spot looks feasible to me - we're what, 20s after chute deploy, roughly 10s after heatshield jettison - it's not going to be a million miles away.

Doug

[tuvas]

The dot being the heat shield is a strong possibility, but the proof will only come when a HiRISE picture of the crater comes minus the lander. You are at least the 3rd person to independently suspect that that is indeed the heat shield though (myself included).

[ugordan]

I'd like to know more about the geometry of the observation and which direction relative to this image Phoenix was heading. Using the EDL HUD anim as reference, the stack was moving at a 45 degree angle downward so this image gives me the impression of Phoenix moving principally toward MRO. That's why the dark speck seems too far right to me, although I have to admit it does look conspicuous. I'm not totally convinced, a full resolution crop would probably show if this is an artefact of the sharpening process.

[stevelu]

I like the idea of making it a colour image but I agree with Emily - I'd prefer to see (far more) muted colours.

I'll have to cast another vote for muted colors. Ant103 -- your effort is much appreciated! But to be honest, if your first desaturated version was "one click" desaturated, I would say at least 3 or 4 clicks.

However, it sounds to me like somehow, by hook or crook, they will probably contrive some 'real' coloration for us at some point. So do as you will, we can easily enough desaturate our own

Shifting to the main topic, I agree with others: a stunning and historic image. I am waiting to see if TIME or Newsweek put it on their cover, but that is ephemera.

As one of the first posters in the thread observed, we have one of the truly iconic images of space here. Perhaps it will come to be seen as more than that, as some of the early space age images of the Earth did, this one iconic of the hope and wonder, the fragility and persistence, of humanity's dreams and aspirations as we move into the 21st century.

A deep thanks to all whose work, vision, and tense shoulders made this happen!

[dburt]

Quite so; and as I mention in the other thread
...After all, just show a full scale blow up of that, explain exactly what it is and what is going on, and then you can branch off to just about any aspect of science you want ...

Agree. What I especially like is what that georgeous image (and I prefer desaturated too) seems to say about why Phoenix was able to find a boulder-free area for its landing - that nearby crater didn't kick out any big rocks, because its target area apparently didn't contain any (or many). In terms of impact science, we might have visual confirmation of William K. Hartmann's contention (2003, A Traveler's Guide to Mars, p. 272) that "A cosmic impact into such weakly consolidated old materials may produce only a kablooey blast of steam and dust but no rocks shot into space" (made in relation to energy dissipation and the ages of martian meteorites found on Earth).

-- HDP Don

[Stu]

I kinda like these colours...



Hope you don't mind me playing about with your gorgeous original, Ant...

[Tman]

I'd like to know more about the geometry of the observation and which direction relative to this image Phoenix was heading. Using the EDL HUD anim as reference, the stack was moving at a 45 degree angle downward so this image gives me the impression of Phoenix moving principally toward MRO. That's why the dark speck seems too far right to me, although I have to admit it does look conspicuous. I'm not totally convinced, a full resolution crop would probably show if this is an artefact of the sharpening process.

There's an animation from the second briefing (min 2:50) that shows approximately the geometry of the observation (moving away to MRO path during the exposure) http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/...media/9247.html
Therefrom I'd expect too that the heat shield is a little right of the chute, which also corresponds with the final landing spots on the ground.

[ugordan]

My goofy whack at colorization here.

[imipak]

I kinda like these colours...

Mmmm, sepia. Yummy

[ahecht]

About the zoom box, I almost feel guilty nitpicking this image, but my only criticism is that the diagonal lines don't connect corresponding corners...

If you download the 25MB 4k image the lines are fixed.