[X] My Assistant

[ljk4-1]

Jim Bell is coming out with a new book this November titled Postcards from Mars.

The details are here:

http://www.postcardsfrommarsbook.com

The book's subtitle, "The First Photographer on the Red Planet", has me wondering
how that will make all the previous Mars probes feel. Except maybe Mars 3 - there's
just nothing you can do with that image.

[djellison]

Oh - it's always going to be a judgement call based on personal taste...obviously I'm a big MER fan - I wasn't alive to experience Viking first hand, and I'm not trying to take anything away from their huge achievments - and I was just really getting online for Pathfinder, and loved that a huge ammount.

But I think Pancam is something a bit different - mainly because of the size of the pipe is had to send stuff back - they've been able to go "that'll look nice" and compose things from time to time...that first mosaic from Husband hill for example - http://pancam.astro.cornell.edu/pancam_ins...valley_new.html - or some of the sunset mosaics etc...they've been sequenced with an knowledge that they were making something stunning. Mobility helps as well.

MOC get's the same treatment

Take this - http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2006/05/31/ - stunning. Infact so is just about every single MOC image ever taken to be honest. BUT....I'd call that an image...

THESE, however...
http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/06/23/
http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/10_12_...98_olympus_rel/

THEY..are photographs

Now - to be honest, it's a fairly pointless differentiation, and it's objective, and differently so from person to person...but hey....a pretty picture's a pretty picture

Doug