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

[ilbasso]

My first reaction on seeing Phoenix over the crater was to recall Alan Bean's excited shouts on Apollo 12, just after the LM pitched over for final approach: "There it is! There it is! Son of a gun! Right down the middle of the road!"

[dvandorn]

Yep -- except that was Pete Conrad yelling, not Al Bean.

-the other Doug

[Shaka]

My goofy whack at colorization here.

goofy? You're too modest, Gordo. I find your version both tasteful and serene. The one to hang in my living room above the sofa.

[Nix]

I messed around a bit in PS with the 'match color' function, and as a sourcefile a soil-only-crop of one of the full-colour press-release images. Fun

http://www.awalkonmars.com/PSP_008579_9020...6sx2038lweb.jpg (large res)

Nico

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[GuyMac]

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!

Well it's not color, but you're right, the original is under-exposed, very low signal to noise, like our AEB images. This version is reduced from the original by a factor of 5 instead of 10. So really, it's the averaging every 25 pixels into 1 that takes care of the noise. We will release everything once we can make our RED RDR product, which we think is days away (pointing kernels for this obs should be ready now).

Tim Parker earlier noted the spot that is mentioned and suggested that it could be the heat shield since it is darker than other spots, about in the right location and looks less jagged. We are planning a Heimdall observation upcoming (it will not be oblique however).

[ugordan]

LOL, yes I didn't mean color, it was a typo. I understand the S/N improved when you downsized the whole image, but I was actually commenting on the full resolution lander inset. It's light years ahead of the dark, original release. Maybe it's just due to the brighter background, I dunno.

It would be utterly cool if you were to find there's no corresponding dark spot in the Heimdall observation. This image just seems to have ways of getting better and better. Maybe we should be looking for fragments of the cruise stage somewhere in there as well

[Astro0]

OK, here's my version of the Heimdall image.
Colourisation and surrounding terrain added.
Removed the inset and actual vehicle.
Added a parachute and backshell taken from the EDL animation.

Two versions on offer...
Wide poster (larger version available on request)

Enjoy
Astro0

EDIT: WARNING! ARTIST@WORK - NOT SCIENTIST!

[Astro0]

And the desktop version.

Astro0

PS: There is a movie version on the way.

[Guest_Oersted_*]

Astro, sorry, thanks but no thanks! - I think it doesn't do the picture a favour to include a big image of Phoenix. I really like your black border in the original shot though.

What I'm envisioning is the original picture, a black border and then the Phoenix inset placed somewhere in the black border, maybe centered below the main image, and with some discreet indication in the black border of where to look for the lander in the main image. Basically, an inset that doesn't tamper with the original shot, but rather has a box somewhere outside the main image.

[helvick]

Agree 100% with Oersted on this - there is the potential for an absolutely breathtaking presentation of what is technically a unique image here provided we are careful enough to present the key features subtly enough.

I'm not being critical of anyone's work - I can't do this sort of thing at all - but I feel that there is a magnificent composition within reach here that nobody has quite reached yet.

[Astro0]

Sorry you didn't like it
It's an "artist's impression" after all.
Is this more satisfactory?


Astro0

Edit: Desktop-ified for lyford

[ElkGroveDan]

I liked it.

[tim53]

It would be utterly cool if you were to find there's no corresponding dark spot in the Heimdall observation. This image just seems to have ways of getting better and better. Maybe we should be looking for fragments of the cruise stage somewhere in there as well

Don't laugh! I actually think that's a good idea.

At the MPF site, there are several bright "flecks" spread over a few hundred meters around the proposed heatshield impact site (one of these was visible in the 'presidential pan' from the ground) that are puzzling. At first I thought, 'can't be the heatshield after all, because they're too far apart and if the heatshield were inclined to fall apart while descending, it would have done so first thing upon hitting the atmosphere'. So, I started to wonder if they were pieces of the Cruise Stage. Initially, Rob Manning was thinking that it should have burned up completely, but I think he now believes that some of it should make it to the ground (correct me if I'm wrong, Rob).

But lately I've been thinking that those flecks are instead pieces of the mylar insulation on the inside of the heatshield that were exposed to the wind after heatshield separation and tumbling. The bulk of the heathsield is identifiable - particularly when viewing the area in stereo - but there are a lot of big rocks at the MPF site and so we might not know for sure for a long time.

If the Cruise stage hit the atmosphere somewhere in the Heimdall HiRISE scene, perhaps the best chance of finding falling fragments would be to look for anomalously bright (or bluish, if there's color) pixels. But unless Rob has a pretty good idea of where it should be relative to the lander, it might be a ginormous task. Chances might be better around the landing site, provided it's not too far away.

I've been looking for remnants of the cruise stages for the MER rovers and MPF, but haven't found anything suspicious yet (with the exception of the bright flecks at MPF, that is).

-Tim.

[lyford]

Is this more satisfactory?

Hello new desktop!

[nprev]

Astro0, I like both the artist's impression (which you certainly are!) and the desktop...spectacular work as always, thank you!