[X] My Assistant

[SFJCody]

Luna, Feb 3 1966


Luna 9 image first published by the Daily Express.

Mars, December 2 1971


Mars 3 fragment.

Venus, October 22 1975


The single Venera 9 pan.

Titan, January 14 2005


As seen by the DISR Side-Looking Imager.

[Mars 3 and Venera 9 images enhanced by Ted Stryk]

We await the arrivals of Hayabusa at asteroid (25143) Itokawa and Rosetta's Philae lander at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Bepi Colombo's Mercury Surface Element has been cancelled.

[tedstryk]

Although by Doug's criterion, that picture doesn't show the horizon

Also, I have difficulty giving the Europeans full credit on this. I mean, For Mars 3, Venera 9, and Luna 9, these were entirely Soviet efforts, from building to launch to receiving and relaying the data (except for Luna 9 which didn't need to be relayed). Viking 1, which gave us the first true view other than the first noisy 70 lines of an image at best from Mars 3 of the Martian surface, was U.S. launched and tracked and relayed. Huygens used a U.S. launch, a U.S. relay, a U.S. camera, and a U.S. recieving antenna on the ground. These items were also U.S. funded. I would have to give the credit as (ESA/NASA)