More fabulous pictures - From Above and Below

Two more amazing pics from Mars.

This is the shadow of the instrument and optic mast.












And this is a shot of the Phoenix descending to the surface of Mars,
courtesy of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.


From NASA:

NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander can be seen parachuting down to Mars, in this image captured by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This is the first time that a spacecraft has imaged the final descent of another spacecraft onto a planetary body.

From a distance of about 310 kilometers (193 miles) above the surface of the Red Planet, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter pointed its HiRISE obliquely toward Phoenix shortly after it opened its parachute while descending through the Martian atmosphere. The image reveals an apparent 10-meter-wide (30-foot-wide) parachute fully inflated. The bright pixels below the parachute show a dangling Phoenix. The image faintly detects the chords attaching the backshell and parachute. The surroundings look dark, but correspond to the fully illuminated Martian surface, which is much darker than the parachute and backshell.


The first time one spacecraft has photographed another during descent around another planet.

Fantastic.

Photos courtesy of NASA - the future soon doesn't have a robotic space fleet... yet.