Even better
Posted by Mr. Buracas on 2008-05-27
Even better than the last post, this one. It puts the Phoenix and parachute image in a bit of context. In this case, Heimdall Crater
To understand what’s going on, look at the box at the bottom left. It’s the magnified portion from the middle left part of the crater. On the larger photo, all you see is a speck of white, but that’s Phoenix
Click on the image to see it in full resolution.
It looks like Phoenix is headed for Heimdall, but really, it’s 20 km in front (towards the camera) of it. For a sense of scale, Hiemdall itself is ten km across, and the lander is 12 km above the surface. It just looks like it’s falling into the crater.
A little thing called parallax.
