Scientist finds missing Mars rover?

[Madame Butterfly 0]

Scientist Spots What May Be Missing Mars Polar Lander

 

NASA Craft Vanished During a Landing Attempt on Red Planet Six Years Ago

By ALICIA CHANG, AP

 

 

 

NASA / AP

 

 

A NASA image may show the craft's parachute. A white dot labeled MPL a few hundred yards away could be the lander.

 

 

 

 

LOS ANGELES (May 6) - Nearly six years after NASA's Mars Polar Lander vanished during a landing attempt on the Red Planet, a scientist said he has spotted what appears to be wreckage of the spacecraft.

 

The observation came during a re-examination of grainy, black-and-white images taken by the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor, which searched for the probe with no success in 1999 and 2000.

 

''The observation of a single, small dot at the center of the disturbed location suggests that the vehicle remained more or less intact after its fall,'' wrote Michael Malin, president and chief scientist of San Diego-based Malin Space Science Systems, which operates the camera aboard Global Surveyor.

 

Malin makes his case in the July issue of Sky & Telescope magazine. A copy of his article was posted Thursday on the magazine's Web site.

 

Global Surveyor will take higher resolution images later this year in an attempt to confirm the missing lander's location.

 

''It looks intriguing,'' said Michael Meyer, the lead scientist for NASA's Mars Program. He said the images show just one possible location of the missing Polar Lander and more images are needed.

 

The $165 million Polar Lander was headed for touchdown near Mars' south pole on Dec. 3, 1999, when contact was lost. A NASA team concluded a rocket engine shut off prematurely, causing the spacecraft to plummet about 130 feet to almost certain destruction.

 

A re-examination of images of the surface of Mars taken after the Polar Lander's disappearance show a distinct white patch that could be a parachute. A few hundred meters away, scientists noted a dark area, possibly made from rocket blast marks, with a tiny white dot in the center that could be the lander.

 

The images pinpointing Polar Lander's possible location jibes with NASA's theory of the spacecraft's demise, Malin said.

 

Scientists at his firm decided to review the old Polar Lander images after last year's successful landings of the twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. The rovers used a combination of rockets, parachutes and air bags to cushion their landing.

 

The Polar Lander used a similar system during its unsuccessful approach.

 

Its disappearance was a blow to NASA, which had lost the lander's $125 million sibling spacecraft, the Mars Climate Orbiter, three months earlier. That spacecraft apparently burned up as it was about to enter orbit.

 

The lander and orbiter were designed to study and analyze Mars' atmosphere and search for signs of frozen water beneath its south pole.

 

 

05/06/05 07:56EDT

[A l t e r E g o 9]

 

 

As is usual with news from Mars something is fishy with the images and the story; why such poor resolution in them? MGS is able to do much better than that and why all the uncertainty over it being the craft? Is the area of the object near the planned touchdown site or not? I get tired of all the ambiguity from NASA; sometimes it seems as if Section 31 is pulling their strings.

 

EDIT: Here's PROOF MGS can do better, look; the freaking Rover is even visible! (big file)

Edited May 6, 2005 by Alterego

[Yillara Skye 1]

I can understand that some "cameras" are better than others, but like you showed us there is a clear shot and even when the live broadcast of the Sojourner's landing was done...even that was more clear than the images shown here. However.... the article states that.....

The observation came during a re-examination of grainy, black-and-white images taken by the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor, which searched for the probe with no success in 1999 and 2000.

Apparently I might be correct, the Global Surveyor might just contain one of those lesser cameras. And thinking that that lander shot may be using a newer camera... and the fact that where that image was shot from may make all the difference in the world. I am by no means saying that the image shared by AE is fake.. it is very real... I am saying that the source may be a camera/video feed other than the Global Surveyor. Keep in mind the images were taken 5 or 6 years ago, and of course the Surveyor had to be placed in orbit a couple years before that. That camera is probably about one that is standard of 1996. A camera shot today by a camera produced in say even 2002 could and possibly would provide a more clear precise image than the older one. Especially since digital imaging is taking precedence today.