Schiaparelli's Crash Site Seen By NASA MRO Probe

Schiaparelli, was due to touch down on Mars Wednesday morning (Oct. 19).   However the lander stopped communicating with ESA mission control about 1 minute before its planned touchdown.

The lander's crash site was photographed by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and seemed to confirm what ExoMars team members had suspected — that Schiaparelli died a violent death.

It would appear that Schiaparelli dropped from a height of between 1.2 to 2.5 miles. This then would indicate that the lander impacted at a considerable speed, somewhere in excess of 186 mph.

It is also possible that the lander exploded on impact, as its thruster propellant tanks were likely still full.  those tanks were still full because Schiaparelli's data indicate that the lander didn't fire its descent-slowing thrusters nearly as long as it was supposed to, ESA officials said.

For more information please click  HERE 

http://www.space.com/34472-exomars-mars-lander-crash-site-photos.html

Schiaparelli's Crash Site Seen By NASA MRO Probe

Schiaparelli, was due to touch down on Mars Wednesday morning (Oct. 19).   However the lander stopped communicating with ESA mission control about 1 minute before its planned touchdown.

The lander's crash site was photographed by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and seemed to confirm what ExoMars team members had suspected — that Schiaparelli died a violent death.

It would appear that Schiaparelli dropped from a height of between 1.2 to 2.5 miles. This then would indicate that the lander impacted at a considerable speed, somewhere in excess of 186 mph.

It is also possible that the lander exploded on impact, as its thruster propellant tanks were likely still full.  those tanks were still full because Schiaparelli's data indicate that the lander didn't fire its descent-slowing thrusters nearly as long as it was supposed to, ESA officials said.

For more information please click  HERE 

http://www.space.com/34472-exomars-mars-lander-crash-site-photos.html

Curiosity Flappin in the Wind?

Well its' parachute is at least. From the Discovery.com article:

• Shortly after Curiosities landing, NASA’s orbiting Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter managed to photograph not only the parachute, but also the backshell, heat shield, skycrane and counterweights.
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Now the team is using the HiRISE high resolution imaging system to take photos of the same area over a five month period.  What the series shows, that even though the Martian atmosphere is thin, 100 times thinner than Earth's, large surfaces such as the huge areo-braking parachute can still be reacted on if light enough.  

The biggest changes seem to take place from September 8th 2012 and November 30th  of the same year.  During this three month period the rover's discarded 'chute became much less reflective then became more so indicating that at least part of the structure was being moved and flapped by the Martian breeze.      

Full Discovery News article HERE                                                                                                  

Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter Catches Curiosity In Mid-Air!

Wow, after the hugely exciting landing Monday morning of the Mars Rover Curiosity and the first three pictures from the lander, I didn't think that could be upstaged even for a second....Well, let me take those words back because according to an NBC.Com photo posted from NASA, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that wowed the crowd this morning with an incredible picture of the rover at the end of its parachute, six minutes into the seven minute landing maneuver, still under the 'chute!

It would seem that this was not all by chance however....again according to the article:

• The orbiter's imaging team had planned the shot for months, and the payoff came when MRO snapped the picture from a distance of 211 miles. (The photo shows) Curiosity was about 2 miles above the Martian surface, still protected inside its Mars Science Laboratory back shell and heat shield.

The timing was so critical that if the photo had been taken one second before or after this one was snapped, there would have been nothing in the frame! Even more surprising is that HiRise controllers had to upload commands to the spacecraft about 72 hours prior to the image being taken!

I can remember the Curiosity controllers describing where the orbiters were in relationship to the rover and that any pictures being taken or data being transferred would have to deal with crafts at high angles and very close to the horizon. In any case, the MRO stands tall even in the big shadow cast by the arrival of Curiosity.

For those that are interested -  the resolution for the photo is a bit over 13 inches per pixel.  (Not bad, I will take that!)

Orbiter's close-ups of Martian moon Phobos

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter used its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera to take the sharpest images ever of the Martian moon Phobos. This image, taken about 4,200 miles from the moon, shows an area of about 13 miles wide. The most prominent feature on the moon is the Stickney crater (right) which is about 5.6 miles in diameter. Scientists believe that the bluish area on the edge of the Stickney crater indicates a younger area of the moon.

click on article title for more pictures