Comments on: Comm Glitch Resolved; New Raw Images from Phoenix

By: alphonso richardson

alphonso richardson — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:02:16 +0000

Everybody, big smiles

Oh. They can't see us from here.

bugger.

By: PrimaCausa

PrimaCausa — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:06:08 +0000

BadGuy: Not a dumb question at all. You see, full-color images contain much more information than black and white ones, i.e. the files are much larger. A tiny spacecraft like Phoenix cannot carry a transmitter powerful enough to send 24/7 color TV from Mars, so they had to come up with a way to send as much information as possible using the smallest bandwidth necessary.

By: BadGuy1981

BadGuy1981 — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:25:48 +0000

maybe this is a dumb question, but, do they just have a black and white camera onboard? why not a HD digital camcorder on a swiveling pole?

By: robbb

robbb — Thu, 29 May 2008 04:39:57 +0000

that overhead shot is going to be impressive when it's fully imaged.

By: Astrofiend

Astrofiend — Wed, 28 May 2008 23:52:23 +0000

The response of the calibration targets would have been characterised very thoroughly. They would have been subjected to a huge array of lighting conditions from many different angles and intensities. It is quite possible that they were subjected to monochromatic light varied over the entire spectral range to fully characterise their reflective properties.

I don't think it was just a case of snapping a few photos of them in the lab with the digi camera.

By: Skivee

Skivee — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:45:21 +0000

The whole point to having a calibration target is to have a known reference to start from. This will then provide clues to the color fidelity of the cameras and the true color of Martian sunlight.

By: Terragen

Terragen — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:21:38 +0000

Yes good point; the atmosphere of Mars would refract the sunlight and scatter it differently than on Earth, making it appear different to the human eye. Color and light are somewhat relative overall… even my two eyes see color slightly different; my right eye sees more red overall and my left more into the blue.

By: Myk Lester

Myk Lester — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:44:54 +0000

My interest in extra terrestrial observances has been further quenched, seeing pictures (as a child) of far off places always intregued me, here on Earth but to be seeing actual feeds from another planet three or four times in a life time has been more than exquisit, keep up the fantastic work, and may more success be in your stars

By: Al Hall

Al Hall — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:39:05 +0000

I think we should just go there and see for ourselves. Just to be sure. >>

By: Jason Leary

Jason Leary — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:25:31 +0000

Good question in regard to the different sorts of light .

By: Kevin White

Kevin White — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:32:25 +0000

Interesting. I wonder how the differing wavelengths of light falling on the calibration wheel itself on Mars will affect ITS perceived color? I.e., on Earth a calibration wheel would look different under sunlight, under an incandescent light bulb, under a fluorescent light bulb, under diffuse lighting vs. direct lighting, etc.

Glad that handshake worked out today.