Another HiRISE Stunner: The Full Descent Image

By Nancy Atkinson - May 27, 2008 at 2:32 PM UTC | Missions

I hope you're not tired of seeing HiRISE images of Phoenix, but this one shows the grandeur of Mars compared to the tininess of our spacecraft. Remember the close-up image of

Phoenix descending

to Mars' surface with its parachute? Well, the HiRISE folks were holding back on us. Above is the jaw-dropping full image, with the inset being the close-up of Phoenix! What an amazing vista, and our little Phoenix is just a tiny pixel or two in the entire image. That the imaging team found Phoenix in this photo is incredible. And no, Phoenix is not heading into the crater, as it appears. The lander is actually about 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) in front of the crater. This is just so amazing.

Tell me when you've had enough of these images, but I'm saying, "Keep 'em coming!"

I love HiRISE even more.

BTW, the crater is informally called "Heimdall," and is about 10 km (6 miles) wide.

JPL Phoenix News

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com