The Red Album
Mars’ foremost photographers pick their favorite images of their favorite planet.
- By airspacemag.com
- AirSpaceMag.com, November 18, 2008
NASA/ JPL-Caltech /Malin Space Science Systems
The Mars Color Imager (MARCI) camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquires daily global images of the planet and its weather patterns, which are then used to produce Mars weather reports. Movies made from the camera's images show Martian weather in motion (the numerous dark areas are the result of the spacecraft rolling to take images of the surface).
The circle at the bottom center of this image, which was taken in early November 2008, shows the location of the Spirit rover in Gusev Crater. To the south and west of this site are the white and rust-colored clouds of a dust storm that
was under way at the time. MARCI co-investigator Bruce Cantor of MSSS noted the coming storm and alerted the rover team just in time for them to change their operation plan to conserve battery power. Had MARCI not provided the forecast, Spirit might have lost too much power during the storm, and the mission might have ended that week.
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Comments (4)
Absolutely Amazing!
There's a lot to be said for intensity. I wish that we had more like him, especially in the NASA program design and management offices.
Posted by Miles Wade on November 23,2008 | 01:04 PM
Fantastic! There is no way anyone who views these can deny the existence of water somewhere on the planet. I still hope someday we will be able to get equally good photos from the other seven planets in our system but until then, I look forward to the day our explorers are setting foot on Mars!
Posted by John E. Truitt on December 30,2008 | 04:43 PM
I'm young, and interested in astronomy. When I read this, it makes me more interested. I think, better we share this with others so our next generation will love the nature
Posted by Steedward on March 11,2009 | 11:45 PM
I am an elementary art teacher. This year we are going space crazy. With Mars being closest to the Earth this summer than it will be for decades, I would love to know more about your work. My son is a gifted photographer who loves to go out in search of the perfect photo op, but I think Mars is the prize.
The galaxy like an artist's palette on a super sized scale.
Sincerely, Jan Alexander
Posted by Jan Alexander on June 4,2009 | 03:20 PM