This photo is meant to be a "teaser". It did not reproduce well from the website
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu , which I urge you to visit to see much more.
This is one of the first photos taken by the Mars Phoenix Lander Mission. It was taken at the equivalent of 2:00 in the afternoon of the first Mars solar day after landing. These are powerful images despite what they lack in detail. Very few stop to think what it takes to get this image, and what it means to view it.
The lander flew half a billion miles in nine months to land so softly on the surface that it barely kicked up any dust! Cameras already in orbit around the planet actually photographed it's parachute opening up. To me, this is the most incredible engineering of mankind, but it's amazing how few really appreciate what has been accomplished with this and other NASA projects.
We sit at the computer and look out across the dusty plain of Mars. Rocks, boulders, dust storms and gullies. Long shadows cast by the same sun which warms my palm when I hold my hand up to it on a summer day. Think about it.
There's only one nation doing this. All others are very far behind. Let us never relinquish that status like we have so many other things. And let us never stop reaching further than any other.
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