Explanation:
If you could stand on Mars, what would you see?
The robotic
Phoenix spacecraft that just
landed on Mars in May recorded the
above spectacular panorama.
The above image
is actually a digital combination of over 100 camera pointings and
surveys fully 360 degrees around the busy robotic laboratory.
Clicking
on the horizontally compressed image above will bring up the extra-wide
uncompressed version.
Visible in the image foreground are circular
solar panels,
various Phoenix instruments,
rust colored rocks, a
trench dug by Phoenix to probe Mars' chemical composition,
a vast plateau of dirt and dirt-covered ice, and, far in the distance,
the dust colored atmosphere of Mars.
Phoenix landed in the far north of Mars and has been using its
sophisticated
laboratory to search for signs that past life might have been possible.
Recent soil analyses have confirmed the
presence of ice, but gave
conflicting indications
of unexpected
perchlorate salts.
Whether perchlorates exist on Mars is now being aggressively researched, as well as what effects
perchlorates
might have had on the past development of life.
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