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Mars update: Look before you leap
When NASA's Phoenix Mars spacecraft hurtled into the Red Planet's atmosphere on May 25, 2008, it was heading straight for the unknown. Fields of giant boulders threatened to destroy the Phoenix lander on touchdown. Orbiting high above the planet aboard the Mars Odyssey spacecraft is the Thremal Emissions Imaging System (THEMIS), a visible and infrared camera. THEMIS is operated by ASU planetary geologist Phil Christensen and his colleagues at ASU's Mars Spaceflight Facility. Images from THEMIS and other instruments helped to prevent an unhappy ending for the Phoenix lander. Scientists used the images to find a landing site that was relatively boulder-free.
The landing ellipse for Phoenix lies in what looks like a smooth, relatively rock-free area. This THEMIS mosaic was made in daytime visible light: Photo courtesy NASA/JPL/ASU
For more information and images, visit: http://themis.asu.edu/news-phoenix
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