Photo Shows Mars Rover Descent
A spectacular image of the Curiosity rover descending to the surface of Mars on its parachute has been obtained by an overflying satellite.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter played a key role in Monday’s (GMT) historic landing by recording telemetry from the robot as it approached the ground.
But Nasa also tasked it with trying to get a picture of the new arrival.
The remarkable feat repeats MRO’s effort in 2008 when it also managed to sight the incoming Phoenix lander.
MRO’s High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRise) camera captured the image of Curiosity while the orbiter was listening to transmissions from Curiosity.
“If HiRise took the image one second before or one second after, we probably would be looking at an empty Martian landscape,” said Sarah Milkovich, one of the scientists on HiRise.