Phoenix Mars Lander: Caught on Camera
The Phoenix Mars Lander descended to the Red Planet on May 25, 2008, beginning roughly five months of digging in the dirt.
Along the way, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this astounding shot: Phoenix parachuting toward the frozen tundra of the Martian north pole.
Behind Phoenix (by about 12 miles) is the 6-mile-wide Heimdall Crater, which the robot did not land in -- thank goodness.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona - For a full-resolution image, click here.
