[meteorite-list] Images from Mars on CNN!

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:31:57 2004
Message-ID: <200401041043.CAA22648_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

The images were being shown live on NASA TV, and some of the news agencies
were picking up the images from that. Here's one example:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/images/firstimage5_full.jpg

Only thumbnail images have been transmitted back thus far, and
the full-resolution images are still forthcoming. Nevertheless,
the thumbails have been combined into mosaics like the one
in the above image.

What's been accomplished so far has exceeded everyone's
expectations. All we really wanted on the first day was to
safely land. That's been achieved, and since the lander
landed base-petal down, we were able to get a headstart with
the communications. The bandwith relay through
through Mars Global Surveyor was better than
expected, so more data was transmitted back, including the
first surface images and the descent images. The navigation
team has already pinpointed the rover's position on
Mars to within a few kilometers.

The mission is off to an excellent start. Tomorrow,
health checks on all the instruments will start, and
more images will be sent back. The terrain looks
very flat in all directions around the rover, and the
tilt angle on the rover is only 2 degrees. It looks
to have landed in a dry lakebed, much to the delight
of the scientists. There are lots of rocks around, but not too
big, and not to closely grouped together, which should
make it easy for the rover to navigate around and
traverse long distances when it is ready to roll.

Ron Baalke
Received on Sun 04 Jan 2004 05:43:50 AM PST