Search for the lost Mars Polar Lander -- in 3-D
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Resilient patches of spring ice create psychedelic designs
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By Richard Stenger CNN.com Writer
(CNN) -- Mars enthusiasts can comb through thousands of new
satellite pictures of the red planet, including stereoscopic
images of the region where a NASA probe mysteriously disappeared
almost two years ago.
More than 30,000 images taken by the Mars Global Surveyor were
posted online this week, most of them of the southern hemisphere
as it warmed into spring.
One place the orbiting spacecraft trained its lens on was the Mars
Polar Lander site, both before and after the landing in an
attempt to learn what happened to the robot ship, which disappeared
moments before touching down near the southern pole on December
3.
The search was unsuccessful; hardly surprising since the Surveyor
camera was not designed to see objects the size of the lander,
which was smaller than a Volkswagen Beetle.
But the hunt resulted in some cool three-dimensional images.
Surveyor snapped overlapping images of numerous locations from
different angles while looking for the lander, allowing the NASA
imaging team to produce stereo pictures. They are
viewable with red-blue "3-D" glasses, red filter over left
eye, blue over right, similar to the ones that bring old 3-D
movies to life.
Besides scanning for the lost robot ship, Surveyor documented the dazzling transformation of the martian south from winter to summer.
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Can you find the polar lander? Click to enlarge and put on some 3-D specs
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In Planum Australe, the plains of the south, patches of frost
linger in colder places while turning directly into gas in warmer
ones. The contrast leaves an almost psychedelic pattern.
The new pictures, snapped between September 1999 and February
2000, more than double the number of Surveyor images available on
the Internet. The satellite has orbited Mars for three years and
systematically mapped the planet since March 1999.
To view a sample or browse the entire collection, visit the Web
site of Malin Space Science Systems, which operates the Surveyor
camera in conjunction with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Don't forget the 3-D glasses to look for the lander. Maybe the
mission managers overlooked something.
RELATED STORIES:
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May 15, 2000
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March 28, 2000
Mars lander eludes searchers on Earth
February 8, 2000
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RELATED SITES:
NASA
Mars Polar Lander
Mars Global Surveyor
Malin Space Science Systems
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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