microrobert
04-16-2013, 03:58 PM
Is This the Long-Lost Soviet Mars 3 Lander?
http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/blogs/dnews-files-2013-04-soviet-lander-mro-660-130415-jpg.jpg (http://news.discovery.com/space/history-of-space/photos-mars-rover-curiosity-hirise-edl-120807.htm)
On Dec. 2, 1971, the former Soviet Union racked up another space-first by landing a probe on the surface of Mars. The revelry was short-lived, however. Fourteen seconds after touch down, radio communications from the Mars 3 lander were cut off, possibly due to a raging dust storm.
Fast-forward 41 years and the first visible evidence of Mars 3 has re-emerged, courtesy of NASA’s sharp-eyed Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. A new analysis of a five-year old MRO image, coupled with a second shot taken on March 10, shows what appears to be the lander and three other pieces of Mars 3 hardware — the parachute, heat shield and landing rocket — on the planet’s surface.
Is This the Long-Lost Soviet Mars 3 Lander? : Discovery News (http://news.discovery.com/space/tantalizing-signs-of-soviet-era-mars-lander-found-by-nasa-probe-130415.htm)
http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/blogs/dnews-files-2013-04-soviet-lander-mro-660-130415-jpg.jpg (http://news.discovery.com/space/history-of-space/photos-mars-rover-curiosity-hirise-edl-120807.htm)
On Dec. 2, 1971, the former Soviet Union racked up another space-first by landing a probe on the surface of Mars. The revelry was short-lived, however. Fourteen seconds after touch down, radio communications from the Mars 3 lander were cut off, possibly due to a raging dust storm.
Fast-forward 41 years and the first visible evidence of Mars 3 has re-emerged, courtesy of NASA’s sharp-eyed Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. A new analysis of a five-year old MRO image, coupled with a second shot taken on March 10, shows what appears to be the lander and three other pieces of Mars 3 hardware — the parachute, heat shield and landing rocket — on the planet’s surface.
Is This the Long-Lost Soviet Mars 3 Lander? : Discovery News (http://news.discovery.com/space/tantalizing-signs-of-soviet-era-mars-lander-found-by-nasa-probe-130415.htm)