Object in Phoenix Lander gets scientists’ attention
posted at 12:45 pm on May 28, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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On Monday, I pointed out a strange feature on the image of Mars’ horizon in the first pictures to get sent back to Earth from the Mars Phoenix Lander. Some dismissed it as an anomaly in the digital photography, but it has appeared on several pictures now. The unusual shape has some researchers very curious:
Here is the picture from Monday:
It’s almost certainly a rock, but Mars doesn’t have many with that luminosity and that shape. Everything else in the view of Phoenix looks dust-covered and relatively small. Its unusual appearance makes it stand out from everything else in the rather bleak landscape.
So what do you think it is? A message from Future Mars? Or a portal to Past Mars? Or just a cool-looking rock that will eventually get used by Hollywood for even less-intelligent fare?
Update: John discovers what the object is, and is thankful that there are snacks on Mars.
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Indy, wasteful research has been around… well forever. You have to experiment to make things work better. Was it wasteful that men (surgeons) took dead bodies off the streets and cut into them to learn more and why these people were dying?
Is it wasteful for people to take oil and see how it can be used other then a fuel back in the 40’s-50’s? We wouldn’t have plastic if that were the case.
Some things are accidents, as others are trial and error. And it costs… your time or money, it will always cost.
upinak on May 28, 2008 at 2:22 PM
Oh no.
It can’t be.
The %^&U*I Ronulans have even put graffiti up on Mars. As if every overpass and rusted car on the side of the road weren’t enough for them, now they’ve gone to new planets.
Guys, he lost. Get over it.
ChePibe on May 28, 2008 at 2:22 PM
All what you mentioned happened on Earth.
Indy Conservative on May 28, 2008 at 2:24 PM
I left Tang out because I knew that was a lie, but I read somewhere velcro was a nasa thing, to hold down items. Opps… not the first time I have been wrong or read wrong info. Thanks!
upinak on May 28, 2008 at 2:24 PM
It’s obviously a signpost left behind by Xenu.
Travis Bickle on May 28, 2008 at 2:25 PM
Hell, if it wasn’t for NASA, life today would be much different. And not for the good. And what is wrong with exploring the universe? When a people stop expanding and exploring, then they are dead.
thekingtut on May 28, 2008 at 2:25 PM
You people that are arguing against NASA..
Why don’t you check out what NASA has contribute too
http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/nasacity/landing.htm
msipes on May 28, 2008 at 2:26 PM
All what you mentioned happened on Earth.
Even rockets for the Military, we don’t need to explore Space for it.
Indy Conservative on May 28, 2008 at 2:26 PM
It’s a commie flag from the soviet era. I guarantee you that spectographic filtering would reveal a hammer and sicle against a red background. The bastards beat us.
jeff_from_mpls on May 28, 2008 at 2:26 PM
Duh, it’s Starbucks.
Or a Crystal Skull.
juanito on May 28, 2008 at 2:26 PM
Indy, Earth is not the center of the Universe. As God is not in the Clouds.
upinak on May 28, 2008 at 2:27 PM
It’s a broken bat from Chipper Jones.
faraway on May 28, 2008 at 2:29 PM
We haven’t explore ourselves here on Earth.
We haven’t made our life better in terms of relationships and day-to-day necessities.
We have Earth, why not spending our energy to better it and ourselves?
Enough fooling around, enough playing.
We saw what’s up there. And there is nothing.
Now back to Earth.
Now back to the real world.
Indy Conservative on May 28, 2008 at 2:29 PM
I have a similar motto, except instead of expanding and exploring it says drinking.
jeff_from_mpls on May 28, 2008 at 2:30 PM
And no, I’m not the Pope or Mother Teresa.
Indy Conservative on May 28, 2008 at 2:31 PM
Interesting theory.
Then I should have died long time ago because I don’t believe in Space exploration.
Indy Conservative on May 28, 2008 at 2:34 PM
Wait – on second thought…
It’s someone sneeking in, someone undocumented. Our virtual fence extends across the solar system – Phoenix is just one of many components.
Just doing the work that Martians won’t do.
juanito on May 28, 2008 at 2:36 PM
It’s the vent for the septic system.
Rod on May 28, 2008 at 2:39 PM
never said you were Indy.
But I will gather by the time I am done on this earth, we will be on the moon, possibly another planet. You never know.
upinak on May 28, 2008 at 2:39 PM
Okay, everybody, Indy has spoken! No one’s allowed to do anything THEY want to do until everything on HIS list is done!
/SARC
Indy, your “argument” is an argument against EVERYTHING!!! “If we don’t have ideal relationships and world peace…” you shouldn’t do other things?
How do you sleep while people are IN STRIFE! OH NOES!!!
Keep going, Indy, you’re eminently mockable and people need the entertainment (while they suffer because billions are wasted on exploring space!).
With regards to the “object,” it could be something really interesting… or not. Wild speculation is kind of human nature, however.
Merovign on May 28, 2008 at 2:40 PM
vonspringer on May 28, 2008 at 2:43 PM
Space exploration is good…maybe we’ll find more oil!
WisCon on May 28, 2008 at 2:44 PM
Rod Serling would know what it is.
infidel4life on May 28, 2008 at 2:45 PM
There is no life outside Earth.
Not for Humans, not for Aliens.
I firmly believe it.
Indy Conservative on May 28, 2008 at 2:45 PM
Well, you’re kinda correct, actually. NASA DID help popularize the “fabric”. The inventor had no luck selling his new “velour crochet” material until NASA came along and needed something to fasten stuff. So, if NASA didn’t stumble upon it, the material would probably have been lost to the world.
I like Tang. I was crushed when I found out that it was a gimmick.
robblefarian on May 28, 2008 at 2:49 PM
Everyone knows that NASA’s money should be going to grants to prove that there really is man-made global warming.
jukin on May 28, 2008 at 2:49 PM
It’s the real North Pole, silly people. Santa is a Clever Claus.
hillbillyjim on May 28, 2008 at 2:50 PM
It’s ET’s finger. Mars is a tough place.
Hening on May 28, 2008 at 2:50 PM
Why not putting our house in order before wasting our energy, money and time millions/billions of miles away?
Indy Conservative on May 28, 2008 at 2:50 PM
Tell us about how the moon landings are a hoax, Indy!
/headshake
Merovign on May 28, 2008 at 2:52 PM
He must have been watching late night movies and seen, “Capricorn One”.
kcd on May 28, 2008 at 2:57 PM
Because the house WILL NEVER BE IN ORDER, Indy.
Perfection is not achieved. Waiting for perfection to be achieved will cost you all the time you have.
Whereas if a big ugly rock splits the planet in half while we’re playing around in the sandbox instead of colonizing elsewhere, IT’S ALL OVER. Survival is the best reason for space exploration.
Merovign on May 28, 2008 at 2:58 PM
Hey Indy, seroiusly, would you feel differently if sa tomorrow the announced that Nasa scientists found a cure for cancer?
kcd on May 28, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Or, say a cure for my terrible typing?
kcd on May 28, 2008 at 3:01 PM
Indy have you ever thought that we would eventually need to mine for items that our world may or maynot be able to produce anymore?
This awesome lander will probably also be looking at the geological aspects of the planet as well. Soil testing is done all over our Earth, why not test other planets as well.
But what if we could find a better way to make Iron harder then just the aluminum we have to mine? Or the fact that It may have a mineral that Earth does not have and could very much use here as an alternative to … whatever!
That is my take on this. Something good beside finding “Life” or what could have been life. What I think is funny is that you test meteorites and come up with unusual carbon filiments that are not know or seen here on our planet, but are to small a scale to do much with…. what if they are on Mars or Uranus (no pun intended) and could make something wonderful.
Life isn’t about “LIFE”, sometimes it is what we can do to make Life here on our own little world a better place.
upinak on May 28, 2008 at 3:04 PM
To all of the Flat Earth people, yes, this means you IndyCon, Carl Sagan said it best.
“Civilizations become either spacefaring or extinct.”
“At the heart of science is an essential tension between two seemingly contradictory attitudes — an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive they may be, and the most ruthless skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new. This is how deep truths are winnowed from deep nonsense.”
bcre8v on May 28, 2008 at 3:06 PM
It’s obviously Gumby.
fogw on May 28, 2008 at 3:09 PM
I’m pretty sure it’s one of the ribs from the heat shield which was jettisoned before the retro rockets were fired.
10 to 1 says it’s an artifact of the probe’s own creation and not something Martian.
After they fix the UHF antenna problem (for stereo and hi-res photos) and bring the orbiting probe closer to the surface for relay and survey of the site, I expect we’ll see numerous pieces of debris surrounding Phoenix’s landing zone.
–Jason
Jason Coleman on May 28, 2008 at 3:11 PM
It’s the monolith from “2001 A Space Odyssey”. Arthur C. Clarke is out there chuckling at us.
kurtzz3 on May 28, 2008 at 3:13 PM
OMG, Wal-Mart made it out there already?
Sekhmet on May 28, 2008 at 3:20 PM
It’s the speaker pole from the last Martian McDonald’s drive in, the last remnant of their once-proud civilization.
It was trans-fat that did in the planet….
irishspy on May 28, 2008 at 3:26 PM
Come on, everyone knows that Velcro came from T’Pol’s grandmother who was stuck on earth for awhile in the 50’s!
I mean, I saw in on Enterprise, so it MUST be true!
Romeo13 on May 28, 2008 at 3:27 PM
It’s a thermal vent from the underground Matrian civilization of miniature people!
stonemeister on May 28, 2008 at 3:30 PM
If it’s a sandworm, I want some friggin’ melange, RIGHT NOW!
misterpeasea on May 28, 2008 at 3:36 PM
It’s a polar bear that had to migrate because we drove SUVs on this planet and shrunk it’s habitat… and somehow caused its population to increase from 5,000 to 25,000 in a few decades. It was simply a matter of Earth being overpopulated by polar bears, so this guy sought out unchartered territory. Hey Knut!
RightWinged on May 28, 2008 at 3:36 PM
Seriously though, has anyone theorized that it could just be something like the heat shield or the parachute?
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/images/press/PSP_008591_2485_RGB_Lander-str.html
RightWinged on May 28, 2008 at 3:37 PM
Uh. Evita? Yes we have.
misterpeasea on May 28, 2008 at 3:38 PM
Martian pole dancing…alright!
right2bright on May 28, 2008 at 3:41 PM
Ron Paul sign, you can tell because the name is misspelled.
right2bright on May 28, 2008 at 3:43 PM
(you can also find the full resolution version of that image at that first link via a link on that page if you want)
And to follow up, here’s a larger, full resolution image of the “white thing” :
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/230114main_S_000EFF_CYL_SR10CA8_R888M3_8868.jpg
RightWinged on May 28, 2008 at 3:44 PM
I guess we’ll just have to send up another rover to find out what it is because, apparently, this one can’t drive the 400 feet for a better look. We’ve got a couple of dozens of those babies criss-crossing the planet. Surely, one of them can get a better image.
slug on May 28, 2008 at 3:44 PM
Why do you think I wear those wrap around sunglasses?
Limerick on May 28, 2008 at 3:45 PM
You EVIL Conservative type person!!! Don’t you know that that many Rover/SUVs would cause Global Climate Change!!!
REPENT SINNER!
Romeo13 on May 28, 2008 at 3:50 PM
After the last two NASA threads it is pretty obvious that the NoNASA crowd closely aligns with the NoMac crowd. Not complaining, but it seems it all boils down to the tax-me-never argument. I have no problem paying for NASA as I believe the benefits outweigh the cost. Others see it as just another reason to throw a tea party.
Limerick on May 28, 2008 at 3:51 PM
Remember the 1/4 sized X-wing fighter that guy built and launched? A week later there was a spoof on Utube showing why it blew up?
I can’t wait for the Utube spoof on this one.
csdeven on May 28, 2008 at 3:59 PM
Wow, talk about a stretch and weird political attack…
I’m VERY PRO NASA…
and very anti McCain…
One vocal member having these two positions should not be used to tar the rest of us.
Romeo13 on May 28, 2008 at 4:04 PM
Yeah, you’re right. My bad. I’m off to tell the wifey to beat me severely about the head and shoulders (she believes tax is just another name for Lucifer!).
Limerick on May 28, 2008 at 4:08 PM
It’s a Pepsi Can. /Enemy Mine
- The Cat
MirCat on May 28, 2008 at 4:08 PM
Should have included this link.
This is what the crop circles are all about…
right2bright on May 28, 2008 at 4:12 PM
Oh, no problem, I know its not your fault… its the fault of the evil Cosmic Mind control ray thats being beamed at us from that evvviiilllll NASA!
/takes off his tinfoil hat…
Romeo13 on May 28, 2008 at 4:15 PM
If it was anything earth-shattering, it would have been photoshopped out before release. Since it`s so obscure, let `em see it.
ThePrez on May 28, 2008 at 4:20 PM
Not just that, but it’s already known – thanks to space exploration – that the moon is a potentially fantastic source of safe, clean energy in the form of helium 3, once we figure out a way to cost-effectively mine and transport it. The space elevator concept is one possibility being developed right now.
Rosmerta on May 28, 2008 at 4:22 PM
One day we’ll be confronted by a species extinction event (similar to what happened to the dinosaurs), and we’ll have WISHED we spent more money on space.
The Chinese are pursuing it, Russia had a programme. Why? Because they know that it is a boon to technology overall and huge military benefits fall out of it. Won’t it be great if the only country to have a lunar base and survive an extinction event were the Chi-coms? Democracy and Republicanism will be burned to a crisp along with all of us and Communism of all things, would survive.
Never understood people like you Indy; America is the powerhouse it is because it has a great capitalistic system and because it pushes the boundaries of discovery and science. As I mentioned in a previous thread, NASA and space exploration have improved our understanding and technology in computers, materials science, medicine. Think about it; NASA had to hurl 3 men to a foreign body and bring them back ALIVE and provide all the basic necessities for them in space; water, waste, food, air. They did this across a vacuum 235,000 miles away.
There is no room for error in such an endeavour. On return, the capsule has to be oriented properly or it will burn up or bounce off our atmosphere; the Saturn V had to generate 7,648,000 foot pounds of thrust in order to launch our men and supplies out of our atmosphere and on their journey, and the liftoff – the release of the arms and hoses – has to be precise or 2000 metric tonnes of fuel could create a fireball that looks like the sun. So many things had to be designed from scratch; from the F-1 engines to the fuel delivery system. There are millions of parts in a Saturn 5 rocket; it is fully 1/3 the height of the Twin Towers when they stood.
Do you have ANY idea the precision and effort that had to go in to this project? How much we learned in materials engineering, aerodynamics, electronics, telemetry, life support systems, combustion, communications, insulation… the list is nearly endless. If you can’t appreciate how magnificent an undertaking this was, that a 100% success rate in rocketry is unheard of, and that so many fallouts resulted from the new technology that had to be devised to perform this Herculean feat… you’re a jackanape.
Humans do best when they are given opportunities for greatness, for success, for performing a feat or act that outlives them. It channels our energies and creativity and can be a source of collective pride and a boon to our condition and the space programme does just that.
linlithgow on May 28, 2008 at 4:31 PM
What happened over what period of time?
Yeah, tell the families of these heroes.
No, but I am sure you do…
Wait, now your a biologist…or animal behavior expert.
Hey, guess what, the greatest advances in orthopedic surgery came from getting the professional athletes back on the field to play. All of those great advances in arthroscopic surgery wasn’t to heal you, it was to help running backs fulfill their contracts.
So more injuries on the field, more football, basketball injuries. More professional sports teams, more heart attacks.
After a few more deaths, we can all dance and rejoice in finding a rock on mars that has water.
right2bright on May 28, 2008 at 4:46 PM
I bet they wish they’d put wheels on it now. Heh.
ronsfi on May 28, 2008 at 5:00 PM
come on right… as I told indy:
Right now we are fighting over Oil. Soon we could be fighting over consumable water. Next we could be fighting over the Antarctic for … water and oil as well as the next mining adventure.
As I said before… You never know. The next best thing could be mining on mars for our “Silocone” due to the chemistry and compostion of the ore there to replace the joints in our legs… that would be better then titanium! You will never know!
upinak on May 28, 2008 at 5:04 PM
Whatever it is, someone from Barack’s family left it there.
MT on May 28, 2008 at 5:05 PM
It’s the monolith!
PattyJ on May 28, 2008 at 5:08 PM
It beams a signal to Jupiter that we’ve arrived.
Tip of the hat to Arthur C. Clarke.
viking01 on May 28, 2008 at 5:17 PM
Maybe its the Mars Polar Lander we lost a few years back and never found…
Hendo on May 28, 2008 at 5:18 PM
Hadn’t read the earlier posts before submitting mine. Glad to see several others remembering 2001.
viking01 on May 28, 2008 at 5:19 PM
I think I may have made the first one… but Allah may not of appreciated the “Hello” part. :P
upinak on May 28, 2008 at 5:23 PM
I don’t remember who said it, but it goes something like:
“The first great empires like Persia and Rome ruled by the power of their great armies. The next superpowers, Britain and Spain, ruled by their great naval abilities. The USA and Soviets next dominated the world because they dominated the air. Space is the next frontier – whoever masters this domain will be the next great superpower.”
innominatus on May 28, 2008 at 5:24 PM
You bastard.
mikeyboss on May 28, 2008 at 5:26 PM
Original site of what would later be known as Stonehedge!?!
PappaMac on May 28, 2008 at 5:33 PM
dude, its a Chupacabra. Tell me I’m wrong.
The coolest pic ever taken on Mars, is this one of Sunset over Gusev Crater.
I dont know why but i find this to be one of the most arresting pictures ever taken. Prolly coz it looks like it might have been snapped in Utah or New Mexico.
Mike D. on May 28, 2008 at 5:35 PM
It may be the infamous “ten foot pole”.
faraway on May 28, 2008 at 5:36 PM
Holy Lance?
faraway on May 28, 2008 at 5:38 PM
Seriously, no one has any response to my suggestion?
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/05/28/object-in-phoenix-lander-gets-scientists-attention/comment-page-2/#comment-1151927
RightWinged on May 28, 2008 at 5:41 PM
Here….
Best image yet of the lander and debris on surface
looks like the parachute/heat shield might be the culprit…
Lander from orbit
Limerick on May 28, 2008 at 5:45 PM
Where is Richard C. Hoagland when we need him?
indythinker on May 28, 2008 at 5:49 PM
I’m sticking with the alien rectal probe theory, thank you.
stonemeister on May 28, 2008 at 5:52 PM
Wait. Maybe it’s Excalibur.
indythinker on May 28, 2008 at 5:53 PM
I think that is still at the bottom of that lake with the crazy lady.
Limerick on May 28, 2008 at 5:54 PM
It’s probably just a plastic bag from Target.
crosspatch on May 28, 2008 at 5:55 PM
It’s OJ’s wife’s killer.
faraway on May 28, 2008 at 5:57 PM
Carbon Creek, episode 27. A good one.
Zorro on May 28, 2008 at 5:58 PM
Its a rip in the seam of the faux horizon backdrop. Its a shame a stagehand didn’t notice it before they started taking the pictures.
AverageJoe on May 28, 2008 at 6:02 PM
Just one question for the luddites:
With such an attitude, why would anyone have even tried to sail west from Europe in 1492?
Such a venture would never have paid for itself. Spain should have spent the money on putting Europe in order first.
Kristopher on May 28, 2008 at 6:04 PM
FIFY
Rosmerta on May 28, 2008 at 6:05 PM
Don’t you know … strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government! Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony! You can’t expect to wield supreme executive power just ’cause some watery tart threw a sword at you! I mean, if I went round saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they’d put me away!
Rosmerta on May 28, 2008 at 6:07 PM
That beer on my monitor and keyboard is no laughing matter :)
Limerick on May 28, 2008 at 6:11 PM
Um, maybe, “we don’t know?”
Brian Paasch on May 28, 2008 at 6:21 PM
It is a taco stand.
Johan Klaus on May 28, 2008 at 6:26 PM
rplat on May 28, 2008 at 6:32 PM
Yes, some humans are certainly stupid, but it’s not those at NASA. Had mankind subscribed to your narrow-minded logic we’d still be using stone tools and sleeping in caves. Space exploration has benefitted human kind in many ways and more great things are yet to come. Fortunately, you represent a minority opinion and those of greater intellect and superior vision will continue to prevail.
rplat on May 28, 2008 at 6:33 PM
Okay, somebody agrees with you:
“The parachute, still attached to the lander’s supporting back shell, also is visible in ground-level shots from Phoenix as a bright white object near the martian horizon”
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/phoenix/080527mroradio.html
Brian Paasch on May 28, 2008 at 6:41 PM
You mean the picture from Nasa that is 1/3rd gone?
Nope have no clue why I would respond to it!
upinak on May 28, 2008 at 6:42 PM
It’s obviously a Perdue ovenstuffer popup timer telling us Mars is “done” from all that Global warming.
UncleOlaf on May 28, 2008 at 6:51 PM
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