p2pnet.net OT News:- Is the dark patch surrounding the white dot a rocket blast? And is it evidence of the Mars Polar Lander (MPL), which vanished while it tried to land on Mars six years ago, survived?

Michael Malin’s Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) designs, develops, and operates instruments that fly on robotic spacecraft,

He used his company’s Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor to search for the missing spacecraft in late 1999 and early 2000, but apparently came up empty, says Sky & Telescope magazine.

However, “Using information gained from observing the two Mars Exploration Rover landers last year, Malin reexamined the 1999 and 2000 images looking for similar features,” says the report.

“This time he identified what looks to be a parachute located several hundred meters away from a disturbed bit of ground with a large mark in its center. The parachute-like feature closely matches the Mars Exploration Rover parachutes (which were made of the same materials), and Malin believes the disturbed ground matches what one would see if a rocket had blasted the surface from a height of tens of meters.”

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See:-
Sky & Telescope - Mars Polar Lander Found at Last?, May 5, 2005

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