Click on image for animation
This is an animation of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander reaching with its
Robotic Arm and taking a picture of the surface underneath the lander. The
image at the conclusion of the animation was taken by Phoenix's Robotic
Arm Camera (RAC) on the eighth Martian day of the mission, or Sol 8 (June
2, 2008). The light feature in the middle of the image below the leg is
informally called "Holy Cow." The dust, shown in the dark foreground, has
been blown off of "Holy Cow" by Phoenix's thruster engines.
The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf
of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin
Space Systems, Denver.