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Rosetta and the Craters of Mars

I love pictures from space probes, and particularly get a kick out of the shots that include some evidence of the probe in question -- tracks in the sand, antenna booms, and such. These pictures offer a much greater sense of "being there" than do the traditional panorama scenes (lovely though those may be). The vast majority of these shots come from landers, so it's always a delight to see a picture from a robotic spacecraft that includes a bit of itself.

The picture is from the Rosetta probe, heading to its 2014 meeting with the a comet in the far reaches of the solar system. On February 25, Rosetta made its closest approach to Mars for the slingshot speed boost, and snapped this picture as it did so. (Technically, Rosetta's lander, called the Philae, took the picture, but still.)

Link to the European Space Agency report on the shot; click the image for a larger version.

Comments

What a great shot!

Amazing!

At first I thought the probe was a Star Destroyer. :-)

I can totally see the Star Destroyer, yeah.

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