Achievement

This photo of the Phoenix lander parachuting toward the surface of Mars was taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE). The Heimdall Crater in the background is actually twelve miles behind the lander.

Sent by Blurber. Some reactions here:

Think on this, and think on it carefully: you are seeing a man-made object falling gracefully and with intent to the surface of an alien world, as seen by another manmade object already circling that world, both of them acting robotically, and both of them hundreds of millions of kilometers away.

Never, ever forget: we did this. This is what we can do.