Figure 1 – First image of Mars taken on July 14, 1965 by Mariner IV. From NAA and in the public domain.
The beautiful images that are still coming in from last week’s New Horizon’s fly-by of Pluto brings us back to some of the earliest satellite images of other planets. To get a real sense of the improvement in image resolution and quality, we should consider Figure 1, which is the very first image sent back to Earth from Mars by Mariner IV. This was taken fifty years ago last week on July 14, 1965. Mariner’s images were taken from 6,200 miles to 10,500 miles above the Martian surface.
A second Martian first, the first image from the surface of Mars, was taken taken by the Viking 1 lander shortly after it touched down on the planet’s surface nineteen years ago tomorrow on on July 20, 1976. This is shown as Figure2.
When you look at these pictures and compare them to the New Horizon images, you see the evolution of digital photography. Indeed, many of the advances that have enabled low-cost digital imagery today, come from the US space program. Think about this about that the next time you take a snap of the kids. I will avoid a discussion of whether the advent of the selfie is a positive or a negative result of space exploration.
My ears perked up last week, when I heard NASA say that the Pluto fly-by marked the end of their initial survey and exploration of the solar system. In that statement lies the promise of the future. I remember vividly studying in elementary school the European sea explorations that ended in the discovery of the Americas. This “event” lasted over two centuries. They called it the “New World,” which is a term that expressed their sense of wonder and the future.
Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” is set in this mysterious New World and speaks to the magical wonder it evoked in the minds of men and women in that day.
“We all were sea-swallow’d, though some cast again,
and by that destiny to perform an act
Whereof what’s past is prologue, what to come
In yours and my discharge.“
Figure 2 – First image of the surface of Mars, July 19, 2006 from NASA and in the public domain.