You may have seen this earlier, but this is a sharpened version of the Mars rover Curiosity's descent by parachute to the planet's surface. This was taken by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which was placed in Mars orbit in about 6 years ago. Think about that a minute. From orbit around Mars we could pinpoint our camera to take an image of another craft launched 8 months as it lands on the surface, all with a 14 minute delay due to the speed of radio transmissions (i.e. light). Now, the technology to do this has been around for a few years, and has already started to find its way into consumer goods like smart phones. You will never know the accelerative impact these missions have had on our national economy, as well as the advancement in scientific knowledge of the world we live in.
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