NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander left behind a Yeti-like “footprint” on Mars in its first successful attempt to touch the planet’s frozen surface on Saturday. The mark so reminded NASA officials of the mythical snow beast that they actually named the spot…..wait for it….Yeti. Features and locations around the Phoenix lander are being named for fairy tale and mythological characters.
“This first touch allows us to utilize the Robotic Arm accurately. We are in a good situation for the upcoming sample acquisition and transfer,” said David Spencer, Phoenix’s surface mission manager from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
One hopes the image doesn’t become fodder for conspiracy theorists who believe that NASA is covering up evidence of life on Mars, or is faking the mission in an abandoned quarry in the Northwest where Bigfoot roams. (Remember, you heard that here first….)
WOW…a Yeti on MARS….this is almost as good as the picture published by the Weekly World News that showed a World War II B-17 Bomber that had landed in a crater on the Moon…
Almost as good….but not quite. My favorites have always been the pictures aliens meeting with various U.S. presidents….