QUESTION:
We have star charts of the sky showing Mars from Earth (small dot). Will you
present the same from Mars?

ANSWER from Marc Siegel on July 10, 1997:
In the press conference from July 9, Peter Smith said that they would wait a
few weeks before taking a picture of Earth from Mars.  The reason for the
delay is:

1) The relationship between Earth, Mars and the Sun. The picture
   would be more dramatic in that timeframe.

2) The picture has low scientific value (It is better to study the Earth 
   from here rather than from Mars).

ANSWER from Steve Stolper on July 10, 1997:
The Rover cannot take a picture of the Earth.  But, the camera on the Lander
can!  We plan to image Earth some time in the comming weeks.  We can not
image Earth right now because it is too close to the sun in the Martain sky.

It should be a cool picture! (although Earth will look like a bright blue
dot)

ANSWER from David Mittman on October 5, 1997:
We have not yet received a good picture of Earth from our landing site on
Mars and probably won't. The reason has to do with one of the discoveries
we've made since landing on Mars: the atmopsheric dust extends further up
into the atmosphere than first thought. This dust catches the sun's light
before sunrise and lightens the sky early in the morning. By the time Earth
rises over our landing site (about 2:30 AM mars-local solar time), the skies
are already beginning to brighten. Even if the sky were to remain dark
enough to take a picture of Earth, the morning clouds would almost always
block our view.