A great day for space exploration

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The Mars Rover Spirit's successful landing has generated excitement among space enthusiasts, with many tuning into NASA's live feed. The rover's location in a crater was strategically chosen for easy navigation, despite the featureless landscape. The upcoming landing of the Opportunity rover on January 24 adds to the anticipation surrounding Mars exploration. Discussions also highlight the challenges faced by previous missions and the importance of public funding for such endeavors. Overall, the enthusiasm for NASA's achievements in space exploration remains high.
Ivan Seeking
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So far...The Mars Rover Spirit: WOW!

Cheers to NASA!

I can't take my eyes off of the NASA live feed.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/landing.cfm
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org
Very cool!

And a second NASA rover, Opportunity, is scheduled to land Jan 24!
 
Pretty damn sexy news.
 
YAAAAAAAAA!

had to pry my eyes off the pics to type this post
 
There only is a news conference :frown:
 
ok, why is the sky WHITE??
 
:frown: the landscape looks really featureless
 
Originally posted by Monique
There only is a news conference :frown:
hehee! I like seeing scientists enthousiastic about their work this is actually quite fun to watch!
 
Originally posted by Monique
:frown: the landscape looks really featureless

This was site was chosen partly for that reason. In order to allow for easy movement, they wanted rocks to be available, but not so many that it becomes difficult to maneuver. Also, being the bottom of a crater we don’t expect much for an exciting view, but we might find evidence of an ancient lake the size of New Hampshire [I think this was the reference used...maybe Rhode Island]. In particular, for one, certain types of rocks are sought that would indicate a long history of liquid water on the surface of Mars.
 
  • #10
So how many rovers have successfully landed on Mars and sent us back data?
 
  • #11
Originally posted by Monique
So how many rovers have successfully landed on Mars and sent us back data?

This one and the one back in 97. The british would still prefer to believe that there's is alive and well, and any minute they will get data, but I don't think that's happening :(

The japanese aborted their's as well.
 
  • #12
Originally posted by Monique
hehee! I like seeing scientists enthousiastic about their work this is actually quite fun to watch!

yup, that steve squyres is absolutelly crazy. it's what i would expect from a true scientist. can anyone confirm if he's a physicist? ok, i checked, he's an astronomer. close enough...
 
  • #13
Originally posted by Monique
ok, why is the sky WHITE??

The atmosphere of Mars is 95% CO2. It can freeze into clouds of tiny ice crystals at high altitude. The sky can turn red of course when there are big storms.
 
  • #14
Originally posted by Ivan Seeking
So far...The Mars Rover Spirit: WOW!

Cheers to NASA!

I can't take my eyes off of the NASA live feed.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/landing.cfm


It better work. I am forced to pay for it. If I decided one day not to pay for it anymore on the grounds that there are other things I want to pay for besides sending other ppls stuff to Mars, the police would come and put me in jail.

Watching the spectacle of those engineers whooping for joy in their contrived, stiff and uncomfortable way was a reminder that I need to waste no time in finishing my spaceship and leaving this lunatic planet.
 
  • #15
Originally posted by Monique
ok, why is the sky WHITE??

usually, it's pinkish due to the red dust in the atmosphere
 
  • #16
Originally posted by Monique
So how many rovers have successfully landed on Mars and sent us back data?

Just the Pathfinder & Spirit, as previously mentioned. (Another one due to land Jan 24)

1971 - USSR's lander (not a rover; failed right after landing)
1976 - NASA's 2 Viking landers (not rovers)
1997 - NASA's Pathfinder (rover - highly successful)
1999 - NASA's Polar Lander (lost upon landing)
2003 - ESA's Beagle 2 lander (lost upon landing)
 
  • #17


Originally posted by Vosh
It better work. I am forced to pay for it.

What did it cost you, something like $2? ($400M divided by all U.S. taxpayers) Show a little adventurous spirit. :wink:

If I decided one day not to pay for it anymore on the grounds that there are other things I want to pay for besides sending other ppls stuff to Mars, the police would come and put me in jail.

Welcome to civilization. This is true for all government programs.
Maybe someday we'll be able to allocate our tax funds...when that day comes, I'll be sure to chip in for you to NASA. :smile:

Watching the spectacle of those engineers whooping for joy in their contrived, stiff and uncomfortable way

Oh please. Did you expect an end-zone dance or a Broadway production? These people were celebrating years of hard work...while still at work...on national TV.

was a reminder that I need to waste no time in finishing my spaceship and leaving this lunatic planet.

Good luck doing that without a space program.
 
  • #18


Originally posted by Phobos
Did you expect an end-zone dance or a Broadway production?
Lol, it would've been nice :wink: probably I've been watching too many Hindi movies though..
 
  • #19


Originally posted by Vosh
It better work. I am forced to pay for it.


What did it cost you, something like $2? ($400M divided by all U.S. taxpayers) Show a little adventurous spirit.

That's how the rich get that way. If a million ppl. send me one dollar, it's quite painless for them, but I'm a millionaire! Ppl. think frittering away a few dollars here and there for things like fast food, cable tv, porn (but I repeat myself), etc. is painless, but a) it adds up, which leads to b) some preppie brat out of business school becomes absurdly unnecessarily wealthy and c) the rest become more poor.


If I decided one day not to pay for it anymore on the grounds that there are other things I want to pay for besides sending other ppls stuff to Mars, the police would come and put me in jail.


Welcome to civilization.

Relatively speaking. People of every age seem prone to assuming that, "we've arrived". Ppl. today think, "this is it; we've achieved liberty and democracy. All there is to do now is make more toys...". Civilization? Yeah, compared to Rwanda.


This is true for all government programs.
Maybe someday we'll be able to allocate our tax funds...when that day comes, I'll be sure to chip in for you to NASA.


Someday ppl. will know the difference between a right and a privilege. The idiotic space program is a privilege. Housing and health care are rights. A thousand years from now (if not a few hundred; history is progressing differently these days) there will be Renaissance Faires that feature 20th century life and there will be actors portraying the spectacle of 20th century citizens declaring, "Why, sah, I say, sah, that is radical and I do declare you are a damn weirdo...!" Ha ha! They'll just laugh, laugh at the way ppl. were back in primitive times -- I just wish I lived in the future lauging with them.


Watching the spectacle of those engineers whooping for joy in their contrived, stiff and uncomfortable way


Oh please. Did you expect an end-zone dance or a Broadway production? These people were celebrating years of hard work...while still at work...on national TV.


You don't understand.


was a reminder that I need to waste no time in finishing my spaceship and leaving this lunatic planet.

Good luck doing that without a space program.


Too right, since it's illegal to do that sort of thing as a private venture. Countries only pay for that stuff out of hegemonic and military considerations, competition and national feeling. They're not dreaming of an enlightened Gene Roddenberry space faring future...
 
  • #20
Spirit Ready to Get Down 'n' Dirty on Mars

PASADENA, Calif. -- Engineers here at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are one cable cut away from having a free range Mars rover on their hands.

But cautious technicians now project a day adjustment in the Spirit robot’s egress onto Gusev Crater terrain, moving it to late Wednesday evening, overnight into Thursday morning.

In a final step, Rover engineering teams have readied Spirit’s set of middle wheels -- there are six in all -- that will enable the mechanical wonder to first roll across the deck of the lander upon which it is perched, and then exit onto Mars’ surface. [continued]


http://space.com/missionlaunches/spirit_update_040111.html
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #21
Spirit is off the lander!

We're on Mars. :smile:
 
  • #22


Originally posted by Vosh
Originally posted by Vosh

What did it cost you, something like $2? ($400M divided by all U.S. taxpayers) Show a little adventurous spirit.

That's how the rich get that way. If a million ppl. send me one dollar, it's quite painless for them, but I'm a millionaire! Ppl. think frittering away a few dollars here and there for things like fast food, cable tv, porn (but I repeat myself), etc. is painless, but a) it adds up, which leads to b) some preppie brat out of business school becomes absurdly unnecessarily wealthy and c) the rest become more poor.

commie!
 
  • #23


Originally posted by phatmonky
commie!


Yes.
 
  • #24
that cause he is an actor and everyone knows they are all communists!
 
  • #25
back to the topic

As many have surely heard, we ran into big problems with the Mars rover. For a time things looked pretty hopeless, but now it seems that the mission may be salvaged completely!

For the latest discussion in the Astronomy Forum
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13049


Also, the second landing is tonight about midnight EST.

Again, here http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/landing.cfm for the latest news and NASA's live coverage.


**ALL PROGRAMS MAY BE PRE-EMPTED WITHOUT ADVANCE NOTICE**

[All as EST]

January 24, Saturday
*5 - 9 a.m. - Live Interviews on the "Opportunity" Landing - JPL
*3 - 4 p.m. - Opportunity Landing Update - JPL
*5 - 6 p.m. MER Briefing - JPL
*7 - 8 p.m. - Briefing: "Fireside Chat" with Administrator O'Keefe and JPL Director Dr. Charles Elachi - JPL
*10:30 p.m. - Opportunity Mission Coverage and Commentary - JPL

January 25, Sunday
*1:30 - 2:30 a.m. - Opportunity News Briefing - JPL
*2:45 - 3:30 a.m. - Commentary: Odyssey Pass - JPL
*3:45 - 4:30 a.m. - Commentary: Opportunity - JPL
*5 - 6 a.m. - Opportunity News Briefing - JPL
*6:30 - 10:30 a.m. - Live Interviews on the "Opportunity" Landing - JPL
*1:15 - 1:45 p.m. - Commentary: Opportunity (mgs VHF Pass) - JPL
*4 - 5 p.m. - Briefing: Opportunity Odyssey Pass - JPL
*5:30 - 9:30 p.m. - Live Interviews - JPL
*9:30 p.m. - Commentary - JPL

January 26, Monday
*1:30 - 2:30 a.m. - Briefing - JPL

January 27, Tuesday
10:25 -10:40 a.m. - NFL Commissioner speaks with Expedition 8 Crew - JSC
2 p.m. - Space Shuttle "Return To Flight Briefing" - HQ

January 28, Wednesday
1 p.m. - Spirit/Opportunity Daily News Briefing - JPL

January 29, Thursday
TBD - NASA Update with Sean O'Keefe - HQ
January 31, Saturday
7:30 - 8:30 a.m. - ISS 13 Progress Docking Coverage - JSC (docking scheduled at 8:19 a.m.)
 
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