Guest LilBambi Posted December 9, 2003 Share Posted December 9, 2003 Christmas Sunset (Science at Nasa)As evening approaches on Christmas, Dec. 25th, step outside and look west toward the setting sun. Even before the sky turns completely dark you can see them: brilliant Venus and the crescent moon hanging together not far above the horizon--a beautiful sight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicDragon Posted December 10, 2003 Share Posted December 10, 2003 I also heard that one of the mars probes in going to land on Christmas. I'm not sure if that's true of not though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linuxdude32 Posted December 10, 2003 Share Posted December 10, 2003 It's true, sonicdragon. They mentioned on the Screensavers (Tech TV show) that the European lander is due to land there and check for the presence of Methane in the atmosphere. There are others due to arrive soon, too!The Race to Mars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted December 10, 2003 Share Posted December 10, 2003 Wow it seems like that they had just launched them. Man the year went quick. Heck it feels like it was only yesterday that the shuttle blew apart. Hard to think that it has been almost a year now for all of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicDragon Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 It's true, sonicdragon. They mentioned on the Screensavers (Tech TV show) that the European lander is due to land there and check for the presence of Methane in the atmosphere. There are others due to arrive soon, too!The Race to MarsNice link! Thanks.I was watching that show too. I thought they said that, but i wasn't really listening. Another very intesting thing they said was that the probe would be payed for if every tax payer bought a latte. That's an interesting way of looking at it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linuxdude32 Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Another very intesting thing they said was that the probe would be payed for if every tax payer bought a latte. That's an interesting way of looking at it Us ordinary people can get awestruck by hearing the hundreds of millions of dollars that are spent but saying that sure does put it in perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 Science@Nasa has a great article about the Christmas Day Mars Landing (named Beagle 2). The Beagle 2 will precede two NASA rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, slated to land in January. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicDragon Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 Thanks for posting LilBambi!That we have the technology to create and use the Beagle 2 is absolutely amazing IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 My pleasure SonicDragon ... should be an interesting Christmas Day and on into the New Year with all these exciting things going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_P Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 I seem to recall that our last two or three Mars attempts didn't fare too well. Hopefully the ESA has a better system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicDragon Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 I seem to recall that our last two or three Mars attempts didn't fare too well.Lol. I'm crossing my fingers that the scientists decided on either metrics or english, not both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 Well Mars may have another victim for the graveyard.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3344693.stm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeber Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 Shouldn't a space scientist be a bit more circumspect in his use of clichés? Lead scientist Professor Colin Pillinger insisted that "it's not the end of the world". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 LOL! You may be right Jeber! <_ course the media is always trying to count chickens before they truly hatch.i say give time verify situation all this speculation.don you love how now considered be a shoestring budget i wouldn mind having like that>_The £35m ($62m) probe should have landed at 0254 GMT on Christmas Day after a six-month flight. All of these were costly American missions, unlike Beagle 2, which was put together in record time and on a shoestring budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 It has a two year battery so assuming that it survived the landing and is simply setup in the wrong direction there is still a change that it may phone home. Also even though it hasn't singled yet doesn't mean it isn't able to accept commands. So they may be able to order it to reset it self and try again. Biggest problem is time lag and a short window every day for communicating with it. Once some of the other orbiters arrive that will improve somewhat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicDragon Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 Well Mars may have another victim for the graveyard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent007 Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 The major cause for concern seems to be, the airbags..They failed the tests the 1st time when it was carried out in the US. The second time was OK, but its still a problem cause they need to be have the right pressure to survive the impact...A slight delay and bang, it will wreck Beagle...Anyway, what amazed me was that the data from the mars express actually takes 8.1 minutes to reach earth! I mean if u think about it, a lot can happen to data which is actually *travelling* for such a long time...The engineers behind this project are really cool..If the beagle doesnt make it, but I just hope it will, Mars express has a lot of work to do and they will be able to get a tonne of info from it...So, lets hope for the best. Btw, I think NASA has plans to send unmanned crafts to Mars in Jan 2004....ciao. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 It is exciting to have Beagle 2 happening right now ... and I wish them well!But yes, NASA has two probes that are scheduled in January:Mars Rovers Head for Exciting Landings in JanuaryAlso, here's where you can see where they are right now:Where Are Spirit and Opportunity Right Now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeber Posted December 26, 2003 Share Posted December 26, 2003 As evening approaches on Christmas, Dec. 25th, step outside and look west toward the setting sun.Well darnit...I tried this, but it's raining so hard that I nearly drowned and had to swim for it to get back to the rear porch. I'm not a great swimmer, but I beat Bob the cat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 26, 2003 Share Posted December 26, 2003 Beagle2Mars Express26 December 2003 Between 23:20 and 00:40 CET on 25/26 December, the 76-metre radio telescope dish at the Jodrell Bank Observatory, UK, attempted to detect a signal from the Beagle 2 lander. No signal was detected.On 26 December, NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter will carry out another pass of the landing site at 19:14 CET. This will be followed up by another sweep by Jodrell Bank early on the morning of 27 December, between 00:20 and 01:00 CET.While initial attempts to detect a signal from the tiny spacecraft have failed, further efforts are scheduled whenever possible during the next few days.On the lighter side of the news ... Mars Express successfully in orbit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonegiant Posted December 27, 2003 Share Posted December 27, 2003 Christmas Sunset (Science at Nasa)As evening approaches on Christmas, Dec. 25th, step outside and look west toward the setting sun. Even before the sky turns completely dark you can see them: brilliant Venus and the crescent moon hanging together not far above the horizon--a beautiful sight. Bright and clear in Oklahoma City on Christmas night. The sliver of the moon was bright and the dark area was faintly visible as well.Venus was extraordinarily bright. The first descriptive that pops into my head is crystalline.Beautiful. I love astronony! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corrine Posted December 27, 2003 Share Posted December 27, 2003 We didn't have a clear night sky on Christmas Eve, but it was incredible last night. I've never seen Orion as beautiful as it was last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent007 Posted December 27, 2003 Share Posted December 27, 2003 Mars Rovers Head for Exciting Landings in JanuaryInteresting links LilBambi..I thought NASA was gonna launch the mission in Jan. But it seems like the probes will be landing there in Jan...This is really going to be interesting. Wonder if they'd be able to capture some images of the Pathfinder... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 27, 2003 Share Posted December 27, 2003 Agent007, yes, I am very excited. I almost had forgotten about the original send off when they first took off because it was so long ago now! LOL!Really looking forward to this ... hope it works well this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 Destination: Gusev Crater - On January 3, 2004, NASA's Mars rover Spirit is scheduled to land in a strange crater that might be an ancient martian lake bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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