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The Great Martian Traffic Jam

Posted by michael on from the gridlock dept.

Kathy Miles writes "Not one, but three space agencies are lining up for Mars launches for June this year. The ESA (European Space Agency) is planning to launch their Mars Express in June for a December landing. NASA has two Mars landers almost ready to go, having fixed a few last minute problems and Japan is launching a Mars Orbiter called Nozomi. The two NASA rovers should arrive in January. Everyone wants to launch around June because Mars will not only be at opposition that month, but nearing a close approach to Earth in August when Mars will be closer to Earth than its been in hundreds of years."

11 comments

  1. Dammit! by wowbagger · · Score: 5, Funny

    To: High command
    From: Special agent ngrrt
    Re: Human launches toward our home

    DAMMIT!

    Do you have any IDEA how hard it is going to be for us to make that many launch failures look like accidents?

    One or two we can make look like math errors, but this is going to strain even the human's credulity

    Sincerely,

    ngrrt

    --
    www.eFax.com are spammers
  2. cigars by BortQ · · Score: 1
    I am coming back from Mars, where they drive in fancy cars
    and the King he is okay, he is coming home today
    I am coming back from Mars, where there are no cheap cigars
    and Elvis has said, that I could be just like they are
    Aqua - 'Coming Back From Mars' - A great song
    --

    A Multiplayer Strategy Game for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux
  3. It's a race! by L.+VeGas · · Score: 1, Funny

    If Americans get there first, it will be stripmined and claimed as sovereign territory.

    If Japanese get there first, we'll get to see a lot of cool Martian Anime.

    If Europeans get there first, then hell will freeze over.

    --
    Best Windows Freeware
    1. Re:It's a race! by M1FCJ · · Score: 1

      "If Japanese get there first, we'll get to see a lot of cool Martian Anime."

      Go Nadesico go!

  4. Breaking News by follower_of_christ · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    Both Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein are attempting to contract with both the Japanese and the European Space Agency to be aboard one of these vessels headed to Mars.

    An interview was held with Former Iraqi Minister of Information Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf. He was quoted saying, 'DO NOT BELIEVE THE INFIDELS! There are no rovers! There is no Mars! They are lieing to you! Iraq still owns Mars! They are nowhere near it! We have spit on those snakes!'

  5. A Second Nozomi? by CheshireCatCO · · Score: 3, Informative

    Call me confused, but I thought Nozomi was already well en route to Mars, having launched in 1998. (It's taking longer than intended to get there due to some technical difficulty; I think they blew too much propellant early on, but don't quote me on that.) I haven't found anything on a second Nozomi mission with Google. Anyone know anything about this new mission?

    1. Re:A Second Nozomi? by elakazal · · Score: 1

      I'm 99% sure this is the same thing. The projected arrival date after its difficulties in 1998 was 2004, if I recall, so it seems unlikely they'd launch another one right before the first one arrives...one would think you'd at least want to wait and see if it works, at this point.

    2. Re:A Second Nozomi? by CheshireCatCO · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That's what I would have thought. But the article very distinctly says "launch" in reference to Nozomi. It also talks about June. (The arrival of the Nozomi-in-transit is December of this year. Which means the fun won't really begin until 2004.)

      Which isn't to say that they might not launch a new one in June, I suppose. NASA didn't wait for Voyager 1 to return science data before launching Voyager 2. (Come to think of it, they didn't wait to LAUNCH Voyager 1 before launching Voyager 2. Ah, the subtlties of spacecraft trajectories and timing.) For that matter, NASA has often had more than one mission to Mars in transit/at Mars. (Hence the back-to-back failures in the fall of 1999.) The Japanese space administration might feel that they've learned enough from the first Nozomi to launch a second one.

  6. The Great Race to Mars, or Bust - the Movie by ralphclark · · Score: 1
    The contestants motivated by a substantial cash prize ... with Tony Curtis as the intrepid hero, Susan Hampshire as the love interest, Eric Sykes (and/or Dud and Pete) as the clumsy no-hopers and Terry-Thomas the upper-class scheming rotter. etc.

    Well it'd be a lot more fun that way...

  7. DSN priorities by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative
    It is interesting that this is more than a traffic jam, it is also a communication jam. To my knowledge, all these probes will be tracked by DSN and some of these probes will relay their messages using MGS. Originally these probes were to land with longer periods of time between landings.Delays and other problems created this massive traffic jam and you bet NASA wil favour their own probes. Mitra knows if we will loose any scientific data because of this massive traffic jam. It will be almost impossible to arrange all probes to communnicate with MSG in turns.

    DSN is aging and it's not what it used to be but someone (obviously NASA won't) should spend some money on this kind of networks. CCCP used to have a similar network, mostly using marine-based dishes but they are all rotting in their harbours.

    1. Re:DSN priorities by rk · · Score: 2, Informative

      The Mars Odyssey Orbiter will also be used as a lander/rover communications relay. The ESA is setting up their own ground stations to stem the tide, relying on the DSN as backup during critical maneuvers. DSN will be busy, but that's nothing new, really.