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Boeing Delta 2 Sends First of Pair of RoversTo Mars

Posted by michael on from the fore! dept.

brandido writes "Space.com is reporting that NASA has successfully launched the first of its pair of new rovers, recently named Spirit, on its trek to Mars. In addition, the article reports that "Spirit separated from the Delta 2's upper stage having already achieved Earth escape velocity." Looks like we are on our way, boys and girls."

37 comments

  1. boeing?! by Khopesh · · Score: 2, Funny

    urm.
    i first read this and thought boeing and delta airlines had teamed up
    to back this opreation, but it's got NASA's name on it.

    no mention of boeing's involvement in the space.com article;
    what's up? (ignore pun)

    --
    Use my userscript to add story images to Slashdot. There's no going back.
    1. Re:boeing?! by nomel · · Score: 1
      The first 5 words in the first paragrapd says...
      "A Boeing Delta 2 rocket"


      So, it was a Boeing rocket that pushed them up there.
    2. Re:boeing?! by robslimo · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yep. After absorbing Rockwell and McDonnell-Douglas a few years ago, they're the USA's biggest (and damned near only) aero-space company. They've got 4 main categories of expendable launch vehicle: Delta II, III and IV and the relatively new SEA.

      They're all over the map, geographically and product-wise. One of they're newest ventures is SeaLaunch, a joint, international deal to launch commercial geo-sync satellites from sea near the equator, saving fuel/increasing payload by taking the shortest route to orbit.

      Hey they've even got a job opening for an F18 fighter pilot... in Kuwait.

    3. Re:boeing?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Loral, Lockheed, BAE, GE...

    4. Re:boeing?! by mikerich · · Score: 1

      BAe - British Aerospace. Still British, still crap. Best wishes, Mike.

  2. What.. by angryLNX · · Score: 0

    information will these rovers be collecting? Will they be sending many photos back to Earth?

    1. Re:What.. by mugnyte · · Score: 1


      Check it out at NASA. It's pretty much their biggest news today. can't miss it.

      They are looking for signs of water. If they find water, they'll be looking for signs of a market to sell it to.

    2. Re:What.. by mikerich · · Score: 1
      information will these rovers be collecting? Will they be sending many photos back to Earth?

      They have panoramic colour stereo cameras which will be sending LOTS of pictures back to Earth.

      Each robot also comes with a microscope camera which will be used to return images of polished rock surfaces. The robot will drill into rocks, clean off any surface erosion and grind out a flat surface. The microscope camera will take a picture for analysis back on Earth.

      Additionally, each rover is carrying a thermal emission spectrometer which is used to determine rock composition from their thermal characteristics. They have been tuned to look for carbonates and clay minerals both of which require water for formation.

      There is also a MÃssbauer spectrometer, a device designed to look for iron-rich minerals (we suspect the surface of Mars is red because of iron compounds). This will also help determine the magnetic characteristics of the Martian soil.

      Finally, there is an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer which is used to determine the presence of rare earth and actinide elements in the rocks and soil.

      The rovers will not be looking for water or life. For that, there is the Beagle 2 lander, already en-route to Mars.

      Hope that helps.
      Mike.

  3. How well they fare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...depends on whether they use rockets powered with linux or one with lesser software.

  4. Yep, we saw it... by JCMay · · Score: 4, Interesting

    About an hour before the scheduled launch, there was an announcement on the radio. I set an alarm in my Visor.

    The alarm went off and I went outside. Like any launch, several people had gathered around the parking lot to view the event. My alarm was a few minutes early; can't set an alarm for 1:58 PM :)

    Rocket appeared in the north and leaving a white pillar of smoke behind its brilliant yellow flame. Rising much faster than a shuttle, it arced gracefully to the east and out over the ocean. It took about two minutes before the solid rockets burt out and it became invisible in the afternoon sky.

    1. Re: Yep, we saw it... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 1


      > My alarm was a few minutes early; can't set an alarm for 1:58 PM :)

      You just gave away that you're not a dyed-in-the-wool geek.

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    2. Re:Yep, we saw it... by DoraLives · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Watched it go from the top of the Cocoa Beach Surf Company parking garage. Haze rendered the gantry invisible (odd, considering that it was clearly visible earlier in the morning from farther away down at PAFB where I was surfing [Crystal went by on her longboard on one wave and MOONED me. Funnier'n hell!]) but just as soon as they lit the solids, it was VERY obvious that a shot was on. Nominal everything all the way up and out using my Mark I eyeballs. Good loud rumble. Nice to see we're on our way. Cross your fingers and hope the next one goes up just as cleanly.

      --
      Is it fascism yet?
    3. Re:Yep, we saw it... by varjag · · Score: 1

      My alarm was a few minutes early; can't set an alarm for 1:58 PM :)

      In Palm OS, you can set how many minutes before the appointment you want thing to beep. E.g. you could set an appointment to 2 PM, and set the alarm for 2 minutes before.

      --
      Lisp is the Tengwar of programming languages.
  5. some info on the panoramic cameras onboard by birk_man · · Score: 3, Informative

    Just a little tidbit about the two panoramic cameras on board. The CCDs for the cameras are made by DALSA. For their news release regarding their Mars Exploration Rover involvements see: http://www.dalsa.com/news/news.asp?itemID=100

    1. Re:some info on the panoramic cameras onboard by moosesocks · · Score: 1

      Mmmmmm..... panoramic 1024x1024. My WEBCAM has a higher resolution (and in a 4:3 aspect ratio)

      Imagine how distorted the images will be (a 1:1 CCD taking a 16:9 image). Even after post-processing, the quality won't be great. This perplexes me, as I see no reason why NASA wouldn't use a panoramic CCD.

      --
      -- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
  6. I hope this works... by danratherfan · · Score: 1

    Nasa doesn't need another failure. The last thing we need is the public to loose confidence in NASA. I have nightmares of NASA being disbanded and it's funds being siphoned into the American war machine. ;)

    1. Re:I hope this works... by dalek_killer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Personal I thought that the public has already lost its confidence in NASA. If you want NASA to continue what needs to be done is get rid of everyone one in charge of NASA and get a bunch of ppl straight out of University who haven't been told that they can't do it. Then watch them do it.

    2. Re:I hope this works... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree that it would be horrible if the public were to loose confidence in NASA because then it might fall off. Hopefully someone at NASA will be able to tighten it on before it does fall off because otherwise I would probably lose my confidence in them.

  7. Cool by Bob+Vila's+Hammer · · Score: 1

    NASA's pair of Martian probes will join the already enroute spacecraft of Japan's Nozomi and the European Space Agency's Mars Express, which includes the Beagle 2 lander. Already in orbit over Mars are NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey spacecraft.

    This is going to be great. There are going to be a whole bunch of probes and satellites on and orbiting Mars at the same time, its almost like an invasion. This will be very exciting to see during the end of this year and the beginning of the next. I hope it rekindles some of the spirit and opportunity at NASA.

    --


    --"The perfect example of the man of action is the suicide." - William Carlos Williams
    1. Re:Cool by DeltaStorm · · Score: 1

      ...its almost like an invasion.

      And all those Sci-fi nuts thought they'd be invading us... I guess in soviet russia.. wait it's not even on this planet.. damn there goes the joke...

      --
      .sdrawkcab si gis siht
    2. Re:Cool by bad_fx · · Score: 1
      This is going to be great. There are going to be a whole bunch of probes and satellites on and orbiting Mars at the same time, its almost like an invasion
      God, can you imagine the conspiracy theories around here if something goes wrong with any of them? :)
  8. More Info on CNN by brandido · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This story is also discussed on CNN.com Science & Space with a more interesting title: Eight-eyed robot blasts off for Mars. Basically covers the same information, but mentions a few more details about the probe: "A NASA robot packed with eight cameras, geology instruments and super-rugged wheels roared into space on Tuesday," It also refers to the rovers as "druids" â" is this a Star Wars reference or what? Finally, it mentions the fact that, according to Nagin Cox of JPL "Mars is closer to the Earth than it has been in 73,000 years. "

    --
    First Falcon-1 to orbit, then Falcon-9. Then I can die a happy man.
    1. Re:More Info on CNN by Bob+Vila's+Hammer · · Score: 1

      Droids, the robots were referred to as 'droids'. References to druids would be appropriate for exploring only the UK, not Mars or the Universe.

      --


      --"The perfect example of the man of action is the suicide." - William Carlos Williams
    2. Re:More Info on CNN by brandido · · Score: 1

      Oye - a single mistype manages to completely mangle my sentence. Your are correct, druids would be more in line with the UK, and would be quite out of place on Mars given the lack of abundant (or any?) life. Thanks for the catch.

      --
      First Falcon-1 to orbit, then Falcon-9. Then I can die a happy man.
  9. Spaceflightnow.com coverage by Gogo+Dodo · · Score: 3, Informative

    Spaceflightnow.com has coverage, too. I like their coverage better than Space.com. They give more details, the page is easier to read, and have no pop-up ads.

  10. Rovers? by whm · · Score: 1

    Rovers in space? I thought we stopped sending dogs into space decades ago!

    eh, yikes. ok! ok! I'm sorry :)

    1. Re:Rovers? by barakn · · Score: 1

      They just sent up a Beagle! You started it.

      --
      "I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show
  11. More Information by seanthenerd · · Score: 1

    If anybody's interested, here's some more links:

    Discovery Channel
    Sky News
    Space Daily
    Voice of America
    BBC News

  12. More Mars News by jschuur · · Score: 3, Informative
    I've been covering some of the various news items coming out of Mars exploration and popular culture on a new blog site here:

    Martian Soil

    January 2004 is heating up to be one hell of a month.

  13. Two words: by torpor · · Score: 2, Informative

    Complexity and Bandwidth.

    The science attainable with their 1:1 CCD is just as valid as that attainable with the panoramic CCD.

    --
    ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
  14. Hear about the Japanese probe? Solar flare? by thbigr · · Score: 1

    I heard on the news today that a Japanese probe was disabled by a solar flare. Does any one know some news source for this?

    Can't you protect from this sort of thing?

    --
    Come the revolution, the Bourgeois, Capitalistic, "A PARKING STICKER HOLDERS", will be first against the wall!
    1. Re:Hear about the Japanese probe? Solar flare? by Mysticalfruit · · Score: 1

      I heard it on NPR this morning... thought I can't find anything on it... As for protecting against that sorta thing, probably lots and lots of heavy lead that they didn't want to carry...

      --
      Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.
  15. NasaTV by msheppard · · Score: 1

    NasaTv covered the launch live too. They had the rocket-cam view as well, which was excellent this time.

    M@

    --
    Krispy Cream is people