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NASA Mars Rover Opportunity Lifts Off
Joost Schuur writes "At 11:18 PM EDT on Monday, Opportunity, the second of 2 NASA Mars Exploration Rovers took off aboard a Boeing Delta 2 Heavy rocket after several delays and begun its 305 million mile trip to the Red Planet, where it will join its sister vehicle Spirit, which launched June 10th. Spirit and Opportunity will land on opposite sides of Mars, travelling up to 40 meters a day, and use a series of instruments to search for water, including the Rock Abrasion Tool, which will grind into rocks to give scientists a peak inside. Things are going to get crowded next January in orbit, as both NASA missions join the European Mars Express mission also launched this month and the Japanese Nozomi probe, which would finally complete its troublesome 5 year journey. Those stuck on Earth can take advantage of the closest Mars opposition in 60,000 years and watch with a telescope, or follow the images provided by the International MarsWatch 2003 group."
With all these alien robots landing and wandering around probing things, they'll think it's an invasion.
If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
On the 7th of August there will we a Webcast on "Mars Exploration".
Apple iProduct. Non importa cosa sia, lo comprerete!
Hehehe.
So, we've got Red Rover, I suppose we'll be sending Goofy to Pluto, and Lincoln to Mercury, Chevy to Saturn, and I'm afraid to ask what kind of probe well be using on Uranus.
Just another day in Paradise
So many links from so many different sources, and so thorough, congrats to the poster!
... if one of those rocks they drill in turns around, screems "OOUUCH!!" and hits back...
To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
Its good to see NASA responding well with some serious missions after the Atlantis disaster. After all the cutbacks during the Clinton era I really thought it might get to the point where they did nothing but put satellites into orbit.
What would really interest me however would be if they switched their attention from Mars to Venus. Most scientists agree that life on Mars is not feasable wheras Venus, which is closer to the sun, has a far more interesting chemical makeup. Although too hot for any carbon based lifeforms to be found, many scientists have thought that in Venus's rich ammonia lakes a Silicon based life could have emerged. Although these would be very basic forms of life (not as advanced a monkeys) discovering them would mean that we could no longer view ourselves as being at the center of the universe.
All that glitters has a high refractive index.
Sounds like these rovers are going to do some "damage" to the habitat of those Martians. Is that such a good idea? Grinding into so-called "rocks". Trampling around on big wheels. All going, "Show me the water!" and "Take that, dust-particle sized life-form!" I think we're in for some heavy retaliation. Me, under the bed sounds like a good place right now.
planetary.org
Discovery.com
Some of the context is redundant, the first link is the most informative.
Beware blue cats moving at
That's the Spirit!
....they have picked between metric and/or imperial to give measurements in so they don't park the thing at high velocity into Mars.
Remeber...... Faster, Better, Cheaper
Please delete as applicable.
3,551,645 names were submitted to the NASA site for launch on the two rovers. They have a nice picture of it with explanation here:
/. NASA and send the rovers off course ;)
http://www.planetary.org/rrgtm/dvd.html
Let's hope this doesn't
It's strangely comforting to know that my name will be up there forever (well at least until we colonise Mars and enshrine the little discs somewhere)!
Quizo69
Visceral Psyche Films
"The chances of anything coming to Mars, are a million to one they said, but still they come."
With the luck Nasa has had recently exploring Mars, I don't think we're going to disturb anyone there.
So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
...maybe that you were just suggesting that this was an opportunity to get another rover on mars.
because after the last couple attempts, just because they launch doesn't seem to mean a guaranteed placement.
// "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
The Red Rover Goes to Mars Spacecraft DVD
A Planetary Society produced mini-DVD will fly on each Mars Exploration Rover spacecraft, mounted to the lander petals as shown here. These DVDs are designed to engage and involve the public in numerous ways. After landing on Mars the rover will capture an image of the DVD before driving away from the lander.
Each DVD carries nearly four million Mars enthusiasts? names collected by NASA. Each DVD also includes engaging designs leading to other activities. Each DVD?s engaging design includes the ?Astrobot? LEGO mini-figure representation in the middle, magnets to collect dust, colors to study color appearance under a Martian sky, LEGO brick representations to engage kids, and secret codes around the outside to be decoded from images on Mars. Astrobots Biff Starling and Sandy Moondust (one on each DVD central oval) are LEGO minifigure representations suited up for space. Their job: tell their stories to the world through a series of entertaining online communications between themselves and the ground available via the Web.
The DVD is made of silica glass rather than plastic so that it can withstand the high temperatures necessary to sterilize it of Earth microbes before it is sent to the Martian surface. Also, the silica glass has a much longer lifetime than typical commercial DVDs?in fact, the silica glass DVD could last more than 500 years. The DVD will remain on the lander as a time capsule for a future generation.
The DVD assembly?s base, the simulated LEGO bricks, and the central oval are made of machined and anodized aluminum. The aluminum parts are separated from the silica glass DVD with Delrin pads. Delrin is an inflexible polymer that is very tough and heat resistant.
The entire assembly, which weighs 69 grams, has been subjected to a battery of tests designed to simulate the extreme environmental conditions of the journey to Mars: temperature cycling from 125 to 60 degrees Celsius, exposure to vacuum, high-speed random vibration, and shocks of 4,000 times the acceleration of Earth?s gravity.
The Planetary Society, in collaboration with the LEGO Company, provided the DVDs to NASA for the Mars Exploration Rover mission. Visionary Products, Inc. implemented the DVD mounting assembly, Plasmon OMS donated the silica glass DVDs and data etching, and the magnets were donated by the Danish magnet team who also have other magnets on the spacecraft.
Visceral Psyche Films
Could that Boeing Delta 2 Heavy rocket link *have* more popups? Who do they think they are, a porn site?
Maybe I'm being a bit idealistic, but I think the different space programs from around the world should work together to get to Mars and do research.
Although if you look at the ISS, that has been hampered with cost and other problems from each country. Also it could limit the research and intelligence that is gather.
6 on way, 1/2 dozen the other
Art by Mindy Herman, my wife.
How is the Deep Space Network (DSN) going to handle 7 spacecraft at Mars? It was tough enough with just 2 orbiters. Anyone in the know want to comment?
It's in time like these that you need a "stupid joke" moderation option :-P
Daniel
Carpe Diem
There are Venus missions under study now. The leading one is called the Venus In-Situ Explorer.
See http://spacescience.nasa.gov/missions/concepts.htm
Helium balloons want to be free.
Hella loud, hella bright, and hella fast. In fact, this launch climbed much much quicker than I've ever seen before.
Mix the failings of Usenet with the shortcomings of the World Wide Web and the result is slashdot.
wheeeeeeee!
The World's Worst Webcomic!
Is it me or did the above post make no sense at all? Without RTG, how are we supposed to explore the outer planets, eh? Without nuclear reactors, how are we supposed to send manned missions to the surface of Mars, Europa, and Titan, eh? There's already radiation in space, a few small nuclear reactors won't hurt anybody.
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
People are better than robots at exploring a planet. We need to put people on Mars. Mars Direct will get them there. All we need is the will to do it.
And before you go arguing how it will be so expensive, bear in mind that it would only be a 7% increase in NASA's budget for the next 10 years, and that would give us 5 manned missions.
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
"Hey, Quaid! It's me, remember? Bennie's the name. I'm gonna drill you, sucka!"
The problem with RTGs is that they have to be send into space. And they contain a fair amount of highly radioactive plutonium. (Not Pu-239 with a halftime of several thousands of years, but Pu-238 with a halftime of several decades - very poisonous, and obviously more active because of it's shorter halflife)
:)
You don't really want to let them reenter the atmosphere and cover your city with radioactive dust. That is a problem. Maybe one can place the radioactive stuff into (nearly) unbreakable shells. Nasa et al. are already doing it, but a small risk remains.
Earth swing-bys are another reason of concern.
Before the launch of the Cassini mission, several groups tried to stop it - also because it had an earth-swingby on it's schedule. Fortunately, all went ok.
The other thing are the nuclear reactors they are planning to put on deep space missions. IMHO, they are muss less dangerous. Why? Sounds silly?
No. They have to be made critical and before that, they are far from being as radioactive as RTGs.
I once visited a science reactor and a staff member told me that they transport the *fresh* fuel rods by hand, only wearing gloves to protect themselves from the U-235 alpha emitter/fuel.
Of course several men at once are doing it, they are probaly very heavy
The burned rods are the stuff that is so dangerous. You could not even stand by them for more than a few seconds without being killed by their radiation.
Of course space agencies should only issue the "start the reactor"-command to a space probe if it is impossible that it gets on a collision course with earth. That would be the case if it e.g. is in orbit around saturn/jupiter.
Until Mr. Pecker here,,,
That's "Peck"...
What about the two dozen or so nuclear submarines rotting away on the ocean floor? Nobody seems to have a problem with them.
Also, the amount of radiation from the amount of plutonium in the Cassini probe, should it have broken up in the earth's atmosphere for some reason, would be miniscule. (I don't have the exact figure, but my source is "The Case for Mars" by Robert Zubrin.) However, RTGs have a very low power density, making nuclear reactors a much more attractive option. (For those who don't know, RTGs, or radioactive-thermal generators, produce energy from the heat from nuclear decay. Therefore, the more radioactive the material, the more energy for the probe.)
In America, we're very good at making sturdy, mobile nuclear reactors with our submarine experience, and since they won't even be started until they're far away from Earth, there's really no threat, since, as was stated, people regularly handle the fuel rods with just gloves.
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
I don't think we've really seen enough evidence to suggest that Water might exist in a Measurable and Detectible (WMD) manner.
Without such hard evidence, I don't see justification for going in there and invading like that.
> What about the two dozen or so nuclear submarines rotting away on the ocean floor? Nobody seems to have a problem with them.
;)
In europe, quite a few care about russian nuclear submarines. At least they are saying it
The cassini probe has probably been more attacked because people see the direct link to the air they breathe.
Off topic: Nevertheless, the highly radioactive reactors in the submarines are a problem. But there are many, many problems to solve...
And e.g. unsecured nuclear weapons are concerning me more than submarine reactors.
You still cant use your JR pass on the Nozomi probe!
PhysicsGenius is a well-known troll. What Atlantis disaster? Silicon life forms on Venus? Do you even READ the comments, mods?
The official site for the team that made all the science instruments is here: http://athena.cornell.edu
Only the Russians have landed a probe on Venus, which took a couple of pictures then instantly fried under the heat and pressure of the Venusian atmosphere.
Mars is relatively easy.
I'll still never forgive Time for thinking Nadia Comaneci was more important that the first pictures from the surface of Mars. (Even though I did have a bit of a crush on her at the time....)
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
Agreed... since we don't have... ;)
-- Eduardo B. Fonseca
NASA did the same thing for the Mars Polar Explorer. You could submit the names which NASA put on a CD and you could print out a certificate commemorating the fact.
I did this for both of my kids entire classes which they got quite a kick out of. "Ooooh, my name is gonna be on MARS!!"
Then it crashed.....
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
Well, deluded by the junk science link, anyway.
The Cassini protestors were full of bullshit, plain and simple.
Also remember that Spirit and Opportunity are going to opposite sides of the planet, so generally only one will use the DSN at a time.
which will grind into rocks to give scientists a peak inside
Wow, they're going to grind rocks down into mountains! I'd really like to peek inside those rocks to see where they hide those hills!
The only reason we have the rights we have is that people just like us died to gain those rights. -- Cheerio Boy
He's right about the Clinton cutbacks. Bush is a worse than useless president, but Clinton really, really hurt the space program.
http://www.maasdigital.com/gallery.html
Methinks the moderators are too young to remember this obscure movie reference...
When my family and I were visiting KSC a few weeks ago, to hopefully watch this launch :-( my wife pulled me over to a video screen that was playing a really well done simulation of the launch/flight/landing that underlined the elegance of the methods used for each stage of the trip to mars. It's really nice watching the various parts fall away and new goodies deploy for each part of the trip.
. ht ml
a ti on.html
After a quick search on the web once we got home, I found lesser quality versions of the film.
A couple are here:
http://athena.cornell.edu/the_mission/rov_video
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/video/anim
I think the animator's site had the best quality one, in MPEG. I think his name is Maas.
If you like eye candy, this is sort of a factually based minds-eye type video. I think it's really good CGI, but I'm no expert.
I'd read about the mission, and spinning the probe up for the big burn, and reeling out weights to spin down, etc, but it's not until I saw it on the screen, that the grace and elegance of all the solutions to the various problems of sending this probe to mars really hit me.
Seeing this film makes me feel good about paying my taxes.
Mars missions are planned at least five years in advance. The 2006 and 2008 ones are being developed. So the Columbia disaster has little immediate impact
It costs more to send a shuttle up in orbit then to send a probe 300 million miles away and land on an alien planet.
The two rovers are sent for 800 million, each costing 400 million that way. Shuttles still cost 500 million per launch. This doesn't count any of that extra stuff, like repairs and maintenance that need to happen. Also the cost of building these shuttles are not in that 500 million number, often shuttle trips will cost more.
Besides will men really be that much better at examining red rocks then a probe. Also those rovers are hardly autonomous, we control them from here.
With that said, i'd really wish nasa was given the budget it needs, at least $30 billion. I mean although they're budget has really decreased over the years inflation has caused that $15 billion to be worth less and less every year. They really need to build some better probes, and work on IMPROVING space travel with new ships/planes/vehicles rather then using old expensive tech over and over again.
Hmmm... Pie...
I can see it now, "NASA's spirit and opportunity crushed after one five cent bolt found faulty"
i read this
Since it's a Delta rocket, they're going to have to stopover at the hub in Atlanta before continuing on to Mars...
The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us. --
Since this is a Delta rocket, is it going to go through Atlanta International? Seems like every Delta flight I've been on goes through there...