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Mars-Express On Its Way
Nebukadnezar writes "Two weeks ago, Mars-Express tested its sensors and took some marvelous data and pics
of the Earth-Moon
system from a distance of about 8*10^6 km. Nice to see our neighborhood once in a while. BTW check out the spectrometer readings of Earth: water
shows up very clearly. I wonder what this instrument will tell us about water on Mars..."
With all this crap about the shuttle program and interference with commercial spaceflight, it's always refreshing to see new exploratory spaceflights.
"America has done some terrible things. But I know that Americans don't cheer when innocents die." -Dave Barry
There's water on Earth?! When did that happen?
Seriously, it just feels good when something you put so much work and hope into just clicks. Besides, when you're on as long a trip as Mars Express is, you have to play with something until you get there.
This instrument won't tell us anything about water on Mars in the way in which you're thinking. The spectra of Earth is it's atmospheric spectra. We already know about the atmospheric spectra of Mars from ground based observations and other space missions and we know that the bulk of the water we infer to be there from surface geology is NOT trapped in the atmosphere. At this point in order to find water we need a better gamma ray spectrometer (not optical and IR), but current analysis shows that there isn't enough carbon dioxide on Mars to have caused what water ice there is now to melt.
According to this chart, earth has enough methane to show up on this orbiters sensors. Ok /.ers, it's time to lay off the Taco Bell and Burrito King visits during lunch.
What, me Tweet?
The next couple of years could be really interesting with all of the mars missions launched recently. Let's just hope they didn't screw up any metric conversions this time...
Unmanned exploration is good because it brings good solid data. Manned exploration is good because we have opposable thumbs.
Logic, macros, and more
According to the chart, the level of ozone is quite high. Does anyone know if this corresponds to the actual average ozone levels in the whole atmosphere, or is it skewed higher because the ozone layer is at high altitude?
If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
I probably should have been less curt with this posting, so I shall accept being branded as troll, this time. But, the question remains: how much useful knowledge are we going to recoup with this mission, in comparison to earlier missions? This particular voyage appears to be an effort by NASA to recover lost face from the failed Mars missions in the past few years. As I get older, I have started to have less faith in NASA's policies that exploration justifies itself.
Weapons of Mass Analysis
Mars express is an ESA mission by the way.
There are two twin NASA probes ('Opportunity' and 'Spirit') following on behind it. And a Japanese craft a bit behind that.
No, you can't wash your face in my sig!
However, in answer to your question, this is far from being a mission for the sake of being a mission. Some of the instruments are novel (e.g. the Fourier Spectrometer and the long-wave ground-penetrating radar) and so will produce novel data. MARSIS, in particular, will be used to search for sub-surface ice in a completely new way, which should allow the global distribution to be mapped. In addition, instruments such as the high-resolution stereo camera (HRSC) will simply produce better quality and coverage, higher resolution data than ever before, allowing much more detailed studies than ever before.
-Karl
After watching a recent program on the Apollo Project, I believe that the achievement of landing men on the moon was far greater than simply returning some rock samples. It was a statement about ourselves - that we can rise above our petty issues, and think about doing something that is historical.
Some argue we should not shoot for Mars until we solve our problems here. The thing is we will never solve the problems of hunger, disease and poverty. If we wait until we have justice and world peace for all we will be waiting a long time.
When sojourner landed on mars it was great. It inspired me - that perhaps doing great things had not ended with Apollo. What the world needs is something positive, another grand journey. The US doesn't need to invade countries to show how powerfull it is - it could instead go to Mars - and perhaps continue its cooperation with other agencies.
This mars mission is simply another step towards going to mars to stay and live. Getting off the earth is the first step to becoming a spacefaring civilization.