Bill Nye's Marsdial

Some Clown writes "MSNBC via the Seattle Post Intelligencer is reporting that Bill Nye the Science Guy, as part of the Earthdial Project has got what's being billed as a 'Marsdial' put onto the Mars Rover. Interestingly, it is now the official backup for orienting the Mars Rover in case of primary camera failure. Maybe an old fashioned sundial is just what the doctor ordered after the many math and other blunders of late. This whole Earthdial Project seems pretty interesting as well. They're trying to set up a worldwide network of sundials tracked via webcam. The goal is to track the sun's movements as viewed from many points on earth, as well as from Mars. Definitely interesting... at least if the 'Marsdial' doesn't disintegrate upon landing." There's a little more technical description of the Marsdial in our earlier story.

Comments

The pointy end goes in the up direction

[Anonymous Coward]

The pointy end goes in the up direction

Re:Probably Stupid Question

[PakProtector]

This is NASA we are talking about here.

They're Rocket Scientists, not cartographers.

Astrophysics for kindergarten 101

[Anonymous Coward]

> The goal is to track the sun's movements
> as viewed from many points on earth, as
> well as from Mars.

Ok, kids, pop quiz: what celestial movement does a sundial track?

Discriminatory :)

[_Pinky_]

So what do people do with a sundial, when the sun won't come up for another month?

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_rstablew.pl

Re:Discriminatory :)

[Reziac]

I had a similar thought... went to the page, and the first thing I see is an image of a nifty sundial.. in of all places, Seattle, Washington. Since when does Seattle get any sun in the first place? ;)

William Nye is dead.

[Anonymous Coward]

Science Guy Bill Nye Killed in Massive Vinegar/Baking Soda Explosion.

Truly an American icon.