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NASA Releases Mars Data for Maestro

The Maestro Team writes "The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has released the first Mars data update for Maestro, containing images just received from the Spirit Mars rover. Maestro is the public version of the actual tool used by the mission scientists to operate the rover. You can download Maestro and the latest Mars images from the official Maestro site, and join the developers and other users in #maestro on irc.freenode.net."

1,220 comments

  1. Beagle2 by holzp · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now we just need to sent it looking for that British probe.

    1. Re:Beagle2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    2. Re:Beagle2 by hemna · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      boycott lilo on freenode.net

      http://www.lilofree.net

    3. Re:Beagle2 by cimmetrix · · Score: 1

      Sleepy Hollow in the panoramic views probably IS the British probe!

    4. Re:Beagle2 by Scooter · · Score: 1

      I have a theory. As Beagle2 looked, well like a kettle barbecue - I bet those guys discover it in the shed out back when summer arrives. Imagine their faces when they realise they laucnhed 3Kgs of barbecue charcoal by mistake...

    5. Re:Beagle2 by daeley · · Score: 1

      "...the object of this expedition is to see if we can find any traces of last year's expedition." -- Sir George Head, OBE

      (reference)

      --
      I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
  2. Bit torrent link by Merik · · Score: 4, Informative
    --

    --

    What is the sound of this sentence?

    1. Re:Bit torrent link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Torrent to a windows binary? this is /.,isn't it?

  3. sweet! by Savatte · · Score: 2, Funny

    I spent all that time building my own rover, hoping, nay - praying, for this to happen. It's nice to finally be able to do something with it other than cover up the crab grass on my lawn.

    1. Re:sweet! by serial+frame · · Score: 1

      Mod this up, perhaps the only comment in this story with at least somewhat relevant content lays above.

      --

      -
      And the Angel said unto me, "These are the cries of the carrots! The cries of the carrots!"
  4. BitTorrent links hot off the press by glassesmonkey · · Score: 4, Informative

    Get your your bittorrent files here:
    Maestro for Windows & Mars Dataset #1

    Maestro for Linux & Mars Dataset #1
    (tar -xzvf dataset immediately above your "JPL" directory)

    Maestro for Solaris & Mars Dataset #1
    (tar -xzvf dataset immediately above your "JPL" directory)

    Maestro for Mac & Mars Dataset #1
    (Requires Java3D)

    Maestro User's Guide (pdf)
    BitTorrent stats

    Provide feedback to these folks: maestro [at] telascience [dot] org

    1. Re:BitTorrent links hot off the press by Erick+the+Red · · Score: 1

      Blasphemy! The Windows link goes at the bottem!

      --

      DO NOT WRITE IN THIS SPACE

      ok
    2. Re:BitTorrent links hot off the press by glassesmonkey · · Score: 1

      it *was* originally at bottom but then i added the extra line about the tar location for the linux link and it didn't look as readable.. oh well.

    3. Re:BitTorrent links hot off the press by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 4, Informative

      Here are the mirror links for the program and the data update in case telestra.org goes down again. There is nothing posted there besides this list anyway.

      Maestro for Windows XP/2000/Me/98

      Download from NASA Download from Freecache Download from USF FTP (Florida) (Internet II - university students start here) Download from LibertyOutreach Download from KNCL FTP (Texas) Download from Lakewebs (Oklahoma) Download from NJIT (New Jersey) Download from UALR (Arkansas) (Internet II - university students start here) Download from Emporia State Univ. (Kansas) (Internet II - university students start here) Download from TU-Budapest (Hungary) Download from TU-Berlin (Germany) Download via BitTorrent (what's this?) Download via ed2k (what's this?)

      Maestro for Mac (requires Java3D)

      Download from NASA Download from FreeCache Download from USF FTP (Florida) (Internet II - university students start here) Download from KNCL FTP (Texas) Download from Lakewebs (Oklahoma) Download from NJIT (New Jersey) Download from UALR (Arkansas) (Internet II - university students start here) Download from Emporia State Univ. (Kansas) (Internet II - university students start here) Download from TU-Budapest (Hungary) Download from TU-Berlin (Germany) Download via ed2k (what's this?)

      Maestro for Linux

      Download from NASA Download from Freecache Download from USF FTP (Florida) (Internet II - university students start here) Download from KNCL FTP (Texas) Download from Lakewebs (Oklahoma) Download from NJIT (New Jersey)

  5. Let's get this sucker rolling! by ActionPlant · · Score: 1

    I can't wait to start exploring. On the advice of some other /.ers yesterday I grabbed maestro early. Looks like it was a good thing I did...

    Damon,

    --
    http://actionPlant.com
    1. Re:Let's get this sucker rolling! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Looks like it was a good thing I did

      Uh... why? I just downloaded the entire thing (40MB) using BitTorrent in about 2 minutes.

  6. This is Crippleware! by patternjuggler · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maestro is the public version of the actual tool used by the mission scientists to operate the rover.

    So I'm guessing this public version of the tool used to operate the rover lacks some capabilities, like the ability to operate the rover?

    1. Re:This is Crippleware! by Ziviyr · · Score: 5, Funny

      Where do I send my $40? :-)

      --

      Someone set us up the bomb, so shine we are!
    2. Re:This is Crippleware! by AndroidCat · · Score: 5, Funny

      No no, it's fully complete! But you have register the software before they'll send you a rover.

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    3. Re:This is Crippleware! by QuantumFTL · · Score: 4, Informative

      So I'm guessing this public version of the tool used to operate the rover lacks some capabilities, like the ability to operate the rover?

      Actually Science Activity Planner (the mission version of Maestro) is used to generate plans which are then turned into the actual sequences through various software packages and some human judgement calls. Even the full version cannot control the rover.

      But yes, the public activity dictionary (which determines the structure of the plans) is significantly different from the mission version.

      Cheers,
      Justin Wick
      Science Activity Planner Support Staff
      Mars Exploration Rovers

    4. Re:This is Crippleware! by xsfo · · Score: 1

      I was going the buy this. But they only take PayJPL.

    5. Re:This is Crippleware! by darc · · Score: 1

      Ah, that explains the whole thing. The british must have used a bad keygen.

      --
      Tired of legitimate data sources? Try UNCYCLOPEDIA
    6. Re:This is Crippleware! by amaupin · · Score: 3, Funny

      Not crippleware, but it does require one hell of an expensive dongle to run...

    7. Re:This is Crippleware! by Gzip+Christ · · Score: 1
      Where do I send my $40? :-)
      SCO GROUP INC
      355 South 520 West, Suite 100
      Lindon, UT 84042

      People have been wondering where our code is at. Well, we've hidden it in a very safe place - on Mars! Obviously, if you are controlling the rover, it is very likely that you will come in contact with our IP, and as such you must pay us for the right to not be sued.

      Love,
      Darl

    8. Re:This is Crippleware! by sharkey · · Score: 1
      Even the full version cannot control the rover.

      Right. It's controlled by the stage crew in the studio at Area 51 where they are filming the hoax. All they had to do was dye the Moon set red.

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
    9. Re:This is Crippleware! by linzeal · · Score: 1

      Do you think that they will have another Robotics Course again? I really enjoyed the Rio Tinto analog study and the whole MARTE project in general.

  7. Oh, great! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now I can roll my own.. um... homebrew mars shuttle with robotic rover ... ... hey, wait a minute.

    Well, at least now John Carmack will be able to finance and execute a robotic expedition to his backyard.. or perhaps Big Bend State Park...

  8. Looks Pretty Interesting.... by Spikeman56 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Downloaded it and its pretty cool lookin... it's neat to see the pre-processed raw images. They even have a 3d model of the rover and its surroundings (however the rendering process makes everything EXTREMELY dissying). What puzzled me though is that Maestro is written in Java and a java application can be run on any virtual machine that has the necessary files therefore preventing seperate OS editions, but for some reason this has separate douwnloads for Linux/Solaris, Windows, and OSX. Hmm... anyway looking forward to the next data pack!

    1. Re:Looks Pretty Interesting.... by glassesmonkey · · Score: 4, Interesting

      They have a 3D interactive map. This will be really cool when they fill in with more data from Mars.

      Why is it that I just got one of the coolest software programs (java) that is free, educational and it didn't crash my computer. I hate you Microsoft.

    2. Re:Looks Pretty Interesting.... by DA-MAN · · Score: 1

      There are separate downloads for ease of installation. A lot of people had issues installing it out the box.

      --
      Can I get an eye poke?
      Dog House Forum
    3. Re:Looks Pretty Interesting.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A lot of people had issues installing it out the box.

      you're from the UK, aren't you?
      It's "out of the box."

  9. I wonder - by ir0b0t · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    - can they program it to find us a presidential candidate?

    --
    I'm laughing at clouds.
  10. These are the kinds of things that will... by Fortunato_NC · · Score: 4, Interesting

    These are the kinds of things that will interest people in space exploration again. Although the site is "conserving bandwidth", and didn't have as much info as I would like available right this second, the idea that I can be reviewing the data returned by the Mars rovers at the same time as NASA's scientists is really, really appealing.

    This is the kind of thing that makes people seriously consider careers in science. Imagine a father and son (or mother and daughter) pouring over this info together, comparing their take with NASA's. That's super exciting.

    Maybe one of the kids downloading Maestro today will take the first steps on Mars tomorrow...

    --
    Blogging Weight Loss, Distance Education, and more at verlin.com
    1. Re:These are the kinds of things that will... by QuantumFTL · · Score: 4, Informative

      Although the site is "conserving bandwidth", and didn't have as much info as I would like available right this second,

      There is a secondary site at http://mars0.sdsc.edu/ which has a lot more info.

      Check it out. It even has a Wiki about Maestro and MER.

      Many Maestro and MER related questions are also being answered in #maestro on irc.freenode.net.

      Cheers,
      Justin Wick
      Science Activity Planner / Maestro Support Staff
      Mars Exploration Rovers

    2. Re:These are the kinds of things that will... by Concerned+Onlooker · · Score: 1
      Maybe one of the kids downloading Maestro today will take the first steps on Mars tomorrow...

      Indeed! But tomorrow seems kind of soon. Possibly by next Tuesday though....

      --
      http://www.rootstrikers.org/
    3. Re:These are the kinds of things that will... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Science Activity Planner Support Staff ==> Science Activity Planner / Maestro Support Staff

      He got a promotion in the time he's been posting on /. !! Bully for you!

    4. Re:These are the kinds of things that will... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      the idea that I can be reviewing the data returned by the Mars rovers at the same time as NASA's scientists is really, really appealing.
      It sure is. Imagine what would have happened if NASA had used a proprietary format (like MP3) for their data? You wouldn't be able to review the data, because you would have to buy an expensive patent license first.

      I bet that if NASA ever puts a music player in their rovers (so that astronauts can listen to music) it will have Ogg support. NASA is just the sort of forward-thinking organization that would do this.

      This is the kind of thing that makes people seriously consider careers in science.
      I know what you mean. And listening to Ogg files makes people seriously consider careers in music, whereas listening to MP3s makes people seriously consider becoming patent lawyers. You've got a good point there, friend.
  11. Welcome Slashdotters! by JPL-Jeff · · Score: 5, Informative

    We (the Maestro team) hope you all really enjoy Maestro. Don't forget to join us in our chat channel (#maestro in mars.telascience.org) and send us your comments at maestro (at) telascience (dot) org.

    1. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by MajorDick · · Score: 1

      Well I would but your IRC seems to have been slashdotted

      Connect retry #12 mars.telascience.org (6667)
      -
      * Unable to connect (Connection refused)
      -
      * Connect retry #13 mars.telascience.org (6667)
      -
      * Unable to connect (Connection refused)


      And so on and on......

    2. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by rayde · · Score: 1, Insightful
      I'd just like to congratulate the JPL team for the success up to this point with the Spirit mission! Also thanks to JPL-Jeff and the others on #maestro who have been keeping us up to date with all of the latest news.

      Some of the channel regulars are responsible for setting up the FAQ which should be one of the first stops if you have questions about Maestro.

    3. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Hi Jeff, Out of curiosity ... is Maestro anything like SAP? I've been running around installing SAP like mad the last week and half. Some people just don't plan. =) I'd check out Maestro myself, but I'm on narrowband. =(

    4. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by JPL-Jeff · · Score: 5, Informative

      ACK - no, the irc is #maestro on irc.freenode.net. Sigh - not enough sleep!!!

      Join us in #maestro on irc.freenode.net!

    5. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by rayde · · Score: 2, Redundant
      the irc server is irc.freenode.net and the channel is #maestro

      mars.telascience.org is the webserver, not the irc server.

    6. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by glassesmonkey · · Score: 1

      I have to say that is an amazing piece of work. How cool to be back in middle school and to be able to see exactly what the NASA folks see. And to be able to drive the rover and give it commands. Very cool and very educational and the tutorial is wonderful. It really is kid friendly and easy to use and at the same time complex enough for NASA to use to pilot a robot on Mars.

    7. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by AndroidCat · · Score: 1
      This is in the range of cool as during one of the Voyager fly-bys of Saturn when someone at JPL retransmitted the pictures over amateur radio Slow-Scan TV as they came in. A bunch of us sat around VE2CUA watching them "live".

      Yeah, in that range of cool. Thanks!

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    8. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by glassesmonkey · · Score: 1

      Not to worry.. it is correct in the main story text. No one reads down this far.

    9. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by Jagasian · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I think we need to divert money from the military to NASA :) It should be a 50/50 split.

    10. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by Goalie_Ca · · Score: 1

      Got any room for 3rd year computer engineering students next fall for 4 months?

      --

      ----
      Go canucks, habs, and sens!
    11. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by Basehart · · Score: 1

      Just loaded this onto my G4 here at the office and it's blowing my mind. I love it. It makes me feel like I'm kind of involved in this mission, which we all are right!

      I cannot wait to get home and put it on my daughters iMac - she's 5 and loves that "little mars robot". Maestro will really help her get a feel for what's going on, and make her feel involved too.

      Thanks JPL - Bring on that data!!

    12. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by Goalie_Ca · · Score: 1

      well seeing as i just remembered that the rover is only good for 6 months i guess not lol. But still, there's not many co-op jobs and i had to try.

      --

      ----
      Go canucks, habs, and sens!
    13. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      a/s/l?

    14. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by __aailob1448 · · Score: 1

      I'm having trouble connecting. Any idea how to fix this? (I have no problem connecting to other irc servers such as linknet and efnet) [12:54am] *** Connecting to irc.freenode.net (6667) ???????????????????? [12:54am] -irc.freenode.net- *** Looking up your hostname... [12:54am] -irc.freenode.net- *** Checking ident [12:54am] -irc.freenode.net- *** Found your hostname [12:54am] -irc.freenode.net- *** Got ident response ???????????????????? [12:54am] Closing Link: gozu (Bad user info)

    15. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by __aailob1448 · · Score: 1

      Sorry for the garbled post. here it is in code.

      [12:54am] *** Connecting to irc.freenode.net (6667)
      ????????????????????
      [12:54am] -irc.freenode.net- *** Looking up your hostname...
      [12:54am] -irc.freenode.net- *** Checking ident
      [12:54am] -irc.freenode.net- *** Found your hostname
      [12:54am] -irc.freenode.net- *** Got ident response

    16. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by Pilferer · · Score: 1

      Sigh - not enough sleep!!!

      Yeah, I imagine it's tough trying to adapt to mars time! ;-)

    17. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by Jugalator · · Score: 1

      I actually thought this troll had some interesting thoughts, although he unfortunately quickly went downhill with the final redundant and aggressive statement.

      Do you really think that what you are doing is helping mankind?

      Possible. Maybe depends on what we end up doing on this planet.

      Is sending little robots to crawl around on other planets really helping to save manking from itself?

      We obviously need to understand the planet first if we're even going to think about doing anything there.

      In the long run, isn't this kind of technology only useful for creating systems wherein a few technological elites have all the power and the rest of the masses die of starvation?

      That's maybe not anything you should ask NASA, but something you should ask politicians. I can't see how that question relates to NASA, which only does scientific research. How the "techonological elites" and the more poor people or people less fortunate in society should be integrated with each other are entirely a political question, and not one relating to exploration of space.

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    18. Re:Welcome Slashdotters! by dacarr · · Score: 1

      Can't say I blame you, Jeff. Good show. =^^=

      --
      This sig no verb.
  12. Re:Wow... by i_want_you_to_throw_ · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I know what you mean, Emo Phillips makes me cry too.

  13. Re:All we need is our own Mars Lander, then by JPL-Jeff · · Score: 4, Funny

    Heh. I assure you that steps were taken to ensure that Maestro will pose no risk whatsoever to the mission. We were careful about that. :)

  14. Re:All we need is our own Mars Lander, then by thesuave1 · · Score: 1

    The sensitive code that could've compromised the mission was removed from the public release.

  15. erm, no by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    emo.

  16. Re:All we need is our own Mars Lander, then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Little do you know that it can used to control all the millions of RC mini-cars that I sold worldwide via spam! Bwahahaha!

  17. Maestro is sooooo cool by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I love this program. I have never felt so close to space exploration as I do when I'm poking around it.

    It is an awe inspiring mission and this software practically lets you touch it.

    Heres an interesting quote from their "Conductor" guided tour of the dataset, which is extensive and shows you EVERYTHING they have on the mission so far.
    (emphasis mine)


    The images shown here were among the first to arrive from Mars. The Navcam image on top was taken before the rover mast was deployed. The rover's high-gain antenna can be seen on the left side of the image. It was this image, loaded in the mission version of Maestro, that gave the scientists their first glimpse of where Spirit had landed.

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  18. An idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Please, ban the bastard posting the *SAME* message 5 billion times in the same topic.

  19. wow by tetrahedrassface · · Score: 1

    man the pictures i have seen so far are absolutley amazing. I cant wait to get a lot more. Here is to a long life for the rovers. Maestro is pretty slick.

  20. Missing code? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Did JPL violate the GPL?

  21. rovers in museums by spanklin · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is somewhat offtopic (apologies in advance), but I've heard that some museums / science centers are going to be building realistic Mars terrain models, and replica rovers are going to travel the country. Interactive exhibits are planned where visitors can control the replica as it moves across the fake Mars terrain. Download maestro now to practice!

    1. Re:rovers in museums by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There was a post a few days ago about this, try searching for it.

      Eitherway, sounds like a cool idea, I will keep an eye out for it.

    2. Re:rovers in museums by theonetruekeebler · · Score: 1
      Make sure you do your practicing at work. From DNRC newsletter #17:
      I took the QuickTime panorama of the Mars Pathfinder, reworked it into my own HTML web page (neatly entitled "Pathfinder Mission Control") and put a heading "Pathfinder Active Camera Control" above the panorama.

      Soon the news travelled, from Induhvidual to Induhvidual, that I had found a way to control the camera on the Pathfinder from my computer at work. My PC was swarmed by Induhviduals each taking their turn "controlling the camera".

      And no doubt nobody twigged to the instant response of a camera several light minutes away...
      --
      This is not my sandwich.
    3. Re:rovers in museums by awtbfb · · Score: 2, Informative


      That would be the Personal Exploration Rover. Here's the press release.

  22. Damn thing doesn't work with my joystick by popo · · Score: 4, Funny


    Maybe if we all pull "left" at the same time...

    --
    ------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
    1. Re:Damn thing doesn't work with my joystick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Remember the killer lag-time!

    2. Re:Damn thing doesn't work with my joystick by grylnsmn · · Score: 1

      No, no, no!!!!!!

      Your other left!

  23. Why are we doing this? by Saeed+al-Sahaf · · Score: 0, Insightful
    I'll say it again, but I'll try a different way to avoid the "troll / flamebait" I received last time I brought this up: How does Mars exploration do anything for society beyond improve our knowledge of esoteric things and perhaps get a few very smart scientists their Masters? Please don't get me wrong, I understand this is amazing stuff, both the technology that got us there, and the fascinating things we learn. But...

    How does this advance Man in ways that benefit the body, the Family of Man? Will it feed people or solve the mystery of AIDS? Will it allow old people to get their meds cheaper? Isn't there better ways to spend billions of dollars that benefit mankind in a more substantial way?

    The International Space Station has so much more promise to benefit our everyday life, yet it is now just a footnote, almost forgotten. We should be concentrating on ideas that benefit mankind in tangible ways.

    --
    "Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
    1. Re:Why are we doing this? by Yorrike · · Score: 4, Insightful
      We will eventually outgrow the Earth (some will argue we already have). And any technological advance that forwards mankind's status as a space-faring species is only beneficial to the entire species.

      Sure, it may not be solving some of the current problems, as you have brought up, but a better understanding of the universe is sure to have paybacks, even though they may not be immediate or blindingly obvious.

      If the Mars rovers do find evidence of past life, however unlinkely it is, it will change everything.

      --

      Looks can be deceiving. Or CAN they?

    2. Re:Why are we doing this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Saeed,
      The Mars Rover program is the most recent expression of an old human need, to explore and to understand. Your arguments could be used to disparage all pure science, pure mathematics, and other human pursuits without immediate practical application, but they are much of what makes us human. Along the way, technology gets advanced in ways that produce the famous "spinoff" that eventually improve the lives of many people.

      Think of the advances in autonomous robotics that are on display with the rovers! These little beings are out there, 10 light minutes away, and able to handle many situations for themselves safely. Robots with capabilities like these will help with oil recovery in the deep ocean, work in nuclear power plants, assist surgeons, and many other activities.

      In my opinion, and of many others, the ISS is a white elephant, that has no purpose to speak of at present. It is diverting huge amounts of funds from much more important scientific pursuits, like robotic solar system exploration. On to Mars, the asteroids, and beyond!
      My $.02

    3. Re:Why are we doing this? by dedazo · · Score: 1
      You're missing the point. The research and technologies that these projects generate eventually make it into the commercial civilian market. Think of it as a down payment on the PCs, cellphones and PDAs you'll be using in ten years. Cheap, fast, capable. They trickle down to every aspect of modern life. For example, some of the research done on board the space shuttles during the late 80s on suspension gels are used today to produce better medicines that dissolve when where they're supposed to.

      Do you like vacations? Think of this as a holiday for mankind. Instead of reading about the latest suicide bomber in Hebron you get to see pics of another planet. It won't make problems go away, but you need a break once in a while.

      And, if you're an american you paid for this - I can't think about a better use of my tax dollars, especially when I see that they're being spent on shit that pisses the hell out of me.

      --
      Web2.0: I love when people Flickr my cuil and digg my boingboing until my google is reddit and I start to yahoo
    4. Re:Why are we doing this? by baneblackblade · · Score: 0, Troll
      Will it allow old people to get their meds cheaper?



      I don't like old people. we shouldn't live as long as some of them do, and if we happen to make it that far, it's too bad. both for those who get way out there, and those that they leech off of. leave the old people out on the ice. if you want to start a prozac donation bakesale so the old people die "happy" then go right on ahead. nobody's stopping you.


      ways that benefit the body, the Family of Man?


      you're making an incredible generalization. both incredibly huge, and incredibly dangerous. not only are you including every human being in this, but you're also saying that none of them benefit in any but a completely useless way from this. A lot of people benefit from this. not all of them. not everyone will benefit from feeding ethiopians, either. not everyone benefits from drugging old people. not everyone benefits from oil. you can't benefit EVERYONE in one fell swoop, because not everyone can be grouped into one category like that. even if you were to ration out all the food in the world so everyone got an equal portion of everything, how many people would be benefitted? quite a few, yes, but then again, quite a few would also starve to death, and quite a few would start up an incredibly loud complaint. be more specific: who do you want benefitted, and why doesn't this benefit them?



      Isn't there better ways to spend billions of dollars that benefit mankind in a more substantial way?


      No.


      The International Space Station has so much more promise to benefit our everyday life


      but does it go to mars? can you control it when it's on mars? I didn't think so...


      We should be concentrating on ideas that benefit mankind in tangible ways.


      okay, sure, you've pointed out a problem. good going. how about a solution? what would be better? If you can't come up with a better, "more tangible" benefit, then why are you complaining?

    5. Re:Why are we doing this? by nicks_all_taken · · Score: 1

      >>How does this advance Man in ways that benefit the body, the Family of Man? By making us more knowledgable. I'm aware that that response probably sounds flippant but I'm really not sure what more needs to be said.

    6. Re:Why are we doing this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How does Mars exploration do anything for society beyond improve our knowledge of esoteric things and perhaps get a few very smart scientists their Masters?

      You might ask the same question about posting GNAA ads, but everyone agrees that they're worthwhile. Think of how much it will benefit our great-grandchildren.

    7. Re:Why are we doing this? by segmond · · Score: 1

      Sometimes, I can't help but wonder that we humans are like viruses, we just reproduce/replicate endlessly. So what happens next when we take over Mars?

      Anyway, on the mars rover finding life, I always wonder, why do we think life exists ON mars, how about IN mars, beneath the planet, the surface looks dead, what is under all that? I wonder if the rover has a mic, I do love to hear what it is like out there. probably nothing, but who knows? are there winds? etc,

      --
      ------ Curiosity killed the cat. {satisfaction brought it back | it didn't die ignorant | lack of it is killing mankind
    8. Re:Why are we doing this? by Zakabog · · Score: 0, Troll

      That's like saying "Why try to go to the new world, shouldn't we solve all of englands problems before trying to colonize this new place."

    9. Re:Why are we doing this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      *Defense* spending gave us the Internet -- and thereby an unbelievable boost w/ communications that benefits all humanitarian endeavors.

      That said, spending a fraction of that on efforts to increase human knowledge and understanding (rather than bombs and bodies) is even more likely to have a profound positive effect on culture and our species.

    10. Re:Why are we doing this? by spoco2 · · Score: 1

      "Sometimes, I can't help but wonder that we humans are like viruses, we just reproduce/replicate endlessly."

      And sometimes I can't help but wonder how people can think they can quote movies and others will think it's their own thoughts rather than a script writers.

    11. Re:Why are we doing this? by Aglassis · · Score: 1
      You said: "How does Mars exploration do anything for society beyond improve our knowledge of esoteric things and perhaps get a few very smart scientists their Masters?"

      I think this quote pretty much sums it up:
      "The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program." -Larry Niven
      --
      Suddenly, the hairy finger of a familiar monkey tapped me on the shoulder. It was time.--G. T.
    12. Re:Why are we doing this? by fredmosby · · Score: 1

      Sometimes, I can't help but wonder that we humans are like viruses, we just reproduce/replicate endlessly.

      Humans, viruses, and every other life form.

    13. Re:Why are we doing this? by EvanTaylor · · Score: 1

      Sometimes I cannot help but wonder why anyone would assume that every thought someone has is directly in resulting from pop culture.

      --
      Sleep is for the weak.
    14. Re:Why are we doing this? by spanklin · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Believe me, astronomers do think about this -- why do we do what we do? What benefit do we give society? I will give some of the standard answers. The first (that others have covered) is spinoff technology. Digital cameras contain technology (CCDs) that astronomers have been using for 20 years or so now. X-ray machines at airports, MRIs, etc. came from astronomy/physics. Some other types of medical imaging use similar techniques (and software) that radio astronomers use. The second is that humans have this insatiable curiosity about the universe around us. We spend money on these explorations because the public wants to know! Astronomy stories make the cover of the NY Times, CNN, and your local news outlet not because the average person derives any benefit out of knowing the value of Hubble's constant, but because people are happy to know that someone, somewhere is trying to find out where we all came from and why we are here. Personally, I and some of my colleagues feel that it is important to use the appeal of astronomy to generate an interest in science in general. You suck people in by showing them pictures of planetary nebulae, and when they are awed by the pretty colors, you slip in some teaching about electromagnetism. NASA spends 1 - 2% of their budget on education and outreach efforts (small fraction, large amount of real dollars). They use the power that astronomy has to generate interest with people who normally don't care about science to try and impress on them that science and technology are good. So you can argue that the success of NASA missions is indirectly responsible for keeping the federal funding for *all* sciences at a reasonable level. Now you just have to decide if you think federal funding of any science is worthwhile.

    15. Re:Why are we doing this? by Aglassis · · Score: 1

      You said "The first (that others have covered) is spinoff technology. Digital cameras contain technology (CCDs) that astronomers have been using for 20 years or so now. X-ray machines at airports, MRIs, etc"

      While the space program has had many many spinoffs, MRI is not one of them. MRI was due to the work of I. I. Rabi and colleagues in the 30's and 40's, not the space race. MRI would have been developed whether we left the Earth or not.

      --
      Suddenly, the hairy finger of a familiar monkey tapped me on the shoulder. It was time.--G. T.
    16. Re:Why are we doing this? by spanklin · · Score: 1

      Sorry -- I should have been more explicit. I wasn't trying to imply that the space program produced MRI, but that MRI was a spinoff of basic science research that wasn't searching for an application. I may have this wrong too, but it is accepted lore with most astronomers that I know. Correct me if I'm still wrong.

    17. Re:Why are we doing this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Once the rich and careless are done using up this planet like so much toilet paper, they are going to need somewhere else to go. Expect a dozen or so decades of manned explorations, then some kind of terraforming breakthrough. The rich and careless don't worry about the environment on Earth because they know they aren't going to be here and neither are their lineage. It's all part of the master plan...

    18. Re:Why are we doing this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      They trickle down to every aspect of modern life.

      The only thing trickling down on the common man since the beginning of time is the piss and shit from the rich, power hungry assholes that run the show. Trickle down anything is a fallacy. Reaganomics failed. Bush-o-nmics... well that has proven you can take a bad economy and bury it well below depression era poverty and still call it an "upswing".

      I'm so glad idiots like you buy into the idea that this kind of crap benefits us. The best it does is give us nice pictures to look at.

      As far as what my tax dollars are spent on... I'd rather have my money go to public health care and education and have $0 go to war mongering.

    19. Re:Why are we doing this? by dedazo · · Score: 1

      Viva la revolucion komandante!!

      --
      Web2.0: I love when people Flickr my cuil and digg my boingboing until my google is reddit and I start to yahoo
    20. Re:Why are we doing this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Simple. We need to spread out from this Rock.

      All it takes is one big asteroid impact to cause
      millions of years of evolution and thousands of years of civilization to amount to nothing in the blink of an eye.

    21. Re:Why are we doing this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The most obvious and direct answer to the question asked is that it produces the tools and techniques to expand the dominion of Man in much the same way that the first primitive rafts made offshore resources and eventually the entire Earth available to Man.

      The question you are intimating: "why should space exploration be a priority when people here on Earth are still starving, dying and living in mistery?" Is much more challenging and I don't know that I can offer a really good answer except that, as a species, we have an urge to explore and expand and that, as priorities go, exploration ranks a lot higher than say bombing third-world countries.

      To put things in perspective, the US military spends the equivalent of entire cost of the Beagle 2 mission every 45 minutes and NASA's yearly budget every two weeks. How does that expenditure contribute to the advancement of Man or even the specific men it is ostensibly in aid of?

      I agree that priorities are messed up. I just disagree about which ones.

    22. Re:Why are we doing this? by Aryawhat · · Score: 5, Insightful
      How does this advance Man in ways that benefit the body, the Family of Man? Will it feed people or solve the mystery of AIDS? Will it allow old people to get their meds cheaper? Isn't there better ways to spend billions of dollars that benefit mankind in a more substantial way?

      Okay, I'll bite. I'm seeing a stream of "What use is this?" and "big deal, more red rocks" comments on the Rover topics, and I can't even imagine where these are coming from:

      • If a big meteorite/virus/climate change/radiation storm/solar instability/nuclear catastrophe/nanotech grey goo/ was to wipe out the entire human population on Earth, the human race isn't going to come back. Forever, for all of eternity (or at least the heat death of the universe, which is what current theory predicts as the human race's equivalent of dying of old age). Surely we should pay *something* to take out an insurance policy against this scenario? A policy which aims for human settlements on Mars?
      • Getting to these settlements in incredibly hard, and there's no way we can suddenly decide to do it one day and make them happen the next year. It'll take large number of intermediate steps, including unmanned missions, $400m rovers which produce photographs of red rocks, and, when we can, manned missions.
      • I know you aren't saying this, but to those who call these photographs "boring red rocks", they are incredibly exciting to anyone with any sense of what they represent. For one, we've had to have 2.5 billion years of evolution before any life form on Earth is able to see them. Their size, shape, distribution, constitution, layout ask a thousand questions, some of which the Rover will answer. These answers will help in resolving important scientific questions of meaning to planetology here on Earth.
      • Even if none of these reasons carry weight, we should do it, to paraphrase a mountaneer, because Mars is there. The purpose of life cannot be to just be to spend everything we have in finding the cure to AIDS and cancer and making it longer. What do we do with this longer life? I cannot imagine a more inspiring way to spend it than to find adventure in the rest of the universe. NASA keeps doing these things which make me proud to be human, and by spending your tax dollars to support it, you are creating and participating in this adventure.
      Finally, I'm in India, not the US, so you could argue that it's not my tax money which is paying for this. That is true, but NASA has added to my life in many ways, from the days when as a small kid, I stayed awake nights listening for news updates on the Apollo 11 mission (India didn't have TV back then), to ogling these marvellous Mars photographs and imagining I'm a space traveller using Maestro to investigate a new planet. If someone knows a way a non-American can pay NASA back by sending over pittances when I can, I'll be happy to find a way to do it.
    23. Re:Why are we doing this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd rather have my money go to public health care and education and have $0 go to war mongering.

      I'd rather have my money go to national defense and into my savings account and have $0 go to keep AIDS infested crack addicts in pain meds. I'd also like to see zero of my dollars go to funding the liberal shithole/babysitting club that is public education.

    24. Re:Why are we doing this? by TullyTyro · · Score: 1

      here here. well said.

    25. Re:Why are we doing this? by hdparm · · Score: 1

      Well, I guess this post is one of the many ways NASA and US as a whole, can be paid back for all the great things they are doing for mankind. I am sure they would take it over any $ amount you can send.

    26. Re:Why are we doing this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You, and people like you suffer from a serious mental disease. You believe everything you hear and so you think we need a strong military. This is because you are full of intense fear. You are afraid of everything and anything that you can't understand. You are afraid to go on the road in anything smaller than a small military vehicle. You are afraid that if you go just about anywhere, you need a gun. You think that there are terrorists around every corner. In short, you and people like you need serious help.

      Stand up and be a fucking man for once! Realize that the world is NOT a scary place. Realize that you DON'T need a gun just to walk down the street. Realize that if there are some black people near you (and you are a white suburban pussy) that they aren't there to do a wilding on you. Realize that the only possible terrorists in this country currently have occupied the Whitehouse and they are the true terrorists. They HAVE won (for now). They have completely controlled you (and fools like you) to fear on command. They throw up the Yellow, Orange or Red Alert and you are ready to grab your duct tape and plastic because you think it will make a difference. Face it. Sometimes there is NOTHING you can do to protect yourself. If another 9-11 scale terrorist attack happens, the only way we will be prepared is if the Bush administration decides to do something about it to affect Dubya's standing just before the election.

      You stupid motherfuckers kept blabbing about "wag the dog" during the Clinton era and now you can't see what all this Homeland security bullshit is? Can you REALLY be THAT STUPID!!? If G.W. crooks his way into the Whitehouse for another term... I will seriously consider leaving this country. And I will tell you and all the people like you to go fuck yourselves with hot soldering irons. As it is I hate just about 90% of the people I meet in the streets every day. You are all obsessed with money and your fucking belongings. You are focused only on yourself and don't give any other humans any consideration at all. You are a worthless fucking lot of selfish bastards. You are all sooooo deserving of some severe repercussions for your disgusting way of life. Americans really make me sick since they have ruined what this fucking place used to be. The US used to be good and kind. It's now a total waste of space.

    27. Re:Why are we doing this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are such a moron, I don't even know where to start. Socialism, communism, markism, whatever has all FAILED. In case you didn't catch that, I said FAILED. It simply does not work for one reason: human greed. Would you go to work if you got paid the same whether you showed up or not? Neither would anyone else. Would you start a company if the only reward you could get was to be making just as much as you would in your state-provided job? Me neither. And do you really think we are worse off right now than people were during the depression? In the 1930s people barely had enough food. Lots of people lived in 'Hoovervilles', which were shacks made out of scrap materials because it was all they had. You really need to study your history. And since the government does such a great job with everything it gets its hands on, lets make it even bigger. Did you know Americans without health insurance receive better medical care than citizens of most countries with national health care? In summary, if this is such a terrible country and you don't want to do anything constructive to help make it better, then get the fuck out. Nobody will miss you, I am sure.

  24. 2 billion hits by bstadil · · Score: 4, Interesting
    You are quite right and even better the NASA folks are keenly aware of this. I saw an interview with one of the JPL directors on Nasa TV and he said they had gotten more than 2 billion hits to the NASA web site since the landing. In perspective this is more than they got during all of 2003.

    Second I think it is real cool that some of the key people in the project / science team at NASA are women. Maybe this will help in that department as well, we sure need their brain power in the tech sector.

    --
    Help fight continental drift.
    1. Re:2 billion hits by KjetilK · · Score: 1
      Yeah, this is really interesting. I wonder if anybody has noticed the server string on their servers:

      Server: Apache/2.0.45 (Unix) mod_perl/1.99_09-dev Perl/v5.6.1 covalent_auth/2.3 DAV/2 CovalentSSL/2.3.3 RSA/SSLC mod_jk/1.2.2-beta-1

      They're taking some beta software for some serious rides there....

      I believe both mod_perl/1.99 and mod_jk/1.2.2-beta-1 are, well, beta software. I thought I heard mod_perl 2.0 was released, but I haven't heard any great success stories. But that's a really nice test for these modules...

      --
      Employee of Inrupt, Project Release Manager and Community Manager for Solid
  25. Re:Wow... by Kethinov · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Indeed. One of the most impressive crapfloods I've ever seen.

    Once, however, there are a far more insideous crapflood on alt.games.final-fantasy-rpg back in the good ol' dialup days.

    --
    You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
  26. /.'s taking care of itself. by Cyno01 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Most of these posts are dissapearing fairly quickly, the editors and some mods are taking care of it. This is an impressive crap flood, probably rotating IPs somehow.

    --
    "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
    1. Re:/.'s taking care of itself. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      probably rotating IPs somehow.

      At a guess, open proxies or zombie proxies installed by email worms.

    2. Re:/.'s taking care of itself. by Kethinov · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Disappearing? Slashdot doesn't delete posts. Modding down isn't causing them to disappear, especially seeing as how I read at -1 ;)

      --
      You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
    3. Re:/.'s taking care of itself. by Cyno01 · · Score: 1

      Fine then, but for those of us who browse at 0, page spill 50, theres a nice little message at the bottom that currently says 252 replies beneath your current threshold. :p

      --
      "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
    4. Re:/.'s taking care of itself. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Three times your number now, in less than an hour.

  27. Signs of life in the pictures??? by DeadBugs · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Did anyone else see THIS?

    --
    http://www.kubuntu.org/
    1. Re:Signs of life in the pictures??? by Basehart · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      C'mon - at least put a shadow on it. Even better, a drop shadow!

  28. Re:slashdot GNAA by Kethinov · · Score: 3, Offtopic

    No, they can't. If Slashdot starts deleting troll posts and crapfloods they're participating in active censorship which is one thing they're committed to avoid. Slashdot is a social experiment in total freedom of speech with zero "true" moderation. Meaning you take the good with the bad. The intelligent discussion with the GNAA. The interesting comments with the crapfloods.

    --
    You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
  29. Close... by Cyno01 · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    There is a filter for dupe messages, but it has to be the exact same message, notice all the GNAA posts have a random number at the bottom. Expext the dupe post filter to become a bit fuzzier soon. Now only if there were a dupe filter for the editors too... :p

    --
    "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
  30. More download links by JPL-Jeff · · Score: 5, Informative
    In addition to the torrent links, we have a lot of great mirror sites for Maestro. You can find them all here:
  31. Re:All we need is our own Mars Lander, then by MichaelGCD · · Score: 2, Funny

    Those insensitive clods gave us insensitive code!

    --
    hate titty pee colon slash slash
  32. Re:Wow by rolocroz · · Score: 1

    Fucking amazing. I went to the main page and right now it says "50 of 633 comments". Wow.

    --

    I meta-mod all positive moderation Unfair, because it's abuse of the system.

  33. Hmmm, plan! by Dark+Lord+Seth · · Score: 1

    Someone get the biggest wlan signal booster they can find and ship it in a freighter to the Arecibo observatory while I install this baby on a laptop. Ever had an RC car whose control frequency interfered with something? Think bigger. >:)

  34. Linux Binaries? by Jagasian · · Score: 1

    Since when did the government care to provide Linux support? NASA is truely the exception to the rule.

    1. Re:Linux Binaries? by The+Ape+With+No+Name · · Score: 1

      Hold on a sec, cuz. It's Java. That is only tenatively Linux support....

      --
      Comparing it to Windows will be a moot point, since El Dorado is going to have a 40% larger code base than XP.
    2. Re:Linux Binaries? by martyvona · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually, I can tell you that the following facts are true: 1) Maestro and the corresponding mission software were developed almost entirely on workstations running Linux and other open source software 2) The official workstations that are running this software at JPL run Linux 3) Most of the testing and optimization was done on Linux, thus you can expect Maestro to run best on Linux 4) We distribute different installers just to make it easiest for people to get the correct versions of all the required components onto their systems (for example, with the exception of the OS X installer, I believe, all of the installers include a private JRE installation). The various installers are actually all automatically generated by scripts from the same codebase. Marsette Vona one of the SAP/Maestro developers (currently back at MIT)

  35. Re:This is^H^Hwas Crippleware! by waynemcdougall · · Score: 1
    But yes, the public activity dictionary (which determines the structure of the plans) is significantly different from the mission version.

    Until I change these bits thusly.

    Now, off we go to resuce the Beagle! Special thanks to MovieOS for making this possible.

    --
    Recycle PCs and build a wireless community network www.hillsborough.org.nz
  36. obligitory finding nemo reference by McAddress · · Score: 1

    swim down

  37. what's up with this story? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It has been totally hijacked by GNAA bastards. They can all go to hell.

    Dear slashdot:

    Here is a suggestion:

    Add the term GNAA into the lameness filter. :)

    This idea should be modded insightful, but I'm sure it's offtopic.

    Just to stay on topic, I want to say that this mission to Mars thing is huge. It's a shame that it's not headline news in the mainstream media. which is truly sad when Brittany Spears' marriage can captivate audiences more than interesting science breakthroughs.

  38. Where is... by dq5+studios · · Score: 1

    Where is Bill Nye's Marsdial? Thats what I want to see.
    That was on this probe right?

    1. Re:Where is... by Basehart · · Score: 1

      Database/site-00/NAVCAM/2N126468579DNL0000P1502L0M 1

      9th image down in the NAVCAM folder, which is in the site-000 folder.

      Selected Point:
      XYZ in Site 0 [m]:
      (-0.797,0.145,-0.156)

      That little white patch at top left of the solar panel, with the black antennae in the middle. I think it triples as a transmitter and colour balance.

      BTW anyone know if there's a way of exporting a file with coordinates etc. that can be imported into someone else's Maestro to show a location on an image?

  39. Mars rover images we'd like to see by AIX-Hood · · Score: 1

    I think this calls for a great collection of Mars rover political cartoons from the various newspapers: http://cagle.slate.msn.com/news/Mars2004/main.asp

    1. Re:Mars rover images we'd like to see by sparrow_hawk · · Score: 1

      Man, talk about great (heh) minds thinking alike...

      The first page is *all* variations on, "Oh, hey, it's Osama!"

  40. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It has been totally hijacked by GNAA bastards. They can all go to hell.

    Dear slashdot:

    Here is a suggestion:

    Add the term GNAA into the lameness filter. :)

    This idea should be modded insightful, but I'm sure it's offtopic.

    Just to stay on topic, I want to say that this mission to Mars thing is huge. It's a shame that it's not headline news in the mainstream media. which is truly sad when Brittany Spears' marriage can captivate audiences more than interesting science breakthroughs.

    what do you think?

  41. Internet 2 sites by The+Ape+With+No+Name · · Score: 1

    Ah yes. I am getting this Maestro thingy at 11.1Mbps. Heh. OC-12 to Abilene....

    --
    Comparing it to Windows will be a moot point, since El Dorado is going to have a 40% larger code base than XP.
  42. Re:This is^H^Hwas Crippleware! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    D00D! Where cna I downlaod ur Maestro cr4ckw4rz?

  43. I figured it out! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, A, B, A, B, Start! It worked in the past, I'm sure it will work again!

    1. Re:I figured it out! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At least in sonic it was Up, Down, Left, Right, A, B, start.

  44. you can download maestro... by Dagrush · · Score: 0

    You can download Maestro and...

    Have they forgotten this is /.?
    It should read: You used to be able to download Maestro and...

  45. Disappointed by all the spam.... by JPL-Jeff · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Well, I really hope that people won't be scared away from Maestro because of all the rubbish posted here. It certainly killed any useful discussion before it could start. It's a pity - we worked very hard on Maestro, and I think that there are a lot of people out there who would enjoy it.

    I'm very new to Slashdot (ok, ok, I joined just so I could announce Maestro :) ). Does this happen often? How is it usually dealt with? It seems like in situations like this the editors might consider just pulling the article and posting it again later.

    Of course, I don't see how anyone could even FIND this post considering the company it will be keeping.. oh well! :(

    Jeff Norris
    Maestro Team Lead
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory

    1. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by rayde · · Score: 2, Insightful

      since the junk posts are moderated to -1, and most people read comments that are only moderated +1 or higher, it's not that big of a problem. it is a pretty stupid thing for people to do though, but don't let it discourage you!! A lot of people are very impressed with the work your team has put into this!!

    2. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by Aaton · · Score: 1
      Hey people will find it. This flood crap happens from time to time. The developers are alway working on ways to prevent it. However at the same time the troll that flood the site are working to get around the developers.

      Some days are better then the next. Good luck with Maestro.

    3. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by rolocroz · · Score: 1

      Reading this thread at a threshold of 1 seems to work for me - the vast majority of this trolling seems to be anonymous. I am, however, amazed at the sheer volume of this crapflood. I've never seen anything like it before.

      --

      I meta-mod all positive moderation Unfair, because it's abuse of the system.

    4. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Don't worry Jeff this isn't a regular occurrence. Usually you might find 20-30 useless posts in a discussion of several hundred - which is fine by me - but the idiots are out in force tonight it seems. I think it's very unfortunate that this article in particular was singled out. There's more than enough redundant Linux vs Windows ranting and raving here where the extra noise would barely have been noticeable.

      If you're lucky, the editors will moderate everything to -1 overnight, so anyone getting up to read this tomorrow morning will be able to see it free of the garbage.

      I have yet to install Maestro, myself, because my desktop is a Mini-ITX board with no real 3D support, but i plan to get an FX5200 in a month or two, so hopefully you guys will still have Maestro up then. I'll be downloading it in the mean time in preparation. I think it's awesome what you guys are doing and i really appreciate it.

    5. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know, the spork flood of 2000/2001 was pretty crazy :-) The difference is the spork flood was funny because it was a bunch of different accounts that kept saying "in character" stuff to each other, but this is just... a waste really. Especially given that the text they're flooding isn't particularly interesting or funny. Oh well.

    6. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by jesdynf · · Score: 1

      Alas, you do have to tweak Slashdot a little...

      I "browse at +2, and punish Funny, Redundant, and short comments", meaning that I don't see comments that score less than 2, short comments are penalized slightly, and comments marked Funny or Redundant are penalized harshly. Slashdot only showed me seventeen out of... well... lots of comments. And those comments were very helpful.

      To be fair, though, my viewing thresholds are set so harshly that my comments frequently don't manage to sqweak through. But it keeps Slashdot nice and tidy.

      --
      Yahoo! Pipes are awesome. How awesome? http://pipes.yahoo.com/jesdynf/slashdot
    7. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      To be fair, though, my viewing thresholds are set so harshly that my comments frequently don't manage to sqweak through.
      As it should be.
    8. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by bigmaddog · · Score: 1

      By spam I take it you mean some of the "comments" posted here (like this one). Well, welcome to Slashdot. As the number of members in a community goes up, so does the number of assclowns in said community (probably not a linear relationship), and said assclowns don't care what they're assclowning, allowing them to overwhelm meaningful content. Being very very big, Slashdot has very very many assclowns. The moderation system is an attempt to address that, but you also get moderators that are assclowns (like me at the moment) so it only helps to some extent. So the moderators also get moderated, and so on and so on. The hope is that some of the assclowns cancel each other out. I'm just hoping that saying "assclown" so many times in a post doesn't completely kill my karma.

      Anyway, it's not all bad; even if we can't peacefully/meaningfully discuss the story, and even if some (most?) of those trying to discuss it (like me at the moment) haven't read the linked article(s), a lot of people will still look at what you've done and drool on their keyboards, and that's still something - IMHO capturing the public imagination with space exploration is important, and not only to NASA funding in the short term but probably to humanity as a whole in the long term.

      --

      Even as you read this, your pants are strangling your loins! Aaa!

    9. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by caseih · · Score: 1

      Just browse with a filter on the comments of +2 and you'll find the comments are pretty good. All the crap gets moderated down.

    10. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by shawnce · · Score: 1

      Just browse slashdot with a threshold of +3 (or so), you don't see all the goat sex, GNAA, etc. crap that way.

      Life is much better at +3...

      (some punk is obviously spamming the GNAA stuff)

    11. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by veg_all · · Score: 1

      JPL-Jeff: see that little drop-down called "threshhold" in the bar at the top of the postings? Select 4. People constantly complain about it, but I think moderation works amazingly well, considering the volume of rubbish that has to be filtered. The moderation system is arguably slashdot's one killer app.

      --
      grammar-lesson free since 1999. (rescinded - 2005)
    12. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jeff, I know it's already been said, but you all created a nifty piece of software! And opening the flood gates so that the public may consume the same data is simply AMAZING, please don't be discouraged, you guys did a helluva job, congrats on the success! Programs like this, that the public can interact with, are the first small steps in scientific research that will create the engineers of tomorrow.

    13. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by t0qer · · Score: 1

      Originally posted by JPL-Jeff (737613)
      I'm very new to Slashdot (ok, ok, I joined just so I could announce Maestro :) ). Does this happen often? How is it usually dealt with?

      We just ask the British to send a probe to the GNAA home planet to find intelligent life. :D

    14. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by sarahtim · · Score: 1

      Don't let Slashdot get to you. You just have to learn how to pull the levers. Ignore everything below say, level 4, and you'll find most of the crud slips away. After a while it becomes strangely addictive. :-) I've downloaded the software and the first data set and it is very exciting. It all works beautifully and will only get better as more data comes through. You have done a wonderful job and Mars geeks like myself are very grateful to you for sharing it. Note: Getting the data from Hungary was much faster than the Texas link... I'm in Australia. So, it pays to shop around.

    15. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by AgentSmith2 · · Score: 1

      You will see with time that slashdot is one of the best places in the world to get informed opinions on anything. You also get idiot's opinions. But the controls at the top of the page let's you see only what you want to see. I almost never read comments that have a score below 4.

    16. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by meadowsp · · Score: 1

      I seem to remember the big ascii beers from some point in the past (I've been here too long!)

    17. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by Aphelion · · Score: 1

      Jeff, just do like the rest of us and go here and set your thresholds to Score +3.

    18. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by brandido · · Score: 1

      Jeff, Thanks for posting information on Slashdot - downloaded Maestro, and am loving it!! With regards to the spam, the moderators have done a great job, as reading comments with a threshold of 4, I didn't even see the negative comments until I went back with a lower threshhold. I think your message came across loud and clear!

      thanks, brandido
      --
      First Falcon-1 to orbit, then Falcon-9. Then I can die a happy man.
    19. Re:Disappointed by all the spam.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just set your threshold to +5. Every post you see will be guaranteed to be objectively great.

  46. Source Code by codepunk · · Score: 1

    Does it come with source code? A program is of little use to me unless I can hack on it.

    --


    Got Code?
    1. Re:Source Code by JPL-Jeff · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, we *are* making steps towards open-sourcing Maestro.

    2. Re:Source Code by codepunk · · Score: 1

      Ok if that happens I give it a +10 on the cool scale. If not I still give it a 9.

      --


      Got Code?
    3. Re:Source Code by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about open data? Can Maestro export JPEG and VRML files?

  47. Screen saver? by antdude · · Score: 1

    Can this program be used a Windows/MacOS X/Linux screen saver to collect images? I'd love to show this program off at work. ;)

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  48. Don't Be Discouraged by Pavan_Gupta · · Score: 5, Insightful

    JPL-Jeff, don't be discouraged by the nonsense posted on slashdot from time to time -- your message is easily caught from amongst the "crapflood." Regardless, trust in the slashdot moderators, hopefully they'll keep things in check.

    Moreover, trust that your link will be getting all the attention it needs. I noticed your download links far up in the discussion (inside the crapflood taht is), and I'm sure others have as well.

    Hopefully the moderators will be on the ball tonight -- at least they can easily see where the spam is.

    No worries though, you've got an awesome piece of software, and I'm as eager as anybody to see it in action.

    Thanks!

  49. The average bandwidth Nasa is working with: by __aailob1448 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I asked JPL-jeff on IRC about it and his answer was:

    gozu - I don't have the numbers in front of me. It's like about 15 Mbits of products per day on the HGA, more like 180 Mbits per day on the UHF if we do all the orbiter passes.

    So it averages out to 2.3 Kbps! Of course, this is in bursts so the real speeds are higher than this. But still...It's shocking.

    1. Re:The average bandwidth Nasa is working with: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haha, that's about the download speed I used to get with my very first ISP on my state-of-the-art 28.8 kbps modem. The more things change...

  50. Links to Java3D for Macs by lpangelrob2 · · Score: 3, Informative
    It seems that the link to the Java3D download is quite broken, so I'll post a better one here.

    http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/java3d andjavaadvancedimagingupdate.html

    It doesn't specifically tell you, but if you try to fire up Maestro without Java3D, nothing happens.

    As it is, this is a quality Java app -- reminds me of old *quality* Encarta multimedia footage (back in oh... 1998 or so). Just better. :-)

  51. life on mars by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This might be off topic, but did they disinfect the rovers to make them free of bacteria, etc. before they launched? Is there a possibility that landing there could bring some life from earth to mars? At the least, is there the possiblity that something like this could cause the rover itself contaminate the soil samples the rover will analyze?

    I guess that seems farfetched but I thought I read on slashdot awhile back that NASA didn't want to crash a probe into a Jupiter moon for some reason like this.

    1. Re:life on mars by ToSeek · · Score: 1

      Yes, they did There are internationally developed protocols for this.

  52. Getting the software to run properly on Linux by perlow · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://forums.xandros.com/viewtopic.php?t=4233

    This is a post about getting it to work on Xandros Linux, but people using other distros with newer versions of libstdc++ may have the same problem, so you may need to symbolically link the libstdc library on your unit to the version the software calls for as well.

    The software is a PIG. Its a Java application and even on my 3.0Ghz HP graphics workstation with a Quadro4 graphics card, its slow and a major memory hog. Still, Its pretty cool.

  53. Picture(s) Hint @ Life on Mars??? by rm3friskerFTN · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The USA Today article Imprint shows Mars craft landed in 'weird stuff' describes "The soil was stripped up and folded in an interesting way," said Jim Bell, who designed the panoramic camera that Spirit used to photograph the "mud-like" patch. "It has quite alien textures."

    Might this soil crust on Mars be same/similar to the biological soil crust found at Arches National Park (Moab, Utah)?

    Additional details regarding biological soil crusts maybe are to found here:

    intermediate details

    advanced details

    --

    I believe Juanita

  54. Very Idealistic by sonpal · · Score: 1
    And any technological advance that forwards mankind's status as a space-faring species is only beneficial to the entire species.

    Consider a Mars base on the planet and not orbiting around it. Humans on the base will experience a low gravity environment all the time. Babies born on the base will grow to be a lot taller and a lot weaker than Earth babies.

    When we move on to the next planet (say we find a lot of geothermal activity on Neptune keeping it warm), we will have to deal with other issues. The constraints of the living environment may dictate a different (but tolerable) gaseous composition, say mostly CO2 and O2 with no N2. Neptune babies may grow to develop different lung structures (not evolution, but just adaptation) in addition to being super-strong midgets because of the gravity.

    Mars-raised humans will be different enough from Neptune-raised humans that we may have difficulty building any sort of kinship. Mars-raised humans will probably not be able to deal with Earth's gravity and much less Neptune's gravity and artificial atmosphere.

    How are we going to relate to these creatures of the "same species"? Will we even connect or care about them, much less think about what is "beneficial to the entire species"?

    1. Re:Very Idealistic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      How are we going to relate to these creatures of the "same species"? Will we even connect or care about them, much less think about what is "beneficial to the entire species"?

      We'll relate to them like we've always related to different ethnic groups. We'll work with them and live with them and at some point try to kill them, but we'll, in the end, see them as human as us. In the long run it's not about if we can see them as human, but if they can survive where we can't, it won't matter. Ignoring any problems on the Earth, Sol is going to expand at some point and the Earth is just going to end up as more fuel for the fire. If we have enough people in the distant solar system, maybe they'll survive. Maybe we'll have colonies in other solar systems too, even more different than us. But in the end, something of our culture and history will survive. We won't be lost. That's what matters.

  55. Very good point but why the AC? by Saeed+al-Sahaf · · Score: 1

    My wife agrees with you, she says that at the very least this is the stuff that inspires our children to discover new things, to be the on the edge that discovers the new technologies, to be the Einstein's of our age, with new ideas we can only dream about. I guess I'm just a bit disappointed that with the billions of dollars out there, hard science that addresses social issues has such a low priority.

    --
    "Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
    1. Re:Very good point but why the AC? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It might be the previous poster doesn't have an ID, like I do.

      Anyhow, the problem with hard science trying to solve social issues is that social issues are far harder than science can usually handle. For example, there's enough food produced in the world today to feed everyone, so why are there starving people anywhere? It's a variety of social issues, many of them local to the people that are starving. The only way hard science could solve this was by creating a man-portable machine that ran on nothing and produced food.

      The problem with fixing social issues is they're about changing people, not knowledge and not tools. People are notoriously hard to change for more reasons than can be listed. My personal gripe about the US right now is how intelligence is seen as a bad characteristic. Parents don't want their kids to grow up to be scientists. It's a social issue.

  56. It's very cool! by g00bd0g · · Score: 1

    Even the tutorial which usually bugs the hell outta me was convenient. I actually like the raw images better, gives it more of an "exploratory" feel :) Fun fun fun.

  57. Re:IRC Help For Newbies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  58. Re:MODS DONT WASTE YOUR POINTS ON CRAPFLOODS! by NanoGator · · Score: 1

    "No. People may have valid reasons to post as AC."

    Never said kill it all together, I said kill it until the crapflood dies.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  59. Re:MODS DONT WASTE YOUR POINTS ON CRAPFLOODS! by NanoGator · · Score: 1

    Didn't realize I had a fan.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  60. No, I think he really means spam. by jotaeleemeese · · Score: 1

    I saw in excess of 1000 comments, but when I checked initially with my usual filtering I only saw 70 or 80. The rest were clearly spam in the purest sense of the word (check them, they surely were made automatically).

    It is the first time I see something that vicious here, I wonder if it is a bunch of different machines 0wn3d by a cracker posting each comments as ACs (thus making too laborious to block based on IP address...).

    --
    IANAL but write like a drunk one.
  61. Re:jesus tapdancing christ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    LMFAO!!!!!
    eat shit you offtopic whore.

  62. Some statistics, before this gets archived by Texas+Rose+on+Lava+L · · Score: 1

    This story has received 1220 comments, including this one.

    Total crapflood comments: 996
    Comments discussing the crapflood: 59
    Comments scored at -1 (not included above): 27
    Legitimate, on-topic comments: 138

    Distribution of comment scores:

    Score Crap- Discuss Non- Total
    flood Crap- Crap-
    flood flood

    -1 996. 21. 27. 1,044.
    0 0. 10. 36. 46.
    1 0. 16. 33. 49.
    2 0. 9. 38. 47.
    3 0. 1. 7. 8.
    4 0. 0. 4. 4.
    5 0. 2. 20. 22.

    (sorry about the periods. The lameness filter made me put them in.)