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Mars Express Successfully Deploys First Boom
Psiolent writes "As reported yesterday, the Mars Express team is beginning the antenna deployment process. The BBC reports that the satellite has successfully deployed the first boom of the primary antenna. The article also states that 'the mood amongst instrument team members is now said to be positive, following the problem-free deployment of the first boom.' The second boom of the primary antenna is scheduled to be deployed Sunday."
More like a kind of a muffled thump
there was supposed to be an Earth-shattering ka-BOOM!
Take off every sig. For great justice.
Holy shit, today is Wednesday!? Man then I totally missed work yesterday! Well on the bright side this gives me some extra time to buy a mothers day gift...
I swear these stories are chosen autonomously.
~
So a very tiny part of a relatively small-scale space mission went well. That's terrific.
Remember the day when an entire manned space flight going without a hitch was barely considered newsworthy?
Prior to the Challenger explosion, it seemed almost inevitable that mankind would simply get better and better at putting men and objects out into space.
Since then, we've had blurry telescopes, lost probes, crash landings, re-entry burn-ups, space station fires, metric conversion errors, and a plethora of other humiliating failures.
What was the biggest triumph of space exploration in the last ten years?
Well, you could say it's some of our distant unmanned probes on the outer reaches of the solar system sending us cool pictures, but those were launched back in the Good Old Days when it seems like we knew WTF we were doing.
No, our highwater mark for the last ten years is a solar-powered toy car which rolled around for a few days on the surface of Mars.
Pathetic.
Do we need the commies back to scare us in to innovating once again? Seems a rather high price to pay.
At 1530 BST on Wednesday, a command was sent to release the boom, which forms one half of Marsis' primary antenna.
The primary antenna's second boom is now due to be deployed on Sunday.
Stay tuned folks. We'll find out late next week whether today's boom deployment will have been successful.
"I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
'the mood amongst instrument team members is now said to be positive' I can just picture them spinning the propellers on their beanies.
I'm Freaking Out!
What we really need is for al qaeda to start a space program. That'll get us moving for sure.
Al qaeda could do a very good job at a space program I think. The thing that would make stuff easy for them is that they would not have to worry about life support systems or any of that difficult stuff. They could just have their manned rockets shoot up in the air and then explode in LEO
At Mars Express control center: "Gentleman, we have full erection, I repeat, we have full primary antenna erection. "
Now it's trolling to advocate manned space exploration??
Mars Express is not a NASA mission, dipshit.
Fuck anonymous cowards and their mediocrity - why am I even responding to you?
This space available.
I was under the impression that when something went "boom" in outer space, it was a bad thing. But for it to do so on schedule... these space program guys think of everything!
That's nice dear.
It's an ESA mission, not NASA. The fact that this is the first ESA mission to Mars makes it slightly more newsworthy, ESA has never worked at these distances before.
How many people can read hex if only you and dead people can read hex?
For a start (as another poster pointed out) it is not NASA. You obviously have not heard of the concept of a "support department". ESA did test it to death (I belive they are CMML5 compliant) and kept on testing it after launch. The post launch testing is why they CHANGED THIER ORIGINAL PLAN.
How would you suggest anyone "guarentee success" with anything when the most you can do is mitigate risk through testing? I would say the biggest problem NASA has, is educating taxpayers who have an unreasonable expectation of perfection because they once wrote a flawless "hello world" in highschool.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Yeah, I know, quick and easy one...
Boom yesterday. Always was a boom yesterday.
Now the Earthlings will feel the wrath of the Martians!
Bwahahahahahaha! So you really think that people read posts based on karma? What a boring place /. would be if I didn't read it at -1 threaded all the time.
I bet you use your Karma bonus regularly, too. A true believer...
What we need is a common, alien enemy. We'd be colonizing space in no time. Now that would be worth of a Big Lie (framed alien attacks).
Of course it's not NASA. The NASA Mars mission really did land with a boom.
(The question is, since there is no life on Mars, did it make a sound ?)
Boom Boom Satellites
(Pada-bummm... Thank you, I'll be here all week.)
And the third boom directly on Mars's surface should follow shortly after.
I skimmed the FA and got the impression NASA thought the booms would "whip around" and damage the spacecraft. Whip around. Like if you stuck your hand out of the car on I-80? Or like just enough to scare the ESA scientists so they decide not to deploy?
Sounds to me like NASA is worried the ESA might discover water on Mars before Spirit or Opportunity do. I have nothing against a little friendly rivalry, but scientisits these days really seem to worry about the size of their pricks. Or is it the size of the checks?
Fuck nicks and their unearned arrogance - why do you take this so seriously?
What does life have to do with making a sound ?
Mada mada dane.
lol, gotta love /. humor
Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow.
Dustin - A different story...
Yeah, but those engines 25 years ago were altogether much more exciting.
He who has no
A new boom sweeps clean.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
Check out the Succesfull Landing clip of the H-e-l-l-o project.
Now that's not a very creative way to kill someone...
Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck