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Mars Probe Probably Lost Forever
David Shiga writes, "NASA's silent Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft is likely lost forever. The space agency attempted to take a picture of the 10-year-old spacecraft using the newer Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, but did not detect it, either because its orbit has shifted since last contact, or because it isn't reflecting enough sunlight to be visible. NASA has now ordered its Opportunity rover to listen from the planet's surface for MGS's radio beacon. If that fails, the agency may call on the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft to join the search. But MGS may already have run out of power and NASA officials are not optimistic about recovering it."
Did they check Mars? I would bet that it is probably there.
Was that the one crushed by the Decepticons? I don't think we'll be recovering it anytime soon.
...it was obviously captured by aliens.
Mmmm......sacrelicious.
When did all this happen?
You got to admit, we've been having some fantastic luck with some of the recent Mars missions. Unfortunately, the luck has either been fantasticly good or fantasticly bad.
We just have to keep reminding ourselves that sending something millions of miles through space to a speck of rock and have it function so well for so long is an amazing achievement in and of itsself.
A pink rabbit beating a large bass drum was just spotted in the vicinity of Mars. Communications with the Mars Probe are expected to resume momentarily... ;)
"Nature bats last..."
How the hell did the loss of a rover lead you to atheism being the source of all violence? Also, in regards to that nice little book, the bloodthirstiness is sort of global. There are just as many mass murderers who say "god told me to" as there are mass murderers who decide that the lack of a big scary bogeyman means they can throw morality out the window.
"either because its orbit has shifted since last contact, or because it isn't reflecting enough sunlight to be visible"
So either it wasn't there or it was there but they didn't see it. I think that has to pretty safe to say they have limited the problem down considerably.
:(){
Why are humans, a plague on this planet, trying to gain dominion over the others?
If God had meant us to fly, he'd have given us rocket engines, day one.
(Yes, tongue is firmly in cheek.)
668: Neighbour of the Beast
Suppose you wished we'd just stayed up in the trees then, ya?
Have you been touched by his noodly appendage?
It's probably in an unknown orbit. Chances are as our space travel technology improves and we start to colonize Mars, it will turn up someday. Either it will be detected in orbit by one of our spacecraft, or its orbit will decay and its remains will be found on the Martian surface as research and civilization there expands. It might be a few hundred years, but eventually most of what we sent there could be found.
Either that or it will appear in a future episode, with..certain...alien mutations.
Many people joke, somewhat grimly, about the casualty rate for Mars missions. In this case we have a serious lesson to draw from what is happening. Having several other probes active at the same time gives us options we otherwise would not have.
If Mars Global Surveyor had been out there all alone, mission controllers would have little choice other than waiting for it to somehow recover and renew contact on its own. Having Spirit, Opportunity, the Mars Reconaissance Orbiter, Mars Odyssey, and Mars Express all out there at the same time, we get more chances to figure out some truly innovative way to save the troubled spacecraft.
However, if all these other efforts fail, we should seriously consider sending up a human repair crew to rescue Mars Global Surveyor. We have seen how the Hubble Space Telescope can rally public support for extra launches of the Space Shuttle. A thoughtfully run campaign to save Mars Global Surveyor could, in some small but perhaps crucial way boost public support for sending humans to Mars.
I am, for the simple reason that I was having fun rendering high-detail Mars planetoid 3D art. The sheer amount of data I've downloaded from the MGS project alone and NASA's JPL webservers would probably astonish you.
The resolutions available would STUPIFY you.
3D art is nothing more than a hobby to me, but it's fun to render still-images and sometimes video of a simple sphere with more detail than is available even with Google Earth.
Oh look, there's a video of aliens carrying it off on Youtube...lol just kidding, I guess not EVERYTHING is on Youtube. But clearly, it was kidnapped by aliens. The next one they send ought to have anti-alien defense mechanisms. Btw it sounds like there's a freakin lot of rovers and such on Mars at the moment. Just how many does Earth have there at the moment? I thought it was like 2.
Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
Off topic, but you've just reminded me of a Billy Connolly sketch.
He said "Go on TV and tell the audience that God talks to you, they will send in money. Go to any loony bin and tell them God talks to you, they won't even let you home for your pajamas."
This space for rent
Continual probing of a heavenly body for almost 10 years? Beats my record by a long shot.
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better." - Unknown
Always remember: The Medium is the Message, and the Message is the Audience (and the message is really stupid).
Linux violates 235 Microsoft patents.
Maybe the dingo ate your baby.
probably its software was written in java.
Calling Europen Space Agency? Didn't those guys lost their own rover too?
SO many posts here about the curse of Mars or whatever, but you have to remember Surveyer was on the 10th year of its 2 year mission!! It exceeded its specs and performed beautifully. It's sad to lose an orbiter, but at this point, it shouldn't be considered a failed mission.
Goodnight, sweet prince.
It might be time to update the Mars Scorecard.... although we got some good work out of the MGS, it might be time to mark this one up for the green guys.
Check out our infosecurity industry blog: http://securitymusings.com/
This is what happens when you believed the hype and put the cheaper Radio Shack Energizer Bunny batteries in your mission critical apps way back then...
Perhaps if we ever colonize Mars, someone will stumble upon its wreckage.
My mom can pick it up after she gets me from soccer practice.
Suppose you wished we'd just stayed up in the trees then, ya?
For my money, this whole leaving the oceans thing was a bad idea.
1) Because it's fairly close to us?
2) Because there is evidence that there used to be water on the planet, which means it's possible there used to be life there?
3) Because it's atmosphere is relatively mild, which makes it easier to build machines that can stand it?
4) Just because?
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
NASA was trying to cut costs by using off the shelf components. Unfortunately, UPS does not deliver replacement batteries to their current location ;)
What are we going to do tonight Brain?
And I thought losing SSH access to my BSD server 3000 miles away was a tough break. I can't even imagine what kind of inventive hacks would be needed to restore a lost probe orbiting another planet.
We own you. We now possess your land, your minerals, your precious spacecraft. You will surrender or you will die. Sycorax strong! Sycorax mighty! Sycorax rock!
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Forever? Is the submitter implying that humans will Never make it to Mars?
for a while longer. The two spacecraft, launched in the mid 1970's, are almost 30 years old. And they're still working, 9 billion miles away. They're well beyond the orbit of Pluto. Now that's impressive. Not to take away from Mars Global Surveyor or the twin rovers.
Okay, trying to take pictures of Beagle 2 was useful, because it could tell us whether the panels unfolded and give hints of the failure mode for consideration in future designs.
But what's the point of trying to take pictures of an orbiting craft? What useful data will we glean, if successful, that would either help restore MGS to functionality or inform future activity?
Mars Anti Satellite Command (MASC) reports another successful test of the new anti-satellite interceptor.
Perhaps to just know that it is still there and has not been (completely) destroyed. Knowing it is still there might justify continued efforts to contact it.
And sometimes when you lots of dollars and man-centuries invested in something, you just want to know what happened to it.
Computational Chemistry products and services.
I'd like to also add that it's the next most likely planet to which we send a manned mission, for the above reasons and it's the most likely planet for possible future colonization. All things considered it's probably the best candidate for exploration right now, close and somewhat similar but quite different from Earth as well.
Death to Videodrome! Long live The New flesh!
So... I guess the moon isn't close enough? Future colonization of any planet besides our own is the most ridiculus thing I have ever heard of. The moral and scientific issues it brings up are so crazy I choose not even to discuss them.
There truly is nothing more to see on that rock, for we have all seen the countless images from mars.
We've all seen pictures of the top of Mt Everest. Does that mean we should no longer climb mountains? We have seen pictures of the ocean floor. Should we no longer SCUBA dive? By no means! We explore because it is human nature to test our limits, to push the boundaries, to boldly go where no man has gone before.
We have not even seen one tenth of one percent of the Martian surface, yet there "is nothing more to see". Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the Solar System, three times as tall as Mt Everest, but who cares. There is nothing to see. Tourists flock by the millions each year to take in the Grand Canyon. The Valles Marineris is the deepest canyon system in the Solar System. Five times deeper, and hundreds of times longer, it makes the Grand Canyon look like a tire rut. But who cares. We've seen a few pictures of a couple of Martian rocks, so there's no point in going to the Valles Marineris. Well, Here's a picture of some Earth rocks, and here's a link to some maps. So now you don't ever have to leave your house.
As for Mars being lifeless, we do not *know* that there is no life on Mars. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Why, Opportunity could find lichen on a rock tomorrow afternoon.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
I assume you're talking about heightmap data, possibly with surface mapped photos?
Doesn't NASA have this catalog for Earth somewhere? I know the Venusian version is available from somewhere (not sure if it's NASA, the USGS, or someone else, and not sure if it's free to download) but I'm curious if that type of data is available for Earth, and if it's public domain/accessible from NASA's or the JPL's website.
It's very clear -- the probe swept over an area that the owners didn't want surveyed, and set up us the bomb. Great justice was served.
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
Um, actually, yeah. I have a couple friends who are probably going to be out of a job now. So, approve or disapprove of it, the fact remains somebody's going to miss it.
Give us a URL to it and we will destroy it.
Same thing. First, verify it's where it's supposed to be. Second, if the resolution is good enough (and they weren't sure it would be) see if it seems to be oriented correctly.
If it's not where it's supposed to be, then there's a partial explanation of why it's not responding -- it's off course -- and also tells them their options are limited to setting it straight again. If it is, but it's oriented incorrectly, then the batteries are not getting recharged and you focus on getting it oriented correctly so it can get power again. If it is present, oriented correctly, and still not responding, then you've got a different set of options.
More information can only help.
Damn you! I was ready to ask you what moral and scientific issues you were talking about, but since you don't want to discuss them, I will forever be left with a feeling of emptiness, knowing that the insight you choose to hold back will forever be barred from influencing the collective wisdom of the common man.
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
Aside from the general difficulty of firing government workers, nobody is going to lose their jobs over happening to be around when a mission which had gone years past its planned expiration date finally winked out of existence. At worst they'll have a few weeks of sitting around the office watching the computer screens, then they'll be reassigned to another NASA project. Not that I really think NASA engineers would be in a terrible place if the agency suddenly vanished tomorrow. After all, they're rocket scientists. I'm sure they can work something out. (Yeah, I know, NASA also employs janitors and cafeteria workers and techs. So does the rest of the world. You don't need to have anything orbiting a celestial body to pay someone to move a broom around.)
Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
I personally think it's all gone downhill since that whole silly "multicellular" craze. Phffft.
"Future colonization of any planet besides our own is the most ridiculus thing I have ever heard of."
If we don't spread humanity to other planets, humanity is doomed, period. It's as simple as that. Currently we have all our eggs in one basket, and we are kicking that basket around for shit 'n giggles. And if we don't manage to wipe us out by ourselves, we will eventually get hit by a planet-busting asteroid.
Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs - -all next week on Town Talk.
...welcome our alien probe stealing overlords... ...forgive me, I always wanted to do this :D
640KB of virtualized ram will be enough for everybody
Hi, yes looking at the spacecraft over a few frames would give you the opportunity to work out the orbit of the s/c. Once the rough orbit is known, the doppler shift can be worked out, and therefore the frequency. MGS has also been heard by radio hams, so its possible that some could watch for a signal. http://www.uhf-satcom.com/mgs/ has some info on the signals detected from MGS earlier this year. Lets hope NASA manages to either image this s/c, or chat to it with one of the rovers.
shucks, and awwwwwww.
nice try. no politics here, move along.
FairTax baby!
Who needs DNA?? I remember the days when ...
We are the BORG, put this in your sig and prepare to be assimilated
From the Associated Pres news:
"We have gathered information from inside NASA, that during the last minutes of contacts the Mars Global Surveyor sent out an encrypted message. After a grueling three hours trying to decrypt the message, top scientists at NASA was startled to see what appears to be a message from semi-intelligent beings. It reads 'How are you gentlemen!! All your base are belong to us.' Then the MGS went silent.
Governments of the United States and Western Europe have moved to take of every zig. Although it is widely believed that we have no chance to survive make our time, the scientists insist that we must indeed move zig.
God help us
... lost Probe, found by aliens and then it will come back... ... converted... ... in SURVYR!
;)
Which of course will be a new motorola phone model
We asked her a lot of questions when we were studying the planets. Poor old woman. It only took her a week of Uranus questions before she caught on.
Q: If we sent a probe to Uranus, would it ever come back?
A: No, it wouldn't.
Q: Does Uranus have a lot of gasses?
A: Yes, there is a lot of methane and sulfur.
Q: Is there a ring around Uranus?
A: No, I don't think so, but we can check.
Q: Is Uranus cold?
A: Yes, it's extremely frigid.
etc
has NASA received a ransom call?
Eclipse PDE and Me
" "Spirit has been displaying some anomalous behavior," said Project Manager John Callas, who noted the rover's unsuccessful attempts to flip itself over and otherwise damage its scientific instruments. "And the thousand or so daily messages of 'STILL NO WATER' really point to a crisis of purpose." "
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/54360
Which would account for not seeing it where expected...
Dog is my co-pilot.
www.ebay.mars
Snarbledorf and Veedlemore decided to use it to refuel their spacecraft, which i'm currently on.. now let me take this probe out from where the sun don't shine.
The moral and scientific issues it brings up are so crazy I choose not even to discuss them.
That's classic. I think I'll sig it, if it doesn't end up too long. While many moral and scientific "issues" (I assume you mean "reasons not to go") are crazy, the legitimate ones are not. For example, if Martian life exists, then it's probably completely incompatible with Terran life. And there probably won't be much in the way of competition between the two. But it could still be the case that one branch of life is strictly better than the other. In which case, the losing ecosystem could potentially be replaced by the other. If Martian life gets replaced by more aggressive Earth life then that's a loss of tremendous scientific value. If it goes the other way, then that could one of the worst disasters the Solar System will ever see. OTOH, maybe you're just one of those people who thinks humans should rot on Earth till they "learn" whatever it is that will make certain people feel better about humanity. Or maybe that the money that could go into humanity's future is better spent on counterproductive efforts to fail to get people out of poverty. That's crazy issues.
Anyway, I tend to agree with your assessment of the Moon versus Mars. The economics of going to the Moon make more sense. It's close to Earth physically (and to the most valuable real estate in the Solar System). It's closer than Mars in terms of moving stuff (orbital dynamics) to Earth orbit or to Earth.
OTOH, I see a compelling reason for going to both the Moon and Mars - once the cost of putting something in LEO is significantly cheaper. There's too much interesting stuff in both locations to just leave them alone. We should understand Mars and any potential Martian ecosystem better (and understand better human physiology in low gravity environments) before we put heavy effort into colonization. But I don't see real obstacles unless Martian life is somehow extremely dangerous to Earth life.Cheers to great engineers at NASA.
Probably the result of some space golf shot that sliced 5 or 6 years prior and knocked it out of orbit. That's why they're trying the stunt again. *This* time they won't slice!
If in fact it has been up for ten years, that is a pretty good lifespan for an orbiter going around one of the rocky planets.
What's really amazing are those little rovers on the surface. Those definitely have Energizer Bunny Syndrome. In reality it is a tribute to the engineering.
But we have to act fast.
The transhumanist in me finds it rather touching that a team of men and machines spread across two different planets is searching for one lost member.
Do you see what I did there?