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Extreme Close-Up of Mars's Moon Phobos
coondoggie writes "The European Space Agency's Mars exploring satellite will make a number of close-up passes of the Martian moon Phobos. The Mars Express, which the agency launched in 2003, has begun a series of flybys of Phobos, the largest moon of Mars, that will ultimately set a new record for the closest pass to Phobos — skimming the surface at 50 km, or about 31 miles. This is only about 5 times the irregular moon's average radius. The data collected by the satellite could help solve some of the mysteries about the moon, beginning with that of its origin."
I wanted an extreme close-up of Phoebe Cates, dammit.
It looks rather plain- for some reason I thought it would look a little scary or something. Not sure why.
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W00t a rock!
For sale: One Death Star. Full size. Somewhat lumpy. Amateur construction. Needs work.
> When calculating the density, this gives a surprising figure because it
> seems that parts of Phobos may be hollow...
That is interesting, to say the least.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
IT's A TRAP!!!!!!
no no, wait, I got this..
That's no moon!!!
You are ignorant. Many of the technologies that we have now owe their existence to space technology. We know more than ever about our own planet's environment, its ecosystem, weather and lifeforms thanks to the exploration of other planets. It is likely that you would not even have a computer, nor access to a global network to post your message on if not for technology developed for space exploration. There is also the simple drive for knowledge, but obviously knowing things isn't your modus operandi.
What REALLY needs to be cut is military and weapons funding. The invasion of Iraq alone costs around ten billion tax dollars per year for a pointless and unscrupulous occupation.
I support science funding, but a billion dollars can fund a lot of terrestrial science projects, so any space mission better not be a stand-alone one as long as the budget stays so high. I agree putting a man on Mars isn't practical in the short term, but we should still be working towards making a Mars mission become practical. A data-gathering mission should have to fight directly with telescope projects for funding, otherwise it has to provide more direct benefits. For example, the article says it is planned to get samples back to earth by the 2020's. That mission would combine technical progress (getting something off of Mars for the first time) with scientific research, so it is an ideal project.
As for this mission, knowing more about the composition of the moon can help us if we want to make use of it for future missions (for its gravity or as a base), and the mapping of the Martian surface will help us direct future missions. This is a good mission, and I support its funding. It isn't just about getting pictures of a rock.
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I don't agree with the people who hate any spending that has to do with space, but there has to be a balance somewhere. I see the benefit of the Apollo missions and they were worth the cost, but space missions are expensive compared to a lot of earth-based science. This mission seems worth the cost, as it will help us plan future missions, but just as people shouldn't reject spending as soon as they see "space", we shouldn't automatically accept it either. Science will never get as much funding as we would like, so we need to be sure we spend what we've got wisely.
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Sorry to be blunt, but I don't visit Slashdot to get redirected to some shitty ad-plastered website with half-assed copy/pasted information.
Was it really so hard for the submitter to give this a proper non-misleading title, and a link to the actual ESA press release?
Is there a way to get kdawson fired? He seems to pull this shit a lot.
The Soviet Phobos-2 mission returned some cool pictures before its computer failed. I especially like the ones with Mars in the background.
For sale: One Death Star. Full size. Somewhat lumpy. Amateur construction. Needs work.
That'll never sell on Ebay!
Try this:
Act now! One Death Star. Full size. Special lumps making it even more terrifying. Created same time and in same process as other more expensive objects! Condition as new. Comes with 3 free gifts. Free shipping. Why pay more for larger when this does so well? Hurry! This won't last. Seller has A++++ rating.
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Many of the technologies that we have now owe their existence to space technology...
What REALLY needs to be cut is military and weapons funding.
While I agree with you, you should bear in mind that many advances in medicine, surgery and our understanding of anatomy owe their existence to war. A lot of knowledge was gained on how the visual cortex works by performing tests on soldiers with localised gun shot wounds to the head, for example.
Does that make up for the money and human cost? I don't know; I doubt it personally, but I have no hard figures. I'm just pointing out that your same argument for space technology can be made for military spending too.
It's official. Most of you are morons.
To complete the circle, many of the technologies behind the original space race likely wouldn't have been funded if they didn't have nuclear weapons applications. Big-ticket science has, historically, hitched a ride on military expendature. Whether that's desirable is a whole other question, but there you go.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?