Touch Down On Mars!!!!!
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Purple_Lee replied on Sun Jan 4, 2004 @ 12:22am |
 Coolness: 239310 | 
Spirit Lands: January 3, 2004 about 8:35 pm PST View the Mars Exploration Rover images. This image gallery will expand as the mission [ marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov ] See also Mars images by topical category (canyons, craters, etc.) in the main Mars Exploration Program's [ marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov ] View the Mars Exploration Rover videos. [ marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov ] This video gallery will expand as the mission progresses. NASA's twin robot geologists, the Mars Exploration Rovers, launched toward Mars on June 10 and July 7, 2003, in 2003 in search of answers about the history of water on Mars. They are scheduled to land on Mars January 3 and January 24 PST (January 4 and January 25 UTC). The Mars Exploration Rover mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the red planet. Primary among the mission's scientific goals is to search for and characterize a wide range of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity on Mars. The spacecraft are targeted to sites on opposite sides of Mars that appear to have been affected by liquid water in the past. The landing sites are at Gusev Crater, a possible former lake in a giant impact crater, and Meridiani Planum, where mineral deposits (hematite) suggest Mars had a wet past. After the airbag-protected landing craft settle onto the surface and open, the rovers will roll out to take panoramic images. These will give scientists the information they need to select promising geological targets that will tell part of the story of water in Mars' past. Then, the rovers will drive to those locations to perform on-site scientific investigations over the course of their 90-day mission. These are the primary science instruments to be carried by the rovers: Panoramic Camera (Pancam): for determining the mineralogy, texture, and structure of the local terrain. Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES): for identifying promising rocks and soils for closer examination and for determining the processes that formed Martian rocks. The instrument will also look skyward to provide temperature profiles of the Martian atmosphere. Mössbauer Spectrometer (MB): for close-up investigations of the mineralogy of iron-bearing rocks and soils. Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS): for close-up analysis of the abundances of elements that make up rocks and soils. Magnets: for collecting magnetic dust particles. The Mössbauer Spectrometer and the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer will analyze the particles collected and help determine the ratio of magnetic particles to non-magnetic particles. They will also analyze the composition of magnetic minerals in airborne dust and rocks that have been ground by the Rock Abrasion Tool. Microscopic Imager (MI): for obtaining close-up, high-resolution images of rocks and soils. Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT): for removing dusty and weathered rock surfaces and exposing fresh material for examination by instruments onboard. A goal for the rover is to drive up to 40 meters (about 44 yards) in a single day, for a total of up to one 1 kilometer (about three-quarters of a mile). Moving from place to place, the rovers will perform on-site geological investigations. Each rover is sort of the mechanical equivalent of a geologist walking the surface of Mars. The mast-mounted cameras are mounted 1.5 meters(5 feet) high and will provide 360-degree, stereoscopic, humanlike views of the terrain. The robotic arm will be capable of movement in much the same way as a human arm with an elbow and wrist, and will place instruments directly up against rock and soil targets of interest. In the mechanical "fist" of the arm is a microscopic camera that will serve the same purpose as a geologist's handheld magnifying lens. The Rock Abrasion Tool serves the purpose of a geologist's rock hammer to expose the insides of rocks. [ marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov ] Freakimng neat stuff:) Lee |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Trey replied on Sun Jan 4, 2004 @ 4:04am |
 Coolness: 103455 | fuck Mars, lets go to Europa, Io, and Titan; way more interesting. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Toltech replied on Sun Jan 4, 2004 @ 7:19am |
 Coolness: 146110 | you're right. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» nothingnopenope replied on Sun Jan 4, 2004 @ 7:45am |
 Coolness: 201915 | That would be awesome but it would also take a while |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Psy_co replied on Sun Jan 4, 2004 @ 9:01am |
 Coolness: 489290 | It's great, I hope they'r gonna find interesting stuff |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Screwhead replied on Sun Jan 4, 2004 @ 9:19am |
 Coolness: 686280 | Rocks and gas are interesting to people... |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» nothingnopenope replied on Sun Jan 4, 2004 @ 9:41am |
| Coolness: 201915 | exploration is interesting, because the earth is getting overcrowded and we will have to venture into space eventually or become extinct... unless someone discovers a way to make unlimited food and energy... |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Screwhead replied on Sun Jan 4, 2004 @ 10:01am |
| Coolness: 686280 | What about third world countries? We can hook 'em up to stuff MATRIX style to get energy off them, and they can also be used as a source of meat!
I mean, when's the last time an ethiopian ever did anything other than starve? Let's put 'em to use! |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» nothingnopenope replied on Sun Jan 4, 2004 @ 10:06am |
| Coolness: 201915 | you still need to keep them alive somehow |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Screwhead replied on Sun Jan 4, 2004 @ 10:08am |
| Coolness: 686280 | We can do like cattle and just feed them something made from the spare parts of the ones we butcher. Sure, me might get an outbreak of Mad Ethiopian Dissease, but it works! |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» soyfunk replied on Sun Jan 4, 2004 @ 10:51am |
 Coolness: 127460 | so when the hell are they gonna go to the moon again?! |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Purple_Lee replied on Sun Jan 4, 2004 @ 4:30pm |
| Coolness: 239310 | I would guess that the moon will be the testing grounds for a city...that is after the international space sation is proven to work. Just like anything else to make nig changes in our socity you need all those small steps....or is that just how i look @ things?
Lee |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Psy_co replied on Sun Jan 4, 2004 @ 4:39pm |
| Coolness: 489290 | lee your great, these guys just like to joke around... I cant wait to go on the moon for a vacation. Imagine that ? |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Zz.ee.vV replied on Sun Jan 4, 2004 @ 5:27pm |
 Coolness: 194715 | Mars is just a step, I'm sure humanity will end up colonizing a truckload of systems and eventually other galaxies in geometric progression.
That is, if we dont nuke ourselves to oblivion first. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» nothingnopenope replied on Sun Jan 4, 2004 @ 5:30pm |
| Coolness: 201915 | the moon would be a good start, the reduced gravity makes launching spacecraft a piece of cake |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Phoenix replied on Sun Jan 4, 2004 @ 6:22pm |
 Coolness: 82380 | With enough nanobots we'll easily be able to create an artificial atmosphere on any planet. Combined with gravity control and a sufficient supply of essential resources we'll have no trouble colonizing other planets.
Scott: In case you were unaware, Japan already owns territory on the moon. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Trey replied on Mon Jan 5, 2004 @ 1:10am |
| Coolness: 103455 | theory on Mars;
we all knows about the canal, and how water once flows, creating erosion. Maybe the sun was alot hotter when it was just a baby and it warm enough of Mars and its internal heating with hot gases created a dense atmosphere... the was liquid water on Mars once. it actually rain. life coulda evolve. i wouldn't be surprised to see future xeno-paleo/archeo/geologist dig up some fossils of martian life. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Trey replied on Mon Jan 5, 2004 @ 1:17am |
| Coolness: 103455 | Even with infinite amount of self-replicating nano-bots, it would take decades to terraform a planet.. and not all planets can be terraform. some just dont have the right density, so watever atmosphere we created will be swept away in space.
gravity control is too far fetched...and on a planetary scale... and Humanity will not colonized other systems in a "geometric progression". Terrans will go where life bearing or suitable planets are...Terrans will go to the outer rim of the Milky Way cuz that is where the young stars are. All the inner core systems are older stars and most of their planets have been cinder in supernovas |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» neoform replied on Mon Jan 5, 2004 @ 1:18am |
 Coolness: 340355 | living on other planets will never be the soultion to the "earth is overpopulated" bit..
we'll just find more efficient uses for out resources.. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» phribotz replied on Mon Jan 5, 2004 @ 5:26am |
 Coolness: 39140 | Originally posted by SOUL TREY...
fuck Mars, lets go to Europa, Io, and Titan; way more interesting. Baby steps y0e. We can barely put things on Mars - landing stuff on the moons of a massive gas giant is way harder. |
Touch Down On Mars!!!!!
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