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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9687 Posts |
 Posted - 08/05/2012 : 14:15:49
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8 hours and 14 minutes left to the expected touch down of the Mars Science Laboratory, loaded with the Curiosity rover. Sadly, I'll be alseep when it happens, unlike last time they made a Mars landing.
I remember I was sitting on the edge of my seat following the descent, watching the altitude dropping with alarming speed and descent-velocity WAY higher than I expected, convinced it was going to crasch. Finally, landing thrusters kicked in and touch-down was made with extraordinary precision. Angle offsets in the one-digit degree range.
I wonder if Mars Science Laboratory will hit its mark with the same accuracy?
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
Edited by - Dr. Mabuse on 08/05/2012 14:16:09
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Randy
SFN Regular
USA
1990 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2012 : 15:37:33 [Permalink]
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| I'm wringing my hands on this landing attempt. Here's a cool animation of the wild looking planned landing of the craft. |
"We are all connected; to each other biologically, to the earth chemically, to the rest of the universe atomically."
"So you're made of detritus [from exploded stars]. Get over it. Or better yet, celebrate it. After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?"
-Neil DeGrasse Tyson |
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ThorGoLucky
Snuggle Wolf
USA
1486 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2012 : 17:05:13 [Permalink]
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| May there be no "Curiosity Crater". |
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On fire for Christ
SFN Regular
Norway
1273 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2012 : 19:54:13 [Permalink]
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| I have high hopes for this rover. Hopefully it may discover signs that Mars may have once met the conditions that may have supported life at some time in the past, and our lives will all be enriched as a result. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2012 : 22:25:17 [Permalink]
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| Here's the live Curiosity Cam, from JPL's mission control room. Now 90 seconds from entry. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 08/05/2012 22:26:19 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2012 : 22:33:45 [Permalink]
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"Touchdown confirmed"!
Wo07! |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2012 : 22:35:51 [Permalink]
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| Transmitting a view from the Martian surface. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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ThorGoLucky
Snuggle Wolf
USA
1486 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2012 : 22:36:59 [Permalink]
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| I was happy to see its tweet of success. |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13476 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2012 : 23:45:46 [Permalink]
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| Well that was mighty cool. I watched on Google+ with Fraiser Cane, Pamala Gay, Phil Plait and others doing the play by play and answering questions. Awesome evening! |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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the_ignored
SFN Addict
2562 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 00:05:53 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Kil
Well that was mighty cool. I watched on Google+ with Fraiser Cane, Pamala Gay, Phil Plait and others doing the play by play and answering questions. Awesome evening!
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Shit. Wish I'd have known of that. I missed it. I just watched the site in the OP. |
>From: enuffenuff@fastmail.fm
(excerpt follows):
> I'm looking to teach these two bastards a lesson they'll never forget.
> Personal visit by mates of mine. No violence, just a wee little chat.
>
> **** has also committed more crimes than you can count with his
> incitement of hatred against a religion. That law came in about 2007
> much to ****'s ignorance. That is fact and his writing will become well
> know as well as him becoming a publicly known icon of hatred.
>
> Good luck with that fuckwit. And Reynold, fucking run, and don't stop.
> Disappear would be best as it was you who dared to attack me on my
> illness knowing nothing of the cause. You disgust me and you are top of
> the list boy. Again, no violence. Just regular reminders of who's there
> and visits to see you are behaving. Nothing scary in reality. But I'd
> still disappear if I was you.
What brought that on? this. Original posting here.
Another example of this guy's lunacy here. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 03:52:01 [Permalink]
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I watched using the Curiosity Cam. With my slow wi-fi connection to the Internet (and during a rainstorm, to boot!), both voice and video stuttered. A second or two of video and sound, then three seconds of still frame and silence. But I got the gist of what was happening, and heard some key phrases.
Now, everything slows to a crawl, as JPL people slowly and methodically spend day after day finding out exactly where Curiosity is, planning and routing the first leg of exploration, and checking out Curiosity's systems and bringing them online one by one. But I'd rather they be very careful and make no errors.
There's nothing more in the pipeline for Mars, after all. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 08/06/2012 03:53:15 |
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 05:17:27 [Permalink]
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| Ahh rovers, finally some sanity has returned to the space program. |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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Countdown to Mars Landing: Mars Science Laboratory
