Phoenix Has Landed!

[Justin]

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/05/25/nasa-mars.html

The Mars Phoenix lander has successfully landed on Mars. It has landed in the far north where there is suspected ice just below the surface. It is designed to dig below the surface in search of the suspected ice.

It is interesting to note that this is the first time since the 1970's that a landing using rocket thrusters has been a success. Other landings since then have use a parachute and air bags to bounce to a stop.

I'm not sure how much this thing cost but Canada did contribute to the project.

[Tijuana]

Took less than a year to get there, around 8 months, not that bad. Is it gonna send back the data right away or does it have to come back here?

[Justin]

Took less than a year to get there, around 8 months, not that bad. Is it gonna send back the data right away or does it have to come back here?

The lander will not be coming back to earth. Nothing sent to Mars has ever returned. It will do all the testing and what not on the surface and send the data back. It is only expected to last 90 days since the temperature at the landing site is -50C and will only be getting colder as the martian winter comes along.

[Tijuana]

How does temperature affect the robots? Does it have to do with hydraulics or some sort of liquid it uses?

[Justin]

How does temperature affect the robots? Does it have to do with hydraulics or some sort of liquid it uses?


I am no expert but I am guessing the batteries would be the issue here. Try starting your car at -50c and as far as i know it will get a lot colder than -50c during the winter months on Mars.

[Tijuana]

Wow, wtf! Are you serious? So they are stuck there and they won't be able to come back but just to send the data back to earth? Wow, but aren't they risking their life? What's the point of working for NASA?

epic fail?

[Justin]

Wow, wtf! Are you serious? So they are stuck there and they won't be able to come back but just to send the data back to earth? Wow, but aren't they risking their life? What's the point of working for NASA?


Haha, there are no people on the lander. It is a robot.

[Blunt]

Wow, wtf! Are you serious? So they are stuck there and they won't be able to come back but just to send the data back to earth? Wow, but aren't they risking their life? What's the point of working for NASA?

Wow.. Wow.. really. I think we have another contestant for the 'tard post of they year. :lol:

[MrDisco]

Wow, wtf! Are you serious? So they are stuck there and they won't be able to come back but just to send the data back to earth? Wow, but aren't they risking their life? What's the point of working for NASA?

where's that hand smack jpg when i need it...

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/6482/picardfa2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[mrlooneytoon]

Wow, wtf! Are you serious? So they are stuck there and they won't be able to come back but just to send the data back to earth? Wow, but aren't they risking their life? What's the point of working for NASA?

I just shat bricks.

[Zapzoid]

epic fail?

hahahaa yes epic fail, lololololol made my day

[Alvito]

cool, when will we send people there?

[Justin]

A few low res images have been returned already.

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images/gallery/md_313.jpg

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images/gallery/md_432.jpg

[robertalan]

Took less than a year to get there, around 8 months, not that bad. Is it gonna send back the data right away or does it have to come back here?

They let out the extension cord and data cable on the trip over - so it's wired and ready to send.

[cOmAtOaSt]

They let out the extension cord and data cable on the trip over - so it's wired and ready to send.
It's gotta be Monster cable 'cause you'll need the best all the way over there on Mars! :lol:

[skewed]

It's gotta be Monster cable 'cause you'll need the best all the way over there on Mars! :lol:

Look at the price people would pay for 2 meter HDMI Monster cables 4 years ago.

Now multiply that by 193121280000 KM (distance from Earth to Mars) x 1000m

I wonder if Monster gave NASA a bulk discount.

P.S. LOL @ the epic deleted post, I'm glad someone quoted it.

[AMDr]

Look at the price people would pay for 2 meter HDMI Monster cables 4 years ago.

Now multiply that by 193121280000 KM (distance from Earth to Mars) x 1000m

I wonder if Monster gave NASA a bulk discount.

P.S. LOL @ the epic deleted post, I'm glad someone quoted it.

I think you're off by almost a couple hundred billion :eek:. The mean distance of Mars to the Sun is about 228000000 kilometers (http://cmex.ihmc.us/sitecat/sitecat2/mars.htm). ;)

[M.D.]

I think you're off by almost a couple hundred billion :eek:. The mean distance of Mars to the Sun is about 228000000 kilometers (http://cmex.ihmc.us/sitecat/sitecat2/mars.htm). ;)

ok smart guy, he's talking about earth to mars not sun to mars.

[robertalan]

ok smart guy, he's talking about earth to mars not sun to mars.

I thought this thread was all about showcasing our gross stupidity?

[AMDr]

ok smart guy, he's talking about earth to mars not sun to mars.

Oops I'm sorry... you sir, are correct! Since the Earth is closer to Mars than the sun is he's off by even more. How could I have been sooooo stupid ;)

[skewed]

I think you're off by almost a couple hundred billion :eek:. The mean distance of Mars to the Sun is about 228000000 kilometers (http://cmex.ihmc.us/sitecat/sitecat2/mars.htm). ;)

I don't know what is stranger: the fact that you actually thought it was meant to be an accurate number (which is impossible because of the orbits) or the fact that you actually counted out the numbers and made a post about it. Whatever, lets just say it is a big number. :razz:

[mlc2000]

A few low res images have been returned already.

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images/gallery/md_313.jpg

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images/gallery/md_432.jpg

Uh, I thought those pix look alot like Afghanistan.

[Tijuana]

Are there going to be any high res images? I wouldn't mind waiting a few more weeks for hd pictures :razz:

[movieman]

Are there going to be any high res images? I wouldn't mind waiting a few more weeks for hd pictures :razz:

From what I remember of the press briefing last night, first priority for images is checking out the spacecraft and then doing a 360-degree panoramic scan to see where the heck they've landed :). After that I believe there should be plenty of high-res images over the next few weeks.

[AMDr]

I don't know what is stranger: the fact that you actually thought it was meant to be an accurate number (which is impossible because of the orbits) or the fact that you actually counted out the numbers and made a post about it. Whatever, lets just say it is a big number. :razz:

The thing is, it's NOT EVEN CLOSE to accurate, even counting the differences in orbits it's still out by many, many billions. Put in computer terms would you rather have a hard drive that holds 200 MegaBytes or 200 GigaBytes, because that's the order of magnitude were talking about here. But, whatever, lets just say one of them is a big number and one of them is a really big number :razz: :razz:

[Nettles]

I think it’s BS. Back in the space race, the Soviets experimented not just with the moon. They tried to get past this thing called the radiation belt. IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE A PROBE OR HUMAN MOVE ACROSS THE RADIATION BELT. In order to have a probe go to Mars, you’d have to get across this belt. The Soviets wasted several probes and had several men killed trying to get past the belt; these guys really were more advanced than the US in space research and spent around 5x as much time in space and research than NASA.

They can and might easily use computer generated graphics to show this little Mars trip. The whole point is for them to say they did find traces or somethin to show that life existed on Mars at some point. Part of promoting the alien belief. I don’t have anything against believing that aliens exist, I really don’t give a ****…the problem has more to do with how they might use this in the future. It pretty much has to do with them telling us the origins of man and ‘royalty’ in brief.

Anyways, you don’t have to believe it, just a different perspective to the only one you’ll hear about on media.

[Justin]

I think it’s BS. Back in the space race, the Soviets experimented not just with the moon. They tried to get past this thing called the radiation belt. IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE A PROBE OR HUMAN MOVE ACROSS THE RADIATION BELT. In order to have a probe go to Mars, you’d have to get across this belt. The Soviets wasted several probes and had several men killed trying to get past the belt; these guys really were more advanced than the US in space research and spent around 5x as much time in space and research than NASA.

They can and might easily use computer generated graphics to show this little Mars trip. The whole point is for them to say they did find traces or somethin to show that life existed on Mars at some point. Part of promoting the alien belief. I don’t have anything against believing that aliens exist, I really don’t give a ****…the problem has more to do with how they might use this in the future. It pretty much has to do with them telling us the origins of man and ‘royalty’ in brief.

Anyways, you don’t have to believe it, just a different perspective to the only one you’ll hear about on media.


You really have no idea what you are talking about.

[Asmegin]

I think it’s BS. Back in the space race, the Soviets experimented not just with the moon. They tried to get past this thing called the radiation belt. IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE A PROBE OR HUMAN MOVE ACROSS THE RADIATION BELT. In order to have a probe go to Mars, you’d have to get across this belt. The Soviets wasted several probes and had several men killed trying to get past the belt; these guys really were more advanced than the US in space research and spent around 5x as much time in space and research than NASA.

They can and might easily use computer generated graphics to show this little Mars trip. The whole point is for them to say they did find traces or somethin to show that life existed on Mars at some point. Part of promoting the alien belief. I don’t have anything against believing that aliens exist, I really don’t give a ****…the problem has more to do with how they might use this in the future. It pretty much has to do with them telling us the origins of man and ‘royalty’ in brief.

Anyways, you don’t have to believe it, just a different perspective to the only one you’ll hear about on media.

Dumbest thing I've ever read. We've flown through the radiation belt many times before. Have you ever heard of Apollo? The moon landing?

[izzyzz]

I think it’s BS. Back in the space race, the Soviets experimented not just with the moon. They tried to get past this thing called the radiation belt. IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE A PROBE OR HUMAN MOVE ACROSS THE RADIATION BELT. In order to have a probe go to Mars, you’d have to get across this belt. The Soviets wasted several probes and had several men killed trying to get past the belt; these guys really were more advanced than the US in space research and spent around 5x as much time in space and research than NASA.

They can and might easily use computer generated graphics to show this little Mars trip. The whole point is for them to say they did find traces or somethin to show that life existed on Mars at some point. Part of promoting the alien belief. I don’t have anything against believing that aliens exist, I really don’t give a ****…the problem has more to do with how they might use this in the future. It pretty much has to do with them telling us the origins of man and ‘royalty’ in brief.

Anyways, you don’t have to believe it, just a different perspective to the only one you’ll hear about on media.

Obviously, you have nothing to add to this thread. What a bunch of B.S..

[Digo]

Whose post was more funnier? The guy who thought we sent suicidal astronaughts to Mars, or the one who thinks we are limited by the radiation belt.

[Justin]

Whose post was more funnier? The guy who thought we sent suicidal astronaughts to Mars, or the one who thinks we are limited by the radiation belt.


I don't know, but this thread is jokes now. I'd hate myself if I were that stupid.

[ullyeus]

I am no expert but I am guessing the batteries would be the issue here. Try starting your car at -50c and as far as i know it will get a lot colder than -50c during the winter months on Mars.

Winnipeg is colder than that quite often.

[king_george]

My gosh, I'm going to have to put up sandbags to keep the wave of stupid away from the house here...:D

Moon landing deniers are so cute, cuddly and dumb...:cheesygri

It's adorable when they make up facts on the fly to show their ignorance..:)

It's incredible someone can believe every spacecraft for the last 50 years to leave earth orbit is a fraud. Incredible...Even James Van Allen stated that the radiation wasn't harmful during spaceflight because of the short exposure time.

Ignorance is bliss it seems.

[king_george]

Took less than a year to get there, around 8 months, not that bad. Is it gonna send back the data right away or does it have to come back here?

It's never going to come back. Don't you ever watch movies like The Andromeda Strain??? :D :D :D :D

[wisdom_kid]

These pics remind me of the Transformers teaser trailer.