Comments on: NASA delays next Mars mission by two years http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/04/nasa-delays-next-mars-mission-by-two-years/ I am an astronomer, writer, and skeptic. I likes reality the way it is, and I aims to keep it that way. My real name is Phil Plait, and I run the Bad Astronomy blog. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:15:46 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Fernando Sanchez http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/04/nasa-delays-next-mars-mission-by-two-years/comment-page-1/#comment-159176 Fernando Sanchez Sat, 28 Feb 2009 13:35:18 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/04/nasa-delays-next-mars-mission-by-two-years/#comment-159176 Why Mr Zubrin multiple BALLONS mission have never been consider by NASA...? Is a unexpensive alternative to survey the Planet Why Mr Zubrin multiple BALLONS mission have never been consider by NASA…? Is a unexpensive alternative to survey the Planet

]]> By: Avi Steiner http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/04/nasa-delays-next-mars-mission-by-two-years/comment-page-1/#comment-139257 Avi Steiner Sat, 06 Dec 2008 22:34:59 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/04/nasa-delays-next-mars-mission-by-two-years/#comment-139257 Phil, this is sort of off topic, but I stopped by my local bookstore yesterday (it's family owned), and I decided to stop by their science section. Geuss what? They had Death From the Skies! Mind you that's pretty impressive since their science section (and similarly all their other non-fiction sections) takes up about three 2-foot shelves. Phil, this is sort of off topic, but I stopped by my local bookstore yesterday (it’s family owned), and I decided to stop by their science section. Geuss what? They had Death From the Skies! Mind you that’s pretty impressive since their science section (and similarly all their other non-fiction sections) takes up about three 2-foot shelves.

]]> By: JCJ http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/04/nasa-delays-next-mars-mission-by-two-years/comment-page-1/#comment-138942 JCJ Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:28:39 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/04/nasa-delays-next-mars-mission-by-two-years/#comment-138942 @ Tom Marking We're skeptics here, we don't believe in curses :- ) We also don't believe that the Mars Space Defense Initiative downed half of our missions. (Critics of the MSDI have cited the low success rate as proof that the whole program is just a big defense industry boondoggle, while program defenders remind the public that this is a developing technology and early successes should be cause for optimism. Some analysts have even suggested that MSDI has failed on purpose, lest the Terrans become suspicious, noting that all successful alien landings have been in desolate places far from any city, forest, or crystal mag-lev network. One critic replied, "That robot rolled right over that abandoned railroad tie without a second look. How smart could they be?") :-D @ Tom Marking

We’re skeptics here, we don’t believe in curses :- )

We also don’t believe that the Mars Space Defense Initiative downed half of our missions.

(Critics of the MSDI have cited the low success rate as proof that the whole program is just a big defense industry boondoggle, while program defenders remind the public that this is a developing technology and early successes should be cause for optimism. Some analysts have even suggested that MSDI has failed on purpose, lest the Terrans become suspicious, noting that all successful alien landings have been in desolate places far from any city, forest, or crystal mag-lev network. One critic replied, “That robot rolled right over that abandoned railroad tie without a second look. How smart could they be?”) :-D

]]> By: Tometheus http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/04/nasa-delays-next-mars-mission-by-two-years/comment-page-1/#comment-138923 Tometheus Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:15:31 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/04/nasa-delays-next-mars-mission-by-two-years/#comment-138923 <i>(for comparison, the rovers Spirit and opportunity are about the size of a kid’s red wagon)</i> What kind of huge wagon did YOU have as a kid??? o.O Maybe you're thinking of the <i>Pathfinder</i> which is the wagon sized one in <a href="http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/spacecraft/mer2002_1106_b231.html" rel="nofollow">this image</a>. (for comparison, the rovers Spirit and opportunity are about the size of a kid’s red wagon)

What kind of huge wagon did YOU have as a kid??? o.O

Maybe you’re thinking of the Pathfinder which is the wagon sized one in this image.

]]> By: Tom Marking http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/04/nasa-delays-next-mars-mission-by-two-years/comment-page-1/#comment-138912 Tom Marking Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:19:12 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/04/nasa-delays-next-mars-mission-by-two-years/#comment-138912 I'm a little bit ambivalent about MSL for the following reason. Don't forget that the Mars Curse is still in effect. The failure rate for Mars missions is something like 50 percent (19 out of 38 missions have failed) which means there's a 50-50 chance that MSL might become a $2 billion paperweight somewhere on the surface of Mars or at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. There's a little bit on Wikipedia concerning the mission. The lander weighs almost a metric ton (900 kg which is 5 times what Spirit/Opportunity weighed) with a mission duration of 686 sols. Oooo, I see it's power source is RTG (radioisotope thermal generator) - that ought to make the environmental types go bonkers. I can just see the following GreenPeace protest - Make Mars a Nuclear Free Zone!!! Hell No, We Won't Go, Off to the Red Planet, No!, No!, No! Looks like they have some real science instruments on the sucker. Something called MAHLI which is a microscope with resolution down to 12.5 microns. Something called ChemCam: "ChemCam is a remote Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) system that can target a rock from up to 13 meters away, vaporizing a small amount of the underlying mineral and then collecting a spectrum of the light emitted by the vaporized rock by using a micro-imaging camera with an angular resolution of 80 microradians. It is being developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the French CESR laboratory." Wow!, that sounds pretty cool zapping a rock up to 40 feet away to get a spectrum. Just don't shoot yourself in the footpad with that thing, fella. I just wish they could send it to some really neat place on Mars like Eos Chasma in Valles Marineris (thought to be the originating location of the meteorite ALH 84001). I sure hope the Mars Curse doesn't get it. I’m a little bit ambivalent about MSL for the following reason. Don’t forget that the Mars Curse is still in effect. The failure rate for Mars missions is something like 50 percent (19 out of 38 missions have failed) which means there’s a 50-50 chance that MSL might become a $2 billion paperweight somewhere on the surface of Mars or at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

There’s a little bit on Wikipedia concerning the mission. The lander weighs almost a metric ton (900 kg which is 5 times what Spirit/Opportunity weighed) with a mission duration of 686 sols. Oooo, I see it’s power source is RTG (radioisotope thermal generator) – that ought to make the environmental types go bonkers. I can just see the following GreenPeace protest – Make Mars a Nuclear Free Zone!!! Hell No, We Won’t Go, Off to the Red Planet, No!, No!, No!

Looks like they have some real science instruments on the sucker. Something called MAHLI which is a microscope with resolution down to 12.5 microns. Something called ChemCam:

“ChemCam is a remote Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) system that can target a rock from up to 13 meters away, vaporizing a small amount of the underlying mineral and then collecting a spectrum of the light emitted by the vaporized rock by using a micro-imaging camera with an angular resolution of 80 microradians. It is being developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the French CESR laboratory.”

Wow!, that sounds pretty cool zapping a rock up to 40 feet away to get a spectrum. Just don’t shoot yourself in the footpad with that thing, fella. I just wish they could send it to some really neat place on Mars like Eos Chasma in Valles Marineris (thought to be the originating location of the meteorite ALH 84001).

I sure hope the Mars Curse doesn’t get it.

]]> By: JB of Brisbane http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/04/nasa-delays-next-mars-mission-by-two-years/comment-page-1/#comment-138908 JB of Brisbane Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:01:21 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/04/nasa-delays-next-mars-mission-by-two-years/#comment-138908 Actually, the American version of English is responsible for keeping many aspects of old English alive when they have changed or been done away with in the rest of the English-speaking world, such as Fall instead of Autumn and the spelling of words such as color, humor, neighbor, etc. And what about "...ize" vs "...ise"? Actually, the American version of English is responsible for keeping many aspects of old English alive when they have changed or been done away with in the rest of the English-speaking world, such as Fall instead of Autumn and the spelling of words such as color, humor, neighbor, etc. And what about “…ize” vs “…ise”?

]]> By: Daniel http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/04/nasa-delays-next-mars-mission-by-two-years/comment-page-1/#comment-138891 Daniel Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:41:52 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/04/nasa-delays-next-mars-mission-by-two-years/#comment-138891 This will make for a better rover in the long run. This will make for a better rover in the long run.

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