Mars came within 55,758,000 km of Earth on August 27, 2003. Light would have taken 3.1 minutes to go from Earth to Mars, and 6.2 minutes for a round-trip. So that’s considerably less than the “minimal 20 minute lag” being cited.

Click on my name for a link to a good web page which gives the derivation of these numbers. Over on the left side you want to select:

21b. Fly to Mars! (1)
21c. Fly to Mars! (2)
21d. Fly to Mars! (3)

They derive a wait time at Mars of 454 days which is approximately the same as the 14.9 months I calculated myself. So those links have all the details. Probably more than you wanted to know.

Thanks for the numbers and the explanation as to why it would be that long.

The first manned missions to Mars will be constrained by fuel efficiency are are likely to use Hohmann transfer orbits. In such a mission the total time is 30.67 to 33.19 months with a waiting time at Mars of 14.91 months. The 15-month delay at Mars is needed for the proper realignment of the Earth-versus-Mars position to occur. Thus, a more than 1 year wait at Mars is to be expected for the first Mars mission. How much of that time is spent on the surface of Mars is anyone’s guess.

nytimes.com/2009/04/14/opinion/14shostak.html?_r=1

ttp://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1200.html

Similar but not the same,,,

GAry 7

I wonder if some future Mars inhabitants/sci-fi geeks might give that nickname to the Red Planet.

Re Tatooine: Tatooine has plenty of geography, lots of rocks and underground lakes if one knows where to look. Prospectors keep attempting to set up mines their, but the ore is apparently flawed and not suitable for construction. The planet used to be lush and fertile until the Rakatans messed it up thousands of years ago. The survivors overthrew the Rakatans, and they eventually split into two species, Sandpeople and the Jawas. Nowadays the planet is used as a Hutt base and a handy place to go on the outer rim if you wanna keep out the way of the Empire.

I bet no-one could’a guessed I was a Star Wars geek?

:p

Conclusion?

There’s a Martian Satan planting false mesas to make us think that the “Face on Mars” ain’t real.

Or, Hoagland’s full of regolith.

Sand formations like these on earth are constantly changing over time as the wind shapes the dunes. What fun it would be to take pictures of these features over time to see how these things change, and I’m sure they are. You’d even wind up with a time lapse of a type.

Imagine getting to a point in our understanding of Mars that we can take a sample of regolith and determine where on the planet it originated from?

I for one want to be the first to welcome our new Giant Space Limpet Overlords.

[I could argue a lot about the specific problems around findings of trace fossils, and how the biologists AFAIU wants to have more than one identifiable characteristic right to make sure. But it isn't remotely interesting if the purpose of the next rover is merely to study habitability and organics.]