Yeah, it seems ATK (formerly Morton-Thiokol) the makers of the SRB's are really pulling out all the PR stops with that web site and SRB/CEV launch amimations I've already started seeing on the cable news channels as the "next step".

Well, the in-cabin launch video views should look like those late 1950's films of the guys in the centerfuge at 15G with their cheeks and lips pulled back behind their ears
Lucky it'll only last 2 minutes or so, I guess... oh, maybe 2 1/2 minutes with a 5-segment SRB...

Here, supposedly, is a sneek peak at the upcoming... not yet released... report on the CEV/ Return to the Moon architecture:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/graph...07/18731963.jpg

Here's the full article:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom...=orl-home-promo

Look familiar? Basically an Apollo CSM (=CEV), a beefed up LM (4-man... but I'm sure due to budget and weight... will be cut back to 3 or 2 person).

Instead of one launch on a Saturn V equivalent, there is a crew launch CEV on a single SRB "stick" configuration, and the S4B-LM piece on the shuttle-derived vertical in-line cargo launcher... Seen here, for those who haven't run across this site yet:

http://www.safesimplesoon.com/media-images.htm

Looks like the on-ramp to the Erebus highway!

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...LRP0703R0M1.JPG

STS-114 Launch... as seen from 40 miles south of the pad.... south of Melbourne Beach.
It was a bit hazy, plus moving to the NE away... so not too clear a view. Next time I think I'll drive up the coast.

Here's a color version of that rock (from www.lyle.org/mars, a great site for fast looks at color pictures and stereo anaglyphs)

http://www.lyle.org/mars/imagery/color/2-175460344-6.jpg

... Oh... and here's the memorable closing song...

 XL5_end.mp3 ( 532.82K ) Number of downloads: 646

Wow... does that bring back memories. I think it was XL5 that REALLY got me hooked on Spaceships. Guess I was 7 or 8 when it ran in the early 1960's in the U.S. Those of you who recall XL5 might find this quite nostalgic. I can still see the ship speeding down the launch rail...

 XL5_open.mp3 ( 664.66K ) Number of downloads: 643

I always figured this guy was the Ultreya Keeper...

On the upper left of this image... is that outcrop or light-topped dunes?

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...00P2438L2M1.JPG

If its outcrop... might it be the onramp to the Erebus highway? Oppy will have to "change lanes" quite a few times to get over to it.

West Spur and the light colored dunes south of it are dropping below the hill's edge horizon. Looks like she's headed upslope. Is this the start of a direct assult to the summit?

It looks like Oppy now has driven back to the left side of Purgatory Dune.... seen off on the upper right of the photo. ...at least I think that's the PD stuck ruts.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...0P1916R0M1.HTML


It also looks like we're being very brave and "testing the waters" with our big toe:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...0P1214L0M1.HTML

Real good view now of the light dunes south of West Spur:

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/pa...00P2439R2M1.JPG

I'm not usually one to point out "non-rock-looking objects", but the lower left of the image has something that looks like a rectangular plaque. Did Doug send his 1000 sol plaque to the wrong address? Or perhaps is says... "we came in peace for all...."

If you look at the Sol 311 Husband Hill image, you'll see areas in the central portion of the hill that seem more sandy (slight depressions / sand traps?) rather than heavily rock covered:

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/doug_images/s311.jpg

As suggested, checking between Spirit's back wheels via the rear hazcam leads me to think at least maybe "she" is a "he"... going by that cut lander cable there :

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...00P1312R0M1.JPG

Then again, maybe it could just be considered a residual umbilical cord.

Road ahead looks good for a while. (though some of the pancams and navs upslope are quite rocky and steep).

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/fo...EJP1212R0M1.JPG

And get a load of those pristine wheels! The interior of the left wheel looks brand new. You wouldn't think its driven miles across the dusty plain and up into the hills.

RedSky

This recent Spirit view has a noticable dark patch on the slope of the far hill. It made me think of two dark patches to the northeast of Spirit on MOC images. They seemed to be similar to the large Ultreya feature to the south.

http://img16.echo.cx/img16/7663/2p17163821...2289r7m1spo.jpg


Does anyone know what direction this Spirit view is? ... and could the dark patches identified in the MOC image be this dark spot on the Spirit image?

Could this be a preview on a small scale of what Ultreya might look like?


RedSky

How about just....

"When Opportunity got stuck, they dug in and got it out"

or

"When Opportunity dug in, they dug in and got it out"

Not too clever, but maybe a combo with voracs above...

"When Opportunity dug in, they dug in and plowed on"

How about...

"When Opportunity got stuck, they dug in, and dug it out"

Of course that's not really the mechanics of it... but it does tie in with the trowel metaphor. It also states the action and the happy outcome, whereas without the final "dug it out"... it leaves the end of the story uncertain.

Oh, just one more thing....

Why it is dated July 2005... since I assume the 1000 sols is the Spirit+Oppy total count. That will occur in a few days, so shouldn't it be June 2005?

John

As someone from the states... here's my 2 cents on the phrasing, since it was brought up in the first few replys...

Here. to persevere through a difficult time through to the end (i.e., not quitting)... we would say: "they stuck it out".... and just to be confusing, we'd also say "they stuck with it" or "they stuck in there". I guess the thing that sounds a bit strange to our ears is the inclusion of the word "got"... since here we don't say someone "got stuck in". (Edited... now that I think of it... "they stuck it out" must similarly seem a bit rude to your ears, too).

Its just one of those things. Like when we hear of someone going to hospital or something in future.... here, we'd always say "to the hospital" and "in the future".

Anyway, I suppose if it stated "they stuck it out"... there's sort of a double meaning / play on words, since by sticking it out... they got Oppertunity out from being stuck.

John

(Edited... another phrase here along these lines is "they dug in"... meaning to roll up one's sleeves, and start on a difficult task with determination. Thus, it could even say "they dug in, and stuck it out".. But as mancm mentioned above, maybe that's way too specific on getting Oppy unstuck, and not general enough.)

In this long exposure, there is a very faint ring well out (to the left) of the main rings.

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...eiImageID=40944


Is that the G or E ring? Also, while it may just be a background star shining through, it almost looks like a clump (tiny moon?) embedded in that faint ring (at about the 8 o'clock position... lower left... from the very brightly overexposed moon just below the main rings.)

Also, I've noticed that these very long exposures tend to have broad extensions of light eminating out from the overexposed rings. Is that just some sort of lens flare, glare, or optical artifact.... or is it physical? (i.e., reflections of dust orbiting around Saturn far out, such as the dust in the plane of the solar system causes the zodiacal light.)

RedSky

Yes, Lyford....

It did remind me of a real DynaSoar... (pun intended).


RedSky

P.S. its also somewhat similar to Russia's new proposed Kliper lifting body based
Soyuz replacement., but with wings.

The latest entry for the CEV is out, and it includes a *Mars-Ready* configuration.

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/te...3_cev_nasa.html

Seems a bit skimpy for such a mission.

Compare that with Von Braun's 1969 detailed Mars mission plan... to have had multiple missions throughout the 1980's. All the hardware was already under development (I remember seeing articles on test firing the NERVA rocket engine in the mid 60's). Only the MEM (Mars Excursion Module) would have to be developed new. It included a convoy of two ships travelling in tandem... (complete redundency) plus multiple surface sample-return probes in addition to the two manned landers.

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/vonn1969.htm

As a Narn once said... "the future isn't what it used to be".

Redsky

I noticed some of today's pancam sun images look like a smeared time exposure. Has anyone noticed this before? Could they be using such a technique while trying to spin the wheels in order to see how much motion they get?

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...DIP2620L8M1.JPG
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...DIP2620R8M1.JPG
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...DIP2600R8M1.JPG

Hi all,

I'm 51, and remember in the early 60's, in elementry school, carrying our little wooden chairs from our classrooms to the All Purpose Room (i.e., the Gym) to watch the launch of the first few Mercury flights on a grainy Black & White TV. But what really got me interested in Space was when we did the same thing for a live Ranger moon (crash) landing. I recall seeing the images coming in as the craft closed in to its ultimate fate. I found out that all but the last 5 images were easily seen in a typical amateur telescope.... So at age 12, I saved up and bought a Criterion Dynascope... a 6-inch reflector with a clock drive popular at the time (for $195.00).

I wound up getting a degree in Physics & Astronomy at the Univeristy of Virginia.... (my father used to say I went to college to *take up space*) but while there, I saw too many astro grad students leaving in the early- to mid-70's with their their MS's and PhD's only to have to get jobs as *scientific applications programmers* (using FORTRAN and punchcards! for those of you who don't know the dark ages). Space interest had really slowed down in the mid-70's with Apollo 17, Skylab, and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

So went to Gradschool and got an MS in Atmospheric Physics (i.e., meteorology), bringing the science from my astronomy days *down to earth*, so to speak. For the last 25 years, I've been working on Natural Hazards... developing models to estimate damage and losses from natural catastrophes (hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquake, etc). for an insurance research firm.

Also just wanted to say how lucky we are today (compared to the 70's and 80's) for the internet. Do you know how data-starved we were to find out anything about the Surveyors, Lunar Orbiters, Vikings, Voyagers, etc., back then? You might see a short story on the national TV news or NY Times for a day or two... then have to wait a month or two for Sky & Telescope magazine to come out to show a few good pictures and the real story. Today its sooooo fantastic with almost real time status and pictures.

I moved from Connecticut to central Florida a few years ago... and the first launch I ever witnessed in person (albeit 40 miles south of the pad) was the final flight of Columbia. I've made a point of watching almost every launch since then... including Spirit and Opportunity!

John (RedSky)