Might be better still to rescout the library for source material that made it Some of those various drop tests, chute tests, DRL tests etc - fascinating stuff.

Doug

Actually - there is - http://www.audioagain.com/podcast.php?channel=space - but show 6 isn't in with iTunes yet.

As seen at http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=4253

MOC2 WA didn't see it with MER - and thus I doubt MARCI would see Phoenix- but I imagine a carefully aimed CTX might get it.

Doug

Exactly - I'm sure Dan's overdone it a bit on the EDL animation - but there's no guarentee with the thing pitching and rolling around that just one image, at almost any point during landing, will get the landing site itself into frame.

Doug

another sols info on Marks page.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/walle/hd/

Very cute

Doug

Yes - cleaning is usually thought to be due to high winds

Dust storms are thought to cause high winds

Thus - major cleaning and dust storms tend to be closely related.

Maybe it's something to do with the change in illumination - BUT - Opportunity looks utterly A1 clean right now.

Doug

I do a little comparative thing with Keynote ( Powerpoint for Macs ) and it highlights features in the surface imagery and HiRISE imagery, and most seem to be fairly convinced by it

Doug

I WANT THAT ON DVD.

Brilliant brilliant footage - amazing stuff.

Doug

Well - from the rovers we don't really. For dust to be leaving the rover it has to be 'higher' than normal. Orbital imagery can track dust, clouds etc and gauge wind speeds that way.

Just a bit of fun from the values on Mark's page. Looks like we might be seing the turn in the trend- but as you can see, Meridiani already fooled us once in that regard.

Doug

Anyone who has read and understood Jim's posts can see why the situation is as it is - and given the resources available, no ammount of contingency or planning could have avoided it.

Doug

Strong winds with the storm mean that Opportunity's going to be VERY clean as long as we don't catch a big chunk of dust when...er...the dust settles, as it were

Doug

What with the stuck shoulder joint heater, 255 is a lot worse for Opportunity than for Spirit

Doug

That's true - I remember the depths of Spirits winter, and they mentioned that they got away with less than the 240whrs they thought they needed, because the vehicle ended up staying warmer than they expected.

Doug

What happened after the, admitedly much more modest regional storm, that Opportunity had in the 600-ish range - the one that made it sleep in late one morning?

Doug

Strangely, if I get this right - regional dust storms are quite good because they cause high wind speeds ( note the cleaning that Opportunity got just over a week ago ) - BUT I would imagine that there comes a point when the dust loading, whatever the wind speed, must cause increased deposition.

Doug

I'd agree with everything you've said there Nigel.

Doug

Any Storm posts should go in here - http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...ic=4375&hl= - it's a seperate topic all of its own I think.

Doug

Hell - got to see the local wildlife, I'm seeing Knut when I go to Berlin

That's probably because we're not seing every part of the decision making process. You're trying to make out like they're just bringing this together like a bunch of amateurs. I really don't think that's a stance that's fair or justified. Just because you're not privy to ever iota of the decision making process, that doesn't mean there isn't a well documented, thought out and pre-prepared process involved.


We've been told - it can't be done.



We were told - $25m.

As for the MARDI thing - that's a different kettle of fish. I find that news frankly shockinggiven the ammount of time there has been (given that a similar instrument was bolted to a similar spacecraft nearly a decade ago) and the ammount of reviews that must have occured since Phoenix was selected.

MPL failed because of flaws in the planned testing. Testing in this case should have flagged up this error a LONG time ago. If they find this with a month till launch - what are they yet to find? My 'faith' in Phoenix making it safely to the ground has taken a nose dive.

Doug

Was just about to cite the same source..

"A mismatch between temperatures inside the rocket's nose cone and the second stage caused the vehicle to be a bit too warm for the fueling process to begin at launch pad 17B this morning, a NASA spokesperson explained. The temperatures are being adjusted today in hopes of starting the oxidizer filling later this afternoon." from www.spaceflightnow.com

Unfortunately, despite all the science, it is this which stands out the most. Going on to belittle this place and those that visit it and run it was also totally unnecessary. It is a pity HDP feels the need to pitch his hypothesis this way, whatever its merits might be.

Doug

It's technically illegal to copy and reproduce any imagery from Google Earth or Google Maps without retaining the copyright message - as Google's paid for the imagery. The majority of it is not NASA imagery and is infact, nothing to do with NASA.

Doug

I'm going to go for Alligator chewing the nozzle of a GEM.

Without any more info - it's the best I can do

Doug

The point is that Dawn was due to launch earlier - but it's been cursed with several unfortunate delays. How many delays do you want them to be able to accomodate? Or do you just want them to be able to always accomdate one more, whatever the cost?


Doug