Looks like the rooster tail from a big long powerslide on snow. You can actually see the trajectory draw out there - amazing.

Doug

This is from A on the 5th

Well - technically the NOVA 'Mars Rocks' and 'Welcome to Mars' programs kind of did that - An anxious Steve watching one of the Mini-TES getting shock tested etc.

Doug

Wow...just wow.
Date, Spacecraft and Instrument all obvious from filename.

Doug

I missed it totally ( hope spaceflightnow.com put it up soon ) - but read on the blog that John was kind enough to mention (although thankfully for slashdot like reasons, not by name) the contribution some members here made in finding some nice Kodak moments

Doug

So did someone else on page 1 of this thread.

To conduct aerobraking at Mars - they used much of the instrumentation from other spacecraft ( or the actual spacecraft doing the braking ) to calculate the safe altitude to use. I would be more confident in a system that relied on in-situ density measurements from which to determine the best atmospheric path.

Doug

Unless it's very late in the day? 22 subframes wouldn't really be condusive to observing the surrounding terrain.

Doug

The requirements for the MER Radar and Phoneix Radar would be a little different I would have thought - the Phoenix radar would be required to do a bit more than just altitude.

Doug

That is what I was thinking - Neptune would really make a bigger, deeper, thicker, wider, and frankly - bluer way of doing the same procedure.

Doug

Well - realistically, ISIS is the only product that will do it all.

NASA View is available on many platforms, and there is an IMG loaded for GIMP.

Doug

I emailed Michael Kaiser about this - asked if the stuff was supposed to be out, can we play with it, and what should be a proper credit line....

His response today:
Feel free -- we have no embargoes. Of course, we're still in instrument commissioning phase so a lot of the stuff is still pretty raw. Better stuff coming soon. As to credits...SECCHI is managed by NRL (Russ Howard, PI) and STEREO is managed by NASA/GSFC.

Yay for the Stereo team
Doug

Several SETI related posts delete ( there is a thread for SETI discussion - but it is not encouraged - read the rules )

Further posts regarding time capsules and historical references also deleted. Certainly OT and virging on the political.

Thread moved from Voyager/Pioneer into an appropriate sub-forum.

Doug

Due north of current position - imaging toward the dock and the edge of the bay.

What you SHOULD have done is sneak up behind Adam Steltzner and said "I just heard the pilot say we're coming in Skycrane fashion...nervous?"

Doug

He pressed zoom 3 times, and 'enhance' twice. Works every time.

Kudos to the four of you who bought stuff so far this year - $22.64 of comission - which actually trebbles to total ammount of comission earnt at the store to date

Doug

Yeah - my rule for MER data is thus.....

The raw downloaded stuff....is on HDD AND on DVD.
The stuff that is generated 'dumb' - i.e. click a bat file and img2png goes off and does it thing..that isn't backed up.
BUT
My colour comps, psd's, PTGUi files etc - they're on DVD as well.

When the shed-office is finished ( getting there ) and I've got the laptop I want (C2D MBP) - then..... a Raid 1, maybe Raid 5 NAS thing is on the shopping list.

Doug

For those that ever saw 'The Dave Gorman Collection' - you will understand exactly how I said the words "A graph"



Doug

What we need with data like THAT
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/icq/CometMags.html#2006P1

Is a graph.

Mag on the Y scale - d.o.y. on the X.

Hmm - I'm sure I remember an image that showed a bit of egress aid - but now I'm not so sure. Maybe an overactive imagination coloured in a greyscale one.

(edit...

Perhaps I thought it was this one - http://pdsimg.jpl.nasa.gov/data/mpfr-m-rvr...lr/r1557518.htm

but looking at your work - it's just bracket )

Doug

Thanks for that The real pity is that they didn't get a GOOD colour image of the lander. A few nice B'n'W ones - but not a nice colour one really.

Doug

I'm still wondering how you did those - superb work, a data set that needed a proper 'going over' - and oh boy did you do that

Doug

The 'sphere of influence' for Jupiter hasn't been reached yet - the actual gravity assist period isn't very long.

Doug

The FOURTH transit season would you believe.

They slightly missed the first - but it managed to be caught with secondary reflections. Attached, an Anim gif from Jim Bell (thanks Jim!). Even though only caught with reflection - still good enough to do astrometry!

Jim says there's possibly one more from Spirit this week, similar events for Opportunity in Feb - just Phobos this time around, not Deimos transits to be had.

Doug