Obviously a little hard to see much in that anim gif, but I've done my best to try and replicate as close as I can what that might have looked like in real time - unlikely to be as accurate as the previous one, but I made the duration of the eclipse from 1st to last contact as about 37 seconds.

Doug

Helen and I were at a place called 'Symonds Yat' today - a high vantage point over a large bow in the river Wye on the border between South Wales and England.

There was an exquisit layer of fog across the whole of the valley below, for dozens of miles around.

At one point, I could cast my shadow onto the fog below, and around me, was a small rainbow. The pictures don't really do it justice, so I stretched one a little to show the effect but it was quite astonishing!

Doug

But - that will put them in a good position to image their dark sides in Jupiter shine

Doug

Heck - the images are down but they're totally wierd I think I can extract what it SHOULD look like, but it'll be a bit of a challenge.

Doug

(PS - something done with what I THINK is actually an internal reflected images of the sun within the images - real-time-sim to follow)

It's not uncommon for LV's to turn, quite a lot, after SRB sep. If you look at the rocket-cam views from Spirit and Opportunity - you can see, once SRB sep has occured, the vehicle turns quite a lot. I'm not sure why, but perhaps it's because they have to be in a particular direction for SRB-jet for range reasons, and THEN can pitch to the launch heading they want?

Doug

I know - that's why I want to see them try a Navcam movie looking at the ground during one - because we know it makes a lot of difference to the terrain.

Doug

Obviously retro reflectors work out to 400k km, but how far out would they work beyond that? Perhaps one could do radar reflection using Arecbo / DSN instead?

Also - there's no real way of knowing, (perhaps less so with the solid 48b than a liquid upper stage) what potential small forces are being generated by outgassing of remaining fuel, its exact mass etc.

Doug

Off you go and read the Steve Q'n'A We talk about DD's and Cleaning, or infact, DD's and NOT cleaning.

Doug

Perhaps it is just part of the structure required to hang the thing from Skycrane?

Doug

A phobos one was scheduled for a sol or two ago, but I've not seen the images come down. I intend to pull the same trick with that however.

Doug

So the rover dies in 200 sols, 500m short of Victoria, having done no science for 200 sols

There has to be a compromise, there are unique, new discoveries to be made right here - and to abandom the science we can see, for the science that we may not see, is a nearly wreckless strategy.

Yes - we all want to get to Victoria and see across that new crater and the amazing vista it will offer - but let's remember we may never make it anyway, and to make the assumption that abandoning science where we are will guarentee an arrival at Victoria is wrong.

I'm sure once the work at Erebus is done, we'll see good driving. The arm-issue hasnt helped, but that was a 56 sol period where the decision wasnt down to any choice - it was simply going to take that long to make sure the rover was fit to drive. A few days of festoon observations, perhaps a couple more sites of IDD work around erebus and up to Mongollon rim, then navigating a route thru the remaining etched terrain.

It's the same argument that's been had a thousand times - and I still honestly believe that the only people who can make the right call on the balance between motion and science are those who built the rovers and designed the instruments - only they can judge if the potential for a new target is worth forgoing a local one.

Doug

I was a wreck - I don't think I've ever been as nervous about a launch as NH - I was hands-over-face-saying 'go go go go' in that quiet way you see people doing at the launch site - not even the MER launch had me so nervous. It's astonishing what effect these missions can have

Doug

Remember - the further out you push the Pluto encounter, the thinner the atmosphere is likely to be.....and the less power you'd have...and the less fuel...thus less opportunity to visit KBO's etc etc

Getting there sooner rather than later makes sense in its own right, before you add the bonus of Jupiter science.

Doug

The only valid answer would actually be 'don't know'

Because that's the truth. Oppy might die tomorrow, Oppy might last another 1500 sols. Who knows.

Doug

I'll try and give it a wave when I can
http://www.heavens-above.com/orbitdisplay....PST&satid=22076

Doug

Pioneer 10 or 11 basically

Doug

http://marswatch.astro.cornell.edu/merweb/..._transit_R8.rml


That's the sequence the image is from - but it's not presenting itself as a sub-frame, it's a partial downlink of a full frame. Not sure what's going on really.

Doug

OK - who put a piece of hedge out there?
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/pa...OAP2443L7M1.JPG

That's a wierd chunk-o-rock - the complex outline would suggest something volcanic to me - but I'm not a geologist

Doug

No - he said that they're meeting in 2 weeks to start planning the Jupiter campaign.

Doug

Me - and I think Nix is as well

Doug

Before lambasting the Discovery Program and JAXA

Doug

I'd have thought that would be something of a private matter between Clyde's family and Alan.

Doug

Just a quite post-sep thread to say congratulations to Alan and the team, here's to a clean checkout and small TCM's Many thanks for taking the time to share the experience to date with us here, your efforts are very much appreciated.

Doug

Godspeed little one. We're thinking of you.

(told you it'd jump off the pad )

Doug

singing - We're on the road again....

Navcam show tiny tiny movement of the IDD in its park position, but not too bad at all. I assume we're in situ for the festoon imaging MI work.

Doug