Phoenix has landed! |
Phoenix has landed! |
 May 25 2008, 11:54 PM
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#1
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 Senior Member  Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197  |
Successful touchdown
-------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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May 26 2008, 03:03 AM
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#166
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 428 Joined: 21-August 06 From: Northern Virginia Member No.: 1062 |
QUOTE (ToSeek @ May 25 2008, 08:00 PM)  The landing site location is being reported (per Emily) as 68.22 north, 234.3 east, and they're calling it long, but it seems to be almost smack dab in the middle of the landing ellipse in Emily's map. I have reason to suspect those landing figures are a bit off. It seems slightly more to the north, and alot more to the east. 68.5N 233.3 E is what I've seen. (Correction, I've seen better numbers, that match much better the numbers Emily provided. Still, it is off of on the left side of the landing ellipse in http://planetary.org/blog/article/00001431/ ) |
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May 26 2008, 03:31 AM
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#167
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 Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8784 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
QUOTE (Shaka @ May 25 2008, 07:57 PM) This surface has accumulated a lot of rubble. It's poorly sorted and angular. I assume most of it is distal impact ejecta (where is the nearest young crater?), with a small proportion of meteorites. I dunno. I mentioned mine dumps on another thread, and they sure look like this in Butte, MT: no coherent pattern in rock shapes, lots of deposition of same on or near frost heave lines (it gets VERY cold there in the winter, and unexpectedly warm in the summer). I'd say that a lot of the rocks we see are being excavated by frost heaves over time. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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May 26 2008, 03:33 AM
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#168
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Member Group: Members Posts: 128 Joined: 5-May 04 Member No.: 74 |
It's been pointed out to me on another forum that there's a more up-to-date landing ellipse, and that the location is indeed long on this ellipse. (Maybe they should have stuck with the old one!)
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May 26 2008, 03:34 AM
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#169
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
Anybody have any ideas as to why the background behind one of the solar arrays appears to be completely black? Nothing, including the sky, ought to be completely black up there right now...
-the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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May 26 2008, 03:37 AM
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#170
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 4247 Joined: 17-January 05 Member No.: 152 |
It's just because they're shooting more or less into the low polar sun, and the bright sky is reflecting in the arrays and so they used a very short exposure.
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May 26 2008, 03:37 AM
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#171
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Member Group: Members Posts: 428 Joined: 21-August 06 From: Northern Virginia Member No.: 1062 |
QUOTE (dvandorn @ May 25 2008, 08:34 PM) Anybody have any ideas as to why the background behind one of the solar arrays appears to be completely black? Nothing, including the sky, ought to be completely black up there right now... -the other Doug It's not completely black (I'm assuming you mean image SOL0 281477120), but rather, very dark. I'm guessing that the surface there has a big spacecraft between it and the sun, causing it to be very dark. |
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May 26 2008, 03:40 AM
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#172
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
Yeah, my only thought was that it must be looking past the solar panel into Phoenix's own shadow. But I downloaded the picture and blew it up, and saw no detail in the black area at all, which I didn't expect.
Still -- lots of reflected light plus the shadow is the only explanation that makes sense, I think. -the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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May 26 2008, 03:42 AM
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#173
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1641 Joined: 5-March 05 From: Boulder, CO Member No.: 184 |
Besides being a powered landing, one might note another similarity with Viking 2, that being polygonal terrain. A quick check shows this reference that delves into the causes of this in the case of Viking. Mostly it's more the larger scale polygons that are discussed however.
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/7thmars2007/pdf/3322.pdf It seems the lander site-scale polygons may share a similar ice related cause at both sites, while the large-scale polygons at Utopia Planitia would have a different cause. Steve |
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May 26 2008, 03:44 AM
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#174
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Member Group: Members Posts: 428 Joined: 21-August 06 From: Northern Virginia Member No.: 1062 |
QUOTE (dvandorn @ May 25 2008, 08:40 PM) Yeah, my only thought was that it must be looking past the solar panel into Phoenix's own shadow. But I downloaded the picture and blew it up, and saw no detail in the black area at all, which I didn't expect. Still -- lots of reflected light plus the shadow is the only explanation that makes sense, I think. -the other Doug Which image are you referring to? Just want to make sure we are talking about the same thing. |
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May 26 2008, 03:49 AM
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#175
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
-------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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May 26 2008, 03:51 AM
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#176
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Member Group: Members Posts: 428 Joined: 21-August 06 From: Northern Virginia Member No.: 1062 |
QUOTE (dvandorn @ May 25 2008, 08:49 PM) Odd... I clearly see quite a few rocks in the image, although very dark... |
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May 26 2008, 03:53 AM
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#177
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
The last press briefing of the day, which I had thought was scheduled for 4:30am UT, seems to have been moved back up to 4am UT (9pm PDT, 11pm my time, CDT, and 12 midnight EDT). About eight minutes from now.
-the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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May 26 2008, 03:54 AM
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#178
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
QUOTE (tuvas @ May 25 2008, 10:51 PM) Odd... I clearly see quite a few rocks in the image, although very dark... Might just be my tired old eyes, LOL... I looked hard and saw nothing in the background. Ought to load it up in something that lets me tweak up brightness and contrast. -the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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May 26 2008, 03:54 AM
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#179
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 808 Joined: 10-October 06 From: Maynard Mass USA Member No.: 1241 |
nick,
the rubble on the ground 'reminds' me of the uncountable rocks that surface in my garden every spring as the freezing and thawing pushes them up to the surface (New England) -------------------- CLA CLL
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May 26 2008, 03:57 AM
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#180
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
Yep -- just loaded up that solar panel image in a quick-and-dirty tool that let me boost the brightness, and sure enough, a little field of pebbles appeared in the background.
-the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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