One Martian Year!, And still going strong... |
One Martian Year!, And still going strong... |
Nov 21 2005, 08:42 AM
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#16
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Member Group: Members Posts: 470 Joined: 24-March 04 From: Finland Member No.: 63 |
Again congratulations to Spirit and the team for surviving a whole Martian year on the surface.
This is an important achievement since now a rover has weathered the conditions on Mars for a whole orbit. Earth years come and go, but those do not affect Spirit as a Martian year does. It is truly a Martian in a Martian environment. I don't think a second Martian year is viable. There are many factors, of course the electronics might still fail any day and there might be a long period of no dust cleaning. Dust storms don't seem a threat anymore, since the season is about over (well, except for the next summer. Maybe the big one will hit then!). The batteries are li-ion, which are limited by age, not so much by the number of charges (many notebook users have experiences on this when an unused "backup" battery doesn't work after being left unused). The batteries have been rated at 5 years, which is from the time of manufacture. That date will be upon us fairly soon, and it might bring a surprisingly quick battery death. I have been surprised how well the MERs have been supported by NASA with its resources. There was talk that the solly data stream would be reduced soon after the primary mission. Spirit and Oppy are still sending similar amount of images and other measurements as they did at the beginning of the mission. Maybe this is because of effient use of Mars Odyssey, but that still takes DSN time. NASA might extend the mission after the sol 1000 date, but maybe with even further reduced staffing and other resources. As Steve said, Oppy might roll to Victoria with only handful of graduate students onboard. -------------------- Antti Kuosmanen
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Nov 21 2005, 09:16 AM
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#17
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2807 Joined: 22-April 05 From: Ridderkerk, Netherlands Member No.: 353 |
It seems that NASA ( JPL ) has learned from some of the members of this forum by putting Spirit on 3 images. ( great images )
Just published on their website. They call it Special-Effects. jvandriel |
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Nov 21 2005, 12:41 PM
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#18
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Member Group: Members Posts: 531 Joined: 24-August 05 Member No.: 471 |
Here is the link:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/pre.../20051121a.html - Special-Effects Spirit in "Columbia Hills" My favorite is Spirit near Larrys Lookout. -------------------- - blue_scape / Nico -
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Nov 21 2005, 01:16 PM
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#19
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2997 Joined: 30-October 04 Member No.: 105 |
>They call it Special-Effects.
...special effects on a false-color image. They do read this site, and are adaptable. --Bill -------------------- |
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Nov 21 2005, 02:58 PM
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#20
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Member Group: Members Posts: 510 Joined: 17-March 05 From: Southeast Michigan Member No.: 209 |
Unless I missed something over the weekend, it looks like all the official sites ignored Sprit's birthsol. I would expect some kind of mention on the MER page, but I haven't seen anthing. Do they think the general public wouldn't understand what a Mars year is?
Poor Spirit Don't worry sweetie, we at UMSF remembered you on your special sol... -------------------- --O'Dave
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Nov 21 2005, 03:03 PM
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#21
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 82 Joined: 22-July 05 From: Portugal Member No.: 445 |
Hi SigurRosFan, slightly OT but yesterday we had here in Lisbon another great concert by Sigur Ros, man, it's the closest you can get to a beautiful alien landscape!
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Nov 21 2005, 03:54 PM
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#22
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Member Group: Members Posts: 221 Joined: 25-March 05 Member No.: 217 |
QUOTE (odave @ Nov 21 2005, 03:58 PM) Unless I missed something over the weekend, it looks like all the official sites ignored Sprit's birthsol. I would expect some kind of mention on the MER page, but I haven't seen anthing. Do they think the general public wouldn't understand what a Mars year is? Poor Spirit Don't worry sweetie, we at UMSF remembered you on your special sol... The Special effects are all of Spirit and look birthday cardish, so perhap it's a silent happy birthsol and maybe we'll see the same thing for oppy in twenty days or so. Reckless |
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Nov 21 2005, 05:07 PM
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#23
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Member Group: Members Posts: 236 Joined: 21-June 05 Member No.: 417 |
Official recognition
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/s...t/20051121.html |
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Nov 21 2005, 05:15 PM
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#24
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Member Group: Members Posts: 236 Joined: 21-June 05 Member No.: 417 |
I like this:
"While no one can predict how long Spirit will last, the rover's stamina throughout the long martian year encourages hope. The science team is busy even now plotting new destinations to strive toward. If the "Columbia Hills" were once a distant dream, new far-off horizons beckon just as much. Getting there will stretch the rover's capabilities as much as the imagination. Team member Jim Rice calls one such distant target, a rough and rugged terrain to the south, "the Promised Land." http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/s...isedland_br.jpg |
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Nov 21 2005, 05:17 PM
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#25
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Member Group: Members Posts: 510 Joined: 17-March 05 From: Southeast Michigan Member No.: 209 |
Ah, I guess they were using Helvick's math
-------------------- --O'Dave
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Nov 21 2005, 06:43 PM
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#26
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Dublin Correspondent Group: Admin Posts: 1799 Joined: 28-March 05 From: Celbridge, Ireland Member No.: 220 |
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Nov 21 2005, 06:51 PM
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#27
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Member Group: Members Posts: 877 Joined: 7-March 05 From: Switzerland Member No.: 186 |
QUOTE (SigurRosFan @ Nov 21 2005, 02:41 PM) Here is the link: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/pre.../20051121a.html - Special-Effects Spirit in "Columbia Hills" My favorite is Spirit near Larrys Lookout. Nico, I'm romantic and love this sunset pose of Spirit. Additional it was even dangerous for Spirit to drive over Methuselah to catch this pose Hey, they even tried to retouch the track from Spirit in the second image - indeed looks more realistic. Happy Birthday Spirit!!! -------------------- |
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Nov 21 2005, 06:54 PM
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#28
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Member Group: Members Posts: 510 Joined: 17-March 05 From: Southeast Michigan Member No.: 209 |
QUOTE (general @ Nov 21 2005, 12:15 PM) " Team member Jim Rice calls one such distant target, a rough and rugged terrain to the south, "the Promised Land." ...and after that, I wanna drive that sucker straight up Ma'adim Vallis -------------------- --O'Dave
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Nov 21 2005, 08:57 PM
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#29
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Member Group: Members Posts: 252 Joined: 27-April 05 Member No.: 365 |
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Nov 21 2005, 09:55 PM
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#30
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2262 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Melbourne - Oz Member No.: 16 |
QUOTE (general @ Nov 22 2005, 04:15 AM) Team member Jim Rice calls one such distant target, a rough and rugged terrain to the south, "the Promised Land." Gosh, I'm glad now that I stopped using "the Promised Land." as the caption for my inner basin pan after the first iteration, that would have confused things! -------------------- |
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