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Roving Mars (Imax) in the UK, Finally..it has happened
djellison
post Apr 20 2007, 07:21 PM
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As an attempt at an iota of organisation- Helvick and I will hopefully bump into one another in the morning but shall we all try and meet up at 1300-1330 somewhere near the ticket desk before the afternoon session starts?

Doug
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helvick
post Apr 20 2007, 07:39 PM
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That sounds like a good plan to me.

Be on the lookout for a gray haired, gray bearded bloke wearing a UMSF T-Shirt.
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Stu
post Apr 20 2007, 10:38 PM
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Have a great time guys... sorry I couldn't join you, but work wouldn't give me the holiday... sad.gif


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nprev
post Apr 21 2007, 12:54 AM
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Yeah, enjoy...I got the time off, ain't got the money to fly to the UK! sad.gif We expect pics, of course...


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dvandorn
post Apr 21 2007, 01:55 AM
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I have what I believe to be a little news about "Roving Mars." However, it has the potential to annoy some of y'all over on that side of the pond.

Ya see, the Discovery Science Channel runs what they call "Space Week" once or twice a year. At those times, they premiere several new space documentaries (which they then re-run, once or twice a month, for a year or more). Sometimes these are new documentaries produced by Discovery, sometimes they're programming originally developed for Australian or British audiences (like slightly re-edited episodes of "Horizons," for example).

The ads for the upcoming Space Week, which starts in a couple of weeks or so, are listing titles of new programs that will be airing then on Discovery Science.

One of the titles listed was "Roving Mars."

I dunno if they're just going to run the IMAX piece, reformatted for a much smaller screen, or even if it's an entirely different project. But somehow I doubt it.

So... the annoying thing for y'all is that you're finally getting to see the thing all of about two weeks before it appears on cable TV here in the States.

The redeeming fact is that you'll be able to watch it in IMAX, which is a really great experience in and of itself.

-the other Doug


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mcaplinger
post Apr 21 2007, 04:48 AM
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QUOTE (dvandorn @ Apr 20 2007, 06:55 PM) *
I dunno if they're just going to run the IMAX piece, reformatted for a much smaller screen, or even if it's an entirely different project. But somehow I doubt it.

http://www.press.discovery.com/ekits/space...ge=pressrelease

Yes, it's just the IMAX movie on TV. Premiere is Thursday, May 10, at 9 PM (ET/PT).


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djellison
post Apr 21 2007, 06:35 AM
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May 10th...Pah - I'll have seen it on Imax screens three times by then smile.gif

Doug
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djellison
post Apr 21 2007, 07:06 PM
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What a great day.... met Helvick on the way in, saw a nice Planetarium presentation ( with the infamous APOD / Aviation Week colourised Navcam mosaic in the middle of it! ), a quick swish around the museum bit, then in for the first Imax showing.

It was exactly what I was hoping it would be - lots of stunning shots of building them at KSC and JPL. The launch sequence was very good indeed - as well as two fantastic EDL sequences which I believe used the actual data to reconstruct the bounces. Not enough surface imagery - but then, not enough movie...twice as long would have been 100 times too short really smile.gif This was followed by a short update lecture by Jim - bringing us right up to date including his current take on the dark streaks ( dust being cleared away and polishing the berries as it goes )

Then met up with the others for the second time around. The second Imax showing was almost ruined by the sound running about 1.5s ahead of the video - I felt really sorry for those that hadn't seen it in the morning - the bouncing sequences were just a little bit comical with the bounce noise happening almost a full bounce before the bounce on screen. Same again with an update by Jim afterwards - then retired to the back of the Imax theatre for a casual Q'n'A before retiring to a bar downstairs to put the world of space science to rights for an hour smile.gif

Fantastic day all round - glad for those that could make it - so sorry for those that couldn't - hopefully we'll be able to do it again at some point (maybe tie in a group visit to the Science Museum's new space wing with a trip to the Imax at Waterloo).

Attached - a few pics of Jim and us lot having a chat after the second showing (me=behind camera lens smile.gif )

Doug
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Alex Chapman
post Apr 22 2007, 09:29 AM
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So that’s where you guys went! After the second IMAX showing I stayed to listen to Jim Bell’s Q & A and I had to constantly stop myself from laughing. The poor guy was harangued by the public with engineering suggestions like, ‘Why didn’t you put retractable plates on the wheels wheel.gif so they won’t get stuck in the sand?” or “Will the next rover have retractable wheels so that when one stops working you can just pull it out of the way?” Jim just had a look of mild desperation on his face.

Interestingly he directly said that the next rover is going to be ‘nuclear powered’ and I thought everyone was trying not to mention the RTGs or is that only JPL staff? He also had some good news for all you imaging guys and gals out there, MSL will send back as much data back in 3-4 weeks as both rovers have sent back to date. That is assuming MRO is still capable of acting as a relay.

Alex
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centsworth_II
post Apr 22 2007, 03:12 PM
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QUOTE (Alex Chapman @ Apr 22 2007, 05:29 AM) *
... good news for all you imaging guys and gals out there, MSL will send back as much data back in 3-4 weeks as both rovers have sent back to date...

ohmy.gif Good news for those that are retired, with plenty of time on their hands!
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helvick
post Apr 22 2007, 04:47 PM
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Jim made an interesting comment when asked about MSL's power source - he said that the RTG's power output would be similar to the power levels that the MER's were capable of generating under optimal conditions - that's about 1 kilowatt hour per Sol. I thought that was strange as the Boeing MMRTG design that I'm pretty sure has been selected for MSL should generate around 2.5 x that amount of power per sol.
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nprev
post Apr 22 2007, 06:45 PM
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Glad to hear it went well, and thanks for the pics! smile.gif


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djellison
post Apr 22 2007, 11:17 PM
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OK - So I cheated - I saw RM another two times today smile.gif (And I'd happily watch it another 4 times in 2 days...just to watch those two EDL sequences, and the brief moments of Pancam imagery, as nature intended, full screen, slowly panning across.

I think Jims comment re: MSL power was worded to mean that at MER's peak power - it's producing as many Watts ( not Whrs ) as MSL's MMRTG. Something like 110 Watts is the figure. Over a normal day, I'm expecting MSL to be something like 2500 Whrs, that sort of thing.

Doug
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helvick
post Apr 22 2007, 11:35 PM
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Doh! Well that makes sense.
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dilo
post May 1 2007, 03:56 PM
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At the end, I saw it! biggrin.gif
I took advantage of a family trip to Paris, I went to the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie where RM is projected in the "Geode" IMAX cinema (a beautifull structure) twice a day.
Like others, I liked very much the sequences of MER construction\testing (hey, there is also a scene with SS in cow-boy version! pancam.gif ). But what I prefere is the movie of the launch and the CG sequences of landings, the realism is fabulous and the impact of very high definition super-wide angle picture is breathtaking... ohmy.gif in a particular sequence, I had the strong feeling to be an ant looking to a giant rover over me... ph34r.gif
Audience applauded at the end of projection and my sad thinkng was: why ESA do not makes something like this about Titan\Huygens?"...


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