MER@5 Years, Your thoughts and congratulations to the MER teams Options

[CosmicRocker]

Oh, and I thought this was an interestingly new perspective to consider...

[Stu]

Great day!!



Have to echo everyone's comments so far, and congratulate everyone involved in the MER mission. I'd also like to congratulate Emily on her great write-up (hope it's getting LOTS of 365 Days of Astronomy downloads!) and Astro0 on his fantastic graphics work: I hope the MER teams print those pics out and plaster them all over JPL! ( Thanks for posterising my poem too!)

My own reflections - too long to post here (I know, there's a shock! ) didn't make it here in the transfer from the other thread, so I hope no-one will mind me re-posting a link.

Seriously, who would have thought we'd be here today celebrating this anniversary? Humans can be so stoopid sometimes it makes me want to cry, but occasionally, just occasionally, we stop scrabbling around in the filth and the garbage just long enough to reach out our dirty, blood-matted monkey paws towards the sky and touch greatness. The MER mission is one of those times. Take a moment today to find your favourite Spirit picture... and marvel at what we can do when we try.

[jamescanvin]

Official "Bonestell" panoramas available (annotated, stereo, false color, true color).
http://marsrovers.nasa.gov/gallery/press/s.../20081230a.html

Note that this still isn't the finished version - the caption says there are 82 pointings, however it looks to me like they missed three at the lower right that had already been downlinked so there are actually only 79 in that version. The finished article should have 86.

I found the rotated 'ground frame' anaglyph distorted and very hard to view. IMO anaglyphs should be left in the 'rover frame' as that is the orientation that Spirit's 'eyes' saw the scene, otherwise your going to have to rotate your head as you pan across.

So here is my version to say Happy Birthday Spirit! Oh and as an added bonus my anaglyph is in colour - L234567&R123 that's 720 individual images.



Enjoy,

James

[john_s]

Excellent summary! To celebrate the milestone, I've cut together a selection of some of the more amusing moments during the early press briefings:

Thanks from me too for that wonderful compilation!

John.

[mhoward]

Thanks from me too for that wonderful compilation!

Me too. My favorite part was Steve Squyres managing expectations regarding whether Spirit could make it to the Columbia Hills.

Congrats to the whole rover team, 3 years and 3 months after Spirit made it to the top of Husband Hill and started heading down the other side. Truly amazing!

[Guest_Oersted_*]

Scott Maxwell has started a blog about the early phases of the mission. It will be great to follow
http://marsandme.blogspot.com/

Dot.dk, I really think this one warrants a thread of its own, so we can comment as he posts his entries. Could you make it, just called "Scott´s blog" or something?

[DarthVader]

http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/ is hosting a video from NASA TV: "Passport To Mars - Bouncing To Mars Part 1 & 2":

http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/inde...a-2&catid=1

[CosmicRocker]

Thanks, Darth. I hadn't seen that before. There is a lot of good historical detail in that video regarding what it takes to pull off a successful planetary exploration mission.

[ups]

Seriously, who would have thought we'd be here today celebrating this anniversary?

The great thing is we have been allowed to be such a part of this journey -- I can't off the top of my head think of any other mission where the public has been allowed such daily access. I really feel in some respects that the public was a part of the mission team to some small degree -- i'm sure they enjoyed the wonderful images and animations produced here at UMSF.

[RoverDriver]

The great thing is we have been allowed to be such a part of this journey -- I can't off the top of my head think of any other mission where the public has been allowed such daily access. I really feel in some respects that the public was a part of the mission team to some small degree -- i'm sure they enjoyed the wonderful images and animations produced here at UMSF.

As I said other times, I wish UMSF had been allowed to be even more involved in this mission. There is a whole part of the mission that you are missing that space enthusiasts like you would enjoy tremendously: trying to understand what happened on Mars from a tiny bit of data, figuring out the most efficient way of using the daily available resources, inventing new ways to use a broken or worn device. In spite of all this I have been amazed by how well you have been able to follow the various stages of the mission and provide amazingly good products, suggestions and comments. Thank you!

I hope that future missions will allow the public to be part of the "other side" of a mission.

One can always dream, can I?

Paolo

[eoincampbell]

I love this place too, thanks drivers; image whiz's; poets; bloggers et all... you just take me there...

[brellis]

5 more years! 5 more years!

[CosmicRocker]

As I said other times, I wish UMSF had been allowed to be even more involved in this mission.
I hope that future missions will allow the public to be part of the "other side" of a mission.
One can always dream, can I?
Paolo

Honestly, we have no expectation of providing direction to the mission. Most of us are simply happy to go along for the ride, and shout out observations from the rumble seat, as we go merrily along.

[HughFromAlice]

I love this place too, thanks drivers; image whiz's; poets; bloggers et all... you just take me there...

I wish UMSF had been allowed to be even more involved in this mission. Paolo

Me too! Love it! It strikes a great balance between serious commentary/analysis, innovative ideas and just having fun.

We need to keep giving maximum positive feedback to people like Steve Squyres and the MER team for their quick release of data and encouragement of 'ordinary' people like us to get involved. The more that such feedback can filter up the chain of command of NASA and related structures the sooner a degree involvement by groups like UMSF will be acknowledged as useful and later written into policy!

That's why having Paolo post is not only enjoyable (who doesn't love the inside story!!!) but is beginning to open those doors. It's about testing limits and growing boundaries. What were boundaries become accepted norms! I find it fascinating how we might use the power of a vast number of minds through the internet to solve problems in completely novel ways and to get seemingly impossible things done....... seemingly impossible according to the old paradigms. In the next 20 years I could envisage experimental work and scientific ideas beginning to being shifted from 'static' scholarly journals into much more interactive fora where there are ongoing versions and levels of review - from peer review to general public review.

NASA TV: "Passport To Mars - Bouncing To Mars Part 1 & 2":

In connection with this, I thought Bouncing To Mars was very interesting indeed. Particularly in terms of mission team members comments and what they perceived the limits on frank reporting of problems and failures to be. Check out the old Singer sewing machines!! It's good that an organization like NASA can work with others to produce such films about itself.

What I really love about science is exemplified by the comment .... "trying to understand what happened on Mars from a tiny bit of data" - sounds a bit like everyday life! Almost manageable!!!

[RoverDriver]

Honestly, we have no expectation of providing direction to the mission. Most of us are simply happy to go along for the ride, and shout out observations from the rumble seat, as we go merrily along.

I was not aspiring to getting you in the loop of decision making (not yet!). That is sometimes frightening. Still, the process we follow to analyze the telemetry, the process we follow after an anomaly, or even just how the daily activities are selected are all quite understandable even without (much) prior knowledge and am sure it would make your ride more enjoyable.

Paolo