[X] My Assistant

[tuvas]

Okay, so there's only a few days till the landing, and I'm just curious, where will you all be? Just trying to keep a similar sounding thread to it's original purpose, that's all.

I am planning as of now to be at the LPL event at the University of Arizona. It should be interesting. I can only be there for about the hour around the landing time, but that's alright.

[Spirit]

At work. No TVs, no PCs

[Stu]

At work. No TVs, no PCs

Maybe you can take a radio in or something? Or sign up to the Phoenix Twitter page for text updates to your mobile?(not sure if that's a US service only...)

If that fails, open a window at the appropriate time... if you hear shouting and whooping and hollerin' that'll be UMSF members celebrating! If you hear nothing, well...

[dvandorn]

Quick clip for WEST WING fans... this should bring back some happy memories... Forget that the probe in the series, um, failed... that's not the point... the point is that , for me, this little scene captured the drama and, yes, nobility of space exploration, and whenever I hear Sam reading out this passage I genuinely feel touched.

That was an excellent episode. However, this clip doesn't contain my favorite exchange from it.

The Galileo V mission being presented is a barely fictionalized version of the MPL debacle, complete with the DS2 penetrators. Someone is explaining to Josh how the penetrators were supposed to work -- falling unrestrained by braking systems to smash into the ground at hundreds of km per hour and penetrating into it, after which they were expected to work perfectly. At which point, Josh says something about how he didn't think NASA spacecraft depended on the Acme school of physics...

I miss THE WEST WING so much. So much.

Me too, Stu. Me, too.

-the other Doug

[scalbers]

I'll probably be at home. With a DSL connection and laptop I can pipe NASA TV into my TV and stereo to get a good display.

Nice that is the most Viking-like landing since - well - Viking!

Steve

[PFK]

Hello Folks
As a (very) long time lurker, registration has finally been prompted by the upcoming events.
As someone involved in research chemistry for the last quarter of a century I'm well acquainted with the ups and (many) downs of the scientific process and yet I have to say I can't even begin to imagine how nerve-wracking the upcoming event must be for those at the sharp end, or even the many on here who, while not directly involved, are clearly utterly smitten by the event thanks to their prowess in the field. Professionally, I’m used to being in a situation where the answers come pretty quickly and you can always have a hands on part to play in the outcome; to be effectively helpless at the key phase of the experiment must be awful - but then the satisfaction all the more glorious when it works.
What astonishing times we are in when the information on events such as this is accessible so immediately; I’m trying to convince my 10 year old nephew to stay up and monitor it - perhaps if it was marketed as a Dr Who event by the BBC he might listen! (Stu, he’s just down the road from you in Carnforth - have a word!!). But seriously, the educational potential - and really, therefore, the inspirational potential (for future players in this field) - of events such as this are now colossal. And I have to say UMSF more than plays its part in that.
As for me on the night? Well to beer or not to beer, that is the question….

[djellison]

Loughborough....fairly damn close to Leicester

Fortunately, you wont here the roof come of my house with the cheers of succesfull EDL, as I'll be in Selsey

Doug

[Rakhir]

At home with my two laptops, watching Nasa TV, UMSF, blogs updates... all the night until 5am (Central Europe Time) when I have to leave for the airport to Torino.
And on arrival at Torino, first thing to do: open my mobile to check for Twitter updates.

[PFK]

Loughborough....fairly damn close to Leicester

Fortunately, you wont here the roof come of my house with the cheers of succesfull EDL, as I'll be in Selsey

Doug

well I just checked and it's only about 140 miles away, so if I keep my front window open there's a good chance I'll hear something if the wind is in the right direction Fingers crossed

[fredk]

Unfortunately it's too late now to add, but I'll gladly include it for other missions once I get around coding them. BTW, what's the formula?

If r is the radius of Mars, and d our current distance to the centre of Mars (not the surface), then the full disc of Mars will subtend an angle 2*arcsin(r/d). Here arcsin is the inverse sine, also written sin^(-1).

Doing the calculation with the current distance, I get that Mars subtends 1.5 degrees right now. That agrees with the solar system simulator:

The disc will rapidly increase in size now. Fasten your seatbelts!!

[karolp]

For the first time in history of Mars landings, I will be in front of the computer with NASA TV and UMSF on. A great time to be alive.

[dmuller]

If r is the radius of Mars, and d our current distance to the centre of Mars (not the surface), then the full disc of Mars will subtend an angle 2*arcsin(r/d). Here arcsin is the inverse sine, also written sin^(-1).

Arrghh silly me ... that's just first grade trigonometry, now isnt it. Brain to mission control - need more coffee! Thanks Fred.
Daniel

[imipak]

There are now less than 24 hours to go until landing, spacecraft event time. Hasn't the time gone fast...

[dvandorn]

Not yet! 24 hours and five minutes, as I type this...

-the other Doug

[dvandorn]

In exactly 24 hours from this moment, I'll either be celebrating, or feeling incredibly sad...

-the other Doug

[MarsEngineer]

Hi all,

I will be at JPL tomorrow but, unlike the last three Mars landings, I will not be in the Mission Support Area (MSA) for EDL this time. I will be watching monitors in one of the conference rooms very near by in an adjacent building with some Caltech guests. I will pop in about a half hour after landing to give them congrats. Being in the MSA during EDL can be a tad stressful and besides, this is the Phoenix team's time to shine. I am very excited for them. They have worked very hard and I am proud for them.

I also plan to swing by Planetfest that evening. I will fly to Tuscon early on Monday where I will spend a few days to make sure all is well (they really do not need my help! But I will cheer them on.)

None of us are smart enough to predict the future, but I believe that the Phoenix team has done everything they could have done (short of starting from scratch) to get this machine to work.

have a fun weekend!

-Rob Manning