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Sunspot
From Twitter

HiRISE
Stay tuned, HiFans, we'll be making a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT next Wednesday...! :-o

Hmmm... is it literally something BIG, or maybe they found MPL?
elakdawalla
Terrible teases, aren't they? What a way to drive us nuts. Frankly, given this tease, if they don't announce they've definitively found MPL or Beagle 2 or evidence that Phoenix tried to walk south for the winter (kidding) I'll feel disappointed!
lyford
A direct tie in with unmannedspaceflight.com? laugh.gif
dmuller
QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Jan 16 2010, 01:05 PM) *
... Phoenix tried to walk south for the winter ...

Nah, snowboarding south!
ElkGroveDan
QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Jan 15 2010, 06:05 PM) *
or evidence that Phoenix tried to walk south for the winter


Maybe Phoenix did one-arm pushups to keep warm all winter.
Hungry4info
Maybe they discovered water on Mars! laugh.gif blink.gif
More seriously, I'm guessing it's MPL or Beagle 2 as well. I don't really know what else could come from HiRise to warrant an all-caps big announcement. I'm faintly thinking something about the methane sources, but I don't see how it could have been done with HiRise, unless... they imaged a bunch of animals running about. rolleyes.gif
elakdawalla
QUOTE (Hungry4info @ Jan 15 2010, 08:26 PM) *
Maybe they discovered water on Mars! laugh.gif blink.gif

Hungry4info, I hate your suggestion, because seriously, you might be right.
eoincampbell
Why are we waiting? smile.gif
Patteroast
How many times has water on Mars been discovered? It must be over a dozen by now. tongue.gif

I hope it does turn out to be one of the lost landers. That would be quite cool news. smile.gif
nprev
If it IS water, it'd better be an active geyser or a hot spring! wink.gif
Stu
I hope it isn't just the discovery of MPL or Beagle, because the press might crucify them for that - for us it would be cool, true, but finding the wreckage of a dead, failed probe would not be a "big" thing for serious media or the general public, surely?

No, I think this has to be water related.

Hey! Maybe they found some trees! Oh, wait... rolleyes.gif
Paolo
or combining all three main themes (old spacecraft, liquid water and life) perhaps they imaged a Martian dog taking a leak on the MPL wreck...
nprev
laugh.gif laugh.gif laugh.gif...okay, gotta remember, NEVER be in the middle of drinking anything when I read threads like these! (Good one, Paolo.)
Stu
Actually, to deliberately use the word "big" like that, they'd better have taken an image of a martian tripod war machine, wading through a gurgling martian gully, carrying the wreckage of both Beagle 2 and MPL in the cage beneath its belly... smile.gif
Sunspot
QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Jan 16 2010, 05:42 AM) *
Hungry4info, I hate your suggestion, because seriously, you might be right.


I think it's an annual event now.
Hungry4info
I'm unfortunately rather lacking in understanding of what MRO can do other than take great images (All it's got is HiRISE as far as I know).
If, say, MRO spotted a patch of mold or something, would there be any evidence other than HiRISE images that it's something unique? Surely they've got to be able to do some sort of spectroscopy. Maybe?
monitorlizard
The best discovery would be if MRO found more money for MSL.
ugordan
QUOTE (Stu @ Jan 16 2010, 09:18 AM) *
I hope it isn't just the discovery of MPL or Beagle, because the press might crucify them for that

Are you kidding? It would be like finally solving a mysterious crime case or something! I hope it is one of the lost landers, but fully expect to be underwhelmed with something else (past news hyping up as a guide).
Stu
Partly kidding, yes smile.gif I'm just worried about their use of the word "big" - in upper case, too! - raising false expectations and building up the story too much in advance. Obviously finding one of those probes would be v exciting for us, here, but I think "out there" it wouldn't be such a big deal, then the MRO team might be accused of over-hype. Guess we'll see Wednesday.
AndyG
Why Wednesday?

Is this linked to Wednesday being the 20th, and that's the anniversary of the "Mars Polar Water is pure" story of 2009?

Andy
elakdawalla
I assume it's Wednesday because that's when the HiRISE team releases new images.
Stu
Is this a "covered on NASA TV" thing, or just an info release being made by MRO, anyone know? If it's just an info release it suggests 'big' isn't 'huge'...
ilbasso
It's either (1) the S.S. Minnow, (2) Amelia Earhart's plane, (3) the Ark of the Covenant, or (4) bin Laden's hideout. Remember, you heard it here first!
elakdawalla
No press release or impending conference or anything, just that Tweet from the HiRISE team, written in a way that they knew would drive us nuts. They're probably laughing at this thread right now.
Stu
Yeah, I'm beginning to think this is a bit of a wind-up myself... rolleyes.gif
volcanopele
QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Jan 16 2010, 08:17 AM) *
I assume it's Wednesday because that's when the HiRISE team releases new images.

Wednesday is also the day of the week the latest issues of Nature hit the web and press releases based on papers published in Nature are posted.

Not that I'm saying that it is a paper in Nature. Just pointing that out. I've been personally watching Science (which posts on Thursdays), so I can post a certain news item on my blog.
nprev
Hmm. Enigmatic! smile.gif

Monday's probably a key day. If they announce a press conference for Wed then, that'll be an indicator of magnitude.
Decepticon
If it is the polar lander, I would be surpised if it looks like a soft landing.
mcaplinger
Because this is a HiRISE-only thing, I'm thinking it's not likely to be publication-related, since that would usually be coordinated with the rest of the MRO payload (and yes, there are other instruments on MRO. Sigh.)

And frankly, IMHO this is not a very professional way to "announce" anything.
nprev
Yeah, I was thinking that my pet hope (hot spring) would probably have to have supporting CRISM data, if the resolution of the latter was sufficient enough to provide supporting evidence (presumably chemical 'staining' of the immediate area). Switching my money to MPL/Beagle.
PDP8E
... after working my meager sources for info I have nothing... My hope it that they imaged the Mars 3 lander (sprawled out, laying on its side after a hard landing)
nprev
Any of the lost landers would definitely be a major coup, but as Stu pointed out also only of extreme interest to the science community & aficianados such as ourselves, not the general public. That could make it Twitter-worthy but not cross the threshold of sounding trumpets.
remcook
It's not pregnant, is it?

It's got to be disappointing.
Stu
QUOTE (remcook @ Jan 16 2010, 08:52 PM) *
It's not pregnant, is it?


laugh.gif laugh.gif laugh.gif laugh.gif

Whatever it is, it's going to be disapointing after that!
nprev
laugh.gif ...yeah, the headline "Mars Orbiter Transforms Into Von Neumann Machine" would DEFINITELY merit a press conference, at least...
PaulM
I remember that a Crism scientist once said that Crism would be able to detect a stromatolitic mat on Mars. Perhaps MRO has detected life on Mars?
scalbers
Speaking of stromatolites, could it be related to this?

http://www.universetoday.com/2008/07/17/th...us-mars-mounds/
nprev
In order to reduce the peril of going astray, suggest everyone review the forum guidelines (esp. rule 1.3)...and, in any case, I would put the odds of some sort of biological discovery from HiRISE at basically zero.
tharrison
QUOTE (mcaplinger @ Jan 16 2010, 11:58 AM) *
Because this is a HiRISE-only thing, I'm thinking it's not likely to be publication-related, since that would usually be coordinated with the rest of the MRO payload (and yes, there are other instruments on MRO. Sigh.)

And frankly, IMHO this is not a very professional way to "announce" anything.


Hopefully it's not *another* case of something that CTX pointed out to them (or that MOC already saw) that they're taking credit for... rolleyes.gif
alan
QUOTE (Stu @ Jan 16 2010, 02:55 PM) *
Whatever it is, it's going to be disapointing after that!

They've located Al Capone's vault?
tharrison
QUOTE (alan @ Jan 16 2010, 05:38 PM) *
They've located Al Capone's vault?


Nah, it's Elvis, didn't you know he lives in the Face?
Decepticon
Out of curiosity can they lower MRO orbit in the future to increase resolution?
nprev
I kinda doubt it. The mapping orbit is something like 250 km altitude, think going any lower would be prohibitively expensive in terms of propellent expenditure to stay aloft due to atmospheric drag.
mcaplinger
QUOTE (nprev @ Jan 16 2010, 07:07 PM) *
The mapping orbit is something like 250 km altitude...

255 x 320 km, and no, there are no plans to lower it.
sgendreau
They re-imaged Eagle Crater and spotted boot prints in the Oppy tracks.

Anyone seen Squyres lately? laugh.gif



imipak
For the reason Mcaplinger gave, I don't expect major scientific findings. I think it's something relatively small; something of interest to us, but probably won't even make an inside page of the broadsheet press. (Did any of them run the HiRISE ""trees"" images? I've been housebound by snow & then pork-cough & haven't seen a paper for 10 days.) I reckon "Big" is misdirection, and means "spatially large" rather than "earthshaking significance". Put it this way, I'm confident it'll fall within the forum guidelines of acceptable topics.

Now, cross my palm with silicon, and old mother Imipak will gaze into the swirling cloud of sediment in this fine bottle conditioned ale. Ah, yes! the fog is lifting....

I predict that the number of posts on this thread before the announcement will be less than the number afterwards. Given my record of predictions, I recommend Doug upgrade the server and bandwidth immediately, ahead of the forthcoming flashmob heading UMSF's way on Wednesday wink.gif

FWIW, I quite enjoy it when a little tease is trailed in the water a few days before the odd routine, but interesting-to-us, announcement or release. A little wild speculation and anticipation, within forum guidelines of course, seems like harmless fun... anagrams apart biggrin.gif
nprev
Mike, hopefully not OT, but why is MRO's orbit a bit elliptical instead of circular? Is this to minimize atmospheric drag?
Phil Stooke
"255 x 320 km, and no, there are no plans to lower it."

How about to raise it late in the mission, to delay possible contamination?

Phil
mcaplinger
QUOTE (nprev @ Jan 17 2010, 01:09 PM) *
Mike, hopefully not OT, but why is MRO's orbit a bit elliptical instead of circular?

It's required to keep the orbit "frozen" at a sun-synchronous precession rate (this was one of many permutations possible.)
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