Phoenix Spacecraft Due On Mars
 

I was waiting for Mr. Donger to post this, but I guess he's too busy spying on his neighbors. Anyhow, this is a pretty big deal - spacewise. With any luck, we'll finally learn whether or not the Face is attached to a buried Body and what the strange glass tubes are. At the very least, we should find out if there's enough ice on Mars to start the reactor and make air. I only hope NASA doesn't blow another 400 million all to heck and gone.

Phoenix spacecraft to land, or crash, on Mars

And now it's crunch time for Phoenix as the Mars-bound spacecraft flies straight and true toward its target on the Red Planet's icy northern plains after a spectacular voyage of 421 million miles from Earth.

By Sunday evening, a few seconds after 4:53 p.m. PDT, scientists and engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will know from a single radio signal from one of three orbiting spacecraft high above the planet whether Phoenix has landed precisely on its target site after enduring seven minutes of split-second descent events.

The spacecraft's heat shield, flaring at 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit as it hits the planet's atmosphere at 12,600 mph, must jettison; the descent parachute must deploy safely just 217 seconds before landing to slow the craft from 1,100 mph to a safe 120 mph, and its 12 retro-rockets must then fire successfully to steer the craft's final pitch, yaw and roll for 18 seconds as the ship settles slowly to the surface at barely more than 5 mph.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...MNC210TBV8.DTL

EDIT: Just another reason to keep the champagne corked for a while longer: "NASA has not had a successful powered landing in more than 30 years since the twin Viking landers in 1976. The last time NASA tried was in 1999 when the Mars Polar Lander prematurely cut off its engines and crashed into the south pole. The Polar Lander loss came during a communications blackout. Source: The Associated Press"

FAX

Disclaimers: Sorry if re-post.

Get your ass to Mars!!!

(NSFW)

http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/499...lrecallox0.jpg

Yeah, for some fourplay!

Girls need one in the middle of their back...... for dancing.

That is just.... brilliant. Bravo. :clap:

Hopefully, with enough genetic engineering...

Mr. Skip Towne wants to do the twist with a freak, mutant Martian chick with 4, possibly 5, tittaws?

Sounds good.

FAX

This is very cool. Thank you, Mr. FAX.

I wonder if the spacecraft does crash, will it rise anew in a fiery rebirth from it's own ashes?

NASA dipshits
women are from venus

Here's an animated video of the landing, or what's supposed to happen:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7411113.stm

It's probably questionable whether or not that technically qualifies as NSFW, but I doubt anyone's boss would be especially pleased if they saw that over someone's shoulders when they were supposed to be working. Anyway, just upload it to imageshack and link it when it may be over the line.

At todays gas prices this seems like a really good deal!

Dave

Proudly built by LM in Colorado! I hope that it doesn't end up as a Mars dart.

If anyone cares, they will be covering this live on The Science Channel HD coming up in 45 minutes.

NASA TV, too.

Kick ass! I'm watching NASA TV right now.

That's pretty awesome. Unfortunately, I have a graduation party to attend. I hope they replay it or something.

FAX

You could always just watch some replays of the Coyote and the Road Runner.

Oh, the odds of a successful landing are 50-50.

Is that a cable channel or is it part of their website? I must say I've never heard of NASA TV.

Channel 213, I think, on Dish Network.

this is getting intense!

Damn, they crashed it.

Holy shit it landed!

Wow. Way to go uber geeks!@!!!

Sweet, I just caught the landing. I had to switch to IE instead of FF.

Congrats to NASA on another one. I'm glad they're getting their shit together on these landing lately :bravo:

time for the green icecap men to blow the thing up.

Cool. Watched it on TV here at home with the kids. Pretty important scientific event.

Did everything go OK?

My son just told me, "Daddy, one day I'll be King of Mars."

Tell him to stay away from yodelers.

He'll clear out the riff-raff. No lawn chair in garages, and such.

Does the design of the solar panels give anyone else the creeps?

Or a Transformer squashing it underfoot....

http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/9093/transrv8.jpg

Pic?

.

Wow. Already images?

fuck yeah!!!

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ph...ain/index.html

What's the information time lapse from Mars?

About 15 minutes, I think.

How long before the asshats say these are "faked"?

Wait.......Are you actually trying to tell me that this is real?

LMAO

Every bit as real as the so called Moon landing.

OMFG!

I knew his home was much closer.

Everybody knows that wasn't real.

Right?


Right?

LMAO

It was all set up by the Disney imagineers and filmed on location at Disney World.

Hopefully they sent some Reeses Pieces.

I'll be there next week. I will let you know what I find out.

I knew it!

I keep waiting for someone to sell me some oxyclean
or a vacuum cleaner with a drape attachment

Too cool...

This photo provided by NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona shows NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander suspended from its parachute as it lands on Mars on Sunday May 25, 2008 as seen by a telescopic camera in orbit.

On Monday, NASA released a black-and-white image captured during Phoenix's descent by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which had a bird's-eye view of the lander hanging from its parachute. It's the first time a spacecraft had taken an image of another craft during landing.

Why, I believe that's the best image ever.

FAX

Methinks Donger has jAZ on ignore. Heh.

No kidding?

That's unfortunate. Should we tell him?

FAX

Heh. No, I don't have anyone on ignore. My picture looks better, however.

It's possible that is exactly what he meant.