| written by Neuzd on Jan 21, 2014 10:19 |
 | |  | | ![]() I don't want to question the vision ability of anyone watching that photograph, but there's a mark in the first photo that is extremely similar in shape and orientation to the "mysterious rock", right under its supposed location.
You can see it also in the second photo, as the rock is slightly shifted, and the profile is strikingly matching.
I say Spirit is the ultimate prankster. I love the little guy. | |  | |  |
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| written by Speeder on Jan 21, 2014 13:09 |
| written by Kristos on Jan 21, 2014 16:06 |
 | |  | | ![]() Fun quote from the article: “We are as we speak situated with the rover, with its instruments, making measurements on this rock. We’ve taken pictures of both the donut part and the jelly part,” Squyres said. “The jelly part is like nothing we’ve seen before on Mars. It’s very high in sulfur and magnesium and it has twice as much manganese as anything we’ve seen before. I don’t know what any of this means. We’re completely confused, everybody on the team is arguing and fighting. We’re having a wonderful time!”
 | Neuzd said: | | I don't want to question the vision ability of anyone watching that photograph, but there's a mark in the first photo that is extremely similar in shape and orientation to the "mysterious rock"... |
Yeah, it looks like an impression made by the mysterious rock, but I suspect it to just be coincidence. (Or invisible intelligent life forms!) | |  | |  |
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| i do my own stun-- avatars |
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   | |  | | ![]() How big is the rock? Is it like a couple of centimetres? They don't say, and at first, I thought it was a satellite image and the rock was huge. | |  | |  |
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| written by Kynreeve on Feb 17, 2014 00:36 |
└> last changed by Kynreeve on February 17, 2014 at 01:27
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| written by Speeder on May 28, 2014 14:16 |
| written by Speeder on Jun 05, 2014 02:20 |
| written by Speeder on Aug 06, 2014 18:00 |
| written by Speeder on Jan 16, 2015 14:58 |
| | | | ![]() Beagle probe was finally found...
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30784886
Unfortunately some months too late (the creator of the probe died some months ago, if he had been alive now probably he would push for a Beagle 3 project, knowing that most of Beagle 2 worked, instead of the previous situation where it was believed it was a catastrophic failure) | | | | |
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  | |  | | ![]() Honestly, I don't think the design was all that good. Burying the antenna under several solar panels that all need to be individually deployed before you can even communicate with the thing leaves too many points of potential failure. It removes any possibility of a recovery in the event that any part of the deployment process goes wrong, and when you're landing by airbags on an unpredictable surface, the chances that something will get jostled out of alignment seem relatively high. I'd say any malfunction causing you to never hear from a lander would be considered 'catastrophic', even if it stayed in one piece.
It might have been relatively inexpensive for a lander, but that's of limited use if it doesn't work. They couldn't even learn much from the failure, since they could only guess as to what might have happened to it. There still isn't an entirely clear answer of exactly what happened, though these new images at least help limit the possibilities.
On the topic of failed landings, SpaceX released a video of their Falcon 9 landing attempt, in which their rocket tried to land sideways on their autonomous barge... : P
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3wZRdg-Tmo
At least in this case, the primary cargo launching mission was a success, and just the experimental landing test didn't work out. They have a good idea about what went wrong, and will try again for a successful landing on their next launch. | |  | |  |
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 | written by Kristos on Feb 07, 2015 17:40 |
| | | | ![]() | Cryoburner said: | On the topic of failed landings, SpaceX released a video of their Falcon 9 landing attempt, in which their rocket tried to land sideways on their autonomous barge... : P
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3wZRdg-Tmo |
I tried to paint a picture the other day. I had the right idea, just the execution was off. Maybe I should try adding 50% more hydraulic fluid. | | | | |
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| written by Speeder on Feb 07, 2015 21:20 |
| | | | ![]() I just thought, AGAIN?
Then I saw the video.
Oh, it is alright then.
The SpaceX will attempt again soon, so I believed it was that second attempt that screwed up. | | | | |
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 | |  | | ![]() There is voting going on to name features on Pluto and Charon when New Horizons gets there. Voting ends on April 7, so take a look see.
http://www.ourpluto.org/
Doubtful how well this will set with the IAU (the same nice people who demoted Pluto from planetary status) who will have the final say, but...
(And yes, neuzd, I voted for Cthulhu - listed on the ballot for Mythology of the Underworld if you keep going to Mythological Creatures (Cthulhu is getting some support in the discussion pages, also) - and nominated R'lyeh.)
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