U.S. Rover Calls Home, Beams Back Color Photos

Reuters ^ | 01/05/03 | Gina Keating

[Prime Choice]

"Spirit beamed panoramic color images of unprecedented clarity back to Earth Sunday "

Where's the beef?

What's the source of the quote you cite? I didn't say it, and it's not in the article.

[Rebelbase]

"Where's the Beef"....source of quote?....

.

, Ohhh, you meant the other quote.

I saw it in Yahoo or google news. But, It has moved from when I saw it earlier and I can't find it now.

However; I did find this one from yahoo, appears to support your statement as well:

"PASADENA, California (AFP) - NASA (news - web sites) has begun receiving high resolution color photographs of Mars from the Spirit rover and is processing them for release. "

[petro45acp]

>>>Until we can safely land at least 25 consecutive robotic probes on Mars, sending a manned mission would be irresponsible.<<<

I think irresponsible is not quite the right word. I think "exploration" would be more accurate. Habitats on the moon (before the rice eaters), metals, industry, thermal depolymerization, and rocket cars......we were supposed to have rocket cars by now! All done by humans and our ability to persevere and improvise! Frankly, though loving the idea of space exploration, the government has made rather a hash of the idea. Quadruple redundancy where sound engineering would suffice, costs through the roof through the typical large beuracracy syndrome, and systems that cannot be repaired in orbit to name a few.

Despite E.D. Hill's opinion, we need a space program more than we need social engineering and "home programs."

Spirit! Keep those cards and letters coming in!

[Kay Soze]

This is outside Yuma AZ!

This is a joke - repeat this is a joke!

I in no way want to infer that this is a faked landing or that NASA cannot easily accomplish the taks of landing equipment on Mars that functions as desired.

[RightWhale]

We should concentrate on the moon. Work out techniques and train ourselves. Then set up a base on a moon of Mars. Then, when we are good and ready descend to surface. Do another one-off Apollo type program and neither NASA nor Congress will hear the end of it.

[Future Snake Eater]

Until we can safely land at least 25 consecutive robotic probes on Mars, sending a manned mission would be irresponsible.

Where do you get that number from? Did we land 25 moon probes before sending Aldrin, Armstrong, and Collins?

[Future Snake Eater]

...I would like to see construction robots that would create an infrastructure for a human presence.

Now that I could live with. I don't mind sending machines to set up for our arrival, but right now it's just the status quo repeated ad nauseum with no tangible goals in sight.

[Future Snake Eater]

I think we should do everything we can to populate both the Moon and Mars. The science is cool, but to become a space fairing species, we need to get off the pot and do it. If we have people there, the science will be easy.

I totally agree with you. And I think it's time we got off the pot. Robots are cool, the pictures are neat (I love looking at them), but there's a LOT more to do, and no one seems to be trying to make the necessary strides to do it.

I'm not denying there's danger involved in a manned expedition, but I highly doubt there'd be a shortage of ready and willing volunteers for such a mission. Hell, I'd volunteer if they'd take someone with some Army training and a Bachelor's in Mass Communication!

[Future Snake Eater]

It may have been a reasonable question, but this funding is far better spent on space exploration than say welfare or benefits for illegal aliens.

Not if it's being unceremoniously dumped down a similarly-shaped commode. Just because our tax dollars are being spent on one group that we're interested in rather than a group we have little to no interest in doesn't necessarily mean it's being well-spent. We need results, we need direction, we need a goal. Right now, NASA is offering none of the above.

[Pontiac]

Did we land 25 moon probes before sending Aldrin, Armstrong, and Collins?

The moon is 250 thousand miles from Earth. Mars is 9.3 Million miles from Earth. It makes a difference.

Logistical differences required by the huge difference distance traveled mean that at the moment a manned mission to Mars is not with in the abilities of NASA.

The Apollo missions to the Moon took 3 days.

It is estimated that a manned mission to Mars will take 6 months at minimum one way.

Once an engine is developed that can push a spacecraft from the Earth to Mars in a week or a month a Mars mission will make logical sense.

[RightWhale]

We need results, we need direction, we need a goal.

The Pres is supposed to issue a fresh goal statement for NASA in a couple of weeks. They will ramp up spending 7%, but more important, they will be directed to head back to the moon. Not necessarily to land on the moon anytime soon, but to head that direction. Of course, coming about the time of Rover 2, if that is also successful, he might pump up the Mars program as well. It is time to raise the sail and go someplace.

[HardStarboard]

>>>If you have a high-speed connection and RealVideo, the animated movie of the Rover's journey and mission on this page: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/video/animation.html <<<

Your right Elephant....it is Awesome. Great animation. Now if the real hardware can only live up to its billing!!

[Prime Choice]

Where do you get that number from? Did we land 25 moon probes before sending Aldrin, Armstrong, and Collins?

Have a good long look at the number of space flights that were done prior to the lunar landing. I'm talking Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. Also note that we had not one, but TWO Apollo missions that only served only to demonstrate that we could reliably get to the moon and back before we even attempted a landing.

All of that preparation was done so we could cross roughly 500,000 miles of space (round trip).

With a Mars mission, we are talking about several orders of magnitude more complexity in terms of planning and mission execution. Even in optimal conditions, the one-way trip to Mars over 140 million miles. A round-trip journey would also require an extended stay on Mars until Earth and Mars again approach perihelion distance (an aphelion departure from Mars would add another 26 million miles to the journey).

And you think we shouldn't set a bar on how many successful consecutive unmanned missions we should have before sending people out there?

[Prime Choice]

Ack. When I quoted the distance to Mars, I screwed up the numbers. The distance from Earth to Mars is around 9 million miles. I incorrectly referenced the distance from Sol to Mars. Sorry...

The rest of my post stands.

[RightWhale]

A more meaningful measure of difficulty would be time required rather than distance. The moon trip up and back is about 6 days. A Mars trip would be 2 years. About 100 times longer. I think we will see some long-duration and deep manned missions with no particular celestial body as goal before the Mars missions. Deep as in it would take a month to get back no matter what.

[Dog Gone]

Until we can safely land at least 25 consecutive robotic probes on Mars, sending a manned mission would be irresponsible.

I want to meet the astronaut who volunteers to land on Mars the way Spirit did.

[Prime Choice]

I think irresponsible is not quite the right word. I think "exploration" would be more accurate.

I think the label of "irresponsible" fits with respect to calls for human landings on Mars at this time. We simply don't have enough of a track record with the unmanned craft to justify a manned mission at this time.

During the Apollo program, right up to the events that cost the lives of Astronauts Grissom, White and Chaffee, there was a throw-caution-to-the-wind mindset that was later dubbed "Go Fever." It cost the lives of three people in 1967. The disease made a comeback in the '80s and claimed seven lives on January 28, 1986.

Judging from the calls to send people to Mars at this time, I'd say the disease is making the rounds again, albeit in the public sector only.

Considering that we're approaching the 1-year anniversary of the Columbia tragedy, I'd rather not see people once again fall under the impression that space flight is somehow "easy."

[RightWhale]

the astronaut who volunteers to land on Mars the way Spirit did.

There was somebody who went over Niagara Falls in an inflatable get-up. Like Michelin Man. Don't remember if he made it.

[Mannaggia l'America]

I want to meet the astronaut who volunteers to land on Mars the way Spirit did.

Just get that guy who went over Niagra Falls in the barrel a few months ago....

[newcats]

That's so cool! Way to go little Spirit.
Granted, I am impressed with the lil guy, but the cudos need to go to the brilliant and hard working people of NASA.