First colour image from Mars (Spirit) rover is up!

NASA Mars Rover web site ^ | 6 Jan 04 | NASA

[tet68]

Boy, I really am disappointed in NASA's coverage of this,
it was good to begin with but now there is nothing, they should just let it run live!

[RightWhale]

That's what I say, too. If Hoagland can keep things interesting for 15 years based on a fuzzy image, NASA ought to put him back on the payroll. All these scientists act like they are doing their Diff-Ee-Que homework. Look like fun? They need a showman.

[Quick_Rod]

Just caught the last 15 minutes of the show. One thing that I was not aware of was that there is a second landrover called Opportunity which is scheduled to land sometime around the end of January or the first part of February.

[KevinDavis]

Space Ping! This is the space ping list! Let me know if you want on or off this list!

[gd124]

Please put me on the list.

[Hellmouth]

Are those really rocks or could they be
silicious life forms, like that episode of
Star Trek, where Spock mind-melded with, I
think it was called The Horta? How
ironic would it be if the Rover was
surrounded by Mars life, but no one
figured it out, because they were too
preoccupied looking for carbon-based
life...

[irv]

Are those really rocks or could they be silicious life forms, like that episode of Star Trek, where Spock mind-melded with, I think it was called The Horta?

Keep watching. If they hatch, they're alive.

[Hellmouth]

But it's winter on Mars, so they're likely in hibernation...

[Tunehead54]

Bedtime but a quick question - I've seen a BW 360 degree view from the lander but no sign of the parachute that supposedly detached in the last 50 feet ofo descent. Anyone?

[bonesmccoy]

I don't know about you, but I jumped out of my seat when I saw how smooth those rocks were.

I had always thought Mars was barren because of low atmospheric pressure and that liquid water was impossible.

At only 70-80 mmHg atmospheric pressure, shouldn't water sublimate?

[bonesmccoy]

Put your katra back in your own head! LOL

[bonesmccoy]

doesn't that suggest that we could harvest iron out of the rocks and build the greatest iron works facilities in the solar system on Mars?

Talk about the "two towers"!

[bonesmccoy]

Yeah, I was looking for the parachute and lanyard system also. I'll bet that JPL can probably guess where it is located. I also noticed that the MGS hi-res image was at a pixel depth of 10 meters per pixel. If the parachute is more than 100 sq. feet, you might be able to locate it on the MGS image. I wonder if JPL can do a highest resolution pass over the area of the landing and capture the landing zone?

[VOA]

'cept for the airbags, it kinda reminds me of West Texas.

Nope, not pretty enough for West Texas.
More like the panhandle of Oklahoma.
And, as an Okie for nearly 4 decades, I say that with authority! LOL!

[Johnny_Cipher]

I was just thinking that the pictures remind me of some burned-over land near Snyder that my grandfather used to own.

[Keith]

the lander detached from the parachute system dropping at a speed of around 55 mph...it is estimated to have bounded along the surface after contact for up to a kilometer...not sure we will see the chute system...

[lentulusgracchus]

Beaucoup evidence of deflation.....aeolian removal of material......maybe desert polish on the exposed rocks, esp. the triangular ones. That's typical.

Looks like we'll have to bring our own water.

Or find a nearby comet.

[apillar]

Venus has not got the attention mars has because it is a hell in the literal sense of the word. Crushing pressure, hotter than an oven, constant sulfuric acid rain, dense cloud cover, hurricane force winds in the upper atmosphere.

The funny thing is some scientists are beginning to think that Venus may be more likely to have some sort of life than mars. Recently they have discovered deep sea organisms that live around hydro-thermal vents and survive in a high temperature, high pressure, sulfuric environment, similar to venus.

The problem is getting a lander that could survive the hurricane force winds in the upper atmosphere, land safely, operate in temperature twice as hot as the average oven, and handle a constant drizzle of sulfuric acid. The challenges make mars look like a walk in the park.

[DannyTN]

"little atmosphere, inhospitable environment. "

Sounds like a Democrat Convention!