The Big Space Exploration Thread

[pbrdpbrd]

Dr. Grotzinger in charge of the geology explorations of Curiosity was joking that the Rover's photos of Mars look almost exactly like the Mojave Desert which is right behind the JPL laboratory in Pasadena......

Is this a new photo from MARS?:

Source=Google images


Wait a minute... that is a photo of the Mojave desert in California....

[AcesHigh]

Originally Posted by pbrdpbrd

Dr. Grotzinger in charge of the geology explorations of Curiosity was joking that the Rover's photos of Mars look almost exactly like the Mojave Desert which is right behind the JPL laboratory in Pasadena......

Is this a new photo from MARS?:

Source=Google images


Wait a minute... that is a photo of the Mojave desert in California....

this ABSOLUTELY does not looks like Mars.

[AcesHigh]

Originally Posted by mopc

What the hell is the Morpheus lander?

the cheapest lander ever. NASA spent less than 7 million dollars so far on it, including R&D and prototypes construction.

no wonder it exploded.

I have seen moon landing deniers saying it was proof men didnt land on the moon, because today we still crash landers (Morpheus will be used to land on the Moon, Mars and Asteroids)


difference of course is that Morpheus cost so far 1000 times less than the development of the Lunar Landing Module, plus its robotic controlled.

[xXFallenXx]

NASA

[VelesHomais]

Originally Posted by pbrdpbrd

Dr. Grotzinger in charge of the geology explorations of Curiosity was joking that the Rover's photos of Mars look almost exactly like the Mojave Desert which is right behind the JPL laboratory in Pasadena......

Is this a new photo from MARS?:

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...javeDesert.jpg Source=Google images


Wait a minute... that is a photo of the Mojave desert in California....

[-Corey-]

That looks like water :P

[VelesHomais]

Blue appears to represent lower elevation in that image

[Arnorian]

The pictures of Mars are usually false color images, made by combining different color filters, even infrared and ultraviolet. Pictures are also white-balanced to look like they were made on Earth, where sunlight is brighter.

For this picture NASA says:

This color-enhanced view -- taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as the satellite flew overhead -- shows the terrain around the rover's landing site within Gale Crater on Mars. Colors were enhanced to bring out subtle differences, showing that the landing region is not as colorful as regions to the south, closer to Mount Sharp, where Curiosity will eventually explore. In reality, the blue colors are more gray.

[Occit]

Earth from Mars

[mopc]

And the others must be Venus and Jupiter. Both the Earth and Venus would be "Morning/Dawn Stars" on Mars, always seen right before sunrise or shortly before sunset.

I wonder whether Uranus or maybe Neptune can be seen with the naked eye from Mars by humans.

[Arnorian]

The picture is computer generated, it's from some astronomy program.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/ba...-mars-skyline/

Originally Posted by mopc

I wonder whether Uranus or maybe Neptune can be seen with the naked eye from Mars by humans.

Uranus is visible to the naked eye from Earth, but very dim and slow moving, so it was never recognized as a planet.

[AcesHigh]

Originally Posted by -Corey-

That looks like water :P

how did NASA not notice that huge ocean south of the rover?

[AcesHigh]

Originally Posted by mopc

I wonder whether Uranus or maybe Neptune can be seen with the naked eye from Mars by humans.

Earth is 150 million km from the sun
Mars is some 210 million km from the sun

Neptune is 4.4 billion km from the sun. The difference in orbit from the Earth to Mars is negligible compared to Uranus and Neptune distance. 50-60 million km wont change much.

[mopc]

Yes its true, the difference between Earth and Mars to Neptune would be less than 0.1% so probably Neptune would not be visible even from Mars orbit on the night side. Maybe from Jupiter or Saturn orbit/moons one could see Neptune with the naked eye.

[Arnorian]

[wjfox]

How to Mine an Asteroid

This year a group of aerospace veterans and investors—including Google's Larry Page, filmmaker James Cameron, and X-Prize Foundation founder Peter Diamandis—announced an audacious venture: a company, Planetary Resources, dedicated to mining asteroids. Here's the full story on their futuristic quest.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/scie...eroid-11644811



A prototype robot, created by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, has 750 steel hooks for feet. These adhere to rough
surfaces, preventing bots working in low gravity from drifting away.

[Jongeheer]

An amateur edit of Curiosity's MARDI images, official version still to follow:

[mopc]

Brazilian Space Program - launch of the Brazilian Suborbital Research Vehicle VSB-30 (Veículo de Sondagem Booster) from Sweden.

Computer generated simulation of vehicle traectory:


Fantastic on-board camera video of actual launch from Esrange Base, Kiruna, northern Sweden, to an altitude of about 252 km into space and falling back to Earth:

[/QUOTE]

The spinning during ascent phase is for stabilization purposes. The rocket can lift a payload of 400kg up to 270km high. It cannot reach orbit. Brazil cannot into orbit

[mopc]

Originally Posted by Jongeheer

An amateur edit of Curiosity's MARDI images, official version still to follow:

The guy just posted a higher frame-rate of the landing, must watch:

[Jongeheer]

Thanks a lot man.