Spirit and Opportunity...on MARS! (BIG HONKING PICS)

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It's amazing stuff. Another pass just happened and they got almost as much data from this one as from the first pass -- more photos probably but also a variety of other info for the eventual Rover missions. The UHF signal is broadcasting well and they're talking about updating signal capacity within a couple of days.

What's interesting about the view is that, of course, it seems so understated and almost normal -- if you said this was in a sandy, rocky desert somewhere on Earth, for instance, then most wouldn't think much of it. But it's a classic example of how something seemingly banal very much isn't -- literally no human ever saw this or had any capacity to see this until twelve hours ago.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 4 January 2004 20:00 (twenty years ago) link

exactly. I love the light over the horizon, on the left side... and I can't wait to see these new photos! hurray space exploration!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 4 January 2004 20:01 (twenty years ago) link

They're saying the new photos will be in color, higher resolution, will show more of the horizon and the rocks around -- apparently just minutes away!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 4 January 2004 20:05 (twenty years ago) link

I love how excited I am about pictures of rocks!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 4 January 2004 20:06 (twenty years ago) link

And thinking about it Slocki's right about the light -- the atmosphere makes the sun look like this huge monster on the horizon, which is all the more striking since of course Mars is farther away from the sun.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 4 January 2004 20:07 (twenty years ago) link

-98 degrees Fahrenheit at the landing site! Jesus H.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 4 January 2004 20:08 (twenty years ago) link

are those mountains in the distance on the right-hand side?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 4 January 2004 20:09 (twenty years ago) link

I was thinking that -- but keep in mind this has settled down into a crater, so that could be the rim. I'll wait and see what JPL says here.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 4 January 2004 20:11 (twenty years ago) link

the light from the sun really is quite diffused--I wonder if this has anything to do with the camera lens

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 4 January 2004 20:12 (twenty years ago) link

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/images/featureTeam20040104.jpg

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 4 January 2004 21:34 (twenty years ago) link

wow:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/2/r/001/2R126468012EDN0000P1002L0M1.JPG

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 4 January 2004 21:35 (twenty years ago) link

Some Terrastock participant will be using that as an album cover at some point, I'm sure.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 4 January 2004 21:37 (twenty years ago) link

What's great about this NASA TV channel is that the feed can be presented with no prep, so I just heard five minutes of some spokesman checking his levels, then responding to unheard questions.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 4 January 2004 22:14 (twenty years ago) link

Okay, here's a cleaned up view of that 360 shot -- be warned, it's huge!

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20040104b/new_cyl-A1R1.jpg

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 4 January 2004 22:26 (twenty years ago) link

And I'm not even going to try and post this one -- cleaned up overhead view of the actual lander.

They're about to wake up Spirit for today with some burst of music...but what? (Interesting psychological fact learned: JPL staff work shifts to match Mars time rather than earth time, so they do things like black out the windows, let people sleep and work on site, etc.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 4 January 2004 22:29 (twenty years ago) link

How rockist! The Beatles' "Good Morning." But it still beats that Blur thing for Beagle 2 I'll bet.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 4 January 2004 22:39 (twenty years ago) link

Anyone remember BigTrak?

(cue Man Or Astroman's "BigTrak Attack")

http://www.stuffwelove.co.uk/images/bigtrak%20montage.jpg

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Monday, 5 January 2004 01:23 (twenty years ago) link

Playing Eno's Apollo album while listening to NASA talk is a perfect match, unsurprisingly.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 5 January 2004 03:07 (twenty years ago) link

NASA TV broadcast. Right now, they are showing a program that combines the animation with the footage of the control room at the time of landing. This video is really cool - I watched it a bunch of times yesterday, and it doesn't lose its excitement. I am so jealous of these guys.

Another press conference is at 9:00 AM California time, and they said color images will be available today.

Wake-up time for the rover is this afternoon, US time.

I want a Mars clock!

― Kerry (dymaxia), Monday, 5 January 2004 15:27 (twenty years ago) link

Sorry - that one doesn't work all the time. Here is the actual NASA TV web site.

― Kerry (dymaxia), Monday, 5 January 2004 15:59 (twenty years ago) link

Oops, that's for human space flight. Here is the Mars one.

― Kerry (dymaxia), Monday, 5 January 2004 17:00 (twenty years ago) link

Result! And the Mars probe landed! Damn, figures I'd missed out on 2 of the few interesting things to happen all weekend. It is prolly just me, but it looked like a yummy marshmallow dropping into a cup of cinnamon

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Monday, 5 January 2004 19:18 (twenty years ago) link

Here is the site that tells the time on Mars.

― Kerry (dymaxia), Monday, 5 January 2004 20:44 (twenty years ago) link

Thanks for the various updates, Kerry, haven't had time to check in today properly on all that, but definitely tonight...is the high gain antenna working yet?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 5 January 2004 20:45 (twenty years ago) link

Did anyone catch Nova last night? They did an episode on the mission with lots of cool footage of the preparation, testing, planning, etc. They're doing another segment on Tuesday with the latest updates.

― o. nate (onate), Monday, 5 January 2004 20:52 (twenty years ago) link

Those photos give me chills. I can't wait for the color ones.

― bnw (bnw), Monday, 5 January 2004 21:09 (twenty years ago) link

Yeah, they got the high gain antenna working last night - they can receive and send commands through it.

I've had NASA TV on all day, and not much has happened yet. I watched it until midnight, and then they put Spirit to sleep. It is about sunrise on MER1 right now, and they will wake it up at around 3 PM Pacific time.

They said that color images should be coming in tonight.

I saw the NOVA special last night, and they are having part 2 tomorrow night.

― Kerry (dymaxia), Monday, 5 January 2004 21:42 (twenty years ago) link

There's some real action on there right now!

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Monday, 5 January 2004 22:15 (twenty years ago) link

The live cam, I mean.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Monday, 5 January 2004 22:15 (twenty years ago) link

Currently, NASATV is talking about the hopeful future benefit for the Mars programs from the probes' results. It WAS fascinating---though the spokesmen looked like breathing versions of the Banana Splits.

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Monday, 5 January 2004 23:24 (twenty years ago) link

I guess they are only having one press conference a day now - at 9 AM Pacific time. We will probably get the color pictures that came up yesterday.

Yesterday, they showed an animation of what human exploration of Mars might look like.

They also talked about a probe that will land on one of Saturn's moons this summer.

― Kerry (dymaxia), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 15:29 (twenty years ago) link

Ah, Cassini, at long last. :-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 15:30 (twenty years ago) link

Pan cam guy is on right now - color pix are coming up.

― Kerry (dymaxia), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 17:05 (twenty years ago) link

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20040106/capt.ny11401061815.mars_rover_ny114.jpg

Is that really how the sky looks?

― bnw (bnw), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 20:37 (twenty years ago) link

Yup, it's consistent with photos from both Viking and Pathfinder.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 20:44 (twenty years ago) link

I wonder if the rovers will ever be recovered, as like scientific artifacts. I'll be sad when Spirit runs outta juice.

― bnw (bnw), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 21:09 (twenty years ago) link

I don't know if you saw the press conference today, but if you didn't, they run them again every couple of hours. The pan cam is cool, because they can zoom in and out on different things. The surface is salmon-colored. The images are more interesting when the scientists are talking about what they see. They said that some of the rocks have unexpected features.

― Kerry (dymaxia), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 21:59 (twenty years ago) link

will they have video from when the rover is moving?

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 22:04 (twenty years ago) link

Presumably, though this is hampered because they haven't got the high gain antenna fully working yet. As it stands the rover isn't moving anywhere for a week yet.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 22:35 (twenty years ago) link

No video - just stills.

― Kerry (dymaxia), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 22:44 (twenty years ago) link

Ah, a pity. Next time, then.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 22:45 (twenty years ago) link

I thought it was odd that we don't have anything lined up going to Venus until I found out that Venus is actually hotter than Mercury, who knew?

Anyway I missed the PBS show last night, any highlights?

― lawrence kansas (lawrence kansas), Wednesday, 7 January 2004 14:49 (twenty years ago) link

It turns out it was just a rebroadcast of the show from Sunday night, with about a minute of updates at the very end. Still I'm glad I tuned in, because I was able to watch the first half hour, which I had missed on Sunday.

― o. nate (onate), Wednesday, 7 January 2004 14:58 (twenty years ago) link

ah good then, I saw most of the Sunday show

― lawrence kansas (lawrence kansas), Wednesday, 7 January 2004 15:11 (twenty years ago) link

It showed last night, again? Damn. Totally intended to watch it on Sunday, and was disappointed to miss it. Ah, well, it WILL show again (knowing PBS---and I've got 3 PBS affiliate channels via my cable system).

I thought it was odd that we don't have anything lined up going to Venus until I found out that Venus is actually hotter than Mercury, who knew?

Well yeah, but I wouldn't be surprised if plans are in the works. Technology has improved mucho in the last 10 years. There might be a stronger metal created that can stand up to the high heat.

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Wednesday, 7 January 2004 15:25 (twenty years ago) link

Actually the next big mission to the inner planets isn't for Venus but Mercury -- quite a challenge as you might guess! But as noted technology has improved and it would be striking to see what a new exploration would turn up.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 7 January 2004 15:27 (twenty years ago) link

A video would take a long time to transmit from Mars to Earth.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Wednesday, 7 January 2004 16:05 (twenty years ago) link

Not longer than a few days (as long as the probe is working correctly).

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Wednesday, 7 January 2004 16:09 (twenty years ago) link

The probe doesn't have that much time, though, it's been designed for 90 days work max, though hopefully can run longer. Spending a few days out of that to download a chunk of video would indeed be a poor use of resources.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 7 January 2004 16:36 (twenty years ago) link

Can we have a moments silence for Beagle 2 please? :(

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 7 January 2004 17:55 (twenty years ago) link

Skipping 100 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

opportunity, i <3 u, lil guy

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/news/mer20100519.html

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project will pass a historic Martian longevity record on Thursday, May 20. The Opportunity rover will surpass the duration record set by NASA's Viking 1 Lander of six years and 116 days operating on the surface of Mars. The effects of favorable weather on the red planet could also help the rovers generate more power.

Opportunity, and likely Spirit, surpassing the Viking Lander 1 longevity record is truly remarkable, considering these rovers were designed for only a 90-day mission on the surface of Mars," Callas said.

― rahni, Friday, 21 May 2010 23:29 (fourteen years ago) link

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/455868main_pia13147-full.jpg

― rahni, Friday, 21 May 2010 23:30 (fourteen years ago) link

wall-e

― Jarlrmai, Saturday, 22 May 2010 00:30 (fourteen years ago) link

My boss and CSO of the startup I work for worked on the batteries for Spirit and Opportunity, he was pretty chuffed about this today.

― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Saturday, 22 May 2010 00:42 (fourteen years ago) link

ten months pass...

here comes Curiosity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wkq_Y2I2-M&feature=player_embedded

The Curiosity Rover will be launched in late 2011 and land on Mars in August of 2012.

― harl (harlan), Wednesday, 6 April 2011 02:55 (thirteen years ago) link

Nice!

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 6 April 2011 03:06 (thirteen years ago) link

one month passes...

Meantime, the Spirit mission is about to come to a formal close. Opportunity still thrives.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 05:06 (thirteen years ago) link

one year passes...

Didn't know that Spirit was moonlighting as a nighttime telescope.

― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, 22 August 2012 00:48 (eleven years ago) link

one year passes...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/nasa-says-mars-mystery-rock-that-appeared-from-nowhere-is-like-nothing-weve-ever-seen-before-9070323.html

― StanM, Sunday, 19 January 2014 22:11 (ten years ago) link

I, for one, welcome our new donut overlords etc

― StanM, Sunday, 19 January 2014 22:12 (ten years ago) link

two months pass...

The view from the Opportunity rover a couple of days ago

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2014/03/13469862903_d57d32399c_o.jpg

― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 1 April 2014 11:34 (ten years ago) link

Also some handy wind/dust devils cleaned off the solar panels so it's gained a lot of power

― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 1 April 2014 11:41 (ten years ago) link

four years pass...

And now his watch is ended.

To the robot who turned 90 days into 15 years of exploration:

You were, and are, the Opportunity of a lifetime.

Rest well, rover. Your mission is complete.

(2004-2019)https://t.co/POzRmYauHo #ThanksOppy pic.twitter.com/oZLBc7XMJD
— Spirit and Oppy (@MarsRovers) February 13, 2019

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 13 February 2019 19:09 (five years ago) link

rip big man

― a surprise challenge that ended with a gunging (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 13 February 2019 21:54 (five years ago) link

NYT article worth the scroll-through on a big screen
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/02/13/science/opportunity-rover-mars-map.html

I think this would be the last photo sent back. https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/all/1/f/5104/1F581290682EFFD2FCP1110L0M1.HTML

― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 14 February 2019 03:55 (five years ago) link

If I had a flying saucer I'd totally go out there with a couple cans of dust-off.

― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 14 February 2019 03:56 (five years ago) link

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