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#1 2003-12-20 04:07:41
- Rxke
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- From: Belgium
- Registered: 2003-11-03
- Posts: 3,669
Re: See the 'Race' unfolding - on this constantly updated map!
*
*THESE PICTURES ARE COMPUTER SIMULATIONS
*
(EDIT 25 dec: Hmmm, looks like there's a problem... Since Mars Exxpress arrived, this picture doesn't load anymore... pity)
(EDIT 27 dec: And it's up again!, guess they just removed the 'Express' tag...)
(EDIT 04 jan: Since Spirit landed successfully, these simulations are for MER-B, from now on...
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#2 2003-12-20 04:11:23
- Rxke
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- From: Belgium
- Registered: 2003-11-03
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Re: See the 'Race' unfolding - on this constantly updated map!
(Edit jan 04: If you still see MER-A here, hit your 'refresh-button to switch to MER-B)
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#3 2003-12-20 04:15:33
- Rxke
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- From: Belgium
- Registered: 2003-11-03
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Re: See the 'Race' unfolding - on this constantly updated map!
It gets updated every 10 minutes! Great show!
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#4 2003-12-20 16:08:12
- Palomar
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- From: USA
- Registered: 2002-05-30
- Posts: 9,734
Re: See the 'Race' unfolding - on this constantly updated map!
*Hey, Rik, this is fantastic! Where did you find it?
Whenever I think of the probes (all of them) heading to Mars, and now so close, a theme song comes into my mind -- "accompanying" their arrival...a rousing tune...
Sad thing is, I can't recall the name of the tune. It's the one playing in "The Blues Brothers" (1980), when the two Illinois Nazi guys are chasing Elwood and Jake, and go flying off that bridge being constructed...they're in the air, soaring over Chicago (yeah, right)...oh well, maybe the name of it will come to me.
--Cindy
::EDIT:: Just remembered: "Flight of the Valkyrie," Wagner. Somehow recalled the name as I'm posting to my Yahoo! group devoted to music (of a different genre).
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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#5 2003-12-24 17:59:27
- Rxke
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- From: Belgium
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Re: See the 'Race' unfolding - on this constantly updated map!
i found the first on Everything Space Messageboards in spaceflight/The Mars race... then messed a bit with the link to see where it came from, and found the second one. (there are two more, but not sso interesting...)
Darn, i won't be able to sleep tonight... Beagle beagle beagle....
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#6 2003-12-24 23:22:19
- Shaun Barrett
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- From: Cairns, Queensland, Australia
- Registered: 2001-12-28
- Posts: 2,843
Re: See the 'Race' unfolding - on this constantly updated map!
That's right, 'The Ride of the Valkyries', the mythical creatures whose task is to carry the souls of Norse warriors slain in battle to Valhalla.
A stirring piece indeed. And very suitable too in view of the heroic nature of the work which has gone into this glorious armada of Mars probes!
Apart from a crewed landing, this is as good as it gets!!
The word 'aerobics' came about when the gym instructors got together and said: If we're going to charge $10 an hour, we can't call it Jumping Up and Down. - Rita Rudner
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#7 2003-12-27 17:43:03
- Rxke
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- From: Belgium
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Re: See the 'Race' unfolding - on this constantly updated map!
Weird... i checked the second pic, and it looks like the rover is off-course??
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#8 2003-12-29 14:50:25
- Rxke
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- From: Belgium
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Re: See the 'Race' unfolding - on this constantly updated map!
Heh, I was not mistaken... Turns out they just did a course-correction (this is normal, BTW) and on the image, Mars is 'in the bracket' again!
(EDIT: It's ok to laugh, i thought those two spots were some kind of 'target' thingy. Of course its Phobos and Deimos..)
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#9 2003-12-30 14:35:04
- Palomar
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- From: USA
- Registered: 2002-05-30
- Posts: 9,734
Re: See the 'Race' unfolding - on this constantly updated map!
*Whoo-hooo! I'm really getting geared up for Spirit and Opportunity!! 
"BOULDER, Colorado -- Think of it as the Mars equivalent of an emergency 911 call for help.
Operators of NASA's Mars rovers have established a backup remote site in the event of a natural disaster, malfunctioning ground equipment, or :::even a terrorist attack::: to maintain critical contact with space vehicles as they near the red planet."
I think this is a good (and hopefully UNnecessary) precaution.
--Cindy
:::EDIT::: Okay, this makes me mad. We DON'T need this little 2-word phrase becoming a "catch-phrase" and applied to Mars:
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet....Idx
My impression is that the article's author is "spicing things up" a bit...do scientists really "spook" this easily? I doubt it, and it strikes me as a bit of theatricality (yellow journalism).
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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#10 2003-12-30 18:34:50
- Rxke
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Re: See the 'Race' unfolding - on this constantly updated map!
MER-A just crossed the 1,000,000 km mark. (Around midnight GMT, dec 30-31)
Make us happy, the fourth, and bring us news of TWO successful landings, please!
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#11 2004-01-04 02:24:22
- Rxke
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- From: Belgium
- Registered: 2003-11-03
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Re: See the 'Race' unfolding - on this constantly updated map!
jan, 04 04. Spirit ok. Waiting for Beagle.
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