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#1 2004-01-13 07:42:43
- rgcarnes
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- From: In the country near Rolla Miss
- Registered: 2002-02-04
- Posts: 111
Re: Air Bag Drag Marks - Can the dark areas really be drag marks?
Going way out on a limb here: Since there are no linear features to the "drag marks" can they really be what they are titled?
"They" look like dried pond scum, or something like desert crusts composed of bacteria. Is there any means on the probe to determine whether they are purely mineral based or organic based? 
Rex G. Carnes
If the Meek Inherit the Earth, Where Do All the Bold Go?
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#2 2004-01-13 09:31:39
- Palomar
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- From: USA
- Registered: 2002-05-30
- Posts: 9,734
Re: Air Bag Drag Marks - Can the dark areas really be drag marks?
Going way out on a limb here: Since there are no linear features to the "drag marks" can they really be what they are titled?
"They" look like dried pond scum, or something like desert crusts composed of bacteria. Is there any means on the probe to determine whether they are purely mineral based or organic based?
[http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sp … 40112.html]Spirit Inspects "Magic Carpet"
*You're referring to the above, right Rex? It's getting to be a challenge -- keeping up with all the news <whew!> -- so I checked with space.com.
Magic Carpet, huh? The lyrics to this Steppenwolf song came to mind:
"Goes far, flies near, to the stars away from here
Well, you don't know what we could find
Why don't you come with me little girl on a magic carpet ride?"
--Cindy
::EDIT:: From the article: "Late tonight, a critical splicing of a cable is scheduled. That action frees Spirit from its throne, allowing it to start turning itself for eventual egress down onto Mars? surface." [xfingerscrossedx] The article is dated the 12th, however...any news yet if the splicing of the cable was successful?
"...its throne..." My goodness, and I thought the folks here were megapumped! :laugh:
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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#3 2004-01-13 10:45:51
- rgcarnes
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- From: In the country near Rolla Miss
- Registered: 2002-02-04
- Posts: 111
Re: Air Bag Drag Marks - Can the dark areas really be drag marks?
Read your referenced article after posting my suggestion.
They really don't mean "cable splicing", they mean "cable cutting, or severing", and it would probably be done by firing a small explosively driven cutter or explosive bolt. This is typically a very reliable process.
Rex G. Carnes
If the Meek Inherit the Earth, Where Do All the Bold Go?
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#4 2004-01-13 10:58:26
- remcook
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- Registered: 2004-01-07
- Posts: 78
Re: Air Bag Drag Marks - Can the dark areas really be drag marks?
they showed the pyrotechnoc devise yesterday. it is basically a knife that cuts the cable
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#5 2004-01-13 11:29:22
- remcook
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- Registered: 2004-01-07
- Posts: 78
Re: Air Bag Drag Marks - Can the dark areas really be drag marks?
they said in the press conference that indeed the bounces were in sleepy hollow
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#6 2004-01-14 16:27:55
- dickbill
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- Registered: 2002-09-28
- Posts: 749
Re: Air Bag Drag Marks - Can the dark areas really be drag marks?
Going way out on a limb here: Since there are no linear features to the "drag marks" can they really be what they are titled?
"They" look like dried pond scum, or something like desert crusts composed of bacteria. Is there any means on the probe to determine whether they are purely mineral based or organic based?
why not a polymer acting like a glue ?
under high UV irradiation, some organic molecules could have polymerized and cimented the very fine particles in the soil.
We'll know it soon anyway.
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