Home▸ Forums▸ Spirit has landed on Mars!
Spirit has landed on Mars!
· Hardware · 38 posts · Jan 3, 2004 — Jan 5, 2004 View original thread ↗
#2 Sat, 3 Jan 2004 - 22:40
This is nerve-wracking. I can't take it. They had indications that it was bouncing on the surface, but now it's gone silent.
#3 Sat, 3 Jan 2004 - 22:45
I hope this one actually makes it.

If it doesn't, I'll be convinced that the martians don't want us spying on their tea parties.
#4 Sat, 3 Jan 2004 - 22:50
Quote:
Originally posted by Earth Mk. II:
I hope this one actually makes it.


So do I.

But I'm starting to freak out. It's been 10 minutes and they still haven't heard anything.

They had a perfect atmospheric entry, but lost the signal after Spirit started its bouncing on the Martian surface.
#5 Sat, 3 Jan 2004 - 22:53
It's transmitting...
#6 Sat, 3 Jan 2004 - 22:53
SPIRIT IS ALIVE ON MARS! A "very strong signal" is now being received from the Spirit rover from the Gusev Crater on the surface of the Red Planet!
#7 Sat, 3 Jan 2004 - 22:53
Quote:
SPIRIT IS ALIVE ON MARS! A "very strong signal" is now being received from the Spirit rover from the Gusev Crater on the surface of the Red Planet!
w00t!!!!!
#8 Sat, 3 Jan 2004 - 22:54
Quote:
Originally posted by King Bob On The Cob:
It's transmitting...


Woo hoo! Spirit lives!
#9 Sat, 3 Jan 2004 - 22:54
Hot Damn! She made it!
#10 Sat, 3 Jan 2004 - 22:55
Quote:
0453 GMT (11:53 p.m. EST)
The Mission Control room is a wild place at the moment with handshakes, screams and some very happy tears.


Not to get sappy, but that's awesome.
#11 Sat, 3 Jan 2004 - 22:56
This is a happy day... NASA knows the difference between Pounds and Newtons after all!!!

This really is good news though. Congrats, NASA!
#13 Sat, 3 Jan 2004 - 23:10
The Spirit is powered by the PowerPC chip. Cool.

Quote:
The computer in each Mars Exploration Rover runs with a 32-bit Rad 6000 microprocessor, a radiation-hardened version of the PowerPC chip used in some models of Macintosh computers, operating at a speed of 20 million instructions per second. Onboard memory includes 128 megabytes of random access memory, augmented by 256 megabytes of flash memory and smaller amounts of other non-volatile memory, which allows the system to retain data even without power.
#14 Sat, 3 Jan 2004 - 23:11
press conference at 12:30 am EST...
#15 Sat, 3 Jan 2004 - 23:13
Quote:
Originally posted by Spliff:
Entry, Descent, and Landing Diagram


I don' get it.. the airbags deployed after the first bounce?

Wow, we've been doign it wrong all along. I can't wait until GM releases cars with airbags that deploy AFTER the first head-to-wheel impact.. haha.

edit: oops, never mind.. airbags retracted. was looking at the diagram/pictures instead. i'm an idiot. haha.
#17 Sun, 4 Jan 2004 - 00:24
woo hoo!


any news on the beagle2?
#18 Sun, 4 Jan 2004 - 00:27
Quote:
Originally posted by ironknee:
woo hoo!

any news on the beagle2?


They have another chance to hear from it on Sunday, January 4th. If they don't hear from it then, chances are it's DOA.

Which will really be too bad.
#19 Sun, 4 Jan 2004 - 00:28
Quote:
0612 GMT (1:12 a.m. EST)

"When you walk outside today, if it is clear, you can see Mars. Just think, we just landed a rover on that planet. That is very sobering," JPL director Charles Elachi says.
#20 Sun, 4 Jan 2004 - 02:58
pretty cool ****
#21 Sun, 4 Jan 2004 - 03:42
Wow, that's really neat.
#22 Sun, 4 Jan 2004 - 04:01
Yay!

I wonder how much longer till people actually go? :|
#23 Sun, 4 Jan 2004 - 10:25
This is awesome news..with so many failures in the past 10 years, it's great that NASA finally has a win on their hands...
#24 Sun, 4 Jan 2004 - 11:14
Most excellent news for NASA.

And here's to the hope I have UK brings Beagle 2 back to life. Good luck, team.
#25 Sun, 4 Jan 2004 - 11:28


pretty freaking sweet!
#26 Sun, 4 Jan 2004 - 11:38
Sounds awesome, too bad for Beagle. I hope a miracle opens up for them. The data collected from 2 probes would be better than 1.

It's beyond me why America doesn't do this more often, rather than wasting money on stupid wars.

Congrats to NASA.
#27 Sun, 4 Jan 2004 - 12:29
What a great day for NASA/JPL!

It was exciting to follow the whole landing procedure and to see the first B&W images. Color images are due soon. I wonder if Mar's sky will be blue (like Viking's images)

The panoramic from Spirit was breathtaking - the setting sun and all that.
#28 Sun, 4 Jan 2004 - 12:54
Great news! But I don't believe Beagle2 has made it. Imagine, maybe in some decades man search for Beagle2 and find it somewhere hidden under dust, and those of us who are still alive then will finally know what had happened.

After all, I'm looking foreward to interesing scientific research!
#29 Sun, 4 Jan 2004 - 14:11
Quote:
Originally posted by Aiglos:
Sounds awesome, too bad for Beagle. I hope a miracle opens up for them. The data collected from 2 probes would be better than 1.

It's beyond me why America doesn't do this more often, rather than wasting money on stupid wars.

Congrats to NASA.


Maybe they don't have to launch as often because of all of the data they get from the Canadian Space program.

#30 Sun, 4 Jan 2004 - 14:14
Congratulations to NASA on the successful mission with Spirit. May they continue in safety

Disclaimer: MacTrove does not claim rights to any software on the site. To the best of our knowledge, these titles have been discontinued by their publishers. If you know otherwise, please contact us and we will remove them accordingly. Thank you for your attention.