Mars Rover Blog and Forum

What is Helium-3?

Phobos Grunt has returned to its home planet. Despite early confusion, it seems to have crashed in the Pacific.

Serpens suggested this and I would like to add that it is open to anyone.

Thought that the size of the thread may be disrupting things. Time to transfer to a new one.

Could this microscopic image Oppy found be a primitive screw shell in hardened mud? From Sol 2801.

yt
dx

I am trying to create a spreadsheet where I can convert a Gregorian (Earth) calendar date to a Darian (a proposed Martian) calendar date. Does anyone have a Microsoft Excel formula converting a Gregorian date or a Julian Date to a Mars Sol Date or a Darian calendar date?

Appreciate the help!

Hey peeps, Horton is recovering in the hospital from pancreatitis and will be absent for some time. He asked me to post his condition here.

- Horton's son

Not mars, BUT. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/samples/atlas/detail/?mission=Apollo%2016&sample=60135

The unfortunate failure of Phobos Grunt is the last in a string of unsuccesful attempts by russian and/or soviet programs to reach Mars. I have to say I am sincerely saddend by the loss of that mission. Phobos Grunt was going to do some really exciting sciences, as important as the plans for MSL, which I don't see breaking any really new ground. Most importantly, Phobos Grunt was going to return a sample of material and also determine if there is water present on the small moon. If there is water present in large volumes, that would be very exciting indeed.

But anyway, after so many failures, I think it is time the Russian space program takes an unorthodox approach to landing a spacecraft on what has proven to be a frustratingly difficult target. And, that new approach would be a partnership with NASA and JPL.

Imagine if the Russian space program collaborated with NASA to build another MER. From an engineering perspectove it would be identical to spirit and opportunity, user the same proven flight and landing systems, everything. It is probably the lowest risk approach to getting to Mars posisble. Of course, the science payload could be all new, or just a cloanm of the existing MER systems.

Either way, there are two big wins here:

1) Using a proven, capable spacecraft and landing system would more or less guarantee a succesful mission.
2) The world would get another MER in a different place on MARs.

The only real difference would be who pays for the mission and who builds it. I think the Russian space program is certainly capable of building a MER, but after several decades of unssuccesful attempts to reahc Mars, it is almost as if they are jinxed. If it were my decision to make, I'd let NASA/JPL build them. But, they would be owned and operated by Russia.

Seems like a crzy idea. So crazy it might even work?

...trust several Mars Blog folks saw this incredible launch as I did.

8 months to go for the landing...get the cards out folks, its a long haul.

yt
dx

So far, so good!

[link]

Not long to go now before launch. Here is everything you need to know about MSL all 60 pages of it.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press_kits/MSLLaunch.pdf

We have spiral galaxies, accretion discs, and planetary rings. We have the planets orbiting the ecliptic plane. Now. We have certain satellites in polar orbit. Will they eventually (not taking in to account orbital decay due to atmospheric degradation) settle into equatorial orbits? I can imagine a million years from now, after the space junk has collided endless times forming an artificial ring of titanium and aluminum around the equator.

If you are reading this post, it means you have landed on the new server.

Please report any errors or other strangeness you may notice. Note that that some posts may (temporarily) appear to be missing, but they should appear shortly.