Flare Sci-Fi Forums: Keep Track of Mars Polar Lander

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Posted by Alshrim Dax (Member # 258) on :

This site is updated every 5 minutes to give you views of the approach to Mars, in the mind's eye of the lander itself.

Also.. sounds will be posted from the little red planet!!! I don't know about you.. but I'm as excited as a little kid over this!!

http://marslander.jpl.nasa.gov/lander/now.html

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- Alshrim Dax
The Other Dax

[This message has been edited by Alshrim Dax (edited December 02, 1999).]

Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :

New Bookmark, Thanks!!!!

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Fool of a Took, throw yourself in next time!!
Gandalf

Posted by Alshrim Dax (Member # 258) on :

It's a pleasure...

Here's another:

http://www.marspolarlander.com/

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- Alshrim Dax
The Other Dax

[This message has been edited by Alshrim Dax (edited December 02, 1999).]

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

Landing: (12/3/99) 12:15 PM PST... or 3:15 PM EST.. I have no idea what that is in the UK. 8:15 PM, I think.

1st pictures from surface : about 20-30 minutes later.

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Calvin: "No efficiency, no accountability... I tell you, Hobbes, it's a lousy way to run a Universe." -- Bill Watterson

Posted by Alshrim Dax (Member # 258) on :

Is it 8 or 9 hours difference in the UK.. From Eastern Canada --> EST??

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- Alshrim Dax
The Other Dax

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

It's five hours from EST to GMT, so the British time would indeed be 8:15pm.

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Commodore TSN of USS Valkyrie, first and only known recipient of the I Might Be Giant, Too award
(scroll down a bit in this thread to see what I'm talking about)

Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :

Now that is freakin' cool!

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If you can take advantage of a situation in some way, it's your duty as an American to do it. Why should the race always be to the swift or the jumble to the quick-witted? Should they be allowed to win merely because of the gifts God gave them? Well, I say cheating is the gift man gives himself!
~C. Montgomery Burns

Posted by RW (Member # 27) on :

Did it land at all? Not that the money isn't wasted if it survives though.

Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :

It prolly landed, but no signal yet...

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Jubes, holding dinner: "What will you give me for the food?"
Me: "My virginity..."
-- Actual quote

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

Dammit, if they crashed THIS one too... I suggest we all go down to Florida and take over.

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Calvin: "No efficiency, no accountability... I tell you, Hobbes, it's a lousy way to run a Universe." -- Bill Watterson

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

I don't know if that's such a good idea. I mean, we aren't exactly rocket scientists... *waits for groans* :-)

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"Gee, do they still make wooden Christmas trees?"
-Linus van Pelt, A Charlie Brown Christmas

Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :

Can anyone find a bigger view of that triangular 'patch'/'logo' seen on the top navigation bar on the page!?! - It looks like the Galaxy Class development and the Starfleet Acadamey logos - what came first?

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"Its a CLOCK!" - Sisko, "Dramatis Personae" DS9.

Posted by RW (Member # 27) on :

Real life always has it first.

Still no sign of stirring machinery up there eh? *suppresses snigger*

Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :

Well what do you usually do after a long trip - run to the toilet - wash your hands - and face - have a cool drink - stretch your legs...

after that 11 month trip I'm sure MPL is BUSTING!

*grin*

Andrew

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"Its a CLOCK!" - Sisko, "Dramatis Personae" DS9.

Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :

I found the logo:

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"Its a CLOCK!" - Sisko, "Dramatis Personae" DS9.

Posted by Montgomery (Member # 23) on :

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh DEAR!

Looks like the lastest chance for communication to mars has been met with deafening silence.

Tonight they're gonna try to relay a message through the global Surveyor in orbit.

I can hear the NASA people scrambling at straws from the other side of the Atlantic.

There's gonna be hell to pay...

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"You see, unlike you I understand history!
My name will blaze across the stars long after your petty treachery has been for-gotten !!!"

Posted by RW (Member # 27) on :

It's the ultimate proof! Intelligent beings on the surface of Mars have destroyed the polar lander! We must act now or face the threat of the terrible heat rays as robotic machines will sweep the globe and steal our resources! I tell you, I'm out of here. You are warned. We are doomed. Oh mighty lord, give us strength in these dark times. May Jesus lead us to victory over the Martian threat! OOOOHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Did I get carried away?

Oh dear.

Posted by Alshrim Dax (Member # 258) on :

The Next window is at 1:30pm EST for the chance at communication !!
*keeping fingers crossed*

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- Alshrim Dax
The Other Dax

Posted by RW (Member # 27) on :

And it failed. But look at the bright side of everything: this one probably made it to the surface intact. It's a first step.

Posted by Alshrim Dax (Member # 258) on :

yup.. they're saying that the landing went exactly as planned.. so now the problem may be the antenna is aim improperly.

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- Alshrim Dax
The Other Dax

Posted by Mikey T (Member # 144) on :

Maybe that probe isn't Y2K ready?

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I don't care who you are, where you're from
What you did, as long as you love me.
Who you are, where you're from
What you did, as long as you love me.

-Backstreet Boys

Posted by Montgomery (Member # 23) on :

Still not a peep from any of it.
It has evidently ceased to be.
It is an ex-mission!

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"You see, unlike you I understand history!
My name will blaze across the stars long after your petty treachery has been for-gotten !!!"

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

No it hasn't, it's just resting.

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*gasp* "The pictures...they're...coming...alive!"
-Abe Simpson, on the miracle of the moving image

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

@#$%. ^*&$#@##^%^#! ^$&#&* &^## ^!@@#@&*! &* @$#&@^%#$ %#$#%$ ^&#%@&^#$!!!!

I think you all know just about how I feel about this whole thing right now.

And last night my girlfriend told me her uncle was one of the guys who made the mistake that crashed the Mars Climate Orbiter.

So I dumped her.

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Calvin: "No efficiency, no accountability... I tell you, Hobbes, it's a lousy way to run a Universe." -- Bill Watterson

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

No, not really.

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Calvin: "No efficiency, no accountability... I tell you, Hobbes, it's a lousy way to run a Universe." -- Bill Watterson

Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :

LOL!

"Is he objecting or just backing up" - Fry - Futurama

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"Its a CLOCK!" - Sisko, "Dramatis Personae" DS9.

Posted by Lt. Tom on :

Would someone care to explain to me how they could know it landed safely with the antenna pointing the wrong way? Seems to me they'd need some sort of signal to verify that.

Posted by Alshrim Dax (Member # 258) on :

Like everything else they're ASSUMING !!!

They don't know anything for sure... only that as it was landing, everything was going according to plan.

and then.... big fat NOTHING!!!!

They continue to explain that it is only a possibility that the antenna was knock astray .. or whatever !!!

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- Alshrim Dax
The Other Dax

Posted by Alshrim Dax (Member # 258) on :

Here's a quote from one of the press releases given by NASA:

"Tonight, Sunday, Dec. 5 from 10:10 to 11:10 p.m., an attempt will be made to listen for signals from the lander that would be sent through its medium gain antenna if the lander is in safe, or standby mode, and its antenna is not pointed correctly."

Now they're also saying that whether or not they actually make contact with the lander it will almost be a moot victory, cuz the microprobes will have insufficient battery life to conduct the tasks they were designed to do...

ahhhhh Technology ... we can land people on the moon 30 years ago but we CAN'T land a freakin' robot on our neighbouring planet using today's advances !!!

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- Alshrim Dax
The Other Dax

[This message has been edited by Alshrim Dax (edited December 06, 1999).]

Posted by Aethelwer (Member # 36) on :

Advances like what? Microwave ovens? Microsoft Windows?

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Frank's Home Page
"Ou tou kratountos h� polis nomizetai" - Creon

Posted by Alshrim Dax (Member # 258) on :

LOL

<-- The New Bill Gates Product -->

MicroProbes Window of Error 2000: Just when you think you're Y2k compliant - THINK AGAIN!!!

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- Alshrim Dax
The Other Dax

[This message has been edited by Alshrim Dax (edited December 06, 1999).]

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

At least with the Orbiter...orbiting, we'll be able to actually see what happened. I think. Anybody know if it has enough resolution?

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"I wish that everything went just as I wish everything would go."
--
John Linnell

Posted by Lt. Tom on :

Alshrim: My question was meant somewhat sarcastically. Without receiving a signal from it, they obviously wouldn't know exactly what happened. For example, the little green men might have taken the antenna off...

Posted by Alshrim Dax (Member # 258) on :

I understood your sarcasm !

Sol: Nope.. not even the orbiter can contact the lander.. they been barraging the lander with radio from the orbiter !!! Notta!!! NO JOY!!

Now they are in the phase where the lander is a write-off and it's time to figure out what went wrong!!

Man .. 300 and some MILLION US dollars ... down the tubes !! That's gotta suck.

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- Alshrim Dax
The Other Dax

Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :

The only thing they'll ever hear about the Mars Polar Lander: "KISS YOUR FUNDING GOODBYE!!!!"

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I can resist anything.......
Except Temptation

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

A. Dax: I believe Sol was asking if the orbiter can be used to take a picture of the landing site to see if the lander is visible. Which I believe is what they're going to try to do, but I don't know what the res is...

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"Their 'flower power' is no match for my glower power!"
-C. Montgomery Burns, The Simpsons

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Yes.

Actually, I might as well see if I can't look that up. Back in a jif.

Aha! The answer.

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"I wish that everything went just as I wish everything would go."
--
John Linnell

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

Hm... 1.4m... And the lander is 3.6m wide... Well, at least they'll be able to see if it's there or not...

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"Their 'flower power' is no match for my glower power!"
-C. Montgomery Burns, The Simpsons

Posted by Baloo (Member # 5) on :

Oh, that should make it easy!

Now all they have to do is figure out which four pixels represents $300 million of bad investment.

Provided the pieces all came to rest in one spot no less than 1.4 meters wide.

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"The difficult part in an argument is not to defend one's opinion, but rather to know it."
--Andre Maurois
http://members.tripod.com/~Bob_Baloo/index.htm

Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :

I'm still saying conspiracy especially for the last mission - with the imperial metric mix up - I mean they have computers to DO this - I think its another pathetic lie in a long list of lies - like - oh it was just a weather balloon.

Here that something crashed into a lake in northern New South Wales near the Queensland boarder - there was a whole lot of flattened reeds near the 'splashdown' area too!

I was outside 'stargazing' with friends last night - read drinking alchi-hol and chatting etc.) we saw quite a few shooting stars - ok say about 4-5 in a space of about three hours - and they were like the leonids with the bright after glow tails - I wonder if there was any
connection?

Andrew

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"Its a CLOCK!" - Sisko, "Dramatis Personae" DS9.

Posted by Baloo (Member # 5) on :

How many failed Mars missions in a row does this make, anyway? The conspiracy theory guys should be holed up in their bunkers by now.

"Its... it's them damn MARTIANS, that's what!"
"They're just waiting for the ideal moment to pounce on us and put us under the iron boot and chainmail sock of the @#%$ U.N!"
"Damn Clinton anyway!"

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A cheeseburger, french fries and a vanilla shake. It's not the best meal; far from it. But it is perfect, the Holy Trinity of American cuisine.
--James Lileks
http://members.tripod.com/~Bob_Baloo/index.htm

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

This double post has been...terminated!

*puts on his shades*

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"I wish that everything went just as I wish everything would go."
--
John Linnell

Posted by Alshrim Dax (Member # 258) on :

Well folks.. that's all she wrote !!!

Below is the article from the site in the original post. This sucks.. it's too bad really .. for the first time since the first Shuttle lift off, I was become interested and excited about the space program.

This is a blow!!

"Flight controllers have been unable to contact the Mars Polar Lander. While attempts continue, it is unlikely they will be successful. More likely there was a catastophic failure of the spacecraft during its entry, descent, or landing. The cause may never be known, but high-resolution images from the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) aboard the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft may yield clues. These images will be taken during the next few weeks. Meanwhile, the science team at UCLA is beginning the difficult task of saying goodbye and disassembling the Mars Science Operations Center. We all hope that the unique scientific questions of this mission will be addressed in the future"

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- Alshrim Dax
The Other Dax

Posted by Baloo (Member # 5) on :

I think it's because the Grays don't want Earthlings to discover their secret Martian polar base, from which they will launch their final onslau...

[lost time interval: approximately 15 minutes.]

Huh? Oh, right. You all know I was just kidding, huh?

[Hey! My tea was hot just seconds ago. What happened?]

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"You got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there."
--Yogi Berra
http://members.tripod.com/~Bob_Baloo/index.htm

[This message has been edited by Baloo (edited December 13, 1999).]

Posted by Alshrim Dax (Member # 258) on :

LOL - You friggin' kill me !!!

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- Alshrim Dax
The Other Dax