Congrats to the folks at JPL, NASA, Lockheed Martin and a host of universities, who successfully landed a probe near the Arctic Circle on Mars for the first time ever on Sunday evening. The probe will look for signs of life (past or present) on the Red Planet, and give us photos like we’ve never seen before.
I get so excited about stuff like this!
I know it’s not really gossip, but I’m going to keep you guys posted anyway.
i would so live on mars.. that would be way cool
Okay, if you’re looking for a guy who’s a rocket scientist and also a Counting Crows maniac, drop me a line :-)
That stuff fascinates me endlessly. It gives me the shivers and I get wet like a juicy little mango. I would give anything to become a floating consciousness and explore the vast unknown forever.
@ Anon
What’s your number? :)
woohoo!
@Anon
Hmmmmm, sounds interesting.
What’s your e-mail?
in the words of ‘Marvin the Martian’……
……”there goes the neighbourhood……again!”
you do realize we’ve been on Mars since 2004? NASA sent two rovers up to explore the planet. They weren’t expected to last very long, but they are still going strong!! Google “Spirit and Opportunity” for more info.
It’s gossip, but of the scientific variety, not the celeb variety, plus it’s reminds people of what else is out there. :) Thanks Beet. You rock!
@tess:
I know — in fact, I almost took a job with JPL coding their missions three years ago — but this is the first time we’ve been able to reach the Arctic region, where scientists feel we will be most likely to find signs of life, if they do exist.
cool stuff this , indeedy :):)
I`ve been glued to the JPL site for 4 yrs and have just about downloaded every single ‘raw’ image from Spirit and Opportuity. Kinda feels like you`re actually there ( mmmm…maybe I am!)
I had a great book when I was a kid, about humans going to live on Mars in bubble colonies, only to find that the Martians were still there, living underground! I gave that book away, but man, I wish I hadn’t. Those martians could REALLY fold some laundry.
Okay, I added that last bit for the Beet. But it *was* a great book when I was seven.
Love this stuff, watched it live as it happened via the nasa site, really cool stuff!!!!
(giggles) Beet said probe.
I find Mars very interesting, thanks for keeping us up to date :D
Hey Evil,
Thanks for the thanks ;) I work for the little company that built the thrusters that landed the spacecraft that Lockheed built (for JPL). There were a lot of us involved in the Phoenix program to varying degrees. I was fortunate to be one of those a little on the more closely involved side. And believe me, I was clutching my desk pretty fierce, especially after separation from the parachute, when it became the thrusters’ turn. Was it just me, or were those altitudes being called out getting really small really fast?