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Mars rover begins final approach to massive Victoria Crater

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by KingCheetah, Sep 20, 2006.

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  1. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Atomic Playboy
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    Those amazing little rovers just don't give up ~ this should be quite a view. :cool:
    _________

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    NASA Rover Opportunity Takes First Peek Into Victoria Crater

    On Monday, NASA's Mars rover Opportunity got to within about 160 feet of the rim of the half-mile-wide Victoria Crater, the rover's destination since late 2004.

    "Opportunity has been heading toward Victoria for more than 20 months, with no guarantee it would ever get there, so we are elated to see this view," said Justin Maki of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., an imaging scientist on the rover team. "However, we still have another two or three short drives before Opportunity is really right at the rim, looking down into the crater."

    Once Opportunity reaches the rim, the rover’s panoramic camera will begin the task of creating a high-definition color mosaic. That mosaic of images will provide scientists not only with a beautiful view of the crater, but will also provide geologic details of the crater walls.

    The width of Victoria crater is the equivalent of eight football fields placed end to end. That makes it about five times wider than "Endurance Crater," which Opportunity spent six months examining in 2004, and about 40 times wider than "Eagle Crater," where Opportunity first landed.

    link
     
    #1 KingCheetah, Sep 20, 2006
  2. Kam

    Kam Member

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    Damn, that thing still works?
     
    #2 Kam, Sep 20, 2006
  3. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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    Victoria Carter? Damn, my palms would get sweaty whenever that chick would walk by in the hallway. Wow, that Rover's got guts to even try.
     
    #3 SamFisher, Sep 20, 2006
  4. rockHEAD

    rockHEAD Member

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    Go Opportunity Go!!!
     
    #4 rockHEAD, Sep 20, 2006
  5. MR. MEOWGI

    MR. MEOWGI Contributing Member

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    If you look closely, you can see a Martian Curtis Wheeler surfing that.
     
    #5 MR. MEOWGI, Sep 20, 2006
    KingCheetah likes this.
  6. univac hal

    univac hal Member

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    I hope it doesn't fall into the crater itself, causing us to lose the Opportunity (equivocate, baby!! :D)
     
    #6 univac hal, Sep 21, 2006
  7. boomboom

    boomboom I GOT '99 PROBLEMS

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    That picture does match the water colors found in Galveston.
     
    #7 boomboom, Sep 21, 2006
  8. SwoLy-D

    SwoLy-D Member

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    Victoria Paris. (someone guess who she is)

    Why are we spending money on other planets, when ours needs more work? :D Let the D&D begin!
    Career Opportunities. Horse scene. :p
     
    #8 SwoLy-D, Sep 21, 2006
  9. Supermac34

    Supermac34 President, Von Wafer Fan Club

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    I wonder if NASA grossly underestimated the life of these things to the public so it would look like a huge success.
     
    #9 Supermac34, Sep 21, 2006
  10. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    I really don't think so. They are conservative in their estimates, because so many things can go wrong on a complex mission like this. In my opinion, they have been pleasantly surprised.
     
    #10 Deckard, Sep 21, 2006
  11. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Atomic Playboy
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    I think Nasa expected the rovers to last longer than 90 days, but 2 + years for both is a definite surprise.
     
    #11 KingCheetah, Sep 21, 2006
  12. KaiSeR SoZe

    KaiSeR SoZe Member

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    this is awesome! good thing these missions are doing well!!
     
    #12 KaiSeR SoZe, Sep 21, 2006
  13. The_Yoyo

    The_Yoyo Member

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    my dad worked on the satelitte that bounces transmissions from mars to earth. He got this poster showing two different landscapes of the mars surface that are just amazing (the picture in the thread doesnt do justice to it)

    i called him earlier today about the crater and i guess he got put back on the project for now but it should be interesting to see what images they come back with.
     
    #13 The_Yoyo, Sep 21, 2006
  14. Coach AI

    Coach AI Member

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    These craters are supposed to be meteor impacts?
     
    #14 Coach AI, Sep 21, 2006
  15. DaDakota

    DaDakota Balance wins
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    Actually it is where Oprah Winfrey first sat down.
     
    #15 DaDakota, Sep 21, 2006
  16. updawg

    updawg Member

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    don't be arguing with an astrophysicist
     
    #16 updawg, Sep 21, 2006
  17. thadeus

    thadeus Member

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    This is exciting stuff. I was raised to think that, by now, I'd be living on a moon colony and driving a hovercar (yes, I was a kid that went for every single bit of space propaganda that was thrown my way - I wanted it so badly).

    I didn't get my moonhouse, or my hovercar (all the movies and all the predictions were wrong) - but we have robots on ****ing MARS!

    If that's what they got, I'll take it. And I'll like it.
     
    #17 thadeus, Sep 21, 2006
  18. halfbreed

    halfbreed Member

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    When do we get lightsabers?
     
    #18 halfbreed, Sep 21, 2006
  19. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Atomic Playboy
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    #19 KingCheetah, Sep 23, 2006
  20. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Atomic Playboy
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    [​IMG]

    Here is a colorized image someone did of the inside of this crater ~ pretty cool. :)

    Btw ~ The far side is about a half mile away.
     
    #20 KingCheetah, Sep 29, 2006
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