January 2004 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Stardust flyby movie
by Patrick Wiggins 05 Jan '04

05 Jan '04

I just spoke with the PR guy for the Stardust mission. He said the Wild-2 flyby movie and another still frame of the nucleus will be released during the Stardust Post-encounter science briefing tomorrow (Jan. 6) 12:30 p.m. MST. Patrick

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Comet picture
by Kim Hyatt 05 Jan '04

05 Jan '04

Yeah, but to whom or in which direction was it thrown? Is someone trying to hit us? -----Original Message----- From: Joe Bauman [mailto:bau@desnews.com] Sent: Monday, January 05, 2004 8:35 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Comet picture Obviously, somebody big packed that stuff together to make a really good "dirty snowball"! -- jb _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Comet picture
by Kim Hyatt 05 Jan '04

05 Jan '04

I only "do" email at my office, so I've been out of the loop since last Wednesday. Regarding the comment, "things that small should not be spherical": I understand that the mass is not sufficient to compel a spherical geometry, but why shouldn't they be spherical? Isn't a spherical shape as likely as any other shape? Anyone have a thought? -----Original Message----- From: Patrick Wiggins [mailto:paw@trilobyte.net] Sent: Friday, January 02, 2004 11:11 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Comet picture Considering the felines that control of my place (remember that while dogs have owners, cats have attendants), I'm starting to think it looks like a large hair ball... The comet's seeming spherical size and its "craters" were topics discussed in the press conference that followed the release of the images. Things that small should not be spherical or have craters. No one seemed to have an answer for the shape except to speculate that the part in shadow is not round. No one wanted to call the holes craters. Instead they called them eroded areas or pits. Patrick Chuck Hards wrote: > > Look at how rough it appears, even at over 300 miles > distance! It actually looks to me like a big, dirty > snowball that's partially melted. To stand on the > surface might be like standing on a giant sponge. Are > those craters, or eroded areas (pits)?i _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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TV coverage
by Patrick Wiggins 05 Jan '04

05 Jan '04

A reminder that there's a special on KUED (channel 7) right now about Mars exploration. NASA TV ran an ad earlier today saying they'd have coverage tonight at 8, 9 and 10 pm MST. NASA TV's web site says nothing about those times and mentions coverage only at 8:30 and midnight. Patrick

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Comments on space shots
by Joe Bauman 04 Jan '04

04 Jan '04

Hi All, I meant to send this out with a new header. So here it is again, and please put in your whole name and where you live, if you'd like to make a comment. Thanks a lot, Joe I am just back to work after a week's vacation. Anyone care to comment for an article about Stardust and/or Spirit? I would like a few quotations within an hour -- not long, but expressing feelings, whatever they are -- yay, boo, waste of money, don't know why celebrating, wow this is amazing, etc. Just do it right away, pls. I can't predict how long my articles will be when printed, so don't be disappointed if comments are cut out or shortened.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy]
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 04 Jan '04

04 Jan '04

I was watching CNN last night and they were broadcasting at JPL. This one guy's shaking leg showed how tense things were before the rover touch down. I also saw the woman from NASA that gave the talk at ALCON 2002 in Salt Lake. I think the this mission is going to tell us more about Mars than any other mission. The excitement is contagious. Debbie

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[Utah-astronomy] Do the NASA folks seem a little too excited to anyone but me?
by Chris Clark 04 Jan '04

04 Jan '04

Hi all, What am I missing?: Why are all these NASA folks so hyper-excited about this lander? Yes, it's cool that Spirit is safely sitting on Mars--and sending back neat pictures--but haven't we been "here" before? (Viking 1 and 2, nearly 30 years ago) Are all these hyper-excited NASA folks simply too young to remember that this has all been done before--and the first time 'round it was done with "30 year old" technology, no less? (now _that_ was something to get excited about) :-) There must be many good reason(s) why the NASA folks are acting as if they've done something miraculous and ground-breaking here, but in my ignorance I don't know what those reasons might be. Can y'all gently help me understand what all the rah-rah'ing is about? Chris

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Re: Spirit Right-side Up
by John R. Peterson 04 Jan '04

04 Jan '04

I don't know for sure, but I'd bet that landing in the correct position is achieved by simply shifting the center of gravity of the lander with respect to the airbags. For instance, just have larger bags on the top side and it'd be just like one of those rolly-polly clown punching bags. John >--- Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)trilobyte.net> wrote: > > > >>Happily, the assembly came to a rest right side up. >> >> > >That's 2 for 2 for airbags, right? Didn't Sojourner >come to rest right-side-up too? > > > >>Kind of "funny" to know it was sitting safely on the >>surface and to see the >>video of the MCO breaking up in the atmosphere. >> >> > >Chuck Hards wrote: > > >>That's 2 for 2 for airbags, right? Didn't Sojourner >>come to rest right-side-up too? >> >> > > > >

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1st picture on web
by Patrick Wiggins 04 Jan '04

04 Jan '04

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Re: 1st pix
by Dale Hooper 04 Jan '04

04 Jan '04

I'm really curious about how they were able to do the lander as seen from above, 360 degree shot. Does it have a boom with a fish-eye lens camera? -----Original Message----- From: Patrick Wiggins [mailto:paw@trilobyte.net] Sent: Sun 1/4/2004 12:49 AM To: Utah Astronomy Cc: Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Re: 1st pix Happy to oblige. I just wish they'd put the images on the web NOW. They just showed a mosaic showing a 360 degree panorama and the lander as seen from above. It just keeps getting better and better. I think the only thing that could make it better would be if Mars Express picks up a signal from Beagle later today. If only my life were going this well. :-) WOW!!! Patrick Richard Tenney wrote: > > Patrick, > Thanks for all the updates -- very cool! (Wishing I > had cable/sat. right about now...) > -Rich _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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