VSWR: TouchDown On Mars...

You can't but feel more than a little excited by the successful touchdown a bit ago of the PhoenixLander on the NorthPole of Mars. Them danged scientific types have come thru again. Can hardly wait to see the first pics from the NorthPole. Hooray for all involved...it is rocket science.
So...what are the guys in the JPL control room drinking tonight in celebration?? More importantly, what are the little green men on Mars drinking when they catch this funny object digging around in their sand??
Tom

Great news. I'll feel a lot more sanguine about our long term future when we get our figurative eggs out of this one basket.

Think of the the terroir arguments the wine-geeks will have when Mars AOC wines hit the market.

[David M. Bueker]

(Martian smilies)

Time to crack open a Grüner Veltliner!

[Robin Garr]

:mrgreen: (Martian smilies)

Time to crack open a Grüner Veltliner!

For Mars, don't you think Roter Veltliner would be more appropriate?

[David M. Bueker]

:mrgreen: (Martian smilies)

Time to crack open a Grüner Veltliner!

For Mars, don't you think Roter Veltliner would be more appropriate?

Not for the little green men.

[Robin Garr]

For Mars, don't you think Roter Veltliner would be more appropriate?

Not for the little green men.[/quote]
Let 'em drink Vinho Verde!

Watched this on uStream:

Put as links:-

In the second one you can see the lander on Mars.

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x202 ... idcast.jpg
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x202 ... dcast2.jpg

Cheers, Dave C.

I can't help feeling regret over the fact that the Phoenix lander seems to only be taking black and white pics - the two rovers on the opposite sides of the planet have been making stunning hi-res colour pics of the landscape that really make you feel as if you were right there too. I would love to know if the skies at Mars' north pole are really the same topaz/salmon colour as they are elsewhere, for example.

Once, a long time ago, I read that it gets so cold (relatively speaking, of course) at the Martian poles in the winter season that part of the atmosphere freezes out of the sky, forming carbon dioxide snow. Whether the accompanying local rarification of the atmosphere results in a change in visible hue is a fascinating question all of its own.

How about Two Hands Shiraz Ares Syrah.

I can't help feeling regret over the fact that the Phoenix lander seems to only be taking black and white pics

Paul, I'm sure we'll be seeing color photos before too long. The cameras on all of these spacecraft are in fact black-and-white and that includes both the Phoenix lander and the older rovers. Color photos are made by taking several photos with different (red, blue, green) filters in front of the camera, transmitting the data for all three photos. Then the data has to be reassembled and processed, colors corrected using a certain amount of human interpretation (NASA wants the photos to look good) before they're released. Since there's a lot more data involved and the processing takes some time, the first photos released are always black-and-white. That was true with the rovers and is again with Phoenix. So be patient, I'm sure color will be forthcoming!

[David M. Bueker]

So be patient, I'm sure color will be forthcoming!

You haven't seen JPL's budget lately have you?

So be patient, I'm sure color will be forthcoming!

You haven't seen JPL's budget lately have you?

I understand the first color in the first false color "postcard" was inferred from photos taken through two different photos and I'm sure we'll be seeing more. This mission may be run on a relative shoestring but no way would they be without the capability to take color photos. Even if they didn't have scientific reasons to want to take photos at different wavelengths, color photos are sexy and help sell future missions to the public and to the politicians who control their future budgets.

:mrgreen: (Martian smilies)

Time to crack open a Grüner Veltliner!

Better that than Green Hungarian!