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brutally Kamphausened 15000+ posts
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I've always loved that line from the opening credits in Star Trek: "Space... the final frontier...  It gives a romance and excitement to space exploration, that really makes you want to explore that frontier. I like the mystery of space, and even without evidence yet, I like to entertain the idea that there's other intelligent life out there, other planets like Earth to explore, other races to learn from, or just observe. I'm a little disappointed that we don't yet have a Moonbase Alpha, or colonies on Mars. But it's safer and cheaper now to send out unmanned probes to do the exploration. Disappointing and un-romantic as that is.
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I remember the illustrations and talks of a Moon base since I was in Kindergarten. We're getting close to the age where it'd be possible to do something like that without contant trips to bring new materials and such. It'd be expensive as hell at first, for sure, but crops could be planted for O2 production, water could be recycled and treated, and solar panels could be placed for energy. I'm surprised the private sector doesn't get a jump on this. They're already planning space voyages, how long until they put bases on the moon?
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Well, they keep messing up those self-sustained bases in the desert. Once they get those sorted out, then people can start thinking about Moonbase Alpha.
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quote: Japan Forced to Give Up on Its Explorer Mission to Mars
From Associated Press
TOKYO — Japan abandoned its troubled mission to Mars on Tuesday after space officials failed in their final effort to put the Nozomi probe back on course to orbit the Red Planet.
The probe, Japan's first interplanetary explorer, had been traveling for five years toward Mars and would have reached the planet next week.
But officials at JAXA, Japan's space agency, said that Nozomi was off target and that scientists gave up trying to salvage the mission after an attempt to fire the probe's engines failed because it was short on fuel.
Nozomi — which means "hope" — was to have circled Mars to determine whether the planet has a magnetic field. It also was to examine the evolving Martian atmosphere's interaction with the solar wind — a stream of highly charged particles coming from the sun — and inspect the planet's two moons.
Malfunctions during Nozomi's journey altered its trajectory, raising concerns it might crash into — and possibly contaminate — the planet's surface.
(There. edited in order to print the entire article. I forget that most of you don't subscribe to the L.A. Times so you don't all have cookies on your comp to view articles.)
No surprise there. Uncanny how most Mars probes, no matter how many you send up, all end up failing....
Also to continue this space colony discussion:
Humans 'could survive Mars visit' Scientists say measurements taken by the US space agency's Mars Odyssey craft prove that a human mission could survive on the Martian surface.
And finally...
"Smoking Gun" Evidence That Liquid Water Has Flowed on Mars?
By the way Rob, is there any way to make this an avatar?

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The biggest question here is how to supply a long-term manned mission to either the Moon or Mars, water being the most important consumable. That's why they're interested in the south lunar pole - there's plenty of reason to believe there's water there.
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That and a reliable propulsion system for a trip of that distance and duration is still years away. I wish Zefram Cochrane would hurry up and get here. ![[nyah hah]](images/icons/tongue.gif)
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Its Starbuck's crashed Colonial Viper!
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Probably the most unsurprising news I've heard all week. Quote:
Second Setback for British Mission to Mars
LONDON (Reuters) - A British mission trying to find life on Mars suffered a second setback when its space probe again failed to send a signal to confirm it had landed, project organizers said on Friday.
It never fails with these Mars missions.
Quote:
Beagle 2's latest failure to make contact capped a dismal Christmas Day for the mission's British scientists, trying to answer a question which has fascinated mankind for years -- "Is there life on Mars?"
Well, if there is, they're certainly [censored] camera shy!!!
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast24may_1.htm
http://www.msss.com/education/facepage/face.html
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I think when you name your Explorer "Beagle 2" you are dooming it to failure from the beginning....
Last edited by britneyspearsatemyshorts; 2003-12-26 8:10 PM.
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They've now lost Beagle 2.
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Dimwicket here, showing his age. I remember the days when NASA planned to have manned bases on the moon by the mid 80's.Then they decided to channel the funds into the shuttle because it would be cheaper than expendable rockets. HA! When was the last successfull Mars probe? The Orbiter?
I'd horsewhip you if I had a horse!
Groucho Duck Soup
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[censored]Don[censored]'[censored]t[censored] [censored]worry[censored]. [censored]Earth[censored]'[censored]s[censored] [censored]assault[censored] [censored]on[censored] [censored]Mars[censored] [censored]is[censored] [censored]not[censored] [censored]over[censored] [censored]yet[censored].
<[censored]br[censored] />
<[censored]br[censored] />[censored]Beagle[censored] [censored]2[censored] [censored]is[censored] [censored]the[censored] [censored]first[censored] [censored]of[censored] [censored]three[censored] [censored]landers[censored] [censored]scheduled[censored] [censored]to[censored] [censored]arrive[censored] [censored]on[censored] [censored]the[censored] [censored]Red[censored] [censored]Planet[censored] [censored]over[censored] [censored]the[censored] [censored]next[censored] [censored]month[censored], [censored]part[censored] [censored]of[censored] [censored]an[censored] [censored]intensive[censored] [censored]effort[censored] [censored]to[censored] [censored]find[censored] [censored]signs[censored] [censored]of[censored] [censored]life[censored]. [censored]NASA[censored] [censored]has[censored] [censored]two[censored] [censored]landers[censored] — [censored]Spirit[censored] [censored]and[censored] [censored]Opportunity[censored] — [censored]scheduled[censored] [censored]to[censored] [censored]arrive[censored] [censored]Jan[censored]. [censored]3[censored] [censored]and[censored] [censored]Jan[censored]. [censored]24[censored] ([censored]among[censored] [censored]other[censored] [censored]missions[censored]).
<[censored]br[censored] />
<[censored]br[censored] />[censored]Increasing[censored] [censored]your[censored] [censored]chances[censored] [censored]thru[censored] [censored]sheer[censored] [censored]volume[censored]. [censored]Still[censored], [censored]it[censored] [censored]wouldn[censored]'[censored]t[censored] [censored]surprise[censored] [censored]me[censored] [censored]if[censored] [censored]EVERY[censored]-[censored]SINGLE[censored]-[censored]ONE[censored] [censored]fails[censored].
Last edited by whomod; 2003-12-27 7:05 AM.
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Well, that's interesting. I simply edited my post to include the final sentence and I get the above abomination. WTF???!!
Don't worry. Earth's assault on Mars is not over yet.
Beagle 2 is the first of three landers scheduled to arrive on the Red Planet over the next month, part of an intensive effort to find signs of life. NASA has two landers — Spirit and Opportunity — scheduled to arrive Jan. 3 and Jan. 24 (among other missions).
Increasing your chances thru sheer volume. Still, it wouldn't surprise me if EVERY-SINGLE-ONE fails.
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personally i think big oil companies are drilling on Mars and the goverment is covering it up....
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Oh man, reading Wonder Boy's post above just reminded me of something a bunch of us did in Physical Science (back in college #3). Our professor would lecture to the class, but in reality, he'd talk to himself at the board. We'd all look at each other and ask if anyone was paying attention. I can't tell you how many times I'd sit in class, writing letters to friends, or draw, or whatever. So one day he showed a film. It was an old black and white reel film, something none of us had seen in years, and it was on space (forgot what exactly), but it hilarious because it started out with a shot of the stars, just like the begining of Classic Trek, and a few of us just had to do it. So as this ran, we started doing that opening bit, "Space the final frontiere..." lol We stopped because for starters, the professor was sitting right next to me, and the others sat next to me and behind me, that and we coulnd't stop laughing.  I can't believe I forgot about that until now.
It's a rented tux ok? I'm not going comando in another man's fatigues.
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Just to further add perspective on Mars and Earth's ventures there, here's some info on the Russian Phobos missions, especially Phobos II. Phobos 1 and 2 to MarsPhobos 2 Soviet mission to Mars and Phobosand finally a chronology of Earth missions to Mars. Mars MissionsQuote:
December 28, 2003
THE WORLD Day 3: Still No Signal From Mars Probe
Scientists say they aren't 'writing off' Beagle. They hope the mother ship will be able to contact the lander.
By Thomas H. Maugh II, Times Staff Writer
Britain's Beagle 2 Mars lander remained silent for a third day Saturday, and scientists believe that their best hope for receiving a signal is the spacecraft's mother ship.
Mars Express, Beagle 2's mother ship produced by the European Space Agency, entered orbit around the Red Planet on Christmas Eve, about the same time that Beagle was scheduled to land on the surface. Controllers have to make a complicated series of maneuvers before it will be in position to contact the lander.
"We haven't yet played all our cards," said David Southwood, ESA's director of science. "The baby, we believe, is down on the surface, and the mother is very anxious to get in touch."
Mission planners have been using daily passes of NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter over Isidis Planitia, Beagle's Martian landing site, to try to contact the probe. British authorities reached an agreement with NASA for use of Odyssey after Mars Express was launched, so the two communications systems have never been tested together, lead scientist Colin Pillinger said.
The team has already used Odyssey to send a series of commands to Beagle, ordering it to reset its internal clock and to open its pocket-watch-like pod and extend its antenna — in case one or more of those operations failed after the landing. None of the commands produced a response, however.
Saturday, European officials asked NASA engineers to double-check Odyssey to make sure it is functioning correctly. The orbiter's communication system was temporarily shut down by a massive solar flare in October.
Mars Odyssey will continue to attempt to contact Beagle on its daily flyovers for at least 12 more days.
The team also has been listening for a signal from Beagle with the 250-foot Jodrell Bank radio telescope in Cheshire, England, and, more recently, with a smaller radio telescope at Stanford University in California. The telescopes can detect a signal from Beagle, but are not equipped to radio commands to the lander.
Engineers are not "writing off" Beagle, Southwood said, "and I don't think anyone should. We're hanging in there."
Beagle 2 is the first of three landers scheduled to reach Mars within the next month. NASA's Spirit and Opportunity are to land Jan. 3 and Jan. 24, respectively.
The three probes are part of an intensive effort to determine whether life ever existed on Mars.
Some of you may have noticed that i'm playing up the "life on mars" aspect with pics of Cydonia and the Phobos II story. Well, why not? It does seem odd that of late, so many countries are participating and so many billions are being spent primarily on missions to see if life ever exsisted there.
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Quote:
They've now lost Beagle 2.

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Well, it sucks to be Blur. Quote:
OUT OF THIS WORLD!
As the rest of the country settles down with the turkey today (December 25), members of BLUR will be holed up inside CHESHIRE’s JODRELL BANK OBSERVATORY – waiting on word back from life on Mars.
Today sees the climax of the band-backed Beagle 2 project, the British effort to land on Mars. If things go to plan, the probe will land on the planet’s surface on Christmas Day and the first signal we Earthlings will hear back will be a Blur song.
Scientists are waiting for the signal, which wasn't heard when the probe was supposed to land in the early hours of this morning. However, there is still a chance the signal will be heard later today.
Dave Rowntree explained that the band became involved with the project back in 1999, at the height of the campaign for their album ‘13’. He told NME.COM: "Alex [James] and I have always been fascinated by space exploration. They’d been going round banging their heads against a brick wall trying to get the funding. That’s where we came in. Because we had access to the media we were able to help out."
However, Blur soon became more involved with the project, masterminded by Open University Professor Colin Pillinger. He continued: "They came up with such an ingenious scheme. When the probe lands it has to send a signal back to say that it’s landed, and that signal could be anything. And we said why not write a piece of music?"
Damon Albarn composed ‘Beagle 2’, a song which first appeared as a B-side to their 1999 single ‘No Distance Left To Run’. Today the team will be holed up in Jodrell Bank awaiting news of whether the Beagle has landed. If does, it will be the best Christmas present Dave has ever been given.
"Britain’s got great telescopes and great engineers, but we’ve never traditionally had a space programme to match that," Dave told NME.COM. "Yet this might actually answer the question, is there life on Mars?"
Beagle is able to burrow into the surface of Mars. By probing, the team believe they can identify whether there has ever been water on the planet. Water would be the biggest breakthrough in discovering whether the planet has ever been capable of sustaining life.
The probe was named after the HMS Beagle, the vessel on which Charles Darwin began the epic voyage that led to the writing ‘On The Origin Of Species’.
[url=http://www.nme.com/news/107112.htm[/url]
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I'd just like to point out that the danish contribution to the beagle 2 ekspedition worked.
And it was made by a company called Therma, who I have worked for on several occations ( as a temp), and the said company has a GREAT cafeteria !
Flatulent death awaits us all!
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do they have pizza and fresh subs?
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yes and all kinds of other goodies. and the best part is that it's all you can eat for only $2.50 !!
Flatulent death awaits us all!
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yeah i miss that place.
But I congratulate my self on getting a job. Been without steady work for about 4 months now, but i got word today that an application had come through and that i hadn't repulsed the employer at my interview. I start this friday...
Flatulent death awaits us all!
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and so my diabolic plan worked
Muahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Flatulent death awaits us all!
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Well, MY feeling about a Manned mission/ Base or Colony on Mars???
In the Words of The Governator in Total Recall :
" Get Your Ass to Mars. "
I was 12 years old Summer of 1969 when Niel Armstrong became the first man to walk on the surface of the Moon. I watched it on TV while away at summer camp. I remember I said to a friend right then and There, " Next, we'll have a colony on the Moon and then it's onward to Mars!!!"
Well, as we all know, there were a few more manned landings on the Moon afterwards, and since December 1972,...... Nothing. No base, No colony.
Though we have a LONG way to go as a species in our evolution, and have yet to resolve issues here, I think it actually might further our evolution if we undertake of the manned exploration and colonization of space.
Please Note : This is ONLY after we are certain we can travel in space Relatively safely.
It may be years before this is possible, but we should be working on this NOW.
Colonies in space mean more Jobs.
The United States of America was founded by Explorers, who bravely crossed unknown and uncharted oceans in fragile, leaky wooden vessels. It is our Destiny to continue this spirit of Exploration.
The alternative is stagnation. We have been doing this as a Species for some time now.
I am aware that change is slow, but right now, we need a new goal, a bold new direction.
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
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The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
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YOU BASTARDS! YOU BLEW MY COVA! I'LL KILL YOU! BASTARDS!
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Ultimate Jaburg 53:
LoL!! That's Good!!
But that pic looks VERY Gay...and VERY S& M.
Well, That's AHNOLD for you.
" Vote For ME if You Vant To Live! "
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
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"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
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Quote:
YOU BASTARDS!
YOU BLEW MY COVA!
I'LL KILL YOU!
BASTARDS!
To me it looks like Sally Jessie Raphael and her butch partner trying to get fresh with Ah-Nold.
There are some places even Arnold won't go.
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TODAY we'll learn if the Second Mars lander/Mars explorer is a resounding success....or another failure. I hope it is a Success.... 
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
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New NASA Mars rover to touchdown Saturday Friday, January 2, 2004 Posted: 2:09 PM EST (1909 GMT)
PASADENA, California (AP) -- After a journey of seven months and 303 million miles, a six-wheeled NASA rover will speed like a bullet Saturday night toward the surface of Mars and, if all goes as planned, stop with a bounce.
The plunge through the Martian atmosphere at 12,300 mph will mark the start of the riskiest portion of the voyage thus far.
As the unmanned spacecraft Spirit plummets to the rocky surface 80 miles below, it will rely on the precisely choreographed use of heatshields, parachutes and rockets to slow its descent. Just eight seconds before hitting the ground, the golf cart-size Spirit should inflate a set of airbags to cushion its impact.
The entire harrowing trip down should take just six minutes. A single sharp boulder could doom the entire enterprise.
"It's not the fall that kills you. It's what you hit at the end," said Pete Theisinger, project manager of the $820 million project, which also includes a twin rover, Opportunity, set to arrive on Mars on January 24.
The camera- and instrument-laden rovers are designed to spend 90 days analyzing Martian rocks and soil for clues that could reveal whether the Red Planet was ever a warmer, wetter place capable of sustaining life.
If successful, the six-wheeled, 384-pound Spirit and its twin would become the fourth and fifth U.S. spacecraft to survive landing on Mars.
If neither survives, they will join the wretched ranks of some 20 other spacecraft from various nations that failed to successfully reach the planet.
The latest, apparently, were Japan's Nozomi satellite and Britain's Beagle 2 lander. Nozomi was unable to enter Mars orbit last month; Beagle 2 has been silent since it was to have landed on Christmas Day.
"Some, including myself, call it the `death planet,"' said Ed Weiler, NASA's associate administrator for space science.
NASA hopes to learn almost immediately whether the twin rovers have landed safely.
In 1999, NASA's last attempt at landing on Mars failed when a software glitch sent the Polar Lander crashing to the ground. Its descent took place in a communications blackout, and the lack of data later stymied the investigation into the failure.
Spirit, in contrast, is designed to transmit a series of tones to Earth throughout its descent to signal engineers each time onboard computers order a critical action, such as the deployment of the parachute. Even if Spirit crashes, engineers on Earth will be able to reconstruct its last minutes.
"Entering into Mars is always very tricky, as everyone knows, and we can fail. But we want to learn from those failures, so next time -- of course, we have another rover coming three weeks later, so we do have our own next time -- we can learn from the experience so we can correct any problems," said Polly Estabrook, who is in charge of telecommunications for the landing.
end.
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
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our latest craft just succesfully landed
signal is sposda go out for a few minutes afterward, but hopefully, all will connect properly from then on.
giant picture
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 53,734 Likes: 2
Educator to comprehension impaired (JLA, that is you) 50000+ posts
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Educator to comprehension impaired (JLA, that is you) 50000+ posts
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 53,734 Likes: 2 |
Ground control, to Major Tom.......
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
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I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now if everything else goes well, We'll have MORE pics of Mars' red, sandy, rocky suface! I'm STILL in awe of the Viking and Pathfinfer pics!!!! 
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
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