BS: MARS in the Headlights

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Feb 21 - 03:10 PM

Zzzz snore

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Feb 21 - 03:15 PM

dream

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: Donuel
Date: 23 Feb 21 - 09:06 AM

NASA video

There is also a phone app to get new pics as they are released

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: robomatic
Date: 23 Feb 21 - 06:10 PM

There was a great press conference yesterday. I ate it up. Don'l has linked to the footage I described earlier, where all the various landing linked cameras took pictures of various parts of the Mars landing procedure, which went as flawlessly as possible. In the press conference, the various responsible parties gave fascinating accounts of their approaches, problems, and solutions, many of which were to get off-the-shelf parts and devices, but then configure them for cleanliness and space dust.

I believe in education, but defining education and practising good education and the issue of moral or ethical use of said education rapidly leads to -discussion-. I believe that the French have reputable and long established schools for people in government bureaucracy and presumably many of them become elected officials. Can we say that France is better off than other European countries with those establishments?

Many people are educated idiots. It doesn't save them from being idiots. And that includes technical education. Education, as in 'school' can also stifle thought. Education to my mind is not to fill a mind with current theory and understood fact, but to teach the mind to teach itself and furnish an awareness of how wrong things can go.

When Galileo wrote about rings of Saturn and moons of Jupiter, he was describing new things unknown by Archimedes. That was close to a radical act in his era. Education at his time was under strict control, as though knowledge can be 'managed'.

Watching and hearing these young and not-so-young scientists, engineers, and designers talk about the adventure of putting together their robots and rockets is incredibly inspiring and educational in the truest sense of that word.

"The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled." - Plutarch

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: Donuel
Date: 24 Feb 21 - 07:06 PM

Robo has caught fire.

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: Donuel
Date: 25 Feb 21 - 05:33 AM

Dare mighty things

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: Donuel
Date: 26 Feb 21 - 05:19 PM

persevevernce takes a selfie https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2102/PIA24264.jpg

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: Donuel
Date: 27 Feb 21 - 10:52 AM

The total cost of the F-35 was 1.9 Trillion dollars. A total waste although robo was impressed.

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: Donuel
Date: 02 Mar 21 - 06:28 AM

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: Donuel
Date: 02 Mar 21 - 06:29 AM

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2103/Helicopter_Mars2020_3811.jpg

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Mar 21 - 07:02 AM

"Education to my mind is not to fill a mind with current theory and understood fact, but to teach the mind to teach itself and furnish an awareness of how wrong things can go."

That's it. Other required elements are firing up enthusiasm and curiosity, showing the connectedness of things and developing the skill to see patterns. My numero uno hobby horse, apropos of your last point, is to be ultra-sceptical of new things you are told and demand evidence (real evidence) at all times. The facts will follow naturally. But you simply must learn your times tables... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: robomatic
Date: 02 Mar 21 - 03:18 PM

...and who to trust.

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: robomatic
Date: 03 Mar 21 - 08:21 PM

There will be NASA update Friday

FRIDAY 5 MARCH
8:30 PM Greenwich (ZULU)
3:30 PM EST
12:30 PM PST

Meanwhile, someone posted a set of stills from the Mars Perseverance probe with some background music, probably not from the probe:

The sun from MARS

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: robomatic
Date: 09 Apr 21 - 09:05 PM

The Mars drone Ingenuity may fly for the first time this Sunday 11 April 2021.

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: EBarnacle
Date: 10 Apr 21 - 11:19 AM

It did fly, apparently quite successfully.
When I saw the title of this thread, as an active Ham operator, I thought of Military Amateur Radio Service, which is still connecting members of the service with families and friends around the planet for free.

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: robomatic
Date: 11 Apr 21 - 01:04 AM

According to the internet, Ingenuity it did not complete a rotation test and the actual first flight has been postponed until Wednesday pending successful test.

Back to watching Star Trek reruns

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: Donuel
Date: 11 Apr 21 - 12:07 PM

The release of ingenuitiy's spores and bacteria are on hold? 8^(
Thats gonna delay the cockroaches for sure.

I bet terraforming is still being considered.

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: Bill D
Date: 11 Apr 21 - 01:22 PM

Terraforming is a constant idea.. though largely a pipe dream, like mining the asteroids. Science fiction has lots of theories.

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: robomatic
Date: 11 Apr 21 - 02:21 PM

I think in Mars' case terraforming awaits orbital reassignment.

Details at 11.

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: Donuel
Date: 12 Apr 21 - 07:01 AM

heh heh

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: robomatic
Date: 19 Apr 21 - 07:03 AM

SUCCESS!
20210419
The flight had of course already occurred this morning, but the data download came through just before 7 AM EST. Ingenuity, the helicopter on Mars, successfully took off, achieved a height of approx 3 meters, photographed the Mars surface including its shadow, and was photographed by the lander Perseverance with a short video.

"We've just had our Wright Brothers moment!"

Happy Patriots Day (Anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the start of the War of Independence in 1775).

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Apr 21 - 07:34 AM

woo Hoo

close up of cosmic whale

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: Mrrzy
Date: 19 Apr 21 - 11:03 AM

Bully for NASA and the yankee rebels!

Subject: RE: BS: MARS in the Headlights
From: JHW
Date: 20 Apr 21 - 03:56 PM

Good job they didn't use the Wrong Brothers.