Mars Rover touches down

[thebaghwan]

http://www.cnn.com/

[opihimoimoi]

1. ETs capture the Mars Lander!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They have taken it underground to their base for evaluation. My cuz Moki wen tell me.

[MattNC]

2. excellent news

:)

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. This is way cool! My husband made some parts for it so we are

really excited! ...and relieved. :)

[karlschneider]

5. Tell Mr. Grumpy "good job"!!!

:D

[dave29]

9. congrads to you and yours!

n/t

[DemOutWest]

4. According to the

press on Mars, Dean will win the nomination. Yet not one Martian vote has been cast.

[BOHICA06]

7. more importantly...

how does he do with 25-44yr old Martian females? They hold the key in November!

[tedoll78]

15. Ah ah ah..

single Martian females..

[Barrett808]

6. NASA TV: Lander has landed base-petal down

This is the optimal configuration.

[Heyo]

8. How awesome!!

I was literally jumping around my house cheering.

:toast:

Heyo

[MattNC]

10. for those interested

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/nasatv/ - NASA TV

[tridim]

11. Has anyone heard when the first pics come back?

That's good television!

[Barrett808]

12. As early as a couple of hours from now n/t

n/t

[Moderator]

13. Kick!!

:dem:

[Bozita]

14. Champagne being passed around.

Good job, folks.

[stevedeshazer]

16. Pitchers from Mars!

<snip> from: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/01/03/state0007EST0146.DTL&type=science

When the spacecraft stopped bouncing, the four-petaled lander that contains the rover was standing upright. That will make unfolding it easier, said Chris Jones, director of planetary flight programs at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

"That is how we hoped it would land," Jones said.

Spirit was expected to emerge from inside the flowerlike lander within its first 90 minutes on Mars, after it retracts the air bags that cushioned its landing. Spirit should also deploy its solar arrays during that time.

Mission officials said that means that if time permitted before the Martian dusk, the rover could start snapping pitchers of Mars late Saturday night.
___________________________________________________________________

My best laugh of the night.

[daleo]

18. If they are pitchers of beer

Then interplanetary exploration would have an economic justification after all. As a bonus, it would prove that there is intelligent life in the universe.

[wtmusic]

19. Pitchers? Does that mean...there's WATER on Mars?

:silly:

[Heyo]

22. they fixed it.

n/t

[everdene]

17. Cool!

[Heyo]

20. I hope....

..that this mission will spark interest and will help us move towards more space exploration...

Heck, if they got the design of Spirit and Opportunity down pat. (obviously it's a worthy design)

Maybe they could build a few of them and send them everywhere...

It'd take years, but you could go to some of the Jupter and Saturn moons... some pretty oxitic real estate out there.
We could even send them out to the outer planets...

Neptune or Charon or Uranus... even Pluto.

A lander actually on it's way to Titan for June '04 arrival, that should be good for some cool pics... seas of methane...

:thumbsup:

-Heyo

[TexasMexican]

21. w00t.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

23. Holy shit! Look what just landed in my back yard!

Cool! I'm gonna go give it some creek water to drink.

[neverforget]

24. Sweet! I can't wait to see the pictures from the rover.

Here's to NASA's success! :toast: :bounce:

[proud patriot]

25. WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO !

This is awesome ! :bounce:

[arcane1]

26. sweet! I grokk in fullness! Waiting is fufilled!

:bounce:

:toast:

:party:

[opihimoimoi]

27. I thought we went thru this a few years back??

[Barrett808]

28. First image is down! 11:33 PM Pacific time

Full frame image of Mars. Rear shot, rover in the foreground,
and horizon visible in the background.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

29. Anyone find a link to the first pictures?

RealTV sucks for detailed images.

[Baclava]

31. ...

[proud patriot]

30. Here's a link to streaming video of the pictures coming in on NASA TV

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=982583

[VolcanoJen]

32. LBN Consolidation

Let's keep all of our discussion about the landing of Mars Rover consolidated here:


Mars Rover "Spirit" About to Land>

Thanks!

DU Moderator