Mars Landing

[coldel]

Enjoying following this at the moment, in the middle of a pandemic to see something amazing like this is good for the spirits

 

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/landing/watch-online/

 

They landed effectively a car, weighing a tonne, on another planet. Amazing feat of engineering.

[Ekona]

I particularly like the fact that Mars is the only planet we know of entirely populated by robots. 

[ShortPaul]

What are we trying to achieve by landing on mars, is there really any point? 

[coldel]

Search for signs of life once being there as theorised. History of the solar system. Better understanding of nature around us. Human development. Huge leaps in technology development. Like saying to Carl Benz building this thing called a 'car' 150 years ago why bother horses are faster...whats the point.

[ShortPaul]

Thats a good point

[coldel]

Its amazing how much tech you use day to day and have around that was invented by Nasa, from the more obvious stuff like solar cells to less obvious like scratch resistant lenses and LASIK as well as advancing the durability of rubber now used in every day car tyres. There are literally hundreds of inventions that were created for space travel but had viable applications on Earth too. 

 

But ultimately, it was this desire to learn, to explore, to discover that got us out of caves in the first place - and long may it continue!

[davey_83]

I'll never forget the moment when news went out of this achievement, fantastic stuff.

[Ekona]

It’s easy to land on a flat planet though, eh?  

[coldel]

The engineering and numbers required to fly something so large so far through so many environments is mind boggling. The video looks so simple yet the effort required to make this work is incredible. Flying something hundreds of millions of miles and landing it on another planet 

 

 

 

 

[Willsy1980]

What amazes me most, is NASA did this for $2b, yet here we spent £22b on a damn Excel spreadsheet...

More chance of finding intelligent life forms up there than Downing street   

[Stutopia]

1 hour ago, Willsy1980 said:

What amazes me most, is NASA did this for $2b, yet here we spent £22b on a damn Excel spreadsheet...

More chance of finding intelligent life forms up there than Downing street   

 

One was a government budget, the other was an opportunity to move funds from the state to neighbours and former school chums.

[The G Man]

Most of NASA’s $2billion was spent on shift allowance for all that 24hr a day computer watching.......I mean flying a spaceship......

[coldel]

Apparently the pattern on the parachute of the lander if read as Binary Code says 'Dare Mighty Things' for the nerds out there!

[formatzero]

Hope all this exploration continues,dont know if i will live long enough to see a manned mission there but would love to.I believe one day there will be a colony and if humans can survive long enough they may be able to terraform it .

[coldel]

The idea of standing on another planet, is just monumental. It must be like how the pioneers hundreds of years ago felt when they found other countries. The other day they played back sounds they recorded of winds on Mars which was pretty cool.

[Willsy1980]

6 minutes ago, coldel said:

The idea of standing on another planet, is just monumental. It must be like how the pioneers hundreds of years ago felt when they found other countries. The other day they played back sounds they recorded of winds on Mars which was pretty cool.

Honestly, with the way things are down here on Earth. I'd be a volunteer for a one way trip, getting to the point where I just want off the roundabout.

We have no hope anymore, things have hit the level where this is required.....

[davey_83]

Hold fast youngen

[coldel]

Haha that pizza box, a photoshop surely?

 

They are dumping the RAW images here https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/ you can filter by camera as well which is helpful for narrowing it down - we are taking live, high res photos of another planets surface and uploading them onto a website here on Earth, mind boggles. 

[Stutopia]

https://twitter.com/LesDennis/status/1365774052384768009?s=20 

 

Helluva scoop this.

[Willsy1980]

5 hours ago, coldel said:

Haha that pizza box, a photoshop surely?

 

I was hoping so too, but sadly, it seems as though it really is a thing.

[ilogikal1]

Fun fact: it's also printed on the inside lip of the box, so you have to open the box to read it.

 

 

 

Also the Mars thing is impressive too, I guess.

[coldel]

Been watching the Mars helicopter flights, it is amazing stuff. Anyway, hasnt stopped Amazon getting in on the act, if you can afford it you can fly to the edge of space https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57000820

[DoogyRev]

5 hours ago, coldel said:

Been watching the Mars helicopter flights, it is amazing stuff. Anyway, hasnt stopped Amazon getting in on the act, if you can afford it you can fly to the edge of space https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57000820

 

Seems like a lot of money for 3 min of weightlessness, I mean by the time you have unbuckled the 5 point harness it will be time to strap back in for the decent. I guess it's more about being strapped to a rocket and looking out the window than anything else. You would also be pretty gutted if your seat was on the wrong side of the capsule 😆