Bob Schwier on 8 Aug 2012 23:36:30 -0700


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Re: [PLUG] OT: 7 minutes of terror, Curiosity landing on Mars 01:30 EDT Monday


You're right.  My apologies.  At the furthest point it would be on the 
opposite side of the sun.  Brain farts happen.
bs

--- On Tue, 8/7/12, Walt Mankowski <waltman@pobox.com> wrote:

> From: Walt Mankowski <waltman@pobox.com>
> Subject: Re: [PLUG] OT: 7 minutes of terror, Curiosity landing on Mars 01:30 EDT Monday
> To: plug@lists.phillylinux.org
> Date: Tuesday, August 7, 2012, 12:35 AM
> You're of course right that the speed
> of light is a constant, but
> you're off by more than an order of magnitude in your guess
> about the
> lag.
> 
> The distance between Earth and Mars varies between about 35
> million
> and 400 million km depending on where each planet happens to
> be in its
> orbit [1].  Since light travels about 300,000 km/sec,
> that works out
> to between roughly 2 minutes and 22 minutes,
> respectively.  Right now
> Mars is about in the middle between those two extremes, and
> signals
> from Curiosity are taking about 14 minutes to reach Earth.
> 
> Walt
> 
> 1. http://www.space.com/16875-how-far-away-is-mars.html
> 
> On Mon, Aug 06, 2012 at 07:18:07PM -0700, Bob Schwier
> wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > --- On Sat, 8/4/12, Nicholas Gasparovich <nick@gasponet.com>
> wrote:
> > 
> > Thirty second lag at best.  The speed of light is not
> going to change for you.  As old as Ron, graduated from
> Wheaton High (Wheaton MD) the same year.  Served on
> Independence.  Uncle sent me to defend the Med and not
> Nam.  Anyway, I'm old and gravity sucks so ending my life
> on a one way trip to a dream is not a bad idea.
> > bs  
> > 
> > As long as Mars has FIOS, then I'm all aboard, lol
> > -Nick
> > On Aug 4, 2012 7:17 PM, "Ron Kaye Jr" <rekaye1005@verizon.net>
> wrote:
> > 
> >  the americans have gotten very good at this process.
> > 
> > but the russians have not fared so well.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > are you prepared to volunteer for the 1st manned
> flight.
> > 
> > apparently you get to mars, with no plans for coming
> back.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > i share your enthusiam for space exploration.
> > 
> > i had just graduated from springfield high in 1969.
> > 
> > my friends and i were touring the US in a trailer.
> > 
> > i was visiting my cousin, on a huge naval vessel in san
> diego,
> > 
> > first week of august.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > neil armstrong became the symbol of the greatest
> accomplishment of mankind.
> > 
> > it was an exciting time.
> > 
> > we need to reengage as a nation in this inspirational
> activity
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Ron Kaye Jr
> > 
> > 914-7294734
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > On 08/04/12, Lee H. Marzke wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > FYI,
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > NASA's Curiosity is scheduled to land on Mars at 01:30
> EDT early Monday morning
> > 
> > (Aug 6, 2012) after traveling over 500,000 miles. It's
> mission is to understand the
> > 
> > 'habitability of Mars". In other words are their
> conditions that could have ever supported
> > 
> > life on Mars ( not specifically looking for life itself
> )
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > View it at NASA TV: Live coverage begin 6PM EDT Sunday
> > 
> > http://www.ustream.tv/nasa
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Re-entry (called the 7 minutes of terror ) begins with
> Curiosity hitting the atmosphere
> > 
> > at 13,200 Mph and using a combination of head shields,
> and supersonic drogue chute
> > 
> > to slow to 200mph, and retro rockets for the rest of
> the way. The rover is actually
> > 
> > lowered on a 'sky-crane' to hang 7.5 meters below the
> rocket platform, and when
> > 
> > the rover touches, the cables are severed and the
> rocket platform flies away from the rover to
> > 
> > crash a short distance away. This keeps the level of
> dust and debris at the landing site
> > 
> > to acceptable levels.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Landing is scheduled into Gale crater which has central
> 3-mile high mountain peak.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Three satellites that have been in orbit around Mars
> since NASA:Odyssey:2001
> > 
> > ESA:MarsExpress:2003,
> > 
> >  NASA:MRO:2006, etc. will relay the spacecraft signals
> back to earth.
> > 
> > The communication will need to switch between these
> relay stations
> > 
> > during re-entry, and it's possible that communication
> will be lost for
> > 
> > for part or all of the re-entry. Communication
> > 
> > delay is 14 minutes for the signal to reach earth from
> Mars, so when we get the signal
> > 
> > that re-entry is beginning, the spacecraft's fate will
> have already happened 7 minutes
> > 
> > prior.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > The landing results may be known immediately at
> landing, or delayed up to three
> > 
> > days if communication is lost.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Lee
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > --
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > "Between subtle shading and the absence of light lies
> the nuance of iqlusion..." - Kryptos
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Lee Marzke, lee@marzke.net http://marzke.net/lee/
> > 
> > IT Consultant, VMware, VCenter, SAN storage,
> infrastructure, SW CM
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >
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