| Bob Schwier on 8 Aug 2012 23:36:30 -0700 |
[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]
| 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 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > > > > Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org > > > > Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce > > > > General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > > > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > > > > Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- > http://www.phillylinux.org > > > > Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce > > > > General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > > > > > > > > -----Inline Attachment Follows----- > > > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > > Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- > http://www.phillylinux.org > > Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce > > General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > > Philadelphia Linux Users Group > -- http://www.phillylinux.org > > Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce > > General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > > > -----Inline Attachment Follows----- > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > Philadelphia Linux Users Group > -- http://www.phillylinux.org > Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce > General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > ___________________________________________________________________________ Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug