NASA Mars Landing Rover -- Spirit

[geo]

Well folks, although Beagle 2 didn't make it on Mars. We are so lucky that we have another one landing on Mars tonight, that is Spirit, at 8:35 pm PST. You can watch live coverage from NASA TV:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html
or
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html

Let's pray for a successful landing for Spirit

P.S Opportunity lands on Jan 24 9:05pm PST

[MissInformation]

These two are especially important because they are Dave Lavery's missions, so keep your fingers crossed for this dream of his to come true!

Heidi

<========>
The moment of enlightenment is when a person's dreams of possibilities become images of probabilities. -Vic Braden

[geo]

Originally Posted by MissInformation

These two are especially important because they are Dave Lavery's missions, so keep your fingers crossed for this dream of his to come true!

Heidi

<========>
The moment of enlightenment is when a person's dreams of possibilities become images of probabilities. -Vic Braden

YES, very important

[Wetzel]

Spirit has landed!

Not only that, it has landed right side up and in one piece!

I will post if anything else significant happens.

Wetzel
~~~~~~~~~
Back to the TV

[Madison]

Originally Posted by Wetzel

Spirit has landed!

Not only that, it has landed right side up and in one piece!

I will post if anything else significant happens.

Wetzel
~~~~~~~~~
Back to the TV

Congratulations Dave Congratulations, NASA

I'm so happy.

[MissInformation]

Hey, Dave wasn't wearing a Hawaiian print shirt...

I can't even begin to imagine the tension levels in that room as they waited for the signal... eek!

Heidi

[Wetzel]

The local ABC affilate did a story about the landing, and came and interviewed us because we were watching as a group and Dave our mentor is out there now. So we were on the 11o'clock news. They soundbyted me and made me sound stupid. "We're going to Mars, and its another planet" Hurray for cutting things outta the middle of sentences.

Anywho, it landed, and there is a press conference to be held in the next 30 minutes or so. We have the landing sequence taped, and perhaps it could be digitized if anyone is really interested.

Clark, Dave is there and we have seen him. Also, we offered him 14 dozen Krispy Kremes to do a jig on tv. We have yet, however to see him jig. There is also a psudo-Dave running around taking alot of pictures. He appears asian and is wearing a green shirt. Dave is in a white shirt and tie.

Wetzel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spirit is alive and well!

[patrickrd]

I just watched NASA TV for the last hour and half... This was incredible! There are so many different systems that have to work together perfectly.

I remember very well back in June I watched the live feed of the Spirit launch with all the Cornell University researchers who worked on the rover. I still remember the excitement in their eyes when the takeoff executed successfully. To see it land successfully, it is nothing short of amazing. This makes me want to throw aside any other post-graduation plans I was thinking of, and aim for nothing else but becoming a NASA engineer.

Congratulations to all those at NASA who worked on this project! Hopefully the mission will continue to be successful and that Opportunity will be equally successful.

[sanddrag]

Here's the webcast for those who didn't know http://137.78.25.101:554/ramgen/encoder/live.rm I got it from Kickoff Central Thanks Nate Smith!

One of our engineers Chris Voorhees is there right now. He designed the wheels that are on the rover. He showed me on his JPL-provided laptop the CAD file he made of the wheel a few months ago. It's so cool to know I worked hand-in-hand with this guy building our FIRST robot. Way Cool.

[geo]

looks like you guys got the info first this time

Good job Spirit

[Kevin Watson]

I just got back from flight ops where it's just crazy. Everyone is running off for a press conference, which I imagine will be show live on CNN.

-Kevin

[GregT]

I like anything that is designed to bounce for up to 10 minutes. Expecially if it lands right side up




(good job NASA!)

[Wetzel]

I've found a site that has text updates on the status of the MER.
http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html

Hey sanddrag, those wheels also make funny looking hats. (Or maybe its just me that looks funny, but what ya gonna do?)

By the way, that is a full size copy of the actual wheel that is now on Mars.


Wetzel
~~~~~~~~~~
We're baaaacck....

[sanddrag]

That's crazy, do you know how much those things cost each!?!? Like over $4000. Where was that pic taken?

Here's a nice pic of one

[sanddrag]

Images are reported to come in 10 mins!