Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Spirit to Remain on Mars


No doubt you recall NASA's "Spirit" and "Opportunity" rovers launched to Mars 6 years ago. And you may recall that hardy little Spirit recently got caught in a sand trap, where it remains after several months of trying to free it.

The information we've received about the red planet is unlike anything we've ever discovered. Now NASA must decide what Spirit is capable of, sitting in the sand.
A wonderful decision: Spirit will become a permanent stationary platform and continue conducting new scientific experiments. But this only if it survives the Martian winter.

A hardy 'good luck' to the "Spirit" of our Martian exploration!

16 comments:

Remo said...

It's difficult to imagine the amazing desolation surrounding the rovers on that planet. Truly a triumph of technology.

Big Mark 243 said...

This makes me think of a little cartoon I saw about the two hardy rovers. It is cute and I saw it on 'Super News', a show on the Current network (check local cable and satellite providers for network avaliablility!).

I wonder what future colonizers will make of the data that Spirit will collect. Will it be like 'V'ger' from the first Star Trek movie? Who knows... but I wish I would be around to find out!

Shelly Rayedeane said...

It will be returning someday.

That's just what they are announcing publicly right now.

The media never gets the entire story, until after the fact, for a reason.

As above, so below.

There are those who look with their eyes and see nothing.

True wisdom comes with understanding how to walk by faith and not by sight alone.

Cathy said...

Hey Shelly, cool out man. We got this far on mostly faith anyway. Faith in science, faith in things unseen.

DB said...

I give an Amen to that. So it got stuck did it? Too bad. But it's amazing it got there in one piece in the first place. Maybe a decade from now human hands will be the ones to unstick it. Wouldn't that be interesting?

DB

GYPSYWOMAN said...

since earliest childhood i wanted to be one of the first to colonize mars - it above all other planets captured my own spirit then and continues to keep me there -

Cathy said...

DB: Can you imagine it? Humans on the surface in self-contained suits, pulling this heroic techno-miracle out of the Martian sand. Yet something tells me they'll keep it where it is (guess why $$)
GYPSYWOMAN: I'd love hearing about this long-held dream, have you ever conjured what Martian life would've looked like many millions of yrs ago? Bacterial? Fungal? Or something more esoteric!!! Post on it!

Ben said...

It's a funny thing. For that no-particular-reason a song sometimes gets into your head, only yesterday I was thinking about "Fly Me to the Moon," and dwelling too long on the lyric, "Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars." And it actually made me a little sad, because it brought to the fore that although someday someone will, for me it is forever to be an unknown.

I loved your thought on faith, Cathy. (No surprise there. I love your fine thoughts on most things.) Whether looked at Biblically ("In Your light we will see light" Ps 36:9) or scientifically (using instruments that read light wavelengths beyond the visible spectrum to "see" what our eyes can't), it's all about being willing to go beyond what we "know." As they say in Hollywood, "Believe nothing you hear or read, and half of what you see."

Keep on making thinking a beautiful thing...
Ben
http://ben-better-left-unsaid.blogspot.com/

Jimmy's Journal said...

I wonder what any future visitors might think if they were to see it?

Jimmy

Martha said...

Have I told you lately that I think you are just so cool Cathy? I know people don't say "cool" anymore, but I do and I think you can relate to that :-)

Anonymous said...

Did you see this?

http://xkcd.com/695/

Diane J Standiford said...

My mind ponders who or what might find it there...next.

natalie said...

dear Gathy
wow interesting..does that mean it can't move anymore?
Great entry thanks
hugs
natalie

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Old Knudsen said...

It lasted 5 years longer than it should have which shows it didn't have Microsoft windows on it.

Herrad said...

Hi Cathy,
Came by to say hello, hope the new week will be pleasant for you.
Love,
Herrad