Will Phoenix Spacecraft Make it to Mars? [UPDATE: Yes!]

By: Lowell
Published On: 5/25/2008 7:44:50 PM

According to NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander blog:

Phoenix is scheduled to touch down on the northern icy plains of Mars on May 25. NASA TV will cover landing events. Confirmation of the landing could come as early as 7:53 p.m. EDT (4:53 p.m. PDT). Follow along on this blog during landing, or visit www.nasa.gov/phoenix for landing and mission updates.

The New York Times reports:

Mission managers decided against a small tweak of the trajectory to move farther from a "a small, rather diffuse rock pile" within the targeted landing area. However, there was only a 1 percent chance of landing on the rock pile.

Please use this as an open thread to discuss the Phoenix, Mars, space exploration, whether you prefer Kirk or Picard, etc. :)

UPDATE 7:58 pm: The Phoenix has landed, the folks at NASA are celebrating!

Comments



Phoenix schedule (Lowell - 5/25/2008 7:45:25 PM)


Picard (DanG - 5/25/2008 7:50:56 PM)
You asked Kirk or Picard.  My answer is Picard.


I've got to agree with you there. (Lowell - 5/25/2008 7:52:42 PM)
OK, what about Sisko vs. Janeway? :)


Janeway (DanG - 5/25/2008 8:32:43 PM)
Nothing against Sisko, I just don't like DS9.  And Voyager was awesome.  Went back to the Trek basics.


I'm the opposite on that one (Lowell - 5/25/2008 9:01:53 PM)
Never really liked Voyager (reminded me in a bad way of Lost in Space), loved DS9 (probably the political intrigue).


I liked the Federation at War (DanG - 5/25/2008 9:43:12 PM)
The rest was obnoxious.  I've always wanted to see the Utopian Federation go a bit to the Dark side in war.  If they do another series, that's what they should do.  Do as TNG did; take a jump forward 100 years.  Show the Federation on the verge of collapse, and war raging against Alpha Quadrant.

Yeah, I loved Trek as a kid.  Especially TNG.  So sue me.



Kirk was mas macho (Hiker Joe - 5/25/2008 8:33:23 PM)
The real thing.

Picard? A supposed Frenchman with a decidedly British accent? I think not.



BLASPHEMY! (DanG - 5/25/2008 8:59:52 PM)
Kirk was a sexist blowhard.  Picard was the REAL captain: the true example of the how prime directive, and the Federation in general, is utopian.

Macho doesn't mean better, pal.  ; )



But he was a (Hiker Joe - 5/25/2008 9:25:31 PM)
Frenchman with a British accent! That's as hokey (no offense VA Tech alumni) as Lost in Space!

Of course, my opinion on this issue has been moderated since I found out that my supposed German ancestors were actually French.

There go all the French jokes. Well, I still tell them, but with much less gusto.



I have tons of French jokes (DanG - 5/25/2008 9:46:00 PM)
Picard is still the man.


Isn't the term (Hiker Joe - 5/25/2008 10:06:18 PM)
"French joke" redundant?


Buh dum bum! (DanG - 5/25/2008 10:28:18 PM)


Space Exploration... (legacyofmarshall - 5/25/2008 9:20:31 PM)
Apparently not as popular as Star Trek around here, but as an avid follower of NASA and rocketry and stuff, I'd like to say what is of most interest to us here is a different MARS.

the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.  It's on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and one of only a handful of "private" (non-NASA or DoD) spaceports in the United States.  Each year only about two rockets are launched from there.  Each is cool to see, but a company based in Dulles called Orbital hopes that maybe they're new line of rockets, tentatively called "Taurus II" will launch several times more annually.

For some reason Boeing is discontinuing Delta II, their most popular launch vehicle, and Orbital is essentially replacing it.

This will be a big boon to the economy of the most rural of rural Virginia.  With all luck they will not only launch but assemble the rockets there, bringing 20-30 high-paying jobs for engineers with postgraduate degrees and several dozen assembly line posts to the area.

And it's Picard for me.  I think he's just awesome.  My girlfriend claims he's hotter too.