NASA's 'Spirit'

[peter channon]

Where can we get the live feeds of NASA's Spirit lander?
Isnt it due to touch down on the red planet some time early tomorrow?
Any live TV stuff or webcasts?

Cheers Guys
Pete

[yaohua2000]

Where can we get the live feeds of NASA's Spirit lander?
Isnt it due to touch down on the red planet some time early tomorrow?
Any live TV stuff or webcasts?

Cheers Guys
Pete

NASA TV?

[yaohua2000]

It seems Spirit is now travelling toward "inner" Mars orbit, that means when it reaches the position above the landing site and ready to enter Martian atmosphere, it is between Mars and Sun. Mars rotatoes from west to east, so when Spirit is entering Mars atmosphere, it is travelling toward same direction to Mars rotation's. We say Martian atmosphere is too thin to slowdown the spacecraft enough. But if we put the spacecraft into the atmosphere in the reverse direction to the atmosphere's, the relative velocity between Spirit and Martian atmosphere is much higher and the atmosphere's slowdown is much effective. People on the earth always lift rocket off from west to east is for the same reason. So why do we put the spacecraft into Martian atmosphere in the same direction to the atmosphere other than the reverse direction?

[Crimson]

The landing time is supposed to be 11:35 pm tonight (Saturday night) Eastern Time, 10:35 pm Central Time, 9:35 pm Mountain Time, and 8:35 pm Pacific Time.

[ToSeek]

You can access NASA TV at:

http://www.nasa.gov/ram/35037main_portal.ram

[semi-sentient]

Nice! Is it just a video feed or will they have an announcer as we wait for the first signals?

BTW, can you imagine the amount anxiety floating around in that room? 8-[

[Amadeus]

Pictures just in..... they have found a strange metallic object.......

















oh wait.... it's Beagle :lol:

If you dont laugh you'll cry....I wish that was us (the Brits) right now :cry:

[sarongsong]

The landing time is supposed to be 11:35 pm tonight (Saturday night) Eastern Time---Crimson
Meanwhile:
"...Tacked onto a rear panel of the robotic rover that is hurtling toward Mars today is one of astronomy's oldest instruments, a sundial, featuring...the Hawaiian word "hokuula," or "red star."...something as simple as just a stick and a shadow will tell you where and when you are in the world----or on Mars...A duplicate sundial is mounted on the rover's twin, Opportunity..."
http://starbulletin.com/2004/01/03/news/
http://starbulletin.com/2004/01/03/news/art6a.jpg

[semi-sentient]

Apparently there will be sound! They just showed a nice animation of Spirit entering the atmosphere, deploying its parachute and airbags, then bouncing around until it finally stopped, at which point the rover came out and started "cruising the strip."

[Amadeus]

I am so stoked here! It's 3 in the morning here I have a bottle of name brand cola and a packet of smokes. This is my first time watching nasa TV and I'am realy glad I got broadband :lol:

[sarongsong]

Here's a free concert until the Martian festivities begin:
"...LIVE ONLINE SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2004, 9:00 p.m. (EST)
Willie Nelson and Friends Featuring Bonnie Raitt, Michael McDonald, Pat Simmons of the Doobie Brothers, Tim Reynolds, Michelle Shocked, Tish Hinojosa..."
http://www.kucinich.us/

[Dickenmeyer]

"...Tacked onto a rear panel of the robotic rover that is hurtling toward Mars today is one of astronomy's oldest instruments, a sundial, featuring......A duplicate sundial is mounted on the rover's twin, Opportunity..."
http://starbulletin.com/2004/01/03/news/
http://starbulletin.com/2004/01/03/news/art6a.jpg

I saw Bill Nye talking about the rovers' sundials on TechTV a few weeks ago, the sundial is apparently a camera calibration device and Bill and some folks at the Planetary Society came up with the idea of turning them into sundials and streaming the feed from Mars so people could build their own sundials all over the world and link them in by webcam. They're calling it "Two Worlds, One Sun" or something like that. [Edit: Duh, it's right there printed on the sundial] I haven't been over to the PS website to check it out yet but I might after the rovers touchdown. He talked about the tradition of inscribing proverbs on sundials too and gave some examples, my favorite of which was from a French sundial: "Every hour hurts, but the last one kills"

[MKR]

You can access NASA TV at:

http://www.nasa.gov/ram/35037main_portal.ram

Argh, i hate realplayer. I could barely make out anything, or hear what they were saying. If CNN hadn't deemed it important, i doubt i would have been able to see it.

What ever happened to their WMP stream? They have it listed, but the site it links to says it can't find the page.