MARS, BITCH.

I'll have a sciencegasm too, but when I try to be more objective, mars is kinda boring to look at. I realize if you shot something to Olympus Mons it'd probably look like a big dull dome, but how about the Valles Marineris? They should just take a 2.5 billion dollar crapshoot and aim a rover right at the edge of the Valles Marineris (or a few kilometers away). I'm sure the resulting images would give even non-science-nerds big sweatpants boners...

  On 8/10/2012 at 5:41 AM, lumpenprol said:

I'll have a sciencegasm too, but when I try to be more objective, mars is kinda boring to look at. I realize if you shot something to Olympus Mons it'd probably look like a big dull dome, but how about the Valles Marineris? They should just take a 2.5 billion dollar crapshoot and aim a rover right at the edge of the Valles Marineris (or a few kilometers away). I'm sure the resulting images would give even non-science-nerds big sweatpants boners...

the problem is landing something there. landing something on a big flat plain with a high margin of error that still results in success = easy landing. landing something on the edge of a sharpish-ass cliff where some crosswinds that you haven't anticipated sends your probe plummeting into the depths = hard x 9000.

  On 8/10/2012 at 5:41 AM, lumpenprol said:

I'll have a sciencegasm too, but when I try to be more objective, mars is kinda boring to look at. I realize if you shot something to Olympus Mons it'd probably look like a big dull dome, but how about the Valles Marineris? They should just take a 2.5 billion dollar crapshoot and aim a rover right at the edge of the Valles Marineris (or a few kilometers away). I'm sure the resulting images would give even non-science-nerds big sweatpants boners...

I kind of agree that Mars is boring after a few pictures. The prospect of finding about the history of Mars is way more interesting.

the sheer lack of wonder about the fact that we have a CAR ON ANOTHER PLANET that can DO STUFF THAT WE TELL IT TO and TAKE PICTURES makes me extremely pissed off.

  On 8/10/2012 at 6:13 AM, kaini said:

the sheer lack of wonder about the fact that we have a CAR ON ANOTHER PLANET that can DO STUFF THAT WE TELL IT TO and TAKE PICTURES makes me extremely pissed off.

People on the moon is more impressive to me.

  On 8/10/2012 at 6:13 AM, kaini said:

the sheer lack of wonder about the fact that we have a CAR ON ANOTHER PLANET that can DO STUFF THAT WE TELL IT TO and TAKE PICTURES makes me extremely pissed off.

  On 8/10/2012 at 6:13 AM, kaini said:

the sheer lack of wonder about the fact that we have a CAR ON ANOTHER PLANET that can DO STUFF THAT WE TELL IT TO and TAKE PICTURES makes me extremely pissed off.

quiet, queerboat. When spirit and opportunity first started sending back those high-res photos, I painstakingly printed them out on my home inkjet printer, collaged them together, and sent them to my mom in the mail. She was all "wtf?"

But now I admit, I've got a bit of mars fatigue. I wanna see some cool cliffs or precipices or chunks of ice.

*cues Left Side Drive by BoC*

it'd be so cool if the rover was driving around out there and all of a sudden came across a single, solitary joshua tree growing in the middle of nowhere.

And then bono hiding behind it.

lol, was just gonna say, that'd be cool aside from the fact that bono would further convince himself he is the son of god.

"everytime I clap someone dies of AIDS"

*clap..... clap.....clap......clap......"

"stop clapping asshole!"

  On 8/9/2012 at 6:09 PM, kaini said:

  On 8/9/2012 at 5:37 PM, abusivegeorge said:

With regards to the photo colour queries: It's not in colour, due to it requiring less bandwidth and them needing to get images as soon as they could before the sunset.

 

not quite. the original images were in b/w because they were taken using the hazard avoidance cameras, which are low-resolution and b/w, but could be used immediately upon landing. the other cameras, which needed to be deployed before use, are all 1600x1200 true colour for still images, or 1280x720 true colour for 10fps video.

Ah ok, kool :)!

  On 8/10/2012 at 4:29 AM, kaini said:

  On 8/10/2012 at 4:20 AM, Blanket Fort Collapse said:

  On 8/9/2012 at 5:02 PM, jules said:

mars panorama

 

 

http://www.panoramas...eley-haven.html

 

that's an earlier rover... prepare to drool

 

 

now. we're going to get EVEN BETTER IMAGES THAN THIS.

Hey, can you explain what I'm seeing the 4th and last image? It looks like a huge man erected base, which of course it isn't. Did that whole place deploy mechanically? Or am I seeing ti completely wrong?

Are you reffering to the tracks left by the rover?

no, he's referring to the ramp-flower-beach-ball thing that the rover drives off of.

It's a perspective thing, abusive. Ever seen how they unwrap our earth on a flat plane map, the way Antarctica and Greenland get stretched out? Same idea. Since the shot is a panorama full 360, both poles (top and bottom) get extremely distorted, because you're laying a sphere out into a flat image.

Edit: actually it may not even show the base, but only the rover itself. It's really distorted, but still recognizable. Parallax yo.

  On 8/10/2012 at 8:21 AM, abusivegeorge said:

  On 8/10/2012 at 4:29 AM, kaini said:

  On 8/10/2012 at 4:20 AM, Blanket Fort Collapse said:

  On 8/9/2012 at 5:02 PM, jules said:

mars panorama

 

 

http://www.panoramas...eley-haven.html

 

that's an earlier rover... prepare to drool

 

 

now. we're going to get EVEN BETTER IMAGES THAN THIS.

 

Hey, can you explain what I'm seeing the 4th and last image? It looks like a huge man erected base, which of course it isn't. Did that whole place deploy mechanically? Or am I seeing ti completely wrong?

it's panoramic - you're seeing the rover itself, that the camera is mounted on, in full 360degrees (and its tracks in the last one).

Plate tectonics bitches http://www.marstoday.com/news/viewpr.rss.html?pid=38120

how lucky we are to live in this time. BITCH.

I'm listening to the DSotM, BITCH

  On 8/10/2012 at 8:34 AM, lumpenprol said:

no, he's referring to the ramp-flower-beach-ball thing that the rover drives off of.

 

It's a perspective thing, abusive. Ever seen how they unwrap our earth on a flat plane map, the way Antarctica and Greenland get stretched out? Same idea. Since the shot is a panorama full 360, both poles (top and bottom) get extremely distorted, because you're laying a sphere out into a flat image.

 

Edit: actually it may not even show the base, but only the rover itself. It's really distorted, but still recognizable. Parallax yo.

  On 8/10/2012 at 8:38 AM, kaini said:

  On 8/10/2012 at 8:21 AM, abusivegeorge said:

  On 8/10/2012 at 4:29 AM, kaini said:

  On 8/10/2012 at 4:20 AM, Blanket Fort Collapse said:

  On 8/9/2012 at 5:02 PM, jules said:

mars panorama

 

 

http://www.panoramas...eley-haven.html

 

that's an earlier rover... prepare to drool

 

 

now. we're going to get EVEN BETTER IMAGES THAN THIS.

 

Hey, can you explain what I'm seeing the 4th and last image? It looks like a huge man erected base, which of course it isn't. Did that whole place deploy mechanically? Or am I seeing ti completely wrong?

 

it's panoramic - you're seeing the rover itself, that the camera is mounted on, in full 360degrees (and its tracks in the last one).

Wow that's awesome! Cheerz guys.

  On 8/10/2012 at 2:38 AM, kaini said:

  On 8/10/2012 at 1:21 AM, zazen said:

 

IDM

fucking amazing

  On 8/10/2012 at 4:20 AM, Blanket Fort Collapse said:

UHh, what's so cool about that black and white poorly combined photo besides the pointy mountains?

I had fun thinking about this so I'll give my interpretation:

Briefly: The photo sums up the engineering and the mindfuck in one.

The black-and-white palette emphasises the science-engineering aspect - the photo is black and white because its from an operational camera that only needs to be in black and white. Its technical shit yo, not pretty pics for the taxpayers.

The missing sections emphasise this. And remind us that this picture is stitched together from smaller pictures, and every pixel has been transmitted 350 million miles across our solar system.

The massive complexity of the robot in the foreground versus the barren plain beyond emphasise just how out of place this thing is. Its hugely complicated and we managed to get it there safely. Or, more accurately, it managed to get itself there safely. Its on Mars. Its got thousands of moving parts and its built to work in a massively inhospitable environment over a long time period.

The glimpse of mountains (I think its actually the crater rim) in the background represent the exploring that this thing is going to do, the potential of its mission. Its got nuclear batteries and they're hoping it will keep rolling for a decade or more. Its going to go over and check that shit out.

I like the colour landscapes too (and we'll be getting them) but the black and white technical-ness of this pic is quite poetic.

Here's a 360 degree panorama from the same photos:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443991704577579652958963584.html?mod=e2tw

wow that was beautiful zazen

im listening to regis now and that pic with the techno aggressiveness is melting my mind