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The Planetary Society Weblog
Chat Log
12:57 badd53 : QUESTION: Are there any plans for Cassini to get REAL close to
the rings, obviously high-risk, so maybe towards the end of the last extended
mission.
12:57 elakdawalla : Hi all, just getting organized here
12:57 elakdawalla : Remember to preface any questions you actually want me to
see with QUESTION:
12:58 elakdawalla : My hardworking question wrangler Doug Ellison will copy them
over to a private line so I can spot them more easily
01:00 hendric : Welcome doug! :)
01:00 djellison : So people don't get confused - this is me...
01:01 marslive : and so is this
01:01 AdrianusV : ah... it's you
01:01 hendric : Why the multiple personalities?
01:01 marslive : This me does question wrangling on my desktop
01:01 djellison : This one watches it, and does the co-host if we do it.
01:02 CargoCult : We are all Doug Ellison here.
01:02 AdrianusV : Does your mom participate in the chat?
01:02 elakdawalla : Yes, if by "participate" you mean "make sure
the baby doesn't hassle me"
01:02 badd53 : you can make "Remember to Record" as part of your ustream
channel name
01:03 dragonsyoung : thats half the battle won right there
01:03 elakdawalla : ok guess we'll get started, here we go...
01:03 AdrianusV : right, let's start :-)
01:04 hendric : great
01:04 AdrianusV : OK
01:04 badd53 : super
01:04 dragonsyoung : good :)
01:04 seperry : sounds fine
01:04 AdrianusV : QUESTION: Cassini's primary mission ended and now the equinox
mission is started. What are the differences between the two missions?
01:05 badd53 : QUESTION: Are there any plans for Cassini to get REAL close to
the rings, obviously high-risk, so maybe towards the end of the last extended
mission.
01:05 Timothy_Reed : QUESTION: You noted in your weekly solar system update the
HiRISE image of impact craters caused by an object that had broken up. It's pretty
clear that's the case rather than secondary ejecta because of the overlapping
nature of the craters. How often are these found on Mars, what is the likelyhood
01:05 Timothy_Reed : QUESTION:that the thin Martian atmosphere caused it(rather
than the object already being a loose cluster before it entered the atmosphere?
Can info be deduced about the object (velocity, composition) from analysis of
how it would have interacted with the atmosphere?
01:06 AdrianusV : wow, two big questions...
01:06 Timothy_Reed : One BIG question.
01:06 Kempion : nothing a hammer can't fix
01:07 marslive : I may re-write that Q so Emily can read it before we're finished
:)
01:07 hendric : QUESTION: Has the TEGA team simulated the failures here on Earth?
01:08 Joehaber1 : QUESTION: Can the arm try to push or pull the doors on tega?
01:08 Kempion : probably, but you can only plan for so many issues
01:08 AdrianusV : aren't there spare circuits?
01:08 Kempion : sure, all you need is an astronaut THERE to swap out the parts
:p
01:08 hendric : QUESTION: Can the robotic arm be seem by HiRise? Could we see
a picture of it "waving" back at MRO?
01:09 nick601 : it might be possible to image the shadow of it perhaps
01:09 hendric : w00t! UMSF FTW!
01:09 slinted : thanks to James :)
01:09 jamescanvin : Working on it as we speak :)
01:09 dragonsyoung : woot
01:09 hendric : nick601: didn't we see the pancam mast on the MERs?
01:09 nick601 : we definitely saw the shadow :)
01:10 Timothy_Reed : hendric> Yes, it can.
01:10 Kempion : QUESTION: Where are the alien bodies being stored?
01:10 Kempion : thats about all I have lol
01:10 hendric : kempion: We are all aliens! :)
01:10 Kempion : Im not... Im the last human
01:10 Kempion : or the first, depending on perspective
01:11 Kempion : is this phoenix-only time?
01:11 dragonsyoung : QUESTION: Moon with Rings? i have seen little about it.
01:11 nick601 : QUESTION: New Horizons is currently en route to Pluto, but what
is likely to be the next mission to the Outer Solar System? (I remember reading
about JIMO some years ago)
01:11 marslive : Which moon in particular Dragonsyoung?
01:12 dragonsyoung : Rhea
01:13 marslive : Consider it in the question Q
01:13 AdrianusV : Discover: hé, that's Phil's magazine. :-)
01:13 Joehaber1 : QUESTION: Can they use the radar on Cassini to probe Enceledus
for underground water table?
01:14 hendric : http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=5008
01:14 puppyfarts : Does Emily worjk for nasa?
01:14 hendric : Info on Rhea's "rings"
01:14 AdrianusV : mily, thanks for your answer!
01:15 hendric : no, for the Planetary Society
01:15 marslive : No, Puppy, Emily works at The Planetary Society ( www.planetary.org/blog
)
01:16 bierdopjeee : evening!
01:16 hendric : QUESTION: Have any planetary spacecraft ever been placed in a
Clarke orbit around their primary body?
01:16 marslive : Oo - that's a good one.
01:16 nick601 : good question JoeH
01:16 AdrianusV : what's an Clarke orbit?
01:16 hendric : geosynchronous orbit
01:16 marslive : On earth - Geostationary - it appears to 'hover' by having an
orbit the same length as a day
01:17 AdrianusV : OK, thnx
01:17 marslive : It's what your satellite TV dish is pointing at
01:17 TheChemist : hi to the UMSF crew !
01:17 surreyguy : I would think it's OK to call it 'geostationary' even when
it's round another body.
01:17 nick601 : about 36,000 km up if I remember correctly
01:18 hendric : I prefer Clarke orbit, as an honor to A C Clarke.
01:19 E-MC2 : that kind of orbit isn't worth for science
01:19 marslive : Well - depends what science you want to do :)
01:19 nick601 : indeed
01:19 marslive : It's very good for met. obs on earth :)
01:19 Joehaber1 : Question: what ya think about a mission to the trojan asteroids
of Jupiter using ion propulsion.It would be an ideal use of ion Propulsion.
01:20 surreyguy : I would think a stationary orbit around the sun (a month, roughly)
would be good for sunspots, CMEs etc.
01:20 slinted : QUESTION: Any thoughts (either yours, or the Phoenix team) on
why the icy layer at Snow White looks different than the icy layer at Dodo?
01:20 hendric : slinted: My guess would be sun angle, since we can't really move
around them.
01:20 Timothy_Reed : QUESTION: With all the differences in visible stratification
that the closeups of Cape Verde show, has anyone yet attempted a stab at the
geological (well, areological) time scales involved? Or is there just no context
and insufficient knowledge of sedimentation and erosion rates?
01:22 nick601 : I guess these rings aren't very optically dense then ;)
01:22 SonicRiderZG8 : Off Topic(Sorry) Thats a good mic!
01:22 AdrianusV : the same they use at Houston control?
01:24 E-MC2 : QUESTION: why ice sublimates when exposed to martian atmosphere,
but not when hided below soil dirt? (temperature and presure conditions are almost
the same)
01:24 hendric : yes, but the partial pressure of water is not.
01:24 CargoCult : QUESTION: If Cassini does do the incredibly-close-approach
to Saturn orbit, is it worth pointing the radar at Saturn itself?
01:25 hendric : ie, the water can't sublimate in dirt because the water vapor
isn't being blown away.
01:26 AdrianusV : but the ice sublimated in a couple of day's, not instantaneously.
Isn's that strange?
01:26 E-MC2 : even when dirt is porous?
01:27 hendric : question: HAve any planetary spacecraft been placed in geosynchronous
orbit?
01:28 hendric : AV: No, why would you expect it to be instantaneously?
01:28 CargoCult : (Thanks!)
01:28 AdrianusV : as soon as the ice is uncovered I think it will sublomate.
Why does is take several day's?
01:29 LAGtv : Question: Do you think we REALLY landed on the moon?
01:29 hendric : AV: It does start immediately, but only a few microns a day I
believe. Mars is very cold, well below zero.
01:30 MirCat : The question is LAAGtv did you ever leave it? hehe sorry had too
01:30 hendric : Think of "freezer burn", it's a similar effect. Place
an icecube in your freezer, and see how long it takes to disappear.
01:30 AdrianusV : OK, thnx Hendric
01:30 surreyguy : Interesting the gradual divergence of science and visual photography...
01:30 marslive : Given that Ice one is very very complex - I'll leave it in the
chat and not pass it on.
01:31 Joehaber1 : plutonium is the problem with the outer mission, its running
out
01:31 MirCat : Congress critters hehe
01:31 Kempion : congress critters?
01:31 Kempion : lol
01:32 nick601 : the plutonium RTGs on the voyagers are still providing juice
(enough to keep limited instrumentation running until 2020 I believe)
01:32 AdrianusV : QUESTION: The Messenger discovered past volcanic activities
on Mercury. Is it possible that Mercury is still active?
01:32 marslive : Running out on Earth....we don't have enough of it :)
01:32 nick601 : ah :)
01:33 antonio_colima : helowwwww
01:33 antonio_colima : how are you
01:33 slinted : great answer, thanks Emily
01:33 AdrianusV : hi
01:33 CargoCult : QUESTION: Is the ice below Phoenix 'solid' ice, containing
relatively little else, or more like soil saturated with frozen water?
01:33 Joehaber1 : its a special plutonium. we actually get it from Russia
01:33 antonio_colima : i`m antonio
01:33 antonio_colima : i`m from mexico
01:33 marslive : Yeah - ITAR works 'inbound' :)
01:33 Timothy_Reed : QUESTION: Has the RAT ever ground away at one of these layered
types of Mars rocks? Even though Opportunity's RAT is in pretty poor condition,
is there any talk of trying to grind a cross-sectional spot in one of the rocks
that's tumbled out of the Cape Verde wall?
01:33 antonio_colima : nice to me u!
01:33 badd53 : hola
01:34 Kempion : proton resonance :D
01:34 hendric : antonio: Welcome to the chat. Ask emily a space question by prefacing
it with QUESTION:
01:35 AdrianusV : QUESTION: more than 300 exoplanets are discovered. What do
you think of a exo-Planetary Society?
01:35 MirCat : Ares Go Bragh!
01:36 badd53 : but it works!
01:36 badd53 : happens all the time
01:36 bierdopjeee-1 : nice, glad I found this
01:36 slinted : AdrianusV, on the rates of ice sublimation at Mars-like conditions:
http://xrl.us/kkgjb
01:37 nick601 : QUESTION: I recently read that the Venera 13 and 14 probes (launched
by the Soviet Union to Venus in the early 80s) carried microphones. Is this acoustic
data in the public domain?
01:37 AdrianusV : Hé slinted, thanx! :-)
01:38 dotdk : I wonder what is in the box behind Emily :-P
01:38 Timothy_Reed : Something in the public domain from the '80s Soviet Union?
Really? I don't think so!
01:38 marslive : James's
latest efforts with Cape Verde -
01:38 tanman85 : ur so freakin hottt
01:38 nick601 : timothy - glasnost comrade!
01:39 AdrianusV : presents in the box for us?
01:39 badd53 : I heard that audio once, it went like this... HissssssssssssShhhhhShhhhhissssss...
01:39 MirCat : When the Soviet Union shifted to Russia a lot of info made it's
way out into the world, still more was lost during the party. Litterally papers
flying
01:40 nick601 : some of the Mars 6 surface data made its way into the outside
world relatively recently
01:40 marslive : GIVE ME QUESTIONS....
01:40 Timothy_Reed : QUESTION: When operations on Mars began, did the MER Team
have a betting pool on when each rover would stop operating? And are they now
no longer laughing at the guy who flippantly bet on "Sol 2000"?
01:40 hendric : #include <ESA_data_release_policy_thread.h>
01:41 dotdk : SOL 2000 will be around when MSL launches :-P
01:41 surreyguy : QUESTION: Do we know why Titan's lakes don't silt up?
01:42 nick601 : perhaps they do!
01:42 MirCat : Is there any work being done with private firms (ie Virgin) sending
out their own probes?
01:42 surreyguy : In that case how are new lakes formed?
01:42 hendric : My money is on the MERs still being around when MSL touches Mars.
01:42 marslive : Mine as well
01:42 badd53 : QUESTION: could we tera-form Mars or some moon using intentional
asteroid/comet impacts? how would we move them?
01:42 MirCat : that's dramatic
01:43 Timothy_Reed : badd53> With lots and lots and lots and lots of money,
so, no we won't.
01:44 tanman85 : IMM BACKK
01:44 hendric : marslive: The real question would be, would MSL be outlasted
by the MERs?
01:45 Joehaber1 : QUESTION: Did they ever find the apollo Films that were missing
a few months ago?
01:45 MirCat : any plan to sent something like repair bots to mars to extend
the life of rovers?
01:45 tanman85 : how much do rovers cost
01:45 tanman85 : ????
01:45 marslive : Why send something to fix them...just send something new :)
01:45 Timothy_Reed : QUESTION: Can you give a rundown on the status of projects
that The Planetary Society has in development? I've just started reading about
COSMOS-2, but what is its status and what about other less well known projects
(or ones that are being brainstormed but not yet formally in the plan)?
01:45 MirCat : or upgrade maybe?
01:46 marslive : Spirit and Opportunity, combined, up to the the end of the Primary
mission - was about $850.
01:46 hendric : QUESTION: I keep hearing about how critical good seismographic
data would be on Mars, yet it hasn't been a priority. Why is that?
01:46 Kempion : mighty mouse could throw comets at Mars
01:46 marslive : They cost about $20m/year to run them now.
01:46 MirCat : *whistle*
01:46 nick601 : $20m is the DSN cost?
01:46 badd53 : Like Total Recall?
01:46 tanman85 : QUESTION: HOW MUCH DO ROVERS COST??????????
01:46 dragonsyoung : green houses :)
01:46 marslive : DSN, the scientists and engineers, maintaining software and
testing facilities.
01:47 MirCat : well I gotta go (appointment). I'll be visting the website from
now on
01:47 tanman85 : how much do rovers cost
01:47 tanman85 : ???
01:47 Kempion : QUESTION: Where are the alien bodies being stored?
01:47 AdrianusV : QUESTION: more than 300 exoplanets are discovered. What do
you think of a Exo-Planetary Society?
01:47 MirCat : It's bugging me that we dont have an amusment park on the moon
yet! hehe j/k bye all
01:47 hendric : QUESTION: Why no mars seismographic network?
01:48 Kempion : russian parts SUCK
01:48 tanman85 : HOW MUCH DO ALIENS EAT IN 276 EARTH YEARS??????????????????????
01:49 Timothy_Reed : Is intelligent inversely proportional to the number of question
marks?
01:49 marslive : Yes.
01:49 marslive : And caps useage.
01:50 dragonsyoung : i download it every week :)
01:50 Timothy_Reed : Clearly.
01:50 Kempion : drag... space drag
01:50 outspan : Is it true that there is a health risk for astronauts crossing
the Van Allen radiation belt when leaving Earth?
01:51 dragonsyoung : 220mill each?
01:51 marslive : $20m in total per year
01:52 AdrianusV : That's a few B52's
01:52 Kempion : nah... I know enough
01:52 bierdopjeee-1 : thanks for the info!
01:52 Kempion : good info
01:52 surreyguy : Thank you!
01:52 dragonsyoung : thanx for the update :)
01:52 CargoCult : Argh - early cutoff?
01:52 Timothy_Reed : Thanks, Emily.
01:52 CargoCult : As usual, thanks! :]
01:52 Joehaber1 : Great show
01:52 AdrianusV : thanx Emily, greetz to your mom
01:52 bierdopjeee-1 : a lil :p
01:52 Boggratt : Thanks Emily
01:53 hendric : yeah, I think she needs to add a few seconds of dead time at
the end.
01:53 nick601 : hehe *whoosh*. thanks, good broadcast and questions
01:53 Joehaber1 : they neeed a fade away swipe effect
01:53 AdrianusV : Is it recorded? :)
01:53 jaredgalen : great info, thanks!
01:53 seperry : ...oh by the way...don't forget to hit record!
01:53 dragonsyoung : :p
01:54 elakdawalla : It is recorded
01:54 badd53 : see y'all
01:54 AdrianusV : phewwwww...
01:54 slinted : Thanks Emily, great chat
01:54 elakdawalla : Sorry about the cutoff. I cutoff at the right time at my
end. Guess I need to sit there and grin like an idiot at the camera for 15 or
20 seconds after I'm done.
01:54 AdrianusV : That's clip nr. 11.
01:55 dragonsyoung : :) its all good u got the thanks out..
01:55 jamescanvin : Nice one Emily. Off to work out why my program is messing
up the full Phoenix pan...
01:55 badd53 : one more do-de-do
01:55 slinted : sidenote for those interested, there's a new release over at
the HiRISE site of the Phoenix descent image : http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/phoenix-descent-color.php
01:55 elakdawalla : Blerg. sorry to hear you're running into trouble James --
I can't wait to see it
01:55 redmoon : thanks for the information
01:55 RaginJosh : Missed my chance to ask about the deposits on the lander legs
..
01:55 elakdawalla : Oh, they've identified the heat shield now! awesome.
01:56 jamescanvin : When there are 150 images it's not usual for it to need a
good bit of help. :)
01:56 AdrianusV : I think you've got to reopen the stream. :)
01:56 jamescanvin : that should be UNusual
01:57 RaginJosh : encore :-)
01:57 elakdawalla : Hey Timothy_Reed, if you are the same Timothy_Reed I've been
emailing, can you explain this item on the HiRISE image caption for the Phoenix
descent pic:
01:58 elakdawalla : Normally, the 10 CCDs that span the HiRISE image area overlap
by 48 pixels at their edges. The gaps in the image are due to the fact that Mars
surface was moving through the HiRISE field of view at an angle, which also caused
some image smear.
01:58 elakdawalla : The slew was designed to get an unsmeared image of the parachute.)
Some CCDs have gaps between them, while others overlap more than usual.
01:58 Timothy_Reed : Yep, Emily, I am.
01:58 ugordan : Hi all.... it appears I'm an hour late to the party, hoepfully
the show was archived this time!
01:59 dragonsyoung : sure is
01:59 marslive : Yeah - unless the motion across the focal plane was really really
strong, I can't see how there would be gaps.
01:59 AdrianusV : emily, what do you think of a Exo-Planet Society? There 8 planets
and more than 300 exoplanets.
01:59 elakdawalla : I think the CCDs are staggered somewhat...
01:59 elakdawalla : An Exo-Planet society would be a society without much data
-- yet!
02:00 AdrianusV : Groundbased-data
02:00 marslive : http://hirise.seti.org/epo/hirise_lesson1_files/image017.png
- yeah - further apart than I thought - maybe 10-20 degrees would leave gaps.
02:00 Timothy_Reed : Remember how the CCDs are staggered? Depending on the relative
motion of the spacecraft with respect to the velocity vector, I can see how it
might happen, although I don't have the geometry quite worked out in my head
yet.
02:01 E-MC2 : is the phoenix team seriously concerned about TEGA instrument problems?
02:01 elakdawalla : Ah, Doug, that image really helps.
02:02 marslive : Somewhere I saw a focal plane diagram that had the dimensions
etc.
02:02 elakdawalla : You can see how a slew could cause gaps. Those middle two
columns must be the color ones, then the outer IR ones are a bit staggered from
each other...
02:03 Timothy_Reed : I emailed a photo of the flight focal plane to Emily the
other day.
02:04 marslive : Bye everyone - I'm off (and so's my alter-ego)
02:04 elakdawalla : Ah. I was saving that for posting tomorrow
02:04 AdrianusV : till next time, bye
02:04 hendric : later doug
02:04 elakdawalla : Now I have even more reason to do that.
02:04 Timothy_Reed : Oh, wait, I've got the answer....
02:04 elakdawalla : Okay everyone, gotta go, the baby wants me.
02:04 elakdawalla : She gets first dibs.
02:04 hendric : Isn't she like 3 now?
02:04 elakdawalla : Almost 2
02:05 Timothy_Reed : I was thinking about the amount of smearing that would happen
if you had to slew that much, along the 128 TDI lines...
02:05 hendric : Well, have fun!
02:05 nick601 : bye emily, thanks for the chat
02:05 elakdawalla : (I'm still paying attention, Timothy)
02:05 Timothy_Reed : But clearly, they didn't use them all.
02:05 ugordan : wow, just watching the replay, this is probably the best quality
image ever
02:06 ugordan : your mom sure has a nice net provider, Emily :D
02:06 E-MC2 : bye everyone, see you all next videochat
02:06 Timothy_Reed : If you only used 4 or 8 lines, you could still get a good,
relatively non-smeared image, and still be slewing at a great enough angle to
cause gaps.
02:07 Timothy_Reed : I'll examine the image in more detail to see if I can glean
anything else ... or if I'm just making stuff up.
02:08 Timothy_Reed : See ya later, Emily.
02:08 hendric : Tim, did the CCD overlap by any chance happen over the lander
or the shield?
02:08 dragonsyoung : take care
02:09 Timothy_Reed : hendric> Gimme a minute to look...
02:10 elakdawalla : See you Timothy, send me an email if you have any more insight.
I'll post this image and your other stuff tomorrow.
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