Making Light :: The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. :: comments

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said.

No one would have believed in the last orden of the jeddak of O-Daj that this world was being watched...

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #1 from Bruce Cohen (Speaker To Managers)

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 03:28:48 -0500

Wheee !!! Almost as much fun a landing as the giant ball of airbags slamming into the ground and rolling that Mars Pathfinder used. Next time send crash test dummies!

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Posted August 6, 2012 3:28 AM by Bruce Cohen (Speaker To Managers)

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #2 from Serge Broom

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 04:32:45 -0500

From "The Martian Chronicles":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEMWtyAKRhQ

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Posted August 6, 2012 4:32 AM by Serge Broom

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #3 from abi

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 05:36:51 -0500

Writing this post earwormed me with this.

You're welcome.

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Posted August 6, 2012 5:36 AM by abi

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #4 from Megpie71

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 05:48:18 -0500

Really, they could have used tripods, like civilised people.

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Posted August 6, 2012 5:48 AM by Megpie71

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #5 from P J Evans

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 07:59:04 -0500

I was followed the live stream from the JPL control room. The JPL director was there for the whole time I watched (more than an hour), and so was the boss of NASA. There was whooping and high-fiving all over the room when they announced touchdown.

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Posted August 6, 2012 7:59 AM by P J Evans

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #6 from marc sobel

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 09:16:20 -0500

This must be a trap. After all the Martian Imperial Navy had destroyed several of these spy missions. This time, they intend to trap the "Rover" in rush hour traffic.

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Posted August 6, 2012 9:16 AM by marc sobel

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #7 from Sarah Ennals

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 09:26:47 -0500

I'm almost more amazed by how fast the internet has embraced Flight Director Bobak "Mohawk Guy" Ferdowsi -- I mean, within a few hours, there was fanart.

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Posted August 6, 2012 9:26 AM by Sarah Ennals

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #8 from janetl

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 09:42:35 -0500

The combination of livesteam and Twitter was perfect!

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Posted August 6, 2012 9:42 AM by janetl

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #9 from Velma

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 11:17:39 -0500

The three of us (Jane, Soren, me) were watching sitcom DVDs until about four minutes before the landing, when I looked at my computer and saw a reference to it. (We'd forgotten the exact time.) I found a live feed, and we sat, tensely, watching and listening, and bouncing a bit every time the engineers cheered.

Jane went in for colon cancer surgery this morning. I'm so glad we didn't miss it.

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Posted August 6, 2012 11:17 AM by Velma

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #10 from Jenny Islander

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 11:33:21 -0500

Our 8- and 6-year old whooped and danced with excitement while our toddler wandered through the room in befuddled amusement. My husband and I were glued to the live feed. What struck me (besides the way people were still busting out the whoops and hollers more than an hour after touchdown) was the lineup: a young woman next to a young white man with a high'n'tight that looked like 1960s cosplay next to a hairy old hippie, three people over from the office-haircut Asian guy who was five people back from somebody in a do-rag, all getting the job done. I missed the guy with the mohawk, though.

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Posted August 6, 2012 11:33 AM by Jenny Islander

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #11 from Lizzy L

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 11:35:16 -0500

Hoping for best outcome and healing for Jane.

It was lovely to hear (via NPR) the jubilation from JPL this morning. Go Curiosity!!

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Posted August 6, 2012 11:35 AM by Lizzy L

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #12 from Kayjayoh

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 11:55:17 -0500

Know what I liked best about the webcast of the Curiosity landing from JPL in CIT? The number of *women* in blue polo shirts and red lanyards.

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Posted August 6, 2012 11:55 AM by Kayjayoh

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #13 from Carol Witt

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 12:04:31 -0500

I thought I'd be watching alone while following along with the Twitter feed. My husband unexpectedly came home from out of town in the afternoon, and my son joined us when he saw that he could watch it on TV rather than on his computer. It was a lovely and exciting family moment.

The Spacecraft 3D app they showed earlier was pretty cool. My husband was only half-paying attention at that point, so he dashed over and rewound that part to figure out how they did it.

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Posted August 6, 2012 12:04 PM by Carol Witt

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #14 from Jacque

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 12:09:15 -0500

I initially parsed the OP as reporting a particularly bizarre dream. It was unclear to me whether the twitter stream was occurring in-dream or not.

The reason the rover landed successfully is that the Martian underground reported back to Homeworld, "Guys! The humans are all watching in real-time! Abort mission!"

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Posted August 6, 2012 12:09 PM by Jacque

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #15 from Andrew Plotkin

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 12:20:34 -0500

"I missed the guy with the mohawk, though."

I think that's the do you categorized as "high-n-tight".

He wound up with a surprising percentage of the #MSL twitter commentary last night. Yes, we are a strange species.

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Posted August 6, 2012 12:20 PM by Andrew Plotkin

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #16 from Michael Weholt

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 13:13:43 -0500

Watching the live stream at about 1:30am my time, my favorite moment was a line I heard somebody say in the background, through all the noise: "We are wheels down on Mars."

Yeah, I cried a little.

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Posted August 6, 2012 1:13 PM by Michael Weholt

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #17 from elise

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 13:26:43 -0500

Michael Weholt @16:

Yeah, I cried a little.

I wish I had been watching it holding Mike's hand. We both would have joined you.

He once said something to me about "when we're eighty, sitting in our wheelchairs, watching the Earth rise."

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Posted August 6, 2012 1:26 PM by elise

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #18 from Nicholas

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 13:36:22 -0500

Amazingly, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed the lander during descent.

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Posted August 6, 2012 1:36 PM by Nicholas

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #19 from Steve with a book

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 13:44:51 -0500

I was very, very glad that nothing went wrong: it would have been pretty sickening for everyone involved if one of the petty little technical mishaps that destroy spaceships had happened a minute before landing. (I slept through the landing—watching Andy Murray win the men's tennis gold medal was awfully nerve-wracking for me even when he was at championship point, and I couldn't take another dose of such excitement first thing in the British Summer Time morning).

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Posted August 6, 2012 1:44 PM by Steve with a book

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #20 from Michael Weholt

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 13:53:15 -0500

Here's the highlights reel, if anybody missed it.

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Posted August 6, 2012 1:53 PM by Michael Weholt

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #21 from Fox

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:29:44 -0500

Looks to me like "high-and-tight" is the guy sitting next to the young woman with long medium-brown hair; the guy who is beaming at about 7:00 in the video linked by Michael Wehold @20. The dude with the mohawk is this guy, Flight Director Bobak Ferdowski, @tweetsoutloud.

This thing is awesome. (In the literal sense - not like hot dogs or red and yellow socks.)

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Posted August 6, 2012 2:29 PM by Fox

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #22 from Fox and the gnomes

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:30:31 -0500

That link was kosher, honest. (Also not like a hot dog.)

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Posted August 6, 2012 2:30 PM by Fox and the gnomes

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #23 from Bruce Cohen (Speaker To Managers)

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:51:35 -0500

Dear Curiosity,

Now that you're done with it, please return the rocket pack. I think that was the one I was promised.

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Posted August 6, 2012 2:51 PM by Bruce Cohen (Speaker To Managers)

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #24 from Curiosity

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:55:39 -0500

Dear Bruce:

Get it yourself. I'm busy.

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Posted August 6, 2012 2:55 PM by Curiosity

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #25 from Bruce Cohen (Speaker To Managers)

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 15:12:16 -0500

Looking for ride to Gale Crater, will help with fuel costs.

Contact Spkr2Managers at twitter

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Posted August 6, 2012 3:12 PM by Bruce Cohen (Speaker To Managers)

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #26 from abi

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 15:19:44 -0500

Hey! How come Curiosity answered Bruce's question 4 minutes after he asked it? Shouldn't it have been more like 14 minutes?

Curiosity, is this all a hoax? Are you on a sound stage somewhere? With former "moon rocks" all around you, recently painted red?

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Posted August 6, 2012 3:19 PM by abi

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #27 from Curiosity

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 15:30:31 -0500

Oh. Um. It's kind of interplanetary telepathy thing. I'll explain later.

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Posted August 6, 2012 3:30 PM by Curiosity

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #28 from Xopher HalfTongue

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 15:44:34 -0500

28 minutes, for round-trip communication.

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Posted August 6, 2012 3:44 PM by Xopher HalfTongue

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #29 from abi

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 15:51:15 -0500

Xopher @28:

You're right. I checked, and still got it wrong.

I blame Curiosity's mind-fuzzing telepathic rays.

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Posted August 6, 2012 3:51 PM by abi

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #30 from Stefan Jones

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 16:06:09 -0500

Immensely relieved. That rocket crane landing technique couldn't have been weirder if it involved Mentos and Diet Coke.

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Posted August 6, 2012 4:06 PM by Stefan Jones

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #31 from Avram

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 16:55:06 -0500

One thing I realized last night was how much Twitter is my favorite of the various social media I'm using. Particularly the mass-tweeting-while-something-is-going-on aspect of it.

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Posted August 6, 2012 4:55 PM by Avram

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #32 from Cadbury Moose

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 17:13:29 -0500

I just hope there are no cats on Mars now that Curiosity has arrived.

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Posted August 6, 2012 5:13 PM by Cadbury Moose

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #33 from Cassy B.

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 17:28:25 -0500

Cadbury Moose @32: If there are cats on Mars, I hope NASA is rushing the Satisfaction lander to completion....

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Posted August 6, 2012 5:28 PM by Cassy B.

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #34 from Xopher HalfTongue

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 17:36:15 -0500

Mota reportedly fled for his life.

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Posted August 6, 2012 5:36 PM by Xopher HalfTongue

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #35 from Dave Bell

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 18:05:22 -0500

They use bigger parachutes now, but the Soviet Union used to drop tanks by a system that combined parachutes with retro-rocket packs. Apparently the BMD-1 was dropped using the PRSM-915 system.

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Posted August 6, 2012 6:05 PM by Dave Bell

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #36 from guthrie

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 18:19:02 -0500

It made me happy that it had worked. And the analytical intstruments suite is brilliant, they'll be able to get lots and lots of data if it all works properly.

And the 'Sky crane' method, that sounds familiar from somewhere. I know there was a helicopter by that name, but where else have I seen it? Who thought it up as an ideal method for landing on Mars?

Next time, a zeppelin?

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Posted August 6, 2012 6:19 PM by guthrie

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #37 from Jenny Islander

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 18:41:56 -0500

@Andrew Plotkin no. 15: No, this guy looked like he'd stepped out of the '50s, except he was wearing a polo shirt instead of a button-down and of course the headset was different. I would've remembered the mohawk with the gold star on the side! (Remember when people who looked like that were automatically suspicious characters, and a guard would've been following him around?)

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Posted August 6, 2012 6:41 PM by Jenny Islander

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #38 from eric

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 18:49:37 -0500

There's the Sikorsky Skycrane, which looks like a skeletal helicopter with a big winch.

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Posted August 6, 2012 6:49 PM by eric

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #39 from Mike McHugh

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 19:04:20 -0500

Jenny Islander @37: was it Adam Steltzner? He can be seen around 30secs into the video @20. (@steltzner on Twitter)

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Posted August 6, 2012 7:04 PM by Mike McHugh

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #40 from Xopher HalfTongue

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 19:18:09 -0500

From Twitter: "The nerds just took gold in the 560 billion metres."

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Posted August 6, 2012 7:18 PM by Xopher HalfTongue

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #41 from Michael Weholt

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 19:29:26 -0500

Okay, help me out here... at about 1:40 into the vid I posted (@20) the Asian Voice of Mission Control Guy (right in front of Adam Steltzner) CANNOT be saying "Standing by for vaginal separation", but I swear to gawd it sounds exactly like that to me.

What the heck is he REALLY saying???

I'd say this has become something of an ear worm to me, but, yeah, I probably shouldn't say that.

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Posted August 6, 2012 7:29 PM by Michael Weholt

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #42 from Xopher HalfTongue

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 19:33:39 -0500

I think it's batch something separation.

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Posted August 6, 2012 7:33 PM by Xopher HalfTongue

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #43 from Michael Weholt

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 19:42:08 -0500

Yeah, it could be "Standing by for batch all separation."

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Posted August 6, 2012 7:42 PM by Michael Weholt

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #44 from landondyer

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:15:40 -0500

@42, 43: I believe it's "back-shell separation". (This shows up in a number of web searches, btw).

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Posted August 6, 2012 8:15 PM by landondyer

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #45 from Michael Weholt

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:21:33 -0500

Ah! That has to be it. I know what the back shell is, and it would be about the right time in the landing sequence to separate it. Good work. Thanks.

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Posted August 6, 2012 8:21 PM by Michael Weholt

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #46 from charming quark

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:36:04 -0500

"GALE CRATER, I AM IN YOU." Dune buggies!

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Posted August 6, 2012 8:36 PM by charming quark

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #47 from Fragano Ledgister

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:46:06 -0500

The Martian government has sent an official protest demanding that Earth take back Curiosity forthwith. I believe that they are demanding someone named Romney be sent up in exchange, on the grounds that it's a more believable robot.

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Posted August 6, 2012 8:46 PM by Fragano Ledgister

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #48 from P J Evans

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:56:25 -0500

47
Well, if they're willing to put up with a robot who does everything retroactively, they can have him.

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Posted August 6, 2012 8:56 PM by P J Evans

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #49 from Xopher HalfTongue

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:58:28 -0500

I really object to us trashing the surface of another planet with our toxic garbage. Bad enough that we've done it to our own world.

Therefore I'm against sending Romney to Mars.

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Posted August 6, 2012 8:58 PM by Xopher HalfTongue

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #50 from Serge Broom

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 21:00:53 -0500

Fragano @ 47... Why? There was a Martian cat minding its own business on the spot of the landing site and Curiosity killed the cat?

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Posted August 6, 2012 9:00 PM by Serge Broom

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #51 from Cassy B.

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 22:01:48 -0500

Serge Broom @50: Which is why we need to launch Satisfaction to bring him back.... {grin, duck, and run}

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Posted August 6, 2012 10:01 PM by Cassy B.

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #52 from P J Evans

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 22:20:57 -0500

There's a short stop-motion video of the descent - NASA had a camera running for the last few minutes. They expect to have a higher-res version available later on.

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Posted August 6, 2012 10:20 PM by P J Evans

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #53 from Tom Whitmore

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 23:50:53 -0500

abi @3: it's kind of silly to say that something was launched from Mars "At midnight, on the 12th of August", without specifying a time-zone. But hey -- at least we got close to the right date!

Haven't listened to that for a few years now (about 12, I think).

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Posted August 6, 2012 11:50 PM by Tom Whitmore

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #54 from Stefan Jones

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 00:35:05 -0500

#53: Midnight, British time! What other time is there? Damn colonial.

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Posted August 7, 2012 12:35 AM by Stefan Jones

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #55 from Bill Stewart

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 02:25:14 -0500

Stefan Jones@54, the real question is "Midnight UTC vs. midnight Mars Local Time". Ignoring picky differences between GMT and UTC and whether you're on double daylight time or BST, if it's earth time it's British (or Zulu.)

I had one friend who worked on the Mars rovers, and IIRC he kept Mars time for a while.

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Posted August 7, 2012 2:25 AM by Bill Stewart

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #56 from Bruce Cohen (Speaker To Managers)

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 02:48:05 -0500

Did anyone else notice Wallace and Grommit in the background of that last hi-res image from Curiosity?

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Posted August 7, 2012 2:48 AM by Bruce Cohen (Speaker To Managers)

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #57 from guthrie

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 05:25:44 -0500

Sky hooks!
That's what the landing bit reminded me of. Sounds about as mad as well, but this one worked.

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Posted August 7, 2012 5:25 AM by guthrie

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #58 from Jon Meltzer

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 07:22:50 -0500

@50: It survived, but it's now a flat cat.

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Posted August 7, 2012 7:22 AM by Jon Meltzer

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #59 from Fragano Ledgister

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 09:48:07 -0500

Cassy B #51: NASA's spokesdroid has officially stated "I can't get no Satisfaction".

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Posted August 7, 2012 9:48 AM by Fragano Ledgister

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #60 from Paul A.

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 10:26:14 -0500

More pictures: Breathtaking view of the Milky Way from the surface of Mars

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Posted August 7, 2012 10:26 AM by Paul A.

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #61 from Fragano Ledgister

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 10:53:11 -0500

Cassy B #51: NASA's spokesdroid has officially stated "I can't get no Satisfaction".

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Posted August 7, 2012 10:53 AM by Fragano Ledgister

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #62 from Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 14:33:48 -0500

The HIRISE camera aboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has snapped some wonderful shots.

Yesterday, we saw Curiosity and its parachute in mid-flight.

Today, Curiosity on the ground, surrounded by discarded parachute, heat shield, backshell, and skycrane.

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Posted August 7, 2012 2:33 PM by Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #63 from Lenny Bailes

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 23:51:23 -0500

I have a song about a dune buggy called Liet. Maybe I'll go back to playing it. I was thinking about doing that, yesterday.

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Posted August 11, 2012 11:51 PM by Lenny Bailes

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one, he said. -- comment #64 from Lenny Bailes

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 23:54:24 -0500

I'm gnomed at 62. No link. Maybe because I linked to the https version of my Google+ page?

[Yes. I've removed that filter, because we get very little spam linking to G+ pages. -- Orels Rebuio, Duty Gnome

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Posted August 11, 2012 11:54 PM by Lenny Bailes