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Projects: Red Rover Goes to Mars

The Astrobot Diaries

Sandy Moondust and Biff Starling are Exploring Mars!

Click to enlarge > Biff Starling (left) and Sandy Moondust (right) The Astrobots were named by Cindy Rossetto of Grants Pass, Oregon, whose suggestion was selected from over 1,100 entries in a naming contest.

A new breed of explorer is on board the two Mars Exploration Rover spacecraft—Astrobots Biff Starling and Sandy Moondust are part of The Planetary Society Astrobot Corps. Biff and Sandy are LEGO® minifigure representations suited up for space. They appear on each of the DVDs on the Mars Exploration Rover spacecraft. Their job: tell their stories to the world through a series of entertaining, fun, online communications.

The Astrobots are currently so involved with exploring the surface of Mars (and trying to surf the Mars soil) that they are no longer providing regular entries. They will have a follow up later in the mission.

07 June 2003

Waiting for launch

Dude, I’m just hanging out in here the day before launch. These space types sure close everything up early--many days ahead of launch. I know they’re just making sure everything is ready to go, but if I weren’t a robot, I’d be seriously hungry about now for some space snacks.

And, by the way, it sure would have been nice if they’d put a window in this thing. First I get sealed up in the petals of the lander, and then they stick everything inside the, uh. . .what’s that thing called. . .the herring (?) of the rocket. It’s darker than the inside of an integrated circuit in here. Anyone know where I put my flashlight?

Despite the dark cramped quarters, I am most stoked that launch is fast approaching now. That roller coaster ride is one part of this I am really looking forward to. Of course, I’m sure Sandy digs the cool engineering, the rovers, and the gee-whiz science, but alas, she’ll have to wait a bit longer for her launch on the second rocket.

I’m sitting on top of a 40 meter (130 foot) tall Boeing Delta II rocket, and though dark, all seems groovy. What are you finding in mission control?

All things nominal

All things are go for lift off. We wish you a pleasant flight, and Godspeed!

Pay attention

Hey substitute fly-boy, pay attention up there. You’re involved in one of the most exciting and technologically advanced space missions in history. Have you forgotten you’re flying with rovers that will act as robotic geologists on Mars. Or, that they can travel as far in one day (about the length of a football field) as the 1997 Mars Pathfinder Sojourner rover traveled in its 90 day mission.

There have only been three successful landers on Mars: Vikings 1 and 2 and Pathfinder. Did you know that the surface area of Mars is about the same as the land surface area on Earth, in other words Earth without the oceans? Imagine only seeing three places on planet Earth and trying to figure out the planet’s history. That’s where we are with Mars Exploration. The MER missions are our bridge to future Mars understanding. And, you got lucky enough to be on MER-A, launch number one. By the way, Mr. Vocabulary, a herring is a fish, in which I assume you are not sealed up. A fairing is the top part of a rocket that encloses the payload, in this case you, the rover, and the rest of the spacecraft.

Okie Dokie

OK, miniature Mars goddess, your points make sense. Maybe being trapped inside this sardine can will be worth it after all. We’ll see.

09 June 2003

Launch scrub

The launch is scrubbed for today due to unstable weather conditions.

Unstable scrubbing

I'm glad the launch is going to be clean, but what has that got to do with weather conditions?

Launch scrubs

Biff, the launch being scrubbed doesn't mean it is going to get clean, rather it means that there will be no launch for today. The reason is unstable weather, in particular concern about thunder storms around the time of launch. You might try to brush up on launch vocabulary during your additional 24-hour wait.

Re: Launch scrubs

Oh.

So, we're going to let a little rain stop us?

Re: Launch scrubs

It's not actually the rain that is a problem, it is concerns about things like lightning, clouds, and particularly wind.

Re: Launch scrubs

Oooh. Righteous.

Launch scrub Day 2

Biff, we are scrubbing today's launch. Weather report once again predicts unstable weather conditions, as it did yesterday. We'll try again tomorrow.

Re: Launch scrub Day 2

Bummer. On the bright side, another day of video games for me.

What were those huge noises outside the rocket yesterday afternoon?

Thunder

Those were the thunderstorms, you know, the things we predicted. That unstable weather that we interrupted your video games with yesterday and now again today. Biff, are you paying any attention up there? I highly recommend reviewing your mission manuals instead of playing video games.

Instability

Dudette, the weather may not be the only thing that is unstable around here.

Hey, how long can we keep delaying this thing? And, when do I get to Mars?

Your schedule

Launch can occur each day for about another ten days and still make the launch period required to get you off to Mars. As you know, I hope, there are two one-second launch windows each day. No matter what day you launch, you'll get to Mars on January 4, 2004.

Streak-free?

Are we scrubbing these windows so we can get them really clean?

Windows and launch periods

Arrrrgh! Not that kind of window. A launch window is the time in which you can launch on a given day. For a planetary trajectory like this one, sending you off to Mars, the windows are very short, essentially instantaneous. The launch period is how many days in which you can launch and still make it to Mars. There are ten days remaining in your launch period. Rest your computer brain, you may need it tomorrow.

10 June 2003

Go for launch

Biff Starling, you are go for launch. We have resumed counting down from T - 4 minutes. Less than 4 minutes until you become the first Astrobot in space.

Waiting for launch

I'm am seriously way totally excited. Did you say there will be tea in 4 minutes? Won't that be messy?

Hey Sandy, anything I should know about this Boeing Delta II rocket?

Delta II

There are many things you should know. Each Delta II launch vehicle consists of three main stages (two liquid stages and one solid stage), nine strap-on graphite-epoxy solid rocket motors (GEMs), and a payload fairing...remember, fairing, not herring.

The first stage of the Delta II uses a Rocketdyne RS-27A engine with a 12:1 expansion ratio, and is of course a single start, liquid bipropellant rocket that will provide nearly 890,000 Newtons of thrust at the time of lift-off.

Re: Delta II

Huh?!?!? As much as I love it when you talk that way, what exactly does that mean, especially for me? And, did you mention Fig Newtons?

Tiny Words

I'll try small words: you are on a big rocket. Hold on tight. Get ready for the ride of your life, surfer boy, in 5...4...3...

Tubular

Hey, I understand big words, like tubular....Whoooooaaaaaaa! Aaaaaaaaaah!

Silence for days and now the biggest roar I've ever heard in my life.

Wow, feeling the launch, feeling more squished than usual. Kind of makes me glad to be screwed down at the moment. Yikes, slowed up for a moment there. Aaaaaahhhhhh, here we go again, feeling squished, and not in a good way.

Re: Tubular

What you probably felt was the first set of six Graphite Epoxy Motors cutting off--you know, the strap-on rockets on the outside of the main rocket, in other words, the smaller tubular things on the outside of the really BIG tubular thing.

Squished again

But what was that getting squished again feeling?

Re: Squished again

That was the other 3 strap-on solid motors lighting and pushing you farther, along with the main engine, of course.

Big stuff

Of course.

Whoa, stuff is happening again, feel like I'm slowing. Now, something very big and very significant happened. Just don't know what.

Here we go again, thrusting upwards. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

11 June 2003

From yesterday's installment...

Big stuff

Whoa, stuff is happening again, feel like I'm slowing. Now, something very big and very significant happened. Just don't know what.

Here we go again, thrusting upwards. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Illiteracy

Didn't you read any manuals? Those 13 seconds or so of "stuff happening" was main engine cut off (MECO), in other words the first stage stopped "burning." Then, since it wasn't needed anymore, it dropped off, and then the second stage lit. You are now about four and a half minutes into your flight and already about 70 miles up with the second stage going strong.

Staging a 'coon

Yes, I read the manuals. And, I watched movies, too. I remember MECO, he was that cute raccoon. And, this staging thing is kind of cool, get rid of the used up stuff so I can go faster. I like going faster!

Is it getting drafty in here?

No fair

Right after the second stage lit, the fairing, the wrapping around you, the spacecraft, and the third stage, was dropped off too since you're so high up now, you don't need the protection of a nose cone.

Spacin'

Hey I'm getting the hang of this stuff. Almost 10 minutes into flight, and the second stage stopped burning. Hey why didn't it drop off? Oh, well. And, weren't there more than two stages? Guess not.

I'm in space. Yaaaaaaaay! Wow, I think it is about time to unscrew myself and test out some weightlessness.

Confusion

Uh, Biff, you've got a few things confused, you might want to pay attention, or it could give you more challenges than you ever want...

You might want to hold on. The second stage didn't drop off because it is going to restart in about 15 minutes. You're just cruising around the Earth temporarily waiting until you're in the right position to head out of orbit and towards Mars. You'll be over the west coast of Africa then.

Pin and spin

Yowsh! Wish I'd read you email instead of finishing up my game of Space Invaders on the spacecraft computer. But, high score waits for noone. I had just unscrewed myself when the rocket fired. I ended up pinned to the inside of the spacecraft for about two minutes while the rocket fired. It seemed like a lot longer. Once the rocket stopped, things smoothed out and the forces subsided and I could truly float about in the space around the rover.

Yowsa! Things are getting really, really spinny. Can mini-robots get motion sickness? There went the second stage, and the third stage has kicked in. But, what is going on with this spinning?

Spin stabilization

Spinning is how the third stage is kept on track. It stabilizes things.

Football, tops, and yo-yo's

Ooooh, like throwing a football with a nice, tight spiral. Or a fast spinning top. Is this thing going to slow down this spin? Why do I have an urge to use a yo-yo? Oooh, I think the spin is slowing down.

Conservation of angular momentum

Apparently names of toys from the manuals stuck in your head. The so-called yo-yo uses weights to slow you down by extending them out on long wire-like devices. Same effect as when an ice skater in a spin pushes her arms out and slows down. We call it conservation of angular momentum.

No tummy aches

I call it conservation of my internal magnets. Spinning in breaking waves--very cool. Spinning fast in this thing--kind of hurly.

Congratulations

Congratulations, you are on your way to Mars, spinning only slightly.

Be careful up there, and try reading some online manuals.

16 June 2003

Spacecraft doing great

Biff, it has been 6 days since launch, and the spacecraft is doing great. All systems are working perfectly. The launch put you right where we want you -- on your way to Mars.

Re: Spacecraft doing great

Most righteous, Earthly dude. I still haven’t gotten over that launch experience. That was incredible! Can I do it again?  

Your status? Hi Biff,

No, you can’t launch again, but I look forward to experiencing it myself in a few days. In fact, I have to go shortly to start the process of getting back to the spacecraft and ready for launch.

How are things going up there?

Sandy

Soaring and Scoring

Things are going quite well. I have gotten high score on a couple more games, and even took a glance at some of those manuals you keep talking about. I’m thinking of stepping out for a bit of a view, but looks like that is going to be rather tricky.  

Be careful!

Biff, you be careful if you start moving around up there. Remember what happened during launch when you unbolted too soon and got pinned to the side of the spacecraft during the rocket firing.  

No worries

No worries, mate.  

Worries, mate

Maybe not for you, but don’t forget the rest of us.  

Exploring the spacecraft

I think I’ve figured a way to use my ability to be extremely flat to slip through some crevices and do some exploring. I’ll check back with my remote communication device.
 
SEVERAL HOURS LATER…

Slow goin’ Airbags!

OK, I’ve had a few delays. I’ve made it out of the pyramid shaped thing that my DVD is attached to, and that holds the lander. But, now I’ve run into piles of some kind of tough canvas like stuff. What’s up with that?  

Airbags

Those would be the airbags on the outside of the tetrahedral lander (the pyramid shaped thing). They are deflated now. They will inflate as you near the Martian surface and cushion your landing.  

Baggin’ it

Airbags like in a car? How cool is that? I didn’t get to that part of the mission, yet, in my reading. One thing at a time.  

Re: Baggin’ it

Yes, the airbags are similar to the ones used in cars, but these are much tougher. These airbags are made from Vectran, a very tough and abrasion-resistant polymer fabric, kind of like Kevlar.  

In the can

Cool tunes. But, tough to crawl through.

I finally made it out, and I’m still inside some kinda can.

Aeroshell

That "can" is the aeroshell, the thing that protects you and the spacecraft when you enter the atmosphere of Mars while going really fast.  

Spacin’

Alright, we’ll have to go through all this stuff again later. Right now, I’ve moved out of that and…Wow! Stars, space. Wow.  

Hold on!

Keep looking around. And for goodness sakes, hold on! You should have tied yourself to something before trying this trick.  

What a view

Roger, that. Grabbing tight.

Whooaaaa! Gnarly! It’s the Earth. I see the Earth. It is most stunning! Blue and white, and such a contrast to the blackness of space. And, already so far away.

Can’t see my friends the waves, but that is a lot of ocean on our ball o’ fun.

And, there is the Moon. I’m outside the orbit of the Moon already. Yowsh!

Words cannot do this view justice. Sandy, you are going to seriously dig this!

Re: What a view

You are moving away fast Biff. You are now 1.7 million kilometers from Earth, which is already more than 4 times farther from the Earth than the Moon is. And, you’ve done that in only six days.

Undoubtedly, I will “seriously dig” the view, and I believe that your words can’t do it justice. Sounds nice. I look forward to it.

Bodaciously awesome!

Nice? Nice?! What are you, some kind of robot? Oh, yeah, you are. Still, saying this view is nice is like saying 30 foot surf on the north shore of Oahu is only sorta rad. We’re talking bodaciously awesome here!

20 June 2003

Spacecraft doing well.

Spacecraft systems are all functioning well.

Only 10 days after launch, you are now over 2.6 million kilometers (1.6 million miles) from Earth.

Dash

Far Out!

Far out! And getting farther.

Strap in

Biff, you better go bolt yourself back to the DVD assembly, TCM-1 is coming up shortly, and we don't want you pinned against a wall again.

Sandy

Old movies

TCM? Is that some kind of old movies channel?  

Trajectory Correction Maneuver

No, Biff, Trajectory Correction Maneuver. The rockets are going to fire to target the spacecraft towards Mars. This will be done 5 or 6 times during your voyage. This will be the first.

Fire away

Cool, more rocket firing. Alright, heading to the DVD assembly.

SEVERAL MINUTES LATER…

Squishy again 

Whoa! There goes the rocket, I've got that squishy feeling again.

On axis burn

Hang in there, the thrusters are going to burn for 28 minutes pushing you along the axis of rotation, in other words accelerating you along the direction you are already going.  

Burnin'

OK, squishing back and enjoying the ride.

28 MINUTES LATER…

Fun and floating

Alright, that was fun, not as fun as launch, but fun. I'm unbolting and going to floating.  

Hold on

Biff, don't, there's more to come...  

Pushed and pinned

Aaaaah! What is going on here? Lots of little pushes and every time I'm getting pinned up against something in here. Ow.

Off axis burns

There will be a total of 264 of those. These are the burns to change spacecraft velocity in a direction other than the one your going, in other words moving you "sideways" relative to the direction you're going. Since you're in a spinning spacecraft, the little thrusts are timed to the spin rate. The total burn will be equivalent to a 22 minute burn but will take much longer because of the pulsed nature.  

Ow

264 of these!?!

Ow. Ow. Hit another wheel. And, another. Hey how many wheels are there in here?  

Six

Six, Biff. It is a six wheeled rover. 

Hubcaps

Are those NASA hubcaps I see? Ow. Yes, they are. Ow.
 
Many ow's later…

TCM over

OK, Biff, you've made it. And, you made it through an attitude turn that faced the solar panels back towards the Sun, and the antenna towards Earth. 

Done

I've had a bit of an attitude turn as well. But, hey, I've seen more of the rover, and up close and personal.  

Target Mars

You are now targeted between the landing sites, Meridiani Planum and Gusev Crater. 

Indecision?

I thought I was going to Gusev. Couldn't people make up their minds?  

Landing site tar

Nominally, you are going to Gusev and I'm going to Merdiani. But, Merdiani (my landing site!) is the scientists' favorite. By targeting between the two, your spacecraft could still be sent to Meridiani if there is any problem with my spacecraft at or shortly after launch. Assuming there isn't, I hope, then your next Trajectory Correction Maneuvers will target you to Gusev. 

Oh

Oh. Hmmm. Oh. OK. Roger that.

24 June 2003

Spacecraft hunky dory

Spacecraft systems are all hunky dory.

It's 2 weeks since your launch.

Dot

Great view

Fabuloso!

I've been spending a lot of time sticking my head out the spacecraft and watching the Earth and Moon get smaller. Way totally profound. Even cooler because of the slow spacecraft spin that causes them to rise and set as seen from my "pokin' out place" on the side. 

Your status?

Hi Biff,

You are being careful aren't you?

Sandy

Re: Your status?

Always! I borrowed an electrical wire to strap myself to when I venture to the outside and look out. Don't worry, I know where it came from.  

Be careful!

Ack. You need a safety system, but don't go pulling random wires.  

Wiring

Wasn't random, I grabbed the red one. Actually, I checked one of the wiring diagrams, and found one I don't think we'll need for a while.

Literacy

You can read a wiring diagram? For that matter, you can read? 

The power of Leisure Bots

Lighten up, rocket bot. I picked up some electrical knowledge when I was learning to fix any video game system in existence. All part of Leisure Bot training.  

Leisure bot training

I must say, I doubted that your extensive leisure bot training would be of any use on the mission.

¿Donde está?

Hey, recreation knowledge is useful anywhere.

By the way Sandy, where are you? Aren't you supposed to launch soon?

Bigger

I'm onboard the spacecraft on top of the Delta II Heavy, you know the BIGGER version of the Delta II with the bigger solid rocket motors on the outside.

Anyway, they have slipped the launch at least 3 days in order to replace some cork. 

Dartboards, bats, and walls, oh my

Cork?? I don't care how big it is, what are you riding on, a dartboard? Sammy Sosa's bat? A wall from the 1970s?  

Cork insulation

I'm on a Boeing Delta II 7925H. Cork is used as an insulating material on the outside of the 1st stage, the "big round tube" to put it in your language. The cork protects the solid rocket boosters strapped on the outside. Some of the cork needs to be replaced.

Poppin' the cork

Did they have any trouble popping the cork off?  

Done with you

No.

I need to return to my manuals now.

Giddy with excitement

Oh, me too! I can hardly wait. 

28 June 2003

Mobile Service Tower moved back

Hi Sandy, with only a few hours until launch, all systems are go.

The Mobile Service Tower has successfully moved away from the rocket in preparation for your launch.

How are things on top of the rocket?

Dash

All systems go 

Dash,

All systems are go from where I sit, strapped to the DVD high atop the Delta II Heavy. I look forward to launch and to heading to Mars with the 4 million Mars enthusiasts names on board the DVD.

What is the weather prediction?

Sandy 

50-50

Lots of clouds and rain. It should break up by launch time, but there is still about a 50% chance that some weather condition such as winds or clouds will keep you from launching tonight.  

Launch delays

Well, that is the nature of the launch business. I'll hope for tonight, but if not, we'll try again tomorrow night.

Hang in Dudette

Hi Sandy,

Hang in there Dudette. I played the delay game as you remember.

The longer you wait, the farther behind me you will be. Bummer for you.

From space,

Biff

Landing dates

Actually, Biff, no matter what day I launch, I will land the same day, January 25, 2004, just as your spacecraft landing date (January 4, 2004) was not dependent upon your exact launch date. It is all made up for during the cruise to Mars. 

Launch tips

Oh. Hmm.

Dudette, a couple tips for your launch: Don't unbolt too early, lots of stuff keeps happening for awhile, and there are a lot of things crammed in here to bump into. And, hold your arms over your head just after the first set of boosters cuts off, makes the ride more intense.

Re: Launch tips

I am well versed in the exact launch sequence and proper safety procedures, but thanks for your apparent concern. Arms over my head seems an unnecessary action, especially since my ride will be more intense than yours, thanks to my bigger graphite epoxy motors (the "little" tubes outside the really big tube).

Relax

Relax, tension bot. Enjoy your "big" ride.

Focused

I'm not tense, just focused.

Re: Focused

Whatever you say, Moondust.

Possible problem

Dash, we may have a problem.

Sandy

Re: Possible problem

Sandy,

We are showing all systems nominal. What is the nature of the problem?

Dash

Iron

I may have left my iron on. I can't remember. Can someone go check that? I was flattening myself for flight, and, well, could you just have someone check.

Re: Iron

Roger that. Will do.

Glad you're relaxed. Try going through your checklists again...

07 July 2003

Skipping first launch window

Sandy,

We're having to skip the first launch window and recycle for the second because of a fishing boat in a location that doesn't work with the current winds.

Next window 

Jill,

Roger that. Recycling to second launch window.

Sandy

Boat?

Hi Sandy,

First cork problems, now fishing boats, what's next? And, why is a boat standing in your way?

Biff

Launch safety

Various areas have to be cleared for launch and since I launch over the ocean, that includes some ocean areas. They need to be clear in case something goes wrong and debris falls, and they need to be clear depending on wind because of toxic gases that the rockets put out that would be dangerous for people to breathe.

Second window looks good

Sandy,

Things look good for the second launch window.

SEVERAL MINUTES LATER…

Launch scrub

Sandy,

High altitude wind shear is making launch a no-go. Sorry, no launch tonight.

Re: Launch scrub

Roger that. We'll hope for the next try.

SEVERAL DAYS LATER…

Battery launch delay

Sandy,

I know you've been sitting there many days since the last opportunity while we replaced some of the cork insulation...again, but we have another problem. There is a problem with a battery that is part of the flight termination system, so we'll have another delay while it is fixed.

Jill

Landing dates

Roger that, I'll just keep reading great Mars information I've found online and I'll keep learning more about the end of my trip while I wait for the beginning.

I'll be back

Wow, you are one seriously unlucky bot.

And what's up with having a flight termination system, that sounds scary? Is the Terminator involved? 

Launch safety

First of all, Biff, we're both lucky to be on this mission, and the delays are all to make sure that launch goes as planned.

The flight termination system enables controllers to destroy the rocket if it starts going off course. It is a way to safeguard people on the ground in the unlikely event of a problem with the rocket.

Whoa.

Whoa, wait a second, there wasn't one of those on my rocket was there? Noone mentioned that.

Yes

Of course there was, Biff.

Yikes!

Yikes. Then what happens to our intrepid astrobot explorer if that happens?

Plan Alpha

Emergency abort plan Alpha.

Greek to me

Ohhh. Wellllll, that makes me feel much better. As long as there is a greek letter involved.

MONDAY, JULY 7, 2003…

All systems go

Sandy,

We are showing all systems go for launch tonight.

Dash

Re: All systems go

Excellent. Here's hoping.

Countdown

We have, as planned, restarted the countdown at T-4 minutes and counting...

All sytems are go...

10, 9, 8...

07 July 2003

FROM OUR LAST INSTALLMENT:

Countdown

We have, as planned, restarted the countdown at T-4 minutes and counting...

30 seconds, all sytems are go...

10, 9, 8...

NOW, ON TO THIS INSTALLMENT:

No go

No go, we have a no go, recycling for the next launch window. You can try to relax for another 40 minutes or so.

One of the fuel valves showed a possible problem. We're working to determine more and whether we will try to launch in the second window. That was kind of exciting.

Close 

Jack,

Roger. That sure got close. Keep me posted.

Sandy

Double pain windows

Hi Sandy,

Well, I see your good luck on launching continues to hold. How is it that you've got two one-second launch windows each night (which, by the way, I keep wanting to clean).

Biff

Launch windows

To head off to Mars using a direct launch, one has to time things just right, go in just the right direction, and get to the right speed. But, one can get a little flexibility by launching in slightly different directions at different times with different performance. The rocket would actually launch in a slightly different direction (azimuth) for the second launch window of the night. That corrects for launching at different times. Both launch windows get me where I need to be to head to Mars.

Satisfied with valve

Sandy,

We have tested the valve and are satisfied with its performance. We are picking up from the built in hold at T-4 minutes.

Liftoff!

3, 2, 1 ... Liftoff of Mars Exploration Rover B including the Opportunity rover and Astrobot Sandy Moondust. Godspeed, Sandy Moondust.

Golly

Accelerations are as expected from the first six solid rocket boosters and the liquid fueled first stage.

Golly, gosh, goodness, this is a bit exciting. And, rather loud.

Catch a ride!

Dudette,

Catch a ride. Enjoy! Party on!

Boosters

Biff,

Thanks for your typically eloquent words of wisdom.

Feeling first set solid rocket booster burnout and separation. There's another kick, must be the 3 air lit solid rocket boosters starting up.

Shaka brah!

Shaka brah, righteous, throw your hands up, feel the groove.

Noise

Biff, unless you suddenly have some practical advice, please stop creating additional noise in my headset, the launch is loud enough already.

Air lit boosters have separated. And, we have first stage separation. Second stage is lit...

Second stage has stopped.

Don't unbolt

Sorry, Sandy, didn't mean to interrupt your sedation. Practical advice: don't unbolt, that second stage is going to start up again when you're in the right place around Earth.

Rocket bot

I am well aware of that, but thanks for your concern.

Waiting a few minutes to reach the appropriate location in Earth orbit to start burn for Mars.

Second stage burning again.

Second stage separation.

Third stage burning...and stopped.

I'm on my way to Mars.

Welcome!

Dudette, welcome to space and to your Martian voyage.

On to Mars

For that, I thank you Biff Starling. I am honored and excited to be here. On to Mars!

Party on to Mars!

Party on to Mars! Now, the party isn't as lonely.

15 July 2003

All systems healthy

Hi Sandy,

Everything is functioning perfectly with your spacecraft.

Eight days into your mission you are over 2.4 million kilometers from Earth or about 6 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon.

Jill

Star scanner

Glad to hear it! I've run through all checklists multiple times and checked system health on my end as well. Looks good. The star scanner has successfully found several bright stars as well as Mars so we can track spacecraft orientation.

Check the view

Hi Sandy,

You might want to pull your nose out of your checklists and go out to check out the view. As I mentioned before, it is bodaciously awesome. And, trust me, the Earth and Moon get smaller in a hurry, so enjoy while you can.

Biff

Going mobile

Thanks for the "bodaciously awesome" advice, Biff. You may have a point.

I'm am switching to my mobile communication device and beginning the process of moving towards the outside of spacecraft.

The joy of two dimensions

Stay flat. They seal this puppy up tight, making it tricky to move through it.

Working way out. 

Roger that. I've made it past the rover, out of the tetrahedral rover enclosure, and past the airbags. Am attempting to find a way through aeroshell.

Share the view

So, dudette, when you make it out, is it as I described, bodaciously awesome?

Stunning!

Have made it to the outside. Stunning! Sizes of Earth and Moon are as expected. The Earth is already a little smaller than the full Moon appears as seen from Earth.

The one part of your description you got right, Biff, was awe, the view is awe inspiring. Earth: The unique cradle from which we came, suspended in the serene blackness of space, an oasis in an empty universe.

Right

Yeah, that's what I meant.

Re: Right

I'm sure it is.

Poetry

The Earth and Moon are looking a lot smaller for me these days, being that I'm way ahead of you and all. Still looks totally cool. All cradle like and stuff, just smaller, like for a smaller baby. Kinda weird watching it shrink over time.

You know I've written a poem about the view?

Martian Haiku

Are you serious? I had no idea you did poetry. So do I, I can hardly wait to work on Martian Haiku during the mission.

My poem

Yeah, well, I'm serious, but mine is just a poem:

The Earth spins,

The Moon spins,

My spacecraft spins,

Whoa, I'm dizzy.

Huh?

Uhh, that was your poem?

Duh

Duh, what did you think it was, an instruction manual?

Loved it!

Hey Biff-guy,

I loved it!

Jill

22 July 2003

TCM-1

Sandy,

We'll begin your first trajectory correction maneuver (TCM-1) in 2 minutes.

Jack

Go for TCM-1

Jack,

We are go for TCM-1 on my end.

Sandy

Rocket firings

Hi Sandy,

Have fun dudette, I enjoy the rocket firings, except for the bouncing around part.

Biff

Manuals

Well, if you stayed strapped in during the appropriate times, that wouldn't be a problem. Try reading a manual occasionally if you want to know what is happening next.

Off the mark

You know, I actually skimmed some things. I dug that I'm on the path to Mars, but you aren't.

Keeping clean

Well, you are technically correct. But, TCM-1 will fix that. When the spacecraft leaves Earth, it is targeted to miss Mars because the third stage of the Delta II rocket is on a similar path. NASA takes special measures to ensure that anything going to Mars is properly clean. The spacecraft is clean by design, but the rocket's third stage doesn't need to be, since it will not be on a trajectory to the Red Planet.

Hygiene

Things need to be clean? Sounds like a problem for me. How clean do I need to be? Are there some type of crazed hygiene rules on Mars?

Cleanliness

Clean in the sense of having very little life on board the spacecraft, so even you are "clean" enough thanks to the engineers. You got baked in an oven before the spacecraft launched to kill the microbes. We're looking for life on Mars. We wouldn't want to conduct future experiments that would detect life, only to find out later that it isn't Martian life, but rather Earth life that we brought along with us.

What is life

I wondered what the deal was with the hot sauna. I thought it was just supposed to relax me.

I suppose our kind of "life" doesn't matter to the scientists.

Robots

Technically we are robots.

It's alive

Robots with personalities who write poetry.

Loose

Using the terms very loosely. And, we're not going to complicate the search for past or present life on Mars

Haiku

Speaking of poetry, I rewrote my poem as as a Haiku to make you happy.

The Earth and Moon spin,
Mars and the spacecraft spin spin,
Whoa, I am dizzy.

Uh

Biff, you never cease to, uh, amaze me. The "spin spin" was my favorite part. Clever solution to getting 7 syllables.

TCM-1 start

Sandy, TCM-1 starting in 10 seconds.

On to Mars

TCM main burn starting. I'm feeling the acceleration along current axis of rotation.

Welcome!

Oh, I remember when I did this. Stay strapped in, dig the squishy feeling.

On to Mars

As always Biff, thanks for the helpful thoughts. Burn progressing nominally ...

APPROXIMATELY 54 MINUTES LATER...

TCM-1

Main burn has ended. Your velocity has increased by 16 meters per second (36 miles per hour). You are on course for Mars and Merdiani Planum with landing on January 25, 2003, Universal Time.

On to Mars

Roger, sounds great!

Welcome!

Welcome to the path to Mars. Party on!

29 July 2003

Picture of the home planet 

Image of the Earth and Moon taken by the Mars Express spacecraft July 3, 2003.

Source: ESA

Hi Biff and Sandy,

We're uploading a picture of the Earth and the Moon taken by the Mars Express spacecraft. Thought you might be interested. This was taken when Mars Express was about as far away from Earth as you now are, Sandy, about 8 million kilometers. Look familiar?

Jill

Re: Picture of the Home Planet

It sure does look familiar. Beautiful sight, isn't it? Unfortunately, the picture can't convey completely the stark beauty of the view; no picture could. But, it does give you the idea. Kudos to Mars Express and their camera team for such a nice image.

Picture of the home planet 

Hey Biff-guy,

What do you think?

Jill

Rocks

Hey Dotette,

The view of planetary rocks does seriously rock. And, the picture gives you some idea how cool the view is. The Earth and Moon keep getting smaller for the Biff-guy.

So, I seem to be a bit behind again. What's up with this Mars Express thing?

Mars Express

Hey Biff,

Now you're embarrassing me. Mars Express is a mission to Mars being flown by the European Space Agency (ESA). It includes an orbiter with a wonderful group of instruments to study the surface, atmosphere, and sub-surface of the planet. It also includes the Beagle 2 lander, which is scheduled to land on Mars about 10 days ahead of you.

Beating me to Mars?

Whoa! So, what you're saying is not only will there be this totally gnarly orbiter, but also a lander and they are both going to beat me to Mars?

Biff-o-centric

Yes, you could translate it that way in your Biff-o-centric world

Shocking

This is most shocking. And, please don't call me Biff-o!

Mars Express awareness

Hey Biff-o,

How could you not be aware of Mars Express? This is a big mission that has been planned for years.

Many month delivery

Well, sure, I remember hearing and reading something about a "Mars Express," but I thought it was just some kind of overnight delivery service. Turns out it isn't exactly overnight, and sounds like it may have a few other services to offer.

Yes

Yes, you could say that.

Anyone else?

Anything else out here flying around that I should know about?

Nozomi

Yes! Nozomi is a Japanese spacecraft headed to Mars to study its upper atmosphere. It actually launched in 1998, but it didn't have enough speed initially to get to Mars. So, they cleverly flew by Earth twice to pick up more speed (called a gravity assist) and are now on their way to Mars with the rest of us.

Mars travel

Wow, Mars is a popular travel destination this year. Must be the barren landscape, lack of oxygen, and freezing temperatures.

Spacecraft to Mars

Mars is scientifically fascinating, and Earth and Mars are particularly close, so it is a great time to send spacecraft.

Others?

Well, I don't feel so lonely. Any other friends I should know about.

MGS and Odyssey

You should already know about the two working U.S. orbiters at Mars: Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and Mars Odyssey. MGS has been there since 1997 and Odyssey since 2001. Both have and continue to revolutionize our understanding of the Red Planet.

Party on!

Wow, party on at Mars! Most righteous.

Learn more

Biff, please learn more about what the world is doing with Mars. Try this web site that discusses all seven spacecraft.

Happy trails

Roger that pedantic dudette. And happy trails to all those other spacecraft!

14 August 2003

Mars and you 

Hey Biff-dog,

I saw Mars tonight and thought of you. Mars is beautiful! It is really, really bright and orangish-red.

Take care,

Jill

Seriously bright

Hey Dotette,

Mars is seriously bright for me, too, but I thought that was just because I'm headed there.

For me, it is the brightest thing besides the Earth, Moon, and Sun right now.

The Biffster

Perihelic Opposition

Hey Guys,

Couldn't help but notice you were discussing Mars' upcoming perihelic opposition.

Peri-heels

Whoa! For the record, I am not opposed to peri-heels, or any other kind of shoeware, or was that a mythological reference?

Opposition and perihelion

It was a reference to where the planets are relative to one another. Mars opposition occurs when Mars is on the opposite side of Earth from the Sun. Mars' perihelion occurs when Mars is at the closest point in its orbit to the Sun. Perihelic opposition occurs when the two happen together or nearly together.

Huh?

You're causing me to once again ask some of my favorite questions: HUH? and of course: SO? and the ever popular: DID THAT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH WHAT WE WERE DISCUSSING?

Relevance

Well, yes, of course it did. You were discussing how bright Mars appears. The reason it appears so bright on Earth is because we are approaching perihelic opposition. Same deal for us, but we're also somewhat closer to Mars and don't have the atmosphere in our way.

Brightness

Alright, so that's why Mars appears so bright, but why do you appear so bright?

Dimness

Good engineering. How'd you get so dim?

Snuggling

I'm not dim, I'm just written that way.

So, how often does this snuggling up to Mars thing happen, oh giver of enlightenment?

Closest in 60 K

The amazing thing is on August 27, 2003, at the time of closest approach of Earth to Mars, Earth will be closer to Mars than it has been in almost 60,000 years!! The closest in the history of the human species.

Yaga!

Yaga! That's a big stare at the waves and say whoa kinda thought. And, we're the closest to Mars in the history of the Astrobot line of robotics.

Ellipses and spacecraft

Yes, I suppose we are, but that is a somewhat shorter history.

Anyway, Mars opposition occurs every 26 months. But, Mars' orbit is very elliptical, in other words non-circular. Earth's orbit is to a lesser extent. So, during some oppositions Earth ends up much closer to Mars than in other oppositions. These make great times to observe Mars and great times to send spacecraft to Mars since it doesn't take as much energy to get there.

How much closer?

How much closer will Dot and Dash and the other Earth-bound beings be this time around?

Distance variation

The closest approach distance of Earth and Mars can vary between about 35 million miles, as it is this time around, to nearly 65 million miles, a big difference. Most are somewhere in between, for example in 2001 and next in 2005, Mars will be about 43 million miles away at closest approach.

How do we observe?

Hey Miss Sandy,

How can those of us on Earth take advantage of this opportunity?

Jill

Look up

The easiest thing is do just what you've already done: go out and see it. Mars will rise around sunset and set around sunrise for the next month or so. You'll see it in the East in the early evening, closer to overhead in the middle of the night, and in the West in the pre-dawn hours. Mars is the brightest object in the night sky besides the Moon right now, and looks like a very bright reddish-orange star.

Totally

Way totally bright!

Learn more Right.

As I was saying, you can also see the south polar cap, and bright and dark markings through even a relatively small telescope.

A lot of places are having star parties, lectures, and opportunities to use telescopes around the world on Earth. You can learn about some of these through Mars Watch 2003. At that web site, you can also learn more about how to view Mars and about Mars itself.

GET OUT THERE!

Tubular!

Most Righteous Dudes and Dudettes of Earth, go out and look at Mars, and think of us hurling through space.

27 August 2003

Happy Mars Day

Hey,

Happy Mars Day everyone! I've been waiting for this since last time when the Sandster told us about Mars being closer to Earth than it has been in almost 60,000 years. And now, the moment is here. Mars Day has arrived. Hey, what did you get me?

What?

What do you mean what did we get you?

Gifts?

Well, it is Mars Day, we're on our way to Mars, I just assumed gifts were in order.

Sorry

Hey Biff-dog,

Sorry, I didn't know. I'll try and find you something.

Take care,

Jill

Materialistic romp

Biff,

Now look what you've done, taken Mars Day, something designed to get people excited and looking up at Mars and you've tried to turn it into a materialistic romp in the virtual mall.

How's the view

Sounds like you didn't get any presents either.

Hey Jill, how's the view? It's great up here, but then I'm way closer to Mars than you are.

Mars beautiful

Mars is beautiful, still reminding me of you!

There are Mars Parties and lectures all around the world, many of them part of Mars Watch 2003. They're going to keep going for awhile since Mars will stay very bright in the night sky for the next month or two.

Party on!

Party on righteous Earthlings!

Where you are

Hi Sandy and Biff,

We are indeed greatly enjoying our view of Mars these days. Your view must be great, although you don't have access to the variety of telescopes we do. But, you're closer. Specifically here is some tracking information on you.

Biff, you're about 33 million kilometers from Mars. Sandy, you're about 36, and we on Earth are about 56 at the time of this amazing close approach.

Mars Brighter

Thanks Jack.

Mars is growing brighter and brighter for us.

Presents

Hi again Biff,

I took a minute to get you a couple presents. It's hard to send objects to you, so I got you a picture and a haiku.

Fast

Wow, you're fast. Do you carry a camera while thinking in haiku?

Presents

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took this close-up of Mars when it was just 34,648,840 miles (55,760,220 km) away. The picture was taken 11 hours before the planet made its closest approach to Earth in 60,000 years.

Credit: NASA, J. Bell (Cornell U.) and M. Wolff (Space Science Inst.)
 
Well, the picture isn't exactly mine, it was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope shortly before Mars' closest approach.

As to haiku, since you started writing them, I've become rather intrigued with them. Here is the one I just thought up:

Mars at its closest
Biff (and Sandy) in our hearts.
Mars red with passion.

Yowsa

Yowsa, that's beautiful. Mars is pretty, too.

My muse

It helps to have a good Muse.

Amused

I like to be amused.

And, you've inspired me to return to poetry.

Do some work

Oh joy, what a treat.

Shouldn't you read manuals?

Or check spacecraft health?

Haiku rocks

Manuals are good,
Spacecraft health is spiffy keen.
But my haiku rocks.

Stop!

Acckk. Stop with the bad haiku.

Big Happy Mars Day

Big Happy Mars Day,
to all of you still on Earth,
Chill out to Sandy.

12 September 2003

TV?

Hi,

This is a long cruise to Mars, don't we have some antenna on here that will allow us to pick up some TV stations?

Yes and No

Biff,

Yes you have antennas, no you can't pick up TV stations.

What's up with that?

Totally bogus! What's up with that?

Spacecraft communication

The antennas on the spacecraft allow us to communicate with Jack and Jill, and the spacecraft to communicate with controllers on Earth.

Three's Company

I still think it would be better if we could pick up re-runs of Three's Company. So, all these things do is allow us to talk to Earth, not that I think that isn't important.

High tech comm

"All they allow us to do"?!? Do you realize we are communicating over tens of millions of kilometers of space. This is not something you do with a couple of cans and some string.

Snarf Snarf.

Yeah, I guess that is kinda impressive. But, you keep saying antennas, why do we have more than one?

LGA and MGA

We have two on our cruise stage on the cruise ring: the Low Gain Antenna (LGA) and Medium Gain Antenna (MGA). The LGA transmits over a wider area, whereas the MGA focuses the radio beam some.

Light bulbs

Kind of like a regular light bulb as opposed to a spot light.

The antennas

Strangely, you're right.

The spacecraft used the LGA when we were near Earth and uses the MGA when we are farther away. The cruise ring, which is the "back" of our spacecraft, always faces approximately towards the sun because our solar panels are back there. Both antennas are also back there, "facing" the Sun.

When we were near Earth, the Sun and Earth weren't very close in our sky. So, the light bulb approach (LGA) was better. When we're farther away we need more power in a smaller beam, the spot light, and the orbits work such that the Sun and Earth are nearby in the sky, so the medium gain antenna works better.

Wee little antennas

Spiffy. Looking at those diagrams you just put up, those antennas don't look very big, they're even smaller than TV antennas. And, I know we don't have all that much power on this spacecraft. How's that work, o' knower of all things.

Big antennas

I'm glad you asked. The key lies in NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN). The DSN communicates with all of the American spacecraft in deep space, and many others as well. It uses huge and powerful radio antennas located at three facilities around the world: Goldstone, California, USA; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia. These are placed about 1/3 of the way around Earth from each other, permitting constant observation of spacecraft as the Earth spins.

How big?

Cool tunes! Now we're talking. When you say big, what do you mean?

Very big  

70 meter (almost as wide as the length of a football field) and 34 meter diameter dishes.

Way totally humongous

Oh yeah. Those puppies must be able to pull in every satellite TV signal out there.

Deep Space Comm  

Biff, you're still missing the point. They do two way communication with deep space missions.

Three's Company

Uh Hi Biff,

Don't worry, I'm looking into those Three's Company re-runs for you. I'll try to send some up to you through the DSN.

Jill

Hers, and hers, and his

Finally, someone putting this amazing hardware to uses that benefit me directly. Thanks, Jill. That is most righteous of you! Three's Company, too.

01 October 2003

Basketballs?

Yo dudes,

I needed a stretch after some intense video games, so I slipped out to the outside of the spacecraft again. What's the deal with the two basketballs. No one mentioned sports up here, not that I'm against it.

Biff

Propellant Tanks

Biff,

I'm guessing you mean the spherical propellant tanks. They carry the spacecraft fuel. At launch, each carried about 31 kilograms (68 pounds) of hydrazine propellant. That is what the spacecraft uses to increase our speed or change our direction. It is what was used during our Trajectory Correction Maneuvers.

Nozzles?

OK. Note to self, don't try to bounce the tanks full of rocket fuel.

Alright, then what are the little things with nozzles sticking out of them?

Thruster Clusters

Thruster Clusters.

Cereal

Oh, those are great with raisins and milk. But, I'm guessing that isn't what you meant.

Thruster Clusters 2

Why no, Biff. The thruster clusters are sets of thrusters (nozzles) that use the hydrazine propellant to push us in different directions. By using different combinations of thrusters, our velocity can be increased, or our spacecraft can be moved sideways, or "twisted."

Testing you

Why are they off most of the time, you can't just turn the engine off in a car or an airplane? By the way, I know this one, I just thought I'd test you to make you feel good about yourself.

Lack of friction  

Your thoughtfulness never ceases to amaze me. A car gets slowed down by the friction of the ground and air, and an airplane by the air. In the near vacuum of space, there is essentially no friction to slow us down like there is on Earth. So, we don't have to keep the thrusters on. We only use them to change direction or adjust our orientation or speed.

Vacuums?

So, we are in a near-vacuum. That sucks?

Re: Vacuums?  

Not that kind of vacuum! A vacuum as in an absence of gas, a lack of pressure.

News: SMART-1

Hi Sandy and Biff,

We have some news for you on other planetary spacecraft.

First, the European Space Agency's SMART-1 spacecraft launched successfully. It will take about 15 months to reach the Moon. It will then go into orbit and acquire a variety of scientific data.

Slowness

Whoa, wait a second, I'm taking less than seven months to reach Mars, which, last I checked was about 140 times or more farther away. Apollo went to the Moon in 3 days. What is the story with these guys? Didn't eat their Thruster Clusters for breakfast?

SMART-1  

Oh Biff, it is amazing that you haven't caused an international scandal. The SMART-1 mission is a technology demonstration of an ion engine. It accelerates slowly, but uses a lot less mass of fuel to get where you're going. It is on all the time, but only puts out a small amount of thrust.

On or off?

Hang on, rocket bot. You just got done telling us why our thrusters don't have to be on all the time.

Thrust differences  

True, but they are using a different type of space propulsion. Our chemical propellant puts out more thrust in small bursts. Theirs puts out only a little thrust, but can stay on all the time, and use up a lot less mass, thus enabling a lot of interesting future missions. NASA's Deep Space 1 also tested this technology, and one of their engines on the ground set the record for the longest an engine has ever been on constantly. Planned future missions such as Dawn will use ion engines.

Smart

Well then, I guess it is the smart one. Ar, ar, ha, ha.

Galileo end of mission

Righto. In other news, on Sept. 21, NASA's Galileo spacecraft was crashed into Jupiter, ending its extremely successful 14 year mission.

Crashed?

Youch, did you say crashed? That does not look or sound pretty. NASA did this on purpose? Uh, they don't have any plans for our mission I don't know about do they?

Targeted  

Galileo was targeted into Jupiter because it was almost out of fuel, and NASA wanted to make sure they didn't accidentally later crash into one of its moons, thus possibly contaminating it.

There are no such plans for our spacecraft. The goal is to get us on the surface in one piece.

Milk?

Righteous, glad to hear it. Well, back to some gaming. I love using radiation hardened computers to play video games, gives an extra sense of reality. I love to munch while I play. Any milk around here?

31 October 2003

Power needs?

Hey Dudette,

I'm having trouble powering up my Halloween lights, lava lamp, and other Halloween stuff, what's up with electrical power on this ghostly craft?

Biff

Power

Biff,

In short, the power comes from solar panels. We'll get back to that. Please tell me your kidding about lights and lava lamps. You didn't actually bring those things with you?

Sandy

Improvising?

No, of course not. I know we have mass limitations. I've made them from stuff I found lying around, or occasionally attached to the spacecraft. I'll put it all back. Anyway, help me with this power issue.

Solar panels

The solar panels are attached to the "back" of the cruise stage of our spacecraft in a circular configuration. They are kept pointing towards the Sun to generate the maximum amount of power. They are about 2.65m (8.7 feet) in diameter. Divided into five sections, the solar arrays can provide up to 600 Watts of power near Earth and 300 Watts at Mars. That's the power required for 5 or 10 60-Watt light bulbs. The solar panels are the blue things on "top" in the diagrams above.

Power shortage

I've had handheld video games that required more power than that. Admittedly, that's just me. But still, the whole spacecraft operates on that? No wonder I'm having problems with my creations.

Your "needs"

Normal bots don't require such large amounts of power. The spacecraft also stores energy in batteries. It is hard to keep a spacecraft small and generate much power from solar panels.

Halloween

I love power. Almost as much as I love Halloween. Hey everyone, what are you going to wear for Halloween costumes?

No costume

I'm just going to spend a quiet evening at home handing out candy. No costumes planned.

Jack

Costume

Hi Biff,

I, like many this Halloween, will be dressing as Biff Starling.

Jill

Rock on!

Wow, I'm touched! That is way beyond cool! Rock on!

How about you, Sandy, are you dressing up as me?

Gagging

I think I just gagged on a data packet. NO. I'm not dressing as you for Halloween. I'm not dressing as anything but me. I didn't dress up on Earth. I'm certainly not dressing up in space. And, even if I did, how would I create a costume on board a spacecraft, especially one of you who looks so different from me?

My costume

Happy Halloween from Biff.

Well, you have a point about me. And, playing the Biffster is mostly about attitude, the right attitude.

But, regarding costumes and life in general, you really need to learn to improvise, Sandy. Check out my costume!

By the way, lava lamps turn out to be the one thing that isn't as cool looking in zero gravity. Still a nice warm glow.

Happy Halloween everyone!

14 November 2003

Tingly

I've been feeling kind of tingly in a charged-particle-kind-of-a-way the last couple weeks. Do I just have some kinda programming disorder, or is there something I should know about?

Re: Tingly

Hi Biffster,

I often feel that way when I think about you, and I've been thinking about you a lot. But in this case, maybe it is caused by the recent flurry of solar activity. I remember in your testing you showed an abnormal sensitivity to charged particles like protons.

Solar activity

I thought they told me I was sensitive and charged. What kind of solar activity, and what does it have to do with me in space?

Solar flare

Perhaps I can help. There have been a number of very large solar flares and related events that have sent large amounts of charged particles hurtling out from the Sun into space. They can sometimes wreak havoc with spacecraft. In fact, a couple of Earth orbiting satellites may have been lost to these events.

Deep space spacecraft like ours can also have problems. For example, Stardust has gone into safe mode in the past because of solar flares confusing the star scanner.

Star scanners?

Star scanners? We've got one of those, don't we? It is used to way-totally navigate as I recall.

Re: Star Scanners

Why yes, you're right. It images the stars and compares their positions to figure out where the spacecraft is in space.

Safe?

What's this safe mode?

Safe mode

When modern spacecraft like ours detect a problem, they go into a safe mode to protect the spacecraft. They orient antennas towards the Earth as much as possible, stop doing unnecessary activities, and wait for commands from controllers on Earth.

Sweet

Saftey--Sweet!

Totally

 Totally!

29 December 2003

News: International Mission Update

Hi Biff and Sandy,

I have some news updates for you from the other Mars missions.

But, first, Biff, you will land in five days, and all systems look good. Now on to the international news:

The European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft has successfully entered Mars orbit! It will be adjusting its orbit as planned to accomplish its many exciting science goals.

Jack

Righteous

Most righteous European dudes and dudettes! Way to power into Martian orbit!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to ESA on a great achievement. This is the first time ESA has placed a spacecraft in orbit around another planet!

Jack, what is the status of the Beagle 2 lander?

News: Beagle 2

Mars Express deployed the Beagle 2 lander to the surface of Mars, but so far Beagle 2 has not been heard from. It should have landed on Mars on Dec. 24/25 depending on Earth time zone. There is still some hope left that it will be able to communicate with the Mars Express orbiter on Jan. 4.

Woof on Whoa!

Sounds like a most lonely little lander. Good luck, guy. Woof on Beagle dude!

Best wishes

We send our best wishes to the spacecraft and the British team behind her development.

News: Nozomi

In other spacecraft news, the Japanese Space Agency's (JAXA) Nozomi spacecraft was unable to enter Mars orbit. The spacecraft functions, but will not be obtaining Mars data as hoped.

Sorry

Most unfortunate! Sorry, dudes.

Condolences

We send our condolences to those who have worked on this mission for many years and our best wishes for future successes.

Mars is tough! Did you know that only about one-third of all missions that have been sent to Mars have succeeded?

Now?

You tell me this NOW! I'm five days from landing on Mars, and you choose now to share this happy little statistic with me.

Space history

Well, Biff, if you'd studied any of your space history, you'd already know this.

Our spacecraft are technological marvels that represent years of work for thousands of people. They've done all they can to reduce risk.

Your safety

 Hi Biffster,

Know that I am doing everything possible to ensure your safety, including contingency plans.

Jill

Okay

Thanks, Jill.

Well, okay then.

What's next?

EDL

Well, in terms of what you need to be concerned with, we'll be reviewing the entry, descent, and landing sequence with you over the next few days. Stay tuned.

I'll be here

Oh, I'll be here. I have no plans to leave the spacecraft.

01 January 2004

News: On Target

Hi Biff,

You're still looking right on course for landing in Gusev Crater on Jan. 3 at 8:35 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. The Trajectory Correction Maneuver on Dec. 26 has you going right where we want.

In case you are interested, as of 6 a.m. PST this morning, you've traveled 482 million kilometers (299 million miles) since launch and have 5.1 million kilometers (3.2 million miles) left to go.

Jack

Lookin' to Landing

And I've hardly even broken a sweat. Dude, it's been a long voyage with a lot of black, so I'm happy to be almost there. I slipped out for another look outside the spacecraft, and whoa, Mars is looking seriously big and impressive. I think I see why they call it the Red Planet, too. Sweet polar caps, also.

Temptation

Biff, don't you get tempted to get out and look around when you get close to hitting the atmosphere. In fact, make sure you buckle down tightly for landing.

Fear not

Roger that righteous, dudette. Fear not, even the Biffster has respect for going from 12,000 miles per hour (5.4 km per second) to zero in 6 minutes. But, the view was most bodacious, you should give a couple more looks before your landing.

Mars Express Image

Image of Mars taken by Mars Express on Dec. 1, 2003.

Image: ESA

Click to enlarge
 
I'm not sure we sent you up this image that Mars Express took as it was approaching Mars. Look familiar?

Haiku

Sure does. I've written a little haiku about the view we're getting now. This one's for you, Jill.

Bogus black fades away.
Red planet making my day.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

Poetry

Oh Biff, poetry fans are going to boycott the landing.

Thanks

I thought your haiku was stellar, Biff. And, it even rhymes. Thanks! I'll treasure it in my collection.

Happy New Year

Hey, did you know that with Mars years being almost two Earth years in length, I guess I'll be only half as old when I'm on Mars...

Well, in any case, for you Earthlings, a new trip around the Sun has just begun, so Happy New Year everybody!!!

03 January 2004

EDL and Saftey

Hi Biff, your landing is only hours away.

Biff, I really want you to be safe during Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL), so I want to review the key components with you, including the basics of the timeline. I'm sure you know all there is to know already, but I'll feel better if we review this.

Safety

Well, uh, to make you feel better. Never can be too safe.

Cruise ring

An hour and a half before landing, the spacecraft will turn so its heat shield is in the proper orientation.

A bit more than an hour after that, the cruise ring, which has gotten you to Mars, and includes solar panels, thruster clusters, and lots of other things, will separate from the aeroshell.

Re: Cruise Ring

Note to self: stay off the cruise ring. So, we're done with that stuff at that point.

Hitting the atmosphere

Yes, nothing on the cruise ring will be needed anymore.

About 15 minutes later, the aeroshell, with you and the lander snug inside, will start encountering the upper part of the Martian atmosphere. Six minutes later, you'll be on the surface.

Six minutes o' Fun

Ahh, the six minutes o' fun!

Heating

Sometimes called the six minutes of terror, but I digress.

Four minutes before landing the heat shield will be experiencing peak heating.

Hot, hot, hot

Note to self: stay off the heat shild. Hey, it has been way cold in space, how do things heat up so much in two minutes.

Friction

I think I can help here. We are going extremely fast right now, over 12,000 miles per hour. When we hit the atmosphere there will be a lot of friction.

Acceleration

Uhh, thanks Sandy. Another way to look at frictional heating Biff is imagine the intense heat we'd generate by rubbing our hands together really fast.

You'll be pulling about 7 g's (7 times the acceleration of Earth's gravity) at this time, enough to make most humans black out.

Robots

Chalk one up for robots. I don't even work out.

Parachute

Next comes the parachute deployment 1 minute 41 seconds before landing. You'll be eight kilometers (five miles) above the surface and traveling about 400 meters per second (900 miles per hour). The parachute is deployed from a mortar on top of the backshell.

Mortars

Note to self: stay out of the mortar. Well, on second thought, I don't need a note to self on that one. That's just common sense, now isn't it.

Dropping

20 seconds later, the aeroshell is dropped off. 10 seconds after that the lander drops down from the backshell on a bridle.

Horses?

I was with you until the bridle. Are there horses involved?

No horses

 Oh Biff, you're so silly. No horses. Just a big long "rope like thing" that dangles down and holds the lander (including you) so that there is enough room to inflate the airbags.

The airbags inflate 8 seconds before landing, wrapping you in a snuggly cocoon of protection.

Comfy

Sounds comfy.

RAD motors

Then, the three RAD motors fire to slow you down to essentially a stop about 15 meters (40 feet) above the ground.

RADical!

RAD motors, radical motors? Now, you're talking my kind of equipment.

RAD motors

Biff, that is Rocket Assisted Deceleration (RAD) motors. Why are these things surprising you still?

Charmed, I'm sure

I wasn't surprised, just charmed.

Bouncing

Oh, yes, Biff. Anyway, after you halt in mid-air, the bridle is cut, you drop in your airbag cocoon and the bouncing starts. You may bounce up to a kilometer with up to tens of bounces. So, you buckle safe now, ya hear?

Yowsh

Yowsh. That ought to be..well..huge fun! Sure I'll be safe. Am I ever not cautious?

Worrying

Some of us worry about you, Biff Starling.

That's the basics of your EDL. You know you can review your manuals for more or go here for a more complete timeline.

You should know that a lot of the world will be following your landing, including a few thousand live in Pasadena, CA and via the web at Wild About Mars. Take care!

05 January 2004

Are you ok?

Biff, Biff, Are you ok? We are really worried about you! We know Spirit landed safely, but why haven't you communicated??

Party on!

One of the first images from Spirit on Mars shows Astrobot Biff Starling. The DVD carrying Biff Starling appears as the circular feature in lower middle attached to lander petal.

Image: NASA/JPL.

Click to see entire panorama
 
Zoom image of Biff waving from the surface of Mars. Image: NASA/JPL.

Most righteous dudettes and dudes! I am here on Mars. Party on!!!

I did communicate, didn't you see the picture of me safe on Mars, safe on my DVD home? I was waving. I even mouthed the words "This is one very tiny step for a tiny robot, and, well, one somewhat larger step for dudes and dudettes everywhere." I guess you probably couldn't understand those since it was a still picture. But, I was excited and in the moment. And, then I couldn't stop looking around. This exploring thing is way cool!

Whew!

We saw you (and you look great!), but we couldn't know if you were still functioning. I, I mean we, are so relieved. Congratulations, Biff!!

SOP

Biff, you did not follow standard operating procedure. You should have communicated as soon as possible within the communication constraints of the mission.

On Mars

Hmm.

Did I mention I'm on Mars?!?

Congratulations

Congratulations, Biff, on being the first Astrobot on Mars! We are all very proud of you. How is the view?

Mars Rocks!

MARS TOTALLY ROCKS! And, it has a lot of rocks, but not as many as I expected.

Gusev crater is soooooo cool looking! Not as rocky as expected, quite flat. Way beautiful in a desolate kind of a way. And, really, really red.

Congratulations

Congratulations, Biff!! People are ecstatic here on Earth about Spirit's success.

Scientists say you've landed in the "scientific sweet spot," especially since at first look you appear to be in an area where dust devils have removed dust providing lots of relatively "clean" rocks.

Sweet

It is totally sweet here! I need to go look around some more. I'll get back to you about that most intense landing, and about what I find around here. I think I'll check out the rover some more, this thing is totally cool in the light.

08 January 2004

EDL?

 Biff, we never heard about your experience coming through the atmosphere and landing. How did it compare to our review of Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) that we did last week?

What a rush!

Technically, everything went exactly as planned, which I guess is why I'm here safe right now. But, as to how it felt: WHAT A RUSH!

I recorded my reactions to EDL, but haven't sent them. Here they are as I recorded them:

All strapped down.

Must be starting to hit the top of the atmosphere now.

Whoa, cool.

Feelin' kinda squished.

Feelin' really squished. Must be near the maximum slowing down.

Ow.

Wacka, that must have been the parachute going out. Ahh, starting to be a little bit more soothing.

Whoa, falling sensation, must be dropping down from the lander on that horse thing.

Wow, cool noise, that musta been the airbags inflating, which means...

Ahhhh, I really hope those are rockets to slow me down.

Oooh, free fall leading to...

Ow, bouncing, serious spinning, and ow, another bounce, oooh, another, this is soooo cool! What a ride, ow, what a rush, ow, ooh, bouncing more ow often now. Aga. Slowing, ow. Rocking back and forth back and forth. All stop.

Oh, I seriously want to do that again!!! That was so awesomely cool!

Golly

Golly, Biff, sounds exciting.

Eloquence

Eloquent as always, Biff. By the way, that "horse thing" would be a bridle, and as we discussed, it has nothing to do with horses.

Hard to think

Well, dudette, it is a little hard to think clearly after being squished, rattled, and spun.

Then what?

 What happened after that?

Leaking sounds

I'm glad you asked.

Took me awhile to figure out what the leaking sound was, turned out to be the airbags deflating. As they did, the lander settled onto the base petal.

Then, a few minutes later, the petals began to open. Unbelievable. They opened onto a whole new world.

Dark cocoon unfolds,
Reddish sky floods open eyes,
New home revealed.

Poetry theft?

Biff, are you stealing haiku's from someone? That didn't stink.

Inspiration

Thanks for the high compliment. Of course I'm not stealing poetry ... Mars inspires me!

11 January 2004

Rover movement

OK, guys, what's going on down here, the rover sits for long periods then "does stuff." Most recently its wheels have been unfurling and stretching.

Preparation

Biff, if you had been prepared, or even paying attention to communications since landing, these things wouldn't surprise you.

Exploring

Hey, I've had a lot of exploring to do. And, I've been cooped up inside a dark tetrahedronal spacecraft for months. I have needed to bag some serious rays under the reddish Martian sky.

Did you ever notice the rover has six wheels? OK, just kidding, that much I remembered.

Preparing for egress

Well, anyway, the rover is going through a series of steps over the course of many Martian days (called sols) to prepare it to drive off the lander (called egress). This includes extending the back wheels. It also includes unfolding the front wheels which have been tucked in to fit inside the lander.

Popping sounds

I was exploring the rover shortly before those back wheels moved and there was a popping sound that totally scared me. What was that?

Pyrotechnics

Many things on the spacecraft have been held in place by connectors. Those connectors are often disconnected using small pyrotechnic devices (often called pyros).

Boom?

Pyrotechnic, as in boom, as in explosives?

Pyros

Yes, but very small explosions. This is very common on all kinds of spacecraft.

Wheels near me

Cool.

You know, those front wheels are now a little too close for comfort to my DVD home. You know the home that almost four million names of Earthlings and I share.

Egress direction

You can relax about that, Biff. Though the engineers would like to have driven forward straight off the lander, they will probably drive off a third of the way around the rover to the right from the front. That is because the air bags on the front of the lander are still a little bit in the way. They worked on pulling them back in more while moving the "deck" up and down, but one of the airbags might still brush the solar panels during the drive off. So, they've decided to go off another direction. The ability of the rover to do this was always part of the design of the lander and rover.

Not so loopy

Most excellent!

So, they've been moving airbags, and affecting the level of the deck. That makes me feel better. I thought I was just getting loopy, since I'd look around and feel like the horizon was a little crooked now, or like I was a little closer to the ground. Whew.

Great pix!

Hey Biffster,

We've gotten some great pictures of you on the DVD back from the Pancam camera! You look fabulous!

Leaking sounds

Image taken on Mars of Biff Starling and the DVD carrying four million Earthlings names. This was taken by the Pancam on the surface of Mars! This color image actually combines pictures from three different filters to create the color.

Click to see more images and to try to crack the secret code.
 
Why thank you.

With these images back I can now tell you about the secret coded message I've put on the surface of the DVD for everyone out there on Earth to try to decode. It's a special message from me. The code is kind of tough, but my friends from The Planetary Society Astrobot Corps back home will keep giving you new clues every two days. Everyone who gets it right gets a certificate, and some randomly chosen winners get prizes. Cool tunes! Click here for more images and to learn more. But first a special clue for Astrobot Diary readers: the message is repeated three times. It is the same between each of the bricks. Good luck.

Clue?

Biff, they could have told that by staring at the image long enough.

Saving time

Well, sure, but now I've saved them a little bit of time so they'll have more time to read more Astrobot Diaries.

16 January 2004

Egress

This image was taken using Spirit's rear hazard identification camera (hazcam). The rover is approximately one meter (one yard) from the lander. The crisscross material on the lander is the exit ramp the rover used, while the airbags can be seen on either side of the ramp.
CLICK TO SEE 3-D VERSION
 
 Hi Biff, we have positive confirmation that the Spirit rover has all six wheels in the Martian dirt and is performing great. Here's a portrait of your home for the last several months.

How are things going for you?

Self portraits

Movie of images from front Hazcam as Spirit began turning. Biff Starling is on the DVD, which appears as a white, circular object that moves across the center of the image.

Image: NASA/JPL

Click to enlarge and see the image rotate including the DVD and Biff.
 
Great! Way cool to actually have a roving rover. Nice picture of the lander. Had I known, I would have posed. Loved the picture in 3-D. Glad I brought my 3-D glasses. Almost like being there. Oh wait, I am here.

But hey, did you see the pictures of me waving as the rover rotated on the lander and took pictures of me on the DVD (and pictures of other things around me)? So glad the rover didn't drive straight forward over the DVD. It nicely turned a third of a turn before driving off.

Courageous

 Hi Biff,

That was very courageous to remain with the DVD while the rover was driving near you.

Doing my duty

Thanks, Jill. I felt it was my duty to the 4 million people whose names are on that DVD to protect it, just in case.

Nobility

Very noble, Biff. Of course, you had already been told the plan was to back up a little then rotate right a third of a turn.

Never too careful

Well, um, sure, that's true, but you never can be too careful.

Test bed images

Test rover driving off lander on Earth in JPL test bed.

Image: NASA/JPL.

Click to enlarge
 
We have images from the test area here at JPL on Earth showing a test rover being driven off a lander. This was done before it was tried with the actual rover. Is that how it looked on Mars?

Party on!

Pretty much, but surroundings are more beautiful here. This is a totally cool rover with those six wheels moving all funky. Way fun to watch it drive off and get dirty. Impressive how it drove down the slope onto the dirt. Party on!

Student Astronauts

I want to interject to send my best wishes to The Planetary Society Student Astronauts kids who are in operations at JPL. I've been reading their journals online and enjoying them.

Ditto

Nice, dudette. Totally concur. They are one tubular bunch of international, hope for the future kind of kids.

Well, back to getting down and dirty on Mars. This rover beast is not leaving without me. Hasta!

20 January 2004

Robotic arm

Movie of images from front Hazcam as Spirit extends its robotic arm (Instrument Deployment Device) for the first time on Mars.

Image: NASA/JPL

Click to enlarge
 
Dudes and Dudettes,

Check out this movie of the robot arm reaching out to party with the surface. This thing is soooo cool. It's like some kind of human (or giant astrobot) arm with its various joints. What are we doing with it?

Microscopic imager

Hi Biff,

First we're obtaining images of the soil with the microscopic imager to look at the texture up close.

As you've noted, the deployment went great. The robotic arm is of course more formally called the Instrument Deployment Device (IDD).

Reach out

Thanks, Jill. Great for reaching out and touching, or nearly touching in this case.

I have got to party more with this rover.

Images

Image of Martian surface from the microscopic imager. This is the highest resolution image every taken of another planetary surface. It is approximately 3 centimeters across. Patch in upper right is lit by direct Sun.

Image: NASA/JPL/USGS.

Click to enlarge
 
Hi Biff, we've gotten some images back from the microscopic imager, which basically acts like a geologists hand lens (magnifying glass) would. This is the highest resolution image ever taken of another planetary surface.

The scientists are describing the soil as having a texture like powdered cocoa.

Yuck!

Hey, that's great. Just a moment...

Yuck...

This is not powdered cocoa!

Texture

The texture, Biff, not the taste!!

Good taste

That's for sure.

One thing Mars doesn't have is good taste.

Mars not alone

Mars isn't alone.

I am here

Why no, for I, Biff Starling, am here now with it.

24 January 2004

Systems go.

Hi Sandy,

All things are go for your landing in a few hours in Meridiani Planum. Spacecraft systems are performing great.

How are you doing?

Completed checklists

Doing great. I've completed my review of landing sequence and my checklists. Hard to believe the time is finally here after all this training, all the preparation.

Best wishes

Dudette,

Most excellent best wishes for a fabulous landing. Enjoy it. I found this review of Entry, Descent, and Landing from Jill Dot very useful. You might give it a read.

Content

Thanks for your best wishes, Biff. I look forward to joining you on Mars.

I feel content that my many months of review of the EDL sequence have me prepared, but thanks.

Good luck, Sandy

 Hi Biff and Sandy,

Good luck, Sandy. We look forward to seeing you on Mars.

Biff, if you want to follow along with Sandy's landing, you can check out this timeline of the landing.

Landing site

Hey Sandy,

Your landing site doesn't look as interesting as mine in the orbital images. I'm inside this big giant crater at the end of a humongous channel that probably had lots of water in the past. What's up with your site?

Morphology and composition

Biff, your site has interesting morphology, in other words landforms like the crater and channel. Those made scientists think there may have been lots of liquid water in the past, and they are testing that with the Spirit rover.

Meridiani Planum, my landing site, was chosen not because of the morphology, but because of its composition. From orbital studies, scientists found lots of a mineral called grey hematite there. On Earth, that almost always forms in the presence of liquid water. The Opportunity rover will explore whether there was lots of liquid water there in the past.

Party on!

Well, party on Sandy Moondust! Enjoy the ride down, its intense, and hugely fun!

Haiku

I'm sure it will be fascinating. The engineering involved in creating the landing system is amazing.

To show my excitement, I have a haiku:

Opportunity!
Engineering devices
Enter atmosphere.

I'm moved

How emotional, I'm moved. And, you will be too when you hit the atmosphere--you and your engineering devices. What a great opportunity. Ha, Ha! Party on!

Go for landing

Sandy,

You are go for landing.

Good luck!

25 January 2004

Safe on the surface

Mosaic panorama of the Opportunity landing site taking by the navigation camera (Navcam).

Image: NASA/JPL.

Click to enlarge
 
We show the Opportunity lander successfully on the surface at Meridiani Planum. We have already received stunning images of the landing site. Sandy, what is your status

Awesome

Dude, this is so totally awesome, I can’t believe it.

Surfer?

Sandy, did you just speak surfer?

Oh my gosh!

Oh my gosh, I did. How could I have done that? But, Biff, this is just so righteous. The view is bodacious. The entry, descent, and landing was radical. Ahhhh, I can’t stop.

Happiness

It’s called happiness, it’s an emotion. Go with it Dudette! How’s the landing site?

Ode

Like, oh my gosh, it is like the most amazing place I’ve ever seen. So not Earth. Like whoa! I’ve written a quick haiku, “Ode to a Landing Site.”

Bounce marks on the ground.
Outcrop calling us over.
Hematite around?

Righteous

Totally righteous, dudette. Must give kudos. Tell us more.

Cool stuff

Pancam image of Martian surface including nearby surface scraped by the airbag retraction in center, and intriguing rock outcrop at right of picture.

Image: NASA/JPL/Cornell.

Click to enlarge
 
Check out the color image showing the reddish “scraped” area where the airbags dragged across the ground during retraction. And of course the outcrop of rock in front of the rover a little ways off. And, the lack of rocks more generally, very different than your site, Biff. We expected it to be different based on orbital data, but whoa. And, the grayish look of the upper surface material. And, the bounce marks from where the airbags were bouncing on the surface before we came to rest.

I see you

One of the first images from Opportunity on Mars shows Astrobot Sandy Moondust. The DVD carrying Sandy Moondust appears as the circular feature in lower middle attached to lander petal. This is a Navcam image.

Image: NASA/JPL.

Click to enlarge
 
Zoom image of Sandy waving from the surface of Mars. Image: NASA/JPL.

I also can see you in the panorama, dudette! Congratulations, and welcome to Mars.

Glad to be here!

Thanks, Biff. Glad to be here!

30 January 2004

Egress

Hi Sandy,

All has gone perfectly, so we are already go for egress (driving off the lander) with the Opportunity rover.

Sandy, do you copy?

Sleep mode

We show Sandy in sleep mode. She has been reviewing the health of the spacecraft, exploring, and writing poetry like crazy since she landed. She finally took a sleep mode.

Bad timing

Well, she picked a bad time for it. The rover is heading straight off the front of the lander, meaning it will likely run over the DVD, and Sandy if she's still on it.

Sending command to get her out of sleep mode, but commands were already sent to start egress.

Sandy, do you copy?

Wake up

Sleeping beauty, wakey, wakey time, or else squishy, squishy time.

Ahhhhhhhh.

Systems coming back online. What is that noise? And, that shadow, ahhhhhhhhh.

Wheels coming

Dudette, peel yourself up and off of there, serious rover wheels coming your way.

Ow

Wheel. Tunk. Ow.
Wheel. Tunk. Ow.
Wheel. Tunk. Ow.

OK?

That's gotta hurt. You okay, Sandy?

OK

Doing a systems check. All ok. That was a somewhat unpleasant experience.

DVD with 4 million names seems ok.

Looking good

Rear hazcam image in 3D, looking out back of rover, showing lander after egress (drive off). DVD and Sandy Moondust can be seen by following the wheel track on left up to the lander. DVD appears as white circular feature.

Image: NASA/JPL.

Click to enlarge
 
Rover health is ok. All six wheels are in the dirt.

Flight Director indicates you look OK. We've just received a rear Hazcam image showing the lander...and you on the DVD.

Looking good Sandy!

I see you

Oh yeah, Dudette. We can hardly tell you just got run over by 3 metal wheels. Dig the track marks in the soil, that lead right back to you. Did you get the license plate?

Lucky for you that Martian gravity is only 38% of Earth gravity, so the rover only weighed 38% as much as on Earth.

Glad to be here!

I think I'll reboot, I feel a little woozy.

02 February 2004

Happy 30th Sol

Hi Biff,

Happy 30th Martian Day (Sol) on the surface! Seems like you should have candles. Of course they wouldn't burn in the Martian atmosphere due to the lack of oxygen.

Anyway, engineers here on Earth have very successfully found fixes to the computer and communication issues that started from the Spirit rover about 10 days ago. The issue appears to have been with file management in Flash Memory.

Comic books

Isn't Flash Memory a comic book character?

Flash memory

No, silly bot. It is a kind of memory often used in consumer electronics like cameras. It doesn't lose its contents when the power is off.

Issues with it on Spirit were causing the computer to re-boot up to once an hour. But, as I said, things have been worked out now, so science operations are getting started again.

Mountain Climbing

Cool tunes! I was concerned I couldn't get all my fabulous communications through to you on a regular basis.

Are they going to keep playing with that rock the arm has been next to for awhile? I actually did some nice mountain climbing on that rock during the down time. At least it seems like a mountain compared to me.

Continuing analyses

Microscopic Imager close up of Adirondack. This is the highest resolution image ever taken of a rock on another world.

Image: NASA/JPL/USGS.

Click to enlarge
 
How appropriate, Biff, since it has been named Adirondack after the mountains of that name on Earth. Mountain climbing...you're so rugged and athletic!

Yes, analyses of Adirondack are continuing. They have some nice data back from before as shown here. It includes microscopic imager pictures, and even some spectra showing the mineral types.

Cheese?

So, what is this stuff made of? Seems too tough to be cheese.

Olivine Basalt

Not cheese. So far, the rock appears to be an olivine basalt. Shortly, the rock abrasion tool (RAT) will be used to grind off the upper surface of Adirondack, and allow further study of its interior, which should be less weathered.

OK?

Oh, I'm so excited. I love the RAT. What a great acronym. And, it grinds into rocks. What's not to love? So, we're going to do a rodent assault on a basalt?

I suppose

 I suppose you could put it that way.

OK?

Hey Sandy, you've been awful quiet since getting run over by the rover.

OK

I've just been looking around admiring the beauty. I'll get back to you. Enjoy yourself, Biff.

Huh

Huh?!? Well, OK.

09 February 2004

How are you?

Hi Sandy,

Things are still going great with the Opportunity rover since leaving the lander. We've gotten great science data, and have, as you I'm sure have noticed, taken some short drives to the outcrop of rock.

How are you doing since the rover ran over you? We haven't heard much from you.

Beauty

I'm doing wonderfully. I've just been taking some time to appreciate all the beauty here, and to have a little fun.

Who are you?

OK, who are you and what have you done with Sandy?

It is I

It is I, Biff.

I'm Biff

No, I'm Biff.

I am Sandy

No, no: it is I, Sandy, Biff. I am Sandy.

Huh?

You're appreciating beauty and having fun?

Smell the hematite

Why, yes, Biff. I hope you are, too. Life, albeit a robotic one, is precious. We must take the time to smell the hematite.

Hematite concentrations

Mineral map of hematite concentration overlaid on visible wavelength image of the surface around Opportunity. Red areas have the highest concentrations of hematite, and green and blue areas have lower concentrations. Bedrock outcrop can be seen and appears low in hematite.

Image: NASA/JPL/Cornell/ASU.

Click to enlarge
 
Speaking of hematite, we now have this image showing surface hematite concentrations at the Opportunity landing site. It is from the mini-TES (mini-Thermal Emission Spectrometer).

Pretty colors

Wow, the colors in the image are really pretty. I know it is false color, but don't you like the patterns?

Pretty colors?

You like the pretty colors?!? You're not telling us about how on Earth, coarse grained hematite usually forms in liquid water; or how this confirms the hematite measurements taken from orbit that caused this site to be selected. No discussion of the possible scientific and astrobiological significance. Dudette, you are freaking me out! What happened when you got run over? Dot, Dash, has anyone run a system check on Sandy recently?

Checked out fine

 Hi Biffster,

All of Sandy's systems checked out fine, even after the hit and run incident.

Appreciation

Biff, all that you said about the science is true. And I still appreciate that in its own beautiful way, but we've discussed the scientific significance before and I'm seeing the worlds in a broader perspective now. Pretty colors are pretty colors and should be appreciated in their own right.

Weirded out

OK, is anyone else weirded out about now? Well, dudette, have fun enjoying the beauty. My head hurts.

17 February 2004

Know where you are

Hi Biff Bot,

I just wanted to make sure you were updated on where you are and where you are going.

On Mars

I'm on Mars, and I'm going where ever the rover goes. Seems straightforward enough.

Where you are

Where is Biff Starling? At the white dot. The blue ellipse is the original targeted landing ellipse within Gusev crater where the rover was most likely to come down. The black ellipse represents one early method of finding Biff, and the white dot a later more accurate method.

Image: NASA/JPL.

Click to enlarge
 
Well, yes, those things are true, Biff. But, I meant where on Mars, and where is the rover going.

This image shows where you are in a broad sense within Gusev Crater.

White dot

So, I'm the white dot. How exciting.

Azimuths

Spirit Pancam panorama with various hills noted in the image.

Image: NASA/JPL.

Click to enlarge
 
Directions to each of the hills seen on the surface in the previous image were combined with this orbital image as one method to determine Spirit's location. Image: NASA/JPL.

Click to enlarge
 
Things got narrowed down more by using images from Spirit combined with orbital images as shown in these pictures.

Cool

OK, now that is pretty cool. Now I'm the intersection of several yellow lines.

Orbital pictures

Where is Biff Starling? At the white dot in lower middle of picture. But, this time that white dot really is the lander in an orbital picture taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera on board the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft.

Image: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems.

Click to enlarge
 
Well, Biffster, if you think that is cool, take a look at this. Orbital images that actually show the lander, as well as the parachute, backshell, heat shield, and bounce marks from your landing. How cool is that?

Bodacious

Where is Biff Starling? On the set of white dots on the right. The right image is a blow up of the lander from the Mars Orbiter Camera image shown above. The contrast has been enhanced. The image on the left is a combination of computer generated "art" of the lander combined with actual images from Spirit of the surroundings. At the time the right image was taken, the rover had already driven off the lander and is "lost in the glare" of the lander.

Image: NASA/JPL/MSSS.

Click to enlarge
 
Way totally cool, Dotster! Now I'm a much cooler white dot. That is amazing that a picture like that can be taken from Mars orbit.

I think I see myself when I blow it up. OK, maybe not. But that is most bodacious. Kudos!

So, you've got beautiful pictures of where I am. Where am I going? The rovers been moving along a lot lately since I jumped on board.

Where you're going

General plan for where Spirit will go in the coming weeks. Image: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems.

Click to enlarge
 
Well, the general plan is to send the Spirit rover to explore the crater that is about 250 meters away from you, as shown in this image. Then, send it off towards the hills that are 2 to 3 kilometers to the East of you. Details of the routes and what gets studied along the way aren't worked out yet.

Sweet

Sweet. A crater. And it's much bigger than the one Sandy is in.

18 March 2004

Liquid water

Hey Dudette Sandy,

I hear there have been some pretty cool discoveries about past liquid water at your landing site. What's up with that?

So, beautiful

Well, as you know, I landed in a 20 meter diameter crater, and there is this incredible outcrop of rock exposed by the crater. It's only about the height of a street curb, but for us that's pretty big. It is sooooo beautiful. I often just stare at it. There are also lots of things the scientists are calling blueberries around, little ball shaped rocks. I like to play with them. So, it is all very amazing.

Blueberries

Blueberries, yum! I can't believe you got balls to play with at your landing site. I've get pebbles and lots of them, but no balls. Hey what are you doing playing? And, what about the science? I am so not used to this new you, Sandy. And, I'm actually really interested in the science. Mars must be Backwards World.

Playing and liquid water

Playing is big fun and we learn through play.

Ah, yes, the science. She is so beautiful, science that is.

Based on a number of pieces of evidence at my landing site, scientists have concluded that at some time in the past, this place was soaked with water...details still to be determined*. We came here looking for evidence of past water, and golly goshness, we found it!

Tell me

Tell me more o' wise and playful one. Tell me of the evidence.

Evidence

Well, most of it comes from my friend the outcrop. There are layers in the rocks. These can be formed various ways, but water is one.

More significant for the case is measurements of the composition of the outcrop. There is lots of sulfur there, probably in the form of something called sulfates. And lots of salts. The only way known to get so much of these things is to have had water deposit these things in the rocks. This is kind of like salts left over when lakes or seas dry out. It isn't clear yet whether the water just flowed through the rock or actually ponded like in a lake. But, more study will likely resolve that important question. Or, the salty water may have come from the sweat of giant monsters.

What?

What!?!

JK

Just kidding!

Huh?

You're what? Wow. You take these life changes seriously, by kidding I mean.

Vugs

Opportunity Microscopic Imager picture of part of outcrop. Image is only about 3 cm across. Long thin holes are thought to be vugs. Note also the ball shaped spherules/berries.

Image: NASA/JPL/USGS.

Click to enlarge
 
Hey if you liked that, you're going to love a new word I've got for you: vugs. In the rocks of the outcrop, there are long thin holes, kind of like if you pushed a coin in and then took it out. These seem to be what geologists call vugs. Vugs form when minerals deposit within the rock, then later dissolve. These also typically form from minerals coming out of water flowing through the rock. More evidence.

Huh?

Whoa, appreciating cool words, I thought that was my job. I do have to agree with you, though. Did you RAT some vugs? Can bugs form vugs?

Sharing

Call them blueberries, berries, spherules, or concretions, but anyway you say it, they real cool looking in 3D.This is a 3D anaglyph from the microscopic imager on Opportunity.

Image: NASA/JPL/USGS.

Click to enlarge
 
If you let me share in appreciation of cool words and acronyms, I'll let you share in getting excited about science and engineering information.

Our friends the "berries" may also be associated with liquid water, although that is still being looked into with more data. They may be what are called concretions, ball shaped mineral formations. And, guess what those are often associated with?

Default answer

Fish?

Liquid water

Oddly enough, no. But it is what fish live in. And in fact is one of the only things that all life on Earth requires: liquid water. Concatenations often form in liquid water. The berries also appear to be rich in gray hematite, the reason we came to this landing site in the first place because that is a mineral that often forms in liquid water on Earth.

Surfing

So, if there was liquid water, there was surfing.

Re: Surfing

Your logic continues to astound me. I think you may have wiped out one too many times.