Now awaiting radio transmission confirming it is still in one piece.

I'm awaiting radio transmission from the White House confirming Biden is still in one piece.

/SarcOff/

2 hours ago, 45Doll said:

I'm awaiting radio transmission from the White House confirming Biden is still in one piece.

/SarcOff/

We're likely to hear from Mars first.

The rover is packing a small helicopter.   For decades, the conventional wisdom has been that radio-controlled aircraft couldn't be used to explore Mars, since the atmosphere was too thin to support flight.   Then, a few years ago, a team went ahead and built one and was able to get it to fly just fine in a low pressure room simulating the Martian atmosphere.   Looking forward to seeing what they manage to do with the chopper.

And it's safe!

 

Marscopter!!! How cool is that?! 

19 minutes ago, 10X said:

We're likely to hear from Mars first.

You're right. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your Mars thread. I just couldn't resist.

I've had the NASA feed on. Pretty cool!

1 hour ago, 45Doll said:

You're right. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your Mars thread. I just couldn't resist.

I've had the NASA feed on. Pretty cool!

No worries.  Bashing Biden is always a worthwhile hijack!

NASA better keep Wolowitz away from the rover this time.

Fun Fact, the name Perseverance, was picked by a 13 year old Boy Scout, out of a contest by 28,000 submissions for the "Name the Rover" contest.

..."Alex, a Scout in Troop 1853 of the National Capital Area Council, submitted the winning name — Perseverance — in NASA’s “Name the Rover” contest. Perseverance is heading to the red planet this summer.

“I did not think I would be contributing to something that important until I’m out of college, or maybe in an internship,” Alex tells Bryan on Scouting. “Yet at the age of 13, I named this mission. I’m honored to have been selected out of all the amazing entries submitted.”

To be considered, Alex wrote an essay (which you can read here) and had to survive several rounds of judging and voting. The initial pool of 28,000 submissions was reduced to 155 semifinalists and then nine finalists.

That motivation, which Alex says he learned to master in Scouting, helps explain why Alex got to name the next Mars rover.

https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2020/04/08/perseverance-alex-mather/

20 minutes ago, Sniper said:

Fun Fact, the name Perseverance, was picked by a 13 year old Boy Scout, out of a contest by 28,000 submissions for the "Name the Rover" contest.

The runner up was to name it “Rovy McRoveface”

The rover lands on Mars,  And we get some clown from Uranus in the Whitehouse

Did they send the extra ballots with it?

19 hours ago, 10X said:

We're likely to hear from Mars first.

The rover is packing a small helicopter.   For decades, the conventional wisdom has been that radio-controlled aircraft couldn't be used to explore Mars, since the atmosphere was too thin to support flight.   Then, a few years ago, a team went ahead and built one and was able to get it to fly just fine in a low pressure room simulating the Martian atmosphere.   Looking forward to seeing what they manage to do with the chopper.

Very cool!

 

Looking forward to pics/video from the chopper...