Mars gets a Mole!
November 25, 2018 6:22 PM Subscribe
On November 26, about 3pm EST, a mole will land on Mars.
(SL Oatmeal)
Go lil buddy, go!
posted by Grandysaur at 6:46 PM on November 25, 2018
posted by Grandysaur at 6:46 PM on November 25, 2018
Well, that was neat. Hope it works!
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 6:50 PM on November 25, 2018
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 6:50 PM on November 25, 2018
Do you have your boarding pass?
I do! Who's with me?
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:19 PM on November 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
I do! Who's with me?
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:19 PM on November 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
What if Mars is a giant inflatable device? (I'm not saying it is, I'm saying what if.) And this mole (Russian mole? Red planet) pops the balloon (Mars, God of War, Mardis, Tuesday in French, Mardis Gras, Fat Tuesday, Tuesday Weld, welding iron, iron price, Vincent Price, Dr. Phibes, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine). Boom!
Any idiot can see the danger.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:32 PM on November 25, 2018 [4 favorites]
Any idiot can see the danger.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:32 PM on November 25, 2018 [4 favorites]
That's a really cool presentation. I'll cross my fingers for the little mole today.
posted by Harald74 at 11:54 PM on November 25, 2018
posted by Harald74 at 11:54 PM on November 25, 2018
But what if this mole discovers an automobile-obsessed toad? Will there be enough otters and badgers to keep it out of trouble?
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 1:28 AM on November 26, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 1:28 AM on November 26, 2018 [6 favorites]
In 2012 my son and I stayed up very late to watch Curiosity land on Mars.
Beforehand we studied the scheme closely: the parachute, the aeroshell, the utterly mad *sky crane*. We knew well the minutes of silent terror.
We didn't have a tv (by preference) so we followed online (which was hard, since rural Vermont has crap internet speeds and reliability): video, Twitter, several web sites. Owain was so, so anxious and excited. He was (and remains) a serious space nerd, but was born after the great space race days. This was his Apollo-Soyuz, his Apollo 11, his Apollo 13.
I was so nervous for him. I couldn't bear to think of how heartbroken he would be if Curiosity failed.
And when it landed successfully? The ecstatic celebrations in Mission Control were echoed in our tiny mountain house, as Owain and I whooped, hollered, tweeted, hugged, and capered.
It's still one of my favorite moments as a parent.
He's away at college now, but we'll follow Insight together online, comparing notes over GChat and Twitter.
posted by doctornemo at 5:11 AM on November 26, 2018 [9 favorites]
Beforehand we studied the scheme closely: the parachute, the aeroshell, the utterly mad *sky crane*. We knew well the minutes of silent terror.
We didn't have a tv (by preference) so we followed online (which was hard, since rural Vermont has crap internet speeds and reliability): video, Twitter, several web sites. Owain was so, so anxious and excited. He was (and remains) a serious space nerd, but was born after the great space race days. This was his Apollo-Soyuz, his Apollo 11, his Apollo 13.
I was so nervous for him. I couldn't bear to think of how heartbroken he would be if Curiosity failed.
And when it landed successfully? The ecstatic celebrations in Mission Control were echoed in our tiny mountain house, as Owain and I whooped, hollered, tweeted, hugged, and capered.
It's still one of my favorite moments as a parent.
He's away at college now, but we'll follow Insight together online, comparing notes over GChat and Twitter.
posted by doctornemo at 5:11 AM on November 26, 2018 [9 favorites]
Despite following some space-y blogs and many journalists on the Tweeters, I missed this. Kudos to the Oatmeal for being informative.
and now I want a corndog
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:39 AM on November 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
and now I want a corndog
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:39 AM on November 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
Live landing coverage starts at 11 AM PST; links to various NASA sources can be found here.
posted by TedW at 7:23 AM on November 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by TedW at 7:23 AM on November 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
This is such wonderful science communication. I would love to be able to capture my excitement about science this well. Hooray for Mars!
posted by ChuraChura at 8:32 AM on November 26, 2018
posted by ChuraChura at 8:32 AM on November 26, 2018
Did Matthew Inman get a commission from NASA for this work, or did he write it out of pure geeky passion? If it's the former, I am impressed that NASA's communications team would be smart enough to contract an edgy webcomic artist with a huge following. Either way, this is great. T minus ~ 1h15m.
posted by Popular Ethics at 9:47 AM on November 26, 2018
posted by Popular Ethics at 9:47 AM on November 26, 2018
Cross-posting for posterity: Seven Minutes of Terror, with a link to NASA's live-stream of the landing.
NPR has a more condensed, less lyrical summary of the landing, including this graphic of How InSight Will Land on Mars on 26 November 2018, courtesy of Emily Lakdawalla for The Planetary Society (who has another great write-up of this whole adventure).
posted by filthy light thief at 11:09 AM on November 26, 2018
NPR has a more condensed, less lyrical summary of the landing, including this graphic of How InSight Will Land on Mars on 26 November 2018, courtesy of Emily Lakdawalla for The Planetary Society (who has another great write-up of this whole adventure).
posted by filthy light thief at 11:09 AM on November 26, 2018
From what I can tell on the live stream, it landed successfully and chirped the a-ok back home! Nominal!
posted by lazaruslong at 12:03 PM on November 26, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by lazaruslong at 12:03 PM on November 26, 2018 [3 favorites]
PheNominal!
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 12:30 PM on November 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 12:30 PM on November 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
I’ve long hated The Oatmeal for being an SEO-driven series of punching-down semi-humor waged at the expense of a lot of put-upon people, but I have to give him credit lately for getting past that phase and digging into the inspirational. He’s still not XKCD inspirational, but I’ve properly enjoyed pieces like this.
posted by sonascope at 6:55 PM on November 29, 2018
posted by sonascope at 6:55 PM on November 29, 2018
okay so I am given to understand that mefi doesn't do vlogbrothers well (though I don't know / care why) and I know this only related in the sense of SPACE buuuuut this thread got quiet fast and if anyone wants to talk about Oumuamua I'm here for it. Cause that shit is crazy.
posted by lazaruslong at 1:33 PM on November 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by lazaruslong at 1:33 PM on November 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
More space stuff - look at how fucking close this person got to the last Soyuz launch. Holy shit! (FB video, no login required) (via)
posted by lazaruslong at 5:28 AM on December 6, 2018
posted by lazaruslong at 5:28 AM on December 6, 2018
Right??? First thing I thought of was - I wonder how hot it got where that person was standing? Those flames look hella close..
posted by lazaruslong at 8:28 AM on December 6, 2018
posted by lazaruslong at 8:28 AM on December 6, 2018
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posted by oneswellfoop at 6:36 PM on November 25, 2018 [3 favorites]