Comments on: Mars Polar Lander found?

Mars Polar Lander found?

flug — Fri, 06 May 2005 11:11:07 -0800

Mars Polar Lander found? The Mars Polar Lander was lost while attempting to land on Mars in December 1999. An initial search for the lander was fruitless. But now Michael Malin of Malin Space Science Systems thinks he may have found the lander's parachute and crashed remains. Meanwhile, some scientists are worried about landers and crashed vehicles contaminating Mars; others think it's not a problem. [via Slashdot]

By: klangklangston

klangklangston — Sat, 07 May 2005 07:11:18 -0800

"Yeah, right, right, it was just over 'ere, y'know, in our other pair of pants... Found it. Thanks."

By: steef

steef — Sat, 07 May 2005 07:23:39 -0800

Planetary parks? There goes my dream of salvaging the junk Apollo left on the Moon. I think the biggest loss of the Polar Lander mission was a little hundred-thousand dollar piece of off-the-shelf equipment: the Mars Microphone. Hearing the first sounds from another world would have been a great way to help humanize robotic space exploration. And meanwhile, the indefatigable Opportunity rover has got itself stuck in a rut.

By: flug

flug — Sat, 07 May 2005 15:41:05 -0800

If you're interested in interplanetary sounds, you might have heard the sounds of Titan from the Huygens probe. Another interesting series of sounds, from a bit closer to home, are sounds of the magnetosphere. Closer yet: Earthquake sounds. (If you'll pardon a self-link, I made a composition out of earthquake sound recordings a while ago.) And closest of all, at least if you live in Alabama: Sound of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker [You'll pardon the thread drift . . but do notice how the last neatly completes the circle of "sounds of things recently re-discovered" . . . ]

By: steef

steef — Sun, 08 May 2005 06:56:01 -0800

Ah! I forgot all about the winds of Titan. Thanks, flug!