A Light at Bonneville
March 11, 2004 3:05 PM Subscribe
Meanwhile, on Mars, The Spirit rover has reached Bonneville Crater, a primary mission objective, and snapped photos of the far side of the crater rim with its navcam. But what is that glint to the left side? (more within)
I'd love to have sex on Mars.
posted by the fire you left me at 3:07 PM on March 11, 2004
posted by the fire you left me at 3:07 PM on March 11, 2004
Clearly it's the work of American Christian Fundamentalist Taliban Homosexual Conservatives.
Those fuckers.
posted by xmutex at 3:15 PM on March 11, 2004
Those fuckers.
posted by xmutex at 3:15 PM on March 11, 2004
"I'd love to have sex on Mars."
It isn't called the red planet for nothing.
posted by kahboom at 3:16 PM on March 11, 2004
It isn't called the red planet for nothing.
posted by kahboom at 3:16 PM on March 11, 2004
Is it possible that mars has some shiny rocks?
Semi-serious question. Especially near a crater, you'd think it possible to find all sorts of weird stuff you wouldn't find elsewhere on the surface.
posted by Hildago at 3:22 PM on March 11, 2004
Semi-serious question. Especially near a crater, you'd think it possible to find all sorts of weird stuff you wouldn't find elsewhere on the surface.
posted by Hildago at 3:22 PM on March 11, 2004
...all sorts of weird stuff... Maybe like melted sand? Is it likely to have formed into something that large and smooth, though?
posted by kahboom at 3:24 PM on March 11, 2004
posted by kahboom at 3:24 PM on March 11, 2004
But what is that glint to the left side?
So that's where I left my keys. Damn drunken blackouts.
posted by terrapin at 3:25 PM on March 11, 2004
So that's where I left my keys. Damn drunken blackouts.
posted by terrapin at 3:25 PM on March 11, 2004
"Sex on the rocks all warm and red, and we all bled."
Isaac Brock beat you to it, the fire you left me.
posted by saladin at 3:30 PM on March 11, 2004
Isaac Brock beat you to it, the fire you left me.
posted by saladin at 3:30 PM on March 11, 2004
You guys got it all wrong. The rover just took a picture of itself to submit to the Mirror Project.
posted by crunchland at 3:35 PM on March 11, 2004
posted by crunchland at 3:35 PM on March 11, 2004
is it one of the bunny's friends?
That damn Energiser bunny really does keep going...
posted by Nauip at 3:45 PM on March 11, 2004
That damn Energiser bunny really does keep going...
posted by Nauip at 3:45 PM on March 11, 2004
Forget the silly glint, I want to know whats going on with the rocks in this picture. The surface looks very dry and crusted, but when the rover drives on the rocks, they sink a fair ways into the soil, exposing much darker soil underneath. Maybe they'll say something about it soon...
posted by slacy at 3:49 PM on March 11, 2004
posted by slacy at 3:49 PM on March 11, 2004
The wreckage of the Beagle, perhaps?
posted by FormlessOne at 3:50 PM on March 11, 2004
posted by FormlessOne at 3:50 PM on March 11, 2004
Slacy - There's definitely a light-colored crust covering the darker soil beneath. I'd love to see true-color photos of those tracks from the pancam.
Formless - They're still working on identifying possible Beagle wreckage, but that's much farther from Spirit than Bonneville.
posted by brownpau at 3:54 PM on March 11, 2004
Formless - They're still working on identifying possible Beagle wreckage, but that's much farther from Spirit than Bonneville.
posted by brownpau at 3:54 PM on March 11, 2004
It's a Pepsi Blue can.
Somewhere, a solitary tear runs down a Martian's face.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:55 PM on March 11, 2004
Somewhere, a solitary tear runs down a Martian's face.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:55 PM on March 11, 2004
"I'd love to have sex on Mars."
What a way to earn your red wings. Sheesh.
posted by loquacious at 4:10 PM on March 11, 2004
What a way to earn your red wings. Sheesh.
posted by loquacious at 4:10 PM on March 11, 2004
Kidding, brownpau, kidding.
posted by FormlessOne at 4:16 PM on March 11, 2004
posted by FormlessOne at 4:16 PM on March 11, 2004
From this page:
"the rover's parachute can be seen as a tiny white dot at the far left, and just above the far crater rim is the heatsheild(sic), visible as a tiny reflective speck."
Anyway, it's still pretty cool. NASA's detritus all over the planet.
posted by drinkcoffee at 4:51 PM on March 11, 2004
"the rover's parachute can be seen as a tiny white dot at the far left, and just above the far crater rim is the heatsheild(sic), visible as a tiny reflective speck."
Anyway, it's still pretty cool. NASA's detritus all over the planet.
posted by drinkcoffee at 4:51 PM on March 11, 2004
Sex on Mars sounds vaguely interesting, but sex in zero-G would be da bomb. Woohoo!
posted by alumshubby at 4:53 PM on March 11, 2004
posted by alumshubby at 4:53 PM on March 11, 2004
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The force of your orgasm could propel you backwards across the space station.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:03 PM on March 11, 2004
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:03 PM on March 11, 2004
Every time I see a new Mars image, I say out loud "that's freaking mars!" I always imagine the rover and being there, well, in my imagination it seems to be earth - because that's what I know. That's when I remember that the picture was taken of a place a gazillion miles away. Cool stuff.
posted by tomplus2 at 7:43 PM on March 11, 2004
posted by tomplus2 at 7:43 PM on March 11, 2004
People have actually had sex in space, right? I'm on a work computer so I can't really google "astronaut sex" or I would...
posted by lbergstr at 11:32 PM on March 11, 2004
posted by lbergstr at 11:32 PM on March 11, 2004
"the wonderful Martian exploration resources that NASA/JPL has so generously provided to the public"
Nothing generous about it. It's paid by taxpayer money, so of course the taxpayers should get to see the pictures.
posted by geekhorde at 11:51 PM on March 11, 2004
Nothing generous about it. It's paid by taxpayer money, so of course the taxpayers should get to see the pictures.
posted by geekhorde at 11:51 PM on March 11, 2004
People have actually had sex in space, right?
Uh, who's in the Parsec High Club?
posted by lathrop at 11:58 PM on March 11, 2004
Uh, who's in the Parsec High Club?
posted by lathrop at 11:58 PM on March 11, 2004
Could that be two cans of gone-off crab projectile upchucked with such velocity that they escaped from earth's gravity?
posted by zaelic at 1:30 AM on March 12, 2004
posted by zaelic at 1:30 AM on March 12, 2004
The Spirit rover has reached Bonneville Crater ...But what is that glint to the left side?
I think the obvious answer is some sort of Pontiac.
posted by thanotopsis at 5:34 AM on March 12, 2004
I think the obvious answer is some sort of Pontiac.
posted by thanotopsis at 5:34 AM on March 12, 2004
lbergstr: The Straight Dope: Has anyone ever had sex in space?
posted by cmonkey at 8:24 AM on March 12, 2004
posted by cmonkey at 8:24 AM on March 12, 2004
My money says its an America Online CD.
posted by QuestionableSwami at 9:15 AM on March 12, 2004
posted by QuestionableSwami at 9:15 AM on March 12, 2004
My money says its an America Online CD.
Heh. Now that's a theory that makes sense. I was thinking it was a kleig light, you know...on the soundstage...but an AOL CD makes much more sense. ;)
posted by dejah420 at 4:35 PM on March 12, 2004
Heh. Now that's a theory that makes sense. I was thinking it was a kleig light, you know...on the soundstage...but an AOL CD makes much more sense. ;)
posted by dejah420 at 4:35 PM on March 12, 2004
>I think the obvious answer is some sort of Pontiac.
Indians? Well, I'm sure they won't mind us colonizing then, right?
posted by milovoo at 4:45 PM on March 12, 2004
Indians? Well, I'm sure they won't mind us colonizing then, right?
posted by milovoo at 4:45 PM on March 12, 2004
People have actually had sex in space, right? I'm on a work computer so I can't really google "astronaut sex" or I would...
I thought people had already had zero-G sex, it won an award and everything, too bad they got no publicity.
(the soundtrack has guys from Prodigy and Massive Attack - so it can't be too low budget)
posted by milovoo at 4:52 PM on March 12, 2004
I thought people had already had zero-G sex, it won an award and everything, too bad they got no publicity.
(the soundtrack has guys from Prodigy and Massive Attack - so it can't be too low budget)
posted by milovoo at 4:52 PM on March 12, 2004
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Okay, not really. My next thought was that it might be the lander's backshell or heatshield. So I looked up a map of the rover's intended route, and orbital images of the landing site with labels. Apparently the lander's heatshield had impacted a nearby crater. Take a look at the photos, the maps, and the scales. I'n thinking it's definitely the lander heatshield. What do you think?
No word on it yet from NASA, JPL, Space.com, or the major news outlets. Can we beat them to an announcement?
Perhaps I should have put this in AskMefi, but to be honest I intended the "querying narrative" tact to be an oblique way to link to the wonderful Martian exploration resources that NASA/JPL has so generously provided to the public. The "All Images" galleries and the Mars Photojournal (previously linked, I think) are solid gold.
posted by brownpau at 3:06 PM on March 11, 2004