Hiya Quasar - I don't think I've ever been your first commentor before!
Will we get to see photos of the closeup of Mars, before the Rosetta swings away?
Hope you're having a good weekend!
Hi Annelisa! your visits are most welcome, always nice to read your comments (and your posts). I was just adding to the post as you flew past.
Rosetta's NAVCAM captured the black & white image of Mars from a distance of 237 477 km.
If there are any ants living on Mars the other cameras should be able to see them wave from 250 km above the surface.
What a wonderful world when we can talk about a spacecraft going around a planet as " commonly used procedure".
Q, I love the black & white pix of Mars.
If the ants are there, will you please post pixs?
it is really interesting to know that man is exploring new vistas like mars.It also shows how we earthing want to control the solar system..would be really possible to create a artifical atmosphere in mars?
Hi Dr John, just as amazing is that we can communicate across the globe on the internet or mobile phones almost at the speed of light
We take it for granted but it would have been viewed as sheer 'wizardry' as late as the 19th century.
Funny though, even though we have msn messenger and video conferencing on PCs, laptops and mobile phones, we still by enlarge communicate our thoughts by word in text messaging or voice mail & phone conversations
seems we do not need to see the faces of who we are communicating with - except when we are face to face - and even then some do not look at people in the eyes.
With me it has never been a matter of OR, but rather AND. We should be able to explore space, AND improve health care, AND improve housing, AND improve education, AND improve pensions, AND remove causes for wars.
Hi Hill Country Gal,
I wonder if there were Martian ants would they be able to communicate with ants on earth - and understand each other.
Hi Quasar,
Is there any reason other than 'fuel' for relying on gravity's assistance ?
PS:
the 20 MB stitched video of by Gordon Gerrard was awesome... with the background of stars and the occasional shooting stars...
Hi Vishesh, to colonise Mars we would need artificial environments, but then again any Terrans or earthlings arriving on Mars will be travelling on a spaceship or artificial environment, and have spacesuits.
Eskimos live in totally 'artificial environments' as do most New Yorkers - albeit they can breathe the air outside, the 'natural' environment can be just as hostile if one cannot keep warm and secure water & food supplies.
Only polar bears (artic) and penguins (antartic) would consider the polar regions as 'natural' environments.
If you mean alter the atmosphere of Mars, some think that technology could alter the atmosphere on this planet (Earth)
However it still sounds a little ambitious to me.
Hi Casper, Fuel & Thrust.
Hoffman transfer orbit
How spacecraft move from planet to planet.
Take Mars as an example destination, the simplest way to solve this problem is to use a Hohmann transfer orbit, an elliptical orbit with the Earth at perihelion and Mars at aphelion. If launched at the proper moment, the spacecraft will arrive at the aphelion just as Mars is passing by. These types of transfers are commonly used, e.g., for moving between orbits over the Earth, Earth-Moon and Earth-Mars transfers.
A Hohmann transfer to the outer planets requires long times and considerable delta V (the velocity adjustments that consume rocket propellant). This is where the slingshot finds its most common applications. Instead of the Hohmann trajectory directly to, say Saturn, the spacecraft is instead sent in a path that is aimed only as far as, say, Jupiter, and the slingshot is then used to accelerate the spacecraft on towards Saturn.
This way, the planet lends the spacecraft additional angular momentum, allowing it to reach Saturn using little or no fuel on top of that required to reach Jupiter. Also, during the spacecraft's close approach to Jupiter, the effectiveness of the rocket's propellant is magnified, such that small thrusts near Jupiter produce large changes in the spacecraft's eventual velocity. Such missions require careful timing, making the 'launch window' a crucial part of the mission.
Q9, I wonder if you might find this lighthearted space site of interest.
http://jlpicard.blogspot.com/
Hi Elle, Thanks! lol
I have noticed it on your side bar
All the world is a stage.
Funny how men & women on a spaceship have the same day to day routines as we do on Earth, but then again Earth is travelling thru 'space' - one could in the future call Earth the Mother Ship.
Neat trick.
why not create a situation in which a few plants can grow-which would alter the environment..??that is create a small place with the necessary conditions
??
Hi there Quasar9, I just thought that you may be interested in a post written by NHS Escapee - which was all about NHS dental care. Knowing that this is an interest of yours - I thought I'd pass it on. All the very best. Michelle
This is really interesting! Thanks Quasar!
Hi Pandabonium,
well the slingshot was one of man's first inventions - before the wheel?
Hi Vishesh, that is the intention
Unlike the gold rush in Alaska, men cannot just make their own way to Mars in search of striking it rich.
Just the same they'll need water, food and heat.
Since there's no food to hunt locally, and no trees to burn for heat or fire, the first thing one needs is a source of energy to provide the breathable air, water, heating, and a biosphere to grow food (or keep chickens).
The spacecraft to colonise Mars will have to be larger than the 'shuttle' to carry sufficient crew, fuel, generators and flat pack material to build temporary stations - and enough food for the return journey - and for any remaining behind.
When Europeans first crossed the Atlantic and built colonies on the East Coast of the US - sometimes the ships would return a year later only to find the settlements had been destroyed by attacks from indigenous tribes, crop failure, cold weather or disease.
Mars & space is even more hostile.
Hi Michelle, Thanks!
Where did you say I can find this post?
Hi Katie, I see you've been reorganising your poetry corner.
Like the Nature & 'space' theme!
Hi Q,
thanks for the explanation.
so we give the initial speed and the planets save fuel by doing all the 'guiding'... in ellipses... which we can only do with a lot of expense(in terms of fuel?)
neat!... now that is a good way to consume a resource or what?!
pleased 
Hi Quasar - I couldn't sleep (dog had to go out) and I was in the mood for looking at "space stuff." I was going to go on Nasa's website, but I decided to visit you instead after checking on my sister Mary's latest blog (getit4yourself). You never fail to have something wonderful...my very favorite planet - Mars! I have to come by more often!
Hi Casper, not only is it resourceful
but makes possible that which otherwise might not be possible in terms of fuel, weight and size (volume)
Hi Margaret, nice of you to look in
I always look into Mary's place
She's well over the moon at the moment
PS - love the title of your blog!
My sister and I both have sons in the US military. Both cousins have been in Iraq (my son went Oct 05 but is in US now). I know she is enjoying her son being at home. Thanks for the compliment about my blog title. My favorite place on earth (so far) is the VLA in Socorro, NM. I am not a world traveller, so Aricebo might do it for me even more...
Commenting by HaloScan
