Thursday, August 9, 2012

Another look at Mars




View from Husband Hill on Mars looking toward Earth (those four marks in center screen) with simulated earth atmosphere.


The same view from Husband Hill, but with the atmosphere removed, to show the details in the sky this evening as viewed from Mars. This is an example of what you can do with Stellarium, the planetarium program for your computer.

2 comments:

  1. Ray, I am absolutely amazed at what has happened. I remember laying in my bed as a child and watching Sputnik roll across the night sky.

    And now we're seeing pictures from Mars. WOW!

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  2. @ Tommy -

    I'm like you, Tom - I think it's just amazing.

    And one of these days, they will likely find the evidence that Mars once had the requirements for life similar to our own planet.

    If my pet theory is anywhere near correct, then Mars and Earth were once very much alike, until something big hit Mars and changed
    everything forever.

    I haven't posted any new pictures from NASA for a couple od days, because for the next four days or so, they are re-programming the computers on Curiosity to remove its landing sequence programs and install upgrades to its working routines before it begins work. It's computers are tough, but have a very limited memory capacity. According to the latest briefing from NASA, that's less than a new cell phone, so they need to re-use the space that held the landing programs, and that's being done over this next few days.

    This is much better than Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon or even Star Trek, because it's the real thing, and it's simply amazing!

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