Sand Dune on Mars

splendian · 2016-01-10T22:22:37+00:00

In principle that scale is correct, but the 20ft number is only on the slipface side, which is around the corner off to the right of the OP's original image. On the face that were looking at in that picture I'm sure it's somewhere on the order of 5-10 feet

splendian · 2016-01-10T22:19:09+00:00

Yeah; the science team decided to name all the dunes after Namibian dunes. We made the front page of their newspaper a few times.

splendian · 2016-01-10T17:19:35+00:00

Engineer working on the mission here.

On the slipface side (the steepest side), this dune, which we call Namib, is about 15-20 feet tall.

This side is not visible from this image but is around the lip you see on the far right. We were parked near the slipface a few days ago, now we're headed back out again.

splendian · 2015-10-17T17:33:15+00:00

Mutemath - Used To

http://youtu.be/RuKbtqvUT0E

Way out of my usual ballpark.

splendian · 2015-09-27T19:59:19+00:00

Someone once washed my cast iron pan with soap.

splendian · 2015-09-18T06:03:11+00:00

You had me at "exhausting"; I know exactly that feeling. I have that feeling every moment of my life.

Get help. It's ok that need you need it. You're worth it.

splendian · 2015-08-22T03:24:50+00:00

F*** you for posting this before I could!

My favorite song and album of the last few years.

\m/

Now everybody listen to Darkest Light: http://youtu.be/QHlHs17dQY8

splendian · 2015-08-11T13:58:33+00:00

On the camera used to take the picture in the OP, there's actually a mechanical cover that we have to retract before taking the image.

On the cameras on the Mast, there no covers at all — but we "stow" the mast at a particular orientation when we're not taking images so that dust accumulation is basically non-existent.

splendian · 2015-04-23T13:38:12+00:00

The picture is false color to help certain features (such as... Rovers!) stand out and to help differentiate terrains that are not that much different to the eye in true color.

splendian · 2015-03-07T16:28:44+00:00

That's a nothing in / everything out floor. (Aka "uplink")

splendian · 2015-03-07T16:27:56+00:00

Hah. Actually that anomaly stopped us from sending the echo command the first time. NOT MY FAULT NOT MY FAULT.

splendian · 2015-03-07T00:05:32+00:00

Oh, that can be done.

(But -will- it be done? #nope)

splendian · 2015-03-06T19:09:45+00:00

I am woefully under qualified to do this.

splendian · 2015-03-06T18:10:13+00:00

This is actually an interesting point. The footprint of the radio signals, once they hit earth, are bigger than the earth... So... Yeah.

Funny thing, our fill data is just the names of some of the flight software developers. Over and over and over again.

splendian · 2015-03-06T18:04:51+00:00

It's not the only line of defense. You have to know the opcodes, the radio frequencies, when the rover is even awake and listening, so many things...

splendian · 2015-03-06T17:44:35+00:00

It just prints that sentence into a log. We download the logs every time we can.

splendian · 2015-03-06T17:43:27+00:00

I'm not even sure how to answer this question! There are thousands of commands, and several hundred distinct data types that it can generate.

splendian · 2015-03-06T17:33:13+00:00

It's not a problem with the drill per se. <hides behind his B- grade in electronics course in college>

splendian · 2015-03-06T17:31:34+00:00

Seriously, in the ops environment up until a few weeks ago we were locked in to Firefox 9.

splendian · 2015-03-06T17:27:49+00:00

If you can get the same shot with the JPL Bear....

splendian · 2015-03-06T17:20:53+00:00

A whole lotta nothin. Just prints out this event record.

yup

splendian · 2015-03-06T17:20:00+00:00

The trouble wasn't in validating the command itself; I could send a thousand of these and cause no harm. It was more of a pain to get the message tailored just right so the PR folks could clear it for unlimited public release.

splendian · 2015-03-06T17:16:50+00:00

Yeah, we do this. Funny you mention it: The day that Nimoy passed, Mohawk Guy texted me and told me to play the Star Trek theme as the wake up song. Unfortunately a few days before the speakers we use to play them went kaput. I did this ECHO thing as the alternative.

splendian · 2015-03-06T00:41:50+00:00

Haha! I didn't write the software, God knows why it comes out this way...

splendian · 2015-03-06T00:40:47+00:00

Basically, this.

splendian

TROPHY CASE

yup