Saturday, September 03, 2011

On Time, On Budget


Operating 3,000% beyond design specification.

And run by the Evil Gummint.

From "Universe Today":

NASA Robot arrives at ‘New’ Landing Site holding Clues to Ancient Water Flow on Mars

by Ken Kremer on September 3, 2011


Opportunity has begun a whole new mission at Endeavour Crater promising a boatload of new science discoveries.

Scientists directing NASA’s Mars Opportunity rover gushed with excitement as they announced that the aging robot has discovered a rock with a composition unlike anything previously explored on the Red Planet’s surface – since she landed on the exotic Martian plains 7.5 years ago – and which offers indications that liquid water might have percolated or flowed at this spot billions of years ago.

Barely three weeks ago Opportunity arrived at the rim of the gigantic 14 mile ( 22 km) wide crater named Endeavour after an epic multi-year trek, and for the team its literally been like a 2nd landing on Mars – and the equivalent of the birth of a whole new mission of exploration at an entirely ‘new’ landing site.

“This is like having a brand new landing site for our veteran rover,” said Dave Lavery, program executive for NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “It is a remarkable bonus that comes from being able to rove on Mars with well-built hardware that lasts.”
...
This is what Hope actually looks like: a small helpmate to mankind made by our species with love and exquisite precision, slowing ambling across the surface of an ancient world, enduring so far beyond anyone's wildest dreams as to border on miraculous, and sending back dispatches from the Final Frontier in silent streams of 1s and 0s.

Remind me again how tax cuts and Creationism were responsible for landing this tireless emissary of the human race on Mars?

7 comments:

Cirze said...

Bravo!

Comrade PhysioProf said...

My heart is fucken broken by what has become of the nation I grew up in with such optimism and excitement.

Robert said...

So well put, thank you.

StonyPillow said...

Lo and behold, the Bezos Gradatim Ferociter rises to the challenge of defending free market space exploration. For a few seconds, anyway.

USA! USA! USA!

StonyPillow said...

And as an added bonus, here's a pic of the pale blue dot of earth as seen from the other side of the rings of Saturn. Also courtesy of the eeeeevil soshulist collective we know as our government.

USA! USA! USA!

Cinesias said...

Oh, I'm sure someone prayed for the success of this thing.

That's all the evidence that the religious need. In fact, their prayers probably helped the mission despite the liberal NASA program that sent it up.

That is just how delusional people can be.

My Yankee Mouth said...

When we're not busy "fucking each other over for a percentage," we Children of a Creator God can do things like this.