Any Astronomy Buffs Here?

[Wander]

Then, you mentioned Io. Perhaps the most active Lava based Volcano planet in its solar system. I hope they have a really good map of Io if they want to land there. But the surface must be very uneven. And the magnetic fields there might just be enormous. Moving through the magnetic field of Jupiter could produce some electrical induction problems I would guess. I would go with an orbiter first before even thinking about landing on that medusa.
As suspected, the IVO project is a series of well timed flybyes:
https://www.space.com/io-volcano-obs...-proposal.html

Yeah, the mission or two selected this summer will be from the following list:

VERITAS - Venus orbiter
DAVINCI - Venus atmosphere probe
IVO - Io (yup, most volcanically active body in the solar system) flybys
Trident - Triton flyby

So, no rover/lander/helicopter in the next round. I'll guess VERITAS and DAVINCI in the DBR NASA bracket pool but they'd all be great.

[DevilHorse]

Yeah, the mission or two selected this summer will be from the following list:

VERITAS - Venus orbiter
DAVINCI - Venus atmosphere probe
IVO - Io (yup, most volcanically active body in the solar system) flybys
Trident - Triton flyby

So, no rover/lander/helicopter in the next round. I'll guess VERITAS and DAVINCI in the DBR NASA bracket pool but they'd all be great.

I pick one from column V (Venus) and one from column J (Jupiter)!

Venus is a near neighbor and gives us a chance to study the greenhouse effect, a close replica of an inner planet that is not Mars, and exchange data at a reasonable rate (like with Mars).

Triton and Io are both really interesting places. Triton is so interesting. Its orbit is retrograde; it probably was not formed originally around Jupiter and was captured. How else do you explain a retrograde orbit around its planet and liquid Nitrogen guisers/volcanos. It's a frozen object from the edge of the solar system that was captured (the prevailing wisdom). It is a little more interesting that molten ball of lava circling Jupiter IMHO. Go to Hawaii or Iceland if you like hot volcanos. Liquid nitrogen volcanos, now that is hot.

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

No word on the exact timing of the 2nd flight of Ingenuity yet, but..

Here is an article on what to expect.
https://physicsworld.com/a/nasas-ing...d-mars-flight/

There is a very interesting 5 minute video on how they selected the spot for the Ingenuity "landing field". Lots of thought went into that after Percy landed.

Hidden in the article is some discussion on the Dragonfly Mission to Titan, which is discussed more as a probability than the possibility that is suggested upthread (certainly its' chances are enhanced with the success of Ingenuity).
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/n...-signs-of-life

What is interesting is how lessons from Ingenuity has probably bolstered the knowledge and confidence in NASA's ability to deliver on other planet "flyer"/rover/orbiter combinations. Once there is a known way that works, then NASA just exploits that paradigm with ever improving technology and approaches (see the evolution of rovers of Mars or satellite flybys like Voyager/New Horizons). A few of these missions may get lost, but some will work flawlessly and will give us jaw dropping views of our solar system.

The pace of Astronomy advances continues to accelerate. I never expected that when growing up and I was introduced to the 9 planets in the solar system model. Very exciting!

"May you live in interesting times" - old Chinese adage.

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

OK, 2nd flight plan is in for Mars Helicopter Ingenuity. Read about it here:
https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/hel...second-flight/

Expect results to be on the news lines at about 9:21am EDT.
I will not report at that time as I will be in Atlantic City doing vaccine maneuvers or craps or both!
AC rule is that you have to bounce both dies off the other end of the table or the roll is illegal. Have to use the lucky arm.

Larry
DevilHorse

[PackMan97]

the pace of astronomy advances continues to accelerate. I never expected that when growing up and i was introduced to the 9 planets in the solar system model. Very exciting!

"may you live in interesting times" - old chinese adage.

Larry
devilhorse

there are eight planets!

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

there are eight planets!

That's messed up.

[CameronBornAndBred]

there are eight planets!

maxresdefault.jpg

[DevilHorse]

there are eight planets!

Not at the time when I was first introduced to the Orrery.
Pluto was demoted much later when the concept of a dwarf planet crept into the vernacular.
I'm sure at some point every spheroid will have its own 'class' if astronomers run out of imagination.

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

OK, 2nd flight plan is in for Mars Helicopter Ingenuity. Read about it here:
https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/hel...second-flight/

Expect results to be on the news lines at about 9:21am EDT.
I will not report at that time as I will be in Atlantic City doing vaccine maneuvers or craps or both!
AC rule is that you have to bounce both dies off the other end of the table or the roll is illegal. Have to use the lucky arm.

Larry
DevilHorse

Apparently the 2nd flight of Ingenuity was a success!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S0jp_X9_ts

On the surface, it doesn't look demonstrably different. But to the scientists, I'm sure they did some different and important things.
I'll wait for the ESPNASA recap.

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

Apparently the 2nd flight of Ingenuity was a success!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S0jp_X9_ts

On the surface, it doesn't look demonstrably different. But to the scientists, I'm sure they did some different and important things.
I'll wait for the ESPNASA recap.

Larry
DevilHorse

Just a little more on today's flight:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nas...cessful-flight

Frankly, from Perseverance's view, I didn't see any sideways motion. It could be it was toward or away from Percy, but what is the fun in that. Why use Instrument Fly Rules when you have clear skies?

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

The next flight of Ingenuity is Sunday:
https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/hel...d-flight-test/

Larry
DevilHorse

[wavedukefan70s]

We Saw the space x rocket .
I did not realize the boosters were actually come down to a platform offshore .

If you blow the photo up.you can just see the booster .
I had no idea or i would have gotten better pictures. It was more a what the heck is that .i better get pics and video.

[DevilHorse]

The next flight of Ingenuity is Sunday:
https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/hel...d-flight-test/

Larry
DevilHorse

Looks like data coming in 10:16am EDT on Sunday. Youtube or NASA channel are the most likely outlets.

Larry
DevilHorse

[DevilHorse]

Looks like data coming in 10:16am EDT on Sunday. Youtube or NASA channel are the most likely outlets.

Larry
DevilHorse

Third Flight in the books and apparently flawless:
https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8930/nasa...-third-flight/

2 more planned flights to go.

Larry
DevilHorse

[-jk]

Third Flight in the books and apparently flawless:
https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8930/nasa...-third-flight/

2 more planned flights to go.

Larry
DevilHorse

Truly astonishing. One of my colleagues flew helicopters in the National Guard, including a couple deployments to Iraq. He was describing the difference between flying by wire and with assistance (you can't grab a sip of coffee when flying by wire). He can't fathom how they program that thing to fly on its own.

-jk

[DevilHorse]

Truly astonishing. One of my colleagues flew helicopters in the National Guard, including a couple deployments to Iraq. He was describing the difference between flying by wire and with assistance (you can't grab a sip of coffee when flying by wire). He can't fathom how they program that thing to fly on its own.

-jk

I imagine that the flat ground that was selected played into the approach that they picked for tracking the flight path. They said something about taking 100 pictures a second to track where Ingenuity was, and making calculations. I imagine that this would take the place of a GPS and a gyroscope for Ingenuity. Throw in a set of subroutines for each step of the test flight (i.e., up, left 50 meters, turn, back 50 meters, down), it would seem to be straightforward using assembled/remembered visual queues. They no doubt already did this whole thing here on earth already, just not with a 4 hour time delay.

I think the tough part was getting robust enough technology that would get to Mars and get placed where it is. Once there, it is performing as expected and engineered.

TODAY is the 4th flight.
Details here:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/with-g...ars-helicopter

The fourth Ingenuity flight from “Wright Brothers Field,” the name for the Martian airfield on which the flight took place, is scheduled to take off Thursday, April 29, at 10:12 a.m. EDT (7:12 a.m. PDT, 12:30 p.m. local Mars time), with the first data expected back at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California at 1:21 p.m. EDT (10:21 a.m. PDT).

You can probably tune into:
https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive
To see scientists going nuts, as they tend to do..

Larry
DevilHorse

[BlueDevil2K]

They no doubt already did this whole thing here on earth already, just not with a 4 hour time delay.

Actually, I saw an article that said otherwise. They simply didn't have the a large enough space with the right environmental conditions (i.e. less atmosphere) to rehearse flights this long.

https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8424/nasa.../?site=insight

Aung and her Mars Helicopter team did just that in JPL's Space Simulator, a 25-foot-wide (7.62-meter-wide) vacuum chamber. First, the team created a vacuum that sucks out all the nitrogen, oxygen and other gases from the air inside the mammoth cylinder. In their place the team injected carbon dioxide, the chief ingredient of Mars’ atmosphere.

[DevilHorse]

Actually, I saw an article that said otherwise. They simply didn't have the a large enough space with the right environmental conditions (i.e. less atmosphere) to rehearse flights this long.

https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8424/nasa.../?site=insight

Interesting; thanks.

BTW, 4th flight of Ingenuity for today was SCRUBBED. No further word as to why. (Perhaps geese or T-Storms..).

Larry
DevilHorse

[sagegrouse]

BTW, 4th flight of Ingenuity for today was SCRUBBED. No further word as to why. (Perhaps geese or T-Storms..).

Larry
DevilHorse

I think the Martians said, "Not in my backyard."

[DevilHorse]

I think the Martians said, "Not in my backyard."

Perhaps NASA got a waiver... from Otis Sistrunk (local rep of the University of Mars).

Will try again on Friday.
Data expected to roll in about 1:21pm EDT.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/29/world...rnd/index.html

Larry
DevilHorse