Awesome Pictures Thread

[Lucas]

No Image!  

Sorry ! Thanks Sky for this other link :) (re-post since we're at the top of the page) :



EDIT: and inside the following article you can watch the video that shows the particular moment during the press-release when the pic was unveiled:

http://www.space.com/16946-mars-rover-landing-seen-from-space.html

[Tannhauser]

I really had my doubts about this landing but very glad to be wrong!  I'm very proud of America and the other countries that helped with this program!  Curiosity may learn some incredible things, maybe even life.  If this happens, it will be the biggest space event since Apollo. 

[01101010]

I really had my doubts about this landing but very glad to be wrong!  I'm very proud of America and the other countries that helped with this program!  Curiosity may learn some incredible things, maybe even life.  If this happens, it will be the biggest space event since Apollo. 

Yeah... what happens if they find a fossil though? Would they even release something that pivotal?

[ajax34i]

I think they would.  A lot of stuff from NASA is released to the internet asap nowadays, to create more interest.

[Kail]

I really had my doubts about this landing but very glad to be wrong!  I'm very proud of America and the other countries that helped with this program!  Curiosity may learn some incredible things, maybe even life.  If this happens, it will be the biggest space event since Apollo. 

Yeah... what happens if they find a fossil though? Would they even release something that pivotal?

What else would they do with it?  Not a lot of paleontologists pulling strings at NASA eager for the exclusive scoop, I think.  It would be an amazing find, but it's not going to plunge society into anarchy or whatever.

Not that it seems likely, to me, given that even if there are any there, fossils even on earth are pretty tricky to dig up and I don't think the rover is equipped for anything like that, unless it, like, drives up to an exposed skeleton or something.

[Lantyssa]

Depends where it lands.  There was this one hill on a deer lease in West Texas that I loved going to as it was covered in fossils.  The ground was soft rock and the fossils harder rock, so they just spilled out like pebbles.

Now it'd be extremely lucky to have a find like that, but it is possible.

[Count Nerfedalot]

It is just about impossible to touch a rock within 100 miles of Cincinnati and not touch a fossil, mostly marine stuff but also Mammoths and other land lifeforms in places.  We don't know yet if there was ever long-term standing water on Mars, but if there was then that would be the best bet both for life to exist and for fossils to be formed.  One of the reasons why they put Curiosity down where they did, it is a very low spot on the planet.

Getting the picture of it descending is almost as amazing a technical achievement as the landing itself. They had to figure out exactly where it would be and exactly where the MRO would be at that particular point in time, and point the camera at exactly the right spot to take a picture of it from over 200 miles away while itself moving over 2 miles per second.  It's mind numbing.

[MahrinSkel]

Even I am old enough to remember when NASA made IBM look like they were on a permanent "casual friday".  Not so much, anymore.



--Dave

[Sir T]

Pic of the Richmond Refinery Fire

[Ingmar]

More here:

http://www.sfgate.com/readerphotos/gallery/?plckGalleryID=42a83a42-a59b-43e0-acad-e0cbea8f8926

[Ironwood]

Looks like someone needs an ice cube from Lake Kamooga.

[TheWalrus]

Anyone else find it odd that they have a refinery fire somewhere during the summer almost every year?

[Merusk]

No, because not having a fire would require maintenance money be spent.  It's much better to not spend the money because the inevitable fire means gas prices go up and the company wins again!

 

[Lantyssa]

That's what insurance is for.

[Draegan]

No, because not having a fire would require maintenance money be spent.  It's much better to not spend the money because the inevitable fire means gas prices go up and the company wins again!

 

As someone who is involved in selling maintenance parts to oil refineries and other power generation facilities, they aren't spending shit for money right now at all.

[Merusk]

Fuck.. here I thought I was being all tinfoil and you're telling me its true.  That's not good.

[Mrbloodworth]

[pxib]

Gas prices can't go up very much without damaging demand, possibly catastrophically. Refineries (and the gas stations with which they're usually associated) are between a rock and a hard place... oil companies are making record profits, but the processors are sweating bullets.

BUT HEY HOW ABOUT A PICTURE. Here's a little reminder from a few days ago that while we're all watching Curiosity, Opportunity is still tootling around after hundreds of dust storms, five dry ice Martian winters, and eight Earth years. The Opportunity team is getting a big of a break during the early Curiosity efforts because JPL needs the extra staff, but there's no rest for the weary when there's science to do:

It's actually kind of sad to see them shoved in the the blurry background of this image in order to let the new hotness take center stage.

[Mosesandstick]

Here's a nice one from Opportunity.

[Mrbloodworth]

Oh wow, I can see why they ditched the solar panels this time.

[01101010]

Now if only there was a way these ships could meet in the night. Talk about amazing - seeing a camera shot of a rover 8 years senior rolling up to the new kid. Never happen, but I can dream.

[Nevermore]

Is there some kind of color shifting on that one or is it actually that bluish color?

[Trippy]

Oh wow, I can see why they ditched the solar panels this time.

Nukclear powah!

[Sky]

Now if only there was a way these ships could meet in the night. Talk about amazing - seeing a camera shot of a rover 8 years senior rolling up to the new kid. Never happen, but I can dream.

I bet Curiosity punches Opportunity and takes it's lunch money.

[kaid]

Oh wow, I can see why they ditched the solar panels this time.

Oddly enough while the dust has proven to be a problem they seem to get enough wind events that blow them clear that has allowed these lil rovers with no built in way of removing dust to last years longer than anticipated with one still going strong to this day. But yes a nuclear power source helps bypass issues with dust and also helps out in the martian winters by being less sensitive to cold temps.

[Lantyssa]

Is there some kind of color shifting on that one or is it actually that bluish color?

I believe they have to process anything from Spirit and Opportunity.  That's as close to true-color as they can get, but it'll always be a little off.

[satael]

Now if only there was a way these ships could meet in the night. Talk about amazing - seeing a camera shot of a rover 8 years senior rolling up to the new kid. Never happen, but I can dream.

I bet Curiosity punches Opportunity and takes it's lunch money.

Why do you think Curiosity has a laser?

[Goumindong]

Gas prices can't go up very much without damaging demand, possibly catastrophically.

Gas is still exceptionally elastic. Do not confuse demand shocks for price elasticity.

[MahrinSkel]

Gas prices can't go up very much without damaging demand, possibly catastrophically.

Gas is still exceptionally elastic. Do not confuse demand shocks for price elasticity.

The price of gas can go up, but if it does the US refiners will see lower volumes being sold and make less money.  The last round of price shocks is still reverberating through the system, with signs of a potentially permanent impact on consumption habits.  Another one so soon could mean major drops in consumption.  We're seeing both a decrease in miles traveled and a shift towards higher efficiency vehicles.

The refiners are in a double-bind: They won't invest in additional capacity or even more than minimal maintenance out of fear of reduced future demand, but any price shocks caused by problems with the refining chain will probably accelerate that process.  Of course, when they thought that demand was inelastic and Americans would keep buying gas regardless of price, they were more than happy to create the initial conditions of vulnerability through shuttering plants and eliminating all excess capacity from the chain.

Then it turned out that people *would* actually drive less if the price of gas put a dent in their budget, but the industry was already in the trap by then and can't do anything but try and ride things out.

--Dave

[Paelos]

Wildly off-topic for an Awesome Pics thread, guys.

Back to form:

[Merusk]

I love that pic and am saddened only by the odd graininess to it.  Makes me think it was taken with an iPhone.

[DraconianOne]

[Segoris]

 

[Mosesandstick]

[Sky]

"Ok, looks like the night shift has been doing donuts again..."