Abandoned Forum

[Astarte]

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Nearing Objective

 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is headed into a perilous phase after a seven-month journey from Earth, aiming to start looping around the Red Planet on March 10, space agency officials said on Friday.

If it manages to reach its planned orbit, a process that will take another seven months, the spacecraft could collect unprecedented data about Earth's next-door planetary neighbor, which could help scientists determine where to land the next Mars rovers and even to make preliminary plans for a human landing site.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/ ... index.html

[hamster]

I just definitely saw Mars for the first time in my life this week, as it cruised near the Pleides star cluster and betrayed itself to even my amateur eye as a planet, not a star. Tiny little speck, since I have no telescope, but it was still a thrill.

My question: How did the ancients know the planet was red? Strain my eyes I did but it didn't look the slightest bit red to me.

[nil]

When I looked at Mars it was red... but that could be because of my eye infection....