Mars Ice...

[Sean5294]

its really annoying when people say we are the only form of life.

Indeed, very true. I once heard the Earth used to be flat
I always thought of Earth as God's third grade science project. For all we know we could be sitting on a shelf somewhere right next to a Honorable Mention or a Participant Ribbon.

[2Big4a3Series]

I don't want to sound skeptical.. (I am asking because I don't know) but if this is the full view of the craft that landed who/what took the picture?

[Maluco]

I wonder what the sum of the cost for Mars Exploration is at...?



When I first found out that Mars' diameter was half that of Earth's I tripped...

[Jon325i]

I think it is so cool that we can send something on a 423 million mile journey and nail the spot we wanted to land on. Even more awesome is how they got Phoenix to slow from 12,000+ mph when it entered Mars' atmosphere down to a brisk walking pace and make it land on its feet properly. Like George stated, its like making the mother of all "nothing but net" shots from 10,000 miles away.

I really do hope that the Phoenix finds something of significance. About the only bummer I can think of is that the harsh Mars winter will have this craft frozen in a few months. So much effort and traveling only to have a small window of time to exploit its potential. Perhaps NASA is working on another one which will be able to handle the harsh environs of the northern extemes of the red planet.

And like others have said, if you are of the belief that no other life forms exist somewhere out in the vastness of space, I'd say you need to open your eyes and mind a bit more.

Jon

[dvmotorsports]

I wonder what the sum of the cost for Mars Exploration is at...?

Billions

[joshh]

Some Alien out there's going to have an RC rover for themselves.

I want them to find something they could never have even imagined.

[george graves]

Awesome animation of it landing and unfolding.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080525m.html

[Maluco]

^ awesome indeed...

[e30s52]

very. i cant wait to hear about what it finds

[h0lmes]

I wonder what the sum of the cost for Mars Exploration is at...?



When I first found out that Mars' diameter was half that of Earth's I tripped...

I don't know the exact figures but putting a single man on Mars will likely cost as much as the entire war in Iraq. Just to put it into perspective, the Apollo program cost about 6 billion dollars. When adjusted for inflation, it is about 150 billion in 2008 dollars. A round trip from the Earth to the Moon and back takes about a week. A round trip from the Earth to Mars and back will take about 2 years. The moon landings, up to this point, are widely viewed as the greatest achievement of mankind. They are a cakewalk compared to a Mars mission. I just hope I live to see the day.

[Maluco]

in simple relation to those costs..... no.

[h0lmes]

in simple relation to those costs..... no.

Well at the rate that Chinas economy is growing, we may have another space race on our hands in 20-30 years.

[LEANE30]

^ good point. ...that may just be what our globe needs to prevent us from prematurely killing ourselves before then.