Phoenix: 8 days & counting

[cjolley]

It's sad that they feel obliged to make such comparisons...

Oh, I don't think so. Most people have absolutely no concept of the size of the cosmos.
Analogys like that might help to illustrate the immense scale that space scientists have to deal with.

[Nowhere]

And that's why it's so sad.

Education would be better than "golf ball hit"(@Gurm - yes, I remember that SG-1 episode, but you know, that's really a work of fiction. Really ;P )/"time it would take to get there with SUV/number of refueling said SUV would need"/"x libraries of Congress" metrics.

(yes, there are OK analogies, "let's assume Earth is the size of this golf ball, than..." for example, but this one? There's really nothing to compare here. Are they trying to say that putting Phoenix there was impossible?)

[cjolley]

...but this one? There's really nothing to compare here. Are they trying to say that putting Phoenix there was impossible?

Not at all.
They are saying the same thing GURM is only from the other direction.
"There is a reason that it costs $10B to go there: it's really really hard."

[cjolley]

Too cool For School!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/05/31/phoenix.mars.ap/index.html

Looks like that's ice right there under the lander

[degrub]

nahh, those are just the linoleum floor tiles in the old laundry room ........