The image above courtesy of the ESA shows how the landing module of ExoMars called Schiaparelli was supposed to land. The actual landing site is a blackened crater big enough to see from space. Something obviously went wrong:
Over the past week, scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA) have been deconstructing the data sent by the Schiaparelli craft, which on Oct. 19 failed to make a safe landing on the red planet. The most likely culprit, they believe, is a software glitch that either triggered commands too early or misinterpreted data coming from the various sensors on the lander.
Although mission planners are disappointed, Schiaparelli was intended as a low cost, live-fire test of landing procedures in preparation for a larger, more capable rover planned by the ESA in the next few years. In that sense at least, the doomed lander functioned adequately.
A man in Maine was arrested Monday after he dressed as a tree and blocked traffic, authorities said. Portland police said Asher Woodworth, 30, covered himself in evergreen branches and plopped himself in the middle of a busy intersection about 1 p.m. as a “performance.”
- Speaking of planets, and just in time for Halloween, it’s a good thing there are no female Frankenstein's on our world. And it seems science might be able to identify zombie planets from their ghoulish spectra alone!
- Science staggers on? For legal adults looking for a new Halloween party experience, the video below the fold shows some Austin locals ‘experimenting’ with something called Heloshots. I’m tying to find out more about it, purely from a scientific viewpoint of course. If I understand correctly so far, it’s an alcohol suspension, mixed with oxygen and helium. The latter is inert and causes funny voice effects, but it’s the alcohol that gets you buzzed. Yes my fellow trick-or-treaters, finally, we have booze that can be inhaled.