Sound of the wind on another planet.

[Westmarcher]

Another attempt to be made today at 6.15 am EDT.  EDT is Eastern Daylight Time in the U.S. (5 hours behind BST in the U.K.).

Here is a live link.

https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/#Watch-Online

[paulr]

Thanks for the heads up

[Westmarcher]

 ... and done! 

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Radio 4 News - It just flew for a couple of minutes

[Techno II]

It IS really impressive.....even if it only flew for a short spell.

Cheers - Phil.

[Leman]

Well a couple of minutes is still longer than the Wright brothers, although nice that a bit of their original plane was incorporated into the Martian chopper.

[Heedless Horseman]

Well a couple of minutes is still longer than the Wright brothers, although nice that a bit of their original plane was incorporated into the Martian chopper.

So some Alien 'Archaeologist' will say "Maybe Ritual!" 

[steve_holmes_11]

One more day to go before the test flight of Ingenuity, the first aircraft (helicopter, actually) on Mars, which, if successful, will make it the first powered and fully controlled atmospheric flight, from takeoff to landing, on any planet beyond Earth. Unlike on Earth, NASA won't be able to control the helicopter with a joystick because of communication delays between here and The Red Planet so the attempted take-off and flight will be entirely automatic. Here's hoping it won't be too windy! Fingers crossed. 

It only just occurred to me that it won't be able to use GPS like the really posh drones here can.
On account of there being no halo of shiny satellites in low mars orbit (yet).

[steve_holmes_11]

I would agree

Of course - I am deeply disappointed that there isn't a Edgar Rice Burroughs style society on Mars

The little green men tried to launch an Edgar Rice Burroughs society, but recruitment proved difficult.
All the avid readers were already members of the H.G.Wells fan club.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

I would think it's got a becon to link to the lander. Seem to remember that Mars has a very weak magnetic field so no mag compass.

[steve_holmes_11]

Agreed, there's something just horribly . . . odd . . . about them. No eyes and that strange mouth(?) at the front.

A small price to pay for immortality.

[steve_holmes_11]

And there's probably oodles of them within a few yards of you.

Most of them are only half a mm in size, so don't have nightmares.  (The biggest are 1.5mm..apparently.)

I think Leon should get me to make a giant one for the sci-fi range.

Cheers - Phil.

There's a sheep-sized statue of one in the Harlemmermeer (Near Amsterdam).
Those wacky provincial Netherlanders would regularly paint in in garish colours.

For context, life-size model cow painting is an established hobby there.
Many small towns and villages having a dedicated herd.

[steve_holmes_11]

I've been waiting to move on from the 5th until the 7th edition was available free online. 

http://www.wrg.me.uk/WRG.net/History/OLDWRG/Ancients007.pdf 

They say it rewards generalship instead of grasp of the rule minutiae.  Where's the fun in that?

Spoiler, it doesn't.
Just a different set of rule minutiae.

Thank the tardigrades for DBA.

[steve_holmes_11]

Gauntlet runs/ran a very succesful 6th edition comp but the players are getting very elderly.

They're not old, that's the effect of 12 hour's of hand-calculating 6th edition reaction tests.

[steve_holmes_11]

It IS really impressive.....even if it only flew for a short spell.

Cheers - Phil.

I'm not sure that-alone constitutes success.
I prefer to concentrate on the quality of landing.

For example the USA put men on the moon, but significantly, brought them all back home again.

[Ithoriel]

Every landing you walk away from is a good one!

[Raider4]

Every landing you walk away from is a good one!

First rule of flying: Landings = Take-offs

[Raider4]

The little green men tried to launch an Edgar Rice Burroughs society, but recruitment proved difficult.
All the avid readers were already members of the H.G.Wells fan club.

Mars - the only planet populated entirely by robots . . .

From XKCD:

[DecemDave]

Thank the tardigrades for DBA.

Proof then that Tardigrades have their own language from which our own human English has evolved!

They are also brilliant marketeers- I bought both the 3.0 book and the 3.0 which occupies much of Sue Barkers book.  Duh!

[Leon]

Mars - the only planet populated entirely by robots . . .

I really hope that they bring the Rover back at some point and put it in NASA headquarters for visitors.  It developed a real humanity while it was active and it's final message was heartbreaking for a robot.  I still think of it up there all alone and waiting for someone to come and rescue it.  I keep hoping that if another robot/drone can locate it and clear the dust off the solar panels, then it might be able to get enough power to start working again.