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Random Ramjet Ramblings

Various thoughts and musings that tumble from my brain onto Ye Olde Interwebbes.
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Last 4 blog posts:
50 Years

50 Years

The Artemis I mission occurred 50 years after Apollo 17. What will it take to not have this happen again?

Becoming Santa

Becoming Santa

Santa Claus. Father Christmas. Kris Kringle. St. Nicholas. Papa Noel. Me.

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-THE TRENCH-
FLIGHT DYNAMICS OFFICER
MISSION CONTROL
BLOG

-THE TRENCH-

The space exploration advocacy website of Roger Balettie, former Flight Dynamics Officer in NASA’s Space Shuttle Mission Control Center.

Select a menu tab to the left for detailed links or one of the main sections below:

FLIGHT DYNAMICS OFFICER

The Flight Dynamics Officer (FDO, pronounced “fido”) is a Flight Controller in the Mission Control Center responsible for the overall trajectory, or flight path, of the Space Shuttle and all related payloads or other space-bound vehicles associated with the Shuttle.

Read about the:

MISSION CONTROL

"Houston… Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

Since 1965, the Mission Control Center (MCC) has been the nerve center for America’s manned space program.

-THE TRENCH- blog

Space- and NASA-based blog entries.

Last 3 blog posts:
50 Years

50 Years

The Artemis I mission occurred 50 years after Apollo 17. What will it take to not have this happen again?

Countdown

Countdown

It’s been 40 years since the launch of STS-1, and the excitement of that day never faded.

Meanwhile… on the surface of Mars…

by Jul 27, 2013

On June 27, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) in orbit around Mars (duh) took a photo of the Mars Curiosity Rover *on the surface of Mars*!

CLICK TO ENLARGE - Mars Curiosity Rover from MRO

CLICK TO ENLARGE – Mars Curiosity Rover from MRO

Here’s the link to the NASA photo page where you can download the “full-size” image and zoom in on the details, but you can clearly see the landing site, tracks left by Curiosity as it scooted across the surface of the Red Planet, and an actual reflection off the rover itself!

For your convenience, though, I’ve labeled exactly what you’re looking at (first the complete/smaller image and then the cropped section of the full-size image).

You can see the scorch marks from the landing jets and two separate track lines (which are about 10 ft apart).

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