Exclusive Wired Science interview with Phoenix via Twitter shortly after landing:

Wired.com: Finally, we’d love you to settle a matter of some debate on Twitter. Are you male or female?

Phoenix: Good question! I've never thought about it. I'll give a peek under the deck with my robotic arm camera and get back to you on that... :-)

Actually Phil, that's much funnier than my original.
Hey, and we got onto the Phoenix website blog - how cool is that!

Astro0

I sent the link to this thread to a friend and his response to the above image was ...

Instead of WT_? it should have been "Rookie", or maybe "Stop playing in the sand and get to work slacker!"

pat----

I believe WT__? Conveys a perfect sense of sudden surprise the MER is feeling when it does a double-take at observing the absurd! yeh..

If these robotic snafus have underscored the need for a manned mission, I have a good idea for a sponsor:



...apologies to Doug Ellison

I wish I could draw it, but it sure would be funny to see an alien trying to keep the TEGA doors closed... Maybe rubber cement or something like it...

Zamboni! Bloody Genius!!!!

Plus it gets us back to rovers....

Well that was just in time. A recent newsflash from Reuters confirms that Phoenix has been really busy with its sample delivery techniques...


http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/...634952620080626

Well, no wonder the TEGA doors won't open! You have any idea how much a cubic meter of soil weighs???



-the other Doug

Phoenix reports on soil pH...

In the spirit of It's Just Humor, and in honor of Phoenix successes against adversity, please forgive the silliness:

This thread is hilarious! Keep this stuff up!

"Music by Evolved Gas"???

That would be a GREAT name for a band!

-the other Doug

Ahem ..... the connotations for people not familiar with TEGA might be a problem ....

True! After all, cosmology tells us we are all evolved gas--or maybe I should speak for myself.

I seem to recall astrophysics lectures in which the universe consisted of three things - hydrogen, helium, and METAL.

* Cue ridiculous guitar riff! *

" Ahem ..... the connotations for people not familiar with TEGA might be a problem "


Yes, they're calling it 'Bean Valley' now.

Phil

'Beans-Asparagus-Turnips Valley' surely.

Astro0

"Evolved Gas".

My dog evolves gas. I have to put her outside when she does!

With apologies again to Astro0!

Headline: pH test results prompt more questions than answers!


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That gets a Phoenix Smiley from me!
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Astro0

AHHHHH!!! AHHHHH!!!! I can see that when I close my eyes!

*shivers and huddles in corner*

Pathetic Earthling

An instant Classic. I cant stop laughing

please post bigger version

I cant wait for the Sequel:

Flash Boynton Rescues the Snow Queen

TV Commercial...



Airbag

Hilarious!

That project should get a green light no problem--boffo b.o.! As for a larger version, that was the largest "Flash Gordon" poster I could find & anyway Volcanopele might not recover from the trauma.

Just my warped little mind at work again
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Astro0

That's good. (again)

Huh. I didn't know that Phoenix & the MERs used the DoD supply system for ordering spare parts!

(Good one, Astro0! )

When it positively, absolutely, HAS to be there....

Thanks Astro, it's been a crappy day and that cheered me up

Mind you, you're all wrong.
The spare parts were ordered, but unfortunately were sent from a UK Post Office. Naturally, even though it was an interplanetary delivery, the Post Office made sure the usual standards of service and geographical accuracy were strictly adhered to; one package made it (sort of - they'll blame it on the post code!) and the other suffered the usual fate:
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How about just sending someone to fix the TEGA?!?!?!

BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE..!!!

At the Phoenix Operation's Center, they have the telltale images posted, as well as a few others, including whirlwind, ice, life, and underground water. I only wish I could do the photoshop work or get the images myself...

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Twice as fast. Half the price.

In yesterday's comics section of the newspaper... For those of you who do not read Brewster Rockit, I highly recommend it!!

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Don't Worry, Be Happy!
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Just in case it trys to close againClick to view attachment

I should think we would want to keep wrenches as far as possible from Phoenix.

Don't let Ed Mitchell see this...
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OK, not actual humour, but I was asked by a radio station today while doing an interview about Phoenix if there was a song that would be appropriate to the story about water being confirmed on Mars.

I came across a song lyric that while not ideal, had some of the key words.
The song is by Dan Fogelberg and it's caled Phoenix. I have no idea what it sounds like, but if anyone is interested here's a link to his website.

Phoenix

I have cried too...I have cried too long
No more sorrow...got to carry on
Found deep water before I'd even learned to swim
Never thought I'd see the sun again
Once I was a...once I was a man alone
Now I've found a heart to call my home
Like a Phoenix I have risen from the flames
No more living someone else's dreams
I have cried too...I have cried too long
No more sorrow...got to carry on
You almost had me, old lady
You almost tied me down good
You played the lady in waiting
And I waited as long as I could
Too long the songs have been silent
Too long the strings have been still
I never knew what you wanted
And I guess that I never will
Like a Phoenix I have risen from the flames
No more living someone else's dreams
I have cried too...I have cried too long
No more sorrow...got to carry on


EDIT: I think this will work, it's a link to hear the song. Note: It is a pop-up page from the Rhapsody website, so you may have to set your browser to allow for it.

Good song. Lived it twice. Now I'm depressed...

...nah. On another thread, I made a reference to www.chucknorrisfacts.com, which chronicles a recent fad where the legendary abilities and achievements of the venerable action movie and television star are being documented in popular culture. Esteemed forum member mchan PM'd me with some of his own related to UMSF, and I'd like to share a few of mine from my response to him with the community. Feel free to add a few of your own, but beware: Chuck Norris is watching! Always!

---

MPL didn't crash. Chuck Norris needed an HGA for his Martian summer home satellite TV, and no way was he going all the way to a Radio Shack on Earth.

The Pioneer 10 anomaly is easy to explain. Chuck Norris likes to mess with JPL's heads by going out to it & giving it a little backwards push regularly.

If you look closely enough at the best image of Ontario Lacus on Titan, you can see Chuck Norris skinny-dipping there. He has no shrinkage. Ever.

Ranger 7 was the first successful probe in the series only because NASA finally decided to go with a rocket as the launch method rather than a roundhouse kick from Chuck Norris.

There are rings around Uranus. They are there to help Chuck Norris aim when he kicks its a**.

Q: What would you get if you crossed Chuck Norris with MSL?
A: Dead. Nobody crosses Chuck Norris.

Huh, I thought it worked because they used peanuts as the rocket propellant in stage 1
Astro0, I owe you an update of the script ... will email as soon as I get around doing it

Humour or not - politics is still politics.

Post deleted.

Chia MECA... just add water.
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Chuck Norris facts are hyperbolic, just not in the astrodynamics sense.

E.g., There was once an IAU planet full of bad guys where the Asteroid Belt is now. That was before Chuck Norris got there.

, Mike!!!

Chuck Norris is the top consultant at JPL. Whenever there's an anomaly, they call in Chuck Norris to stare down the console until it surrenders and does what he wants.

(Not an original, but from the website I previously cited:) We are alone in the Universe. We weren't before Chuck Norris' first space expedition.

The man that lives across the street from me is named Chuck Norris (no lie). He has a shaved head; he's probably in his late 40's/early 50's and has a huge belly and extraordinarily hairy back - which we know, because he insists on walking around his yard shirtless all the time. We refer to him as "Ugly Naked Guy," no apologies to "Friends"! I guess the shaved head is an improvement - he used to have a mullet, which was not any more attractive. Oh yeah, he and his wife like to have Druid ceremonies in their backyard on occasion.

So when you say "Chuck Norris," I'm having a mental image that's very different than yours!

He won't last. The Universe surely cannot withstand the existence of two Chuck Norris' at the same time for very long.