Here is some interesting information that you might not know about the Mars mission. I had thought that the rocket was launched last December within some window that if they had missed it, they would have had to wait until sometime this summer to reschedule the launch. This corresponds to the 7 months mentioned in the attached. However, this does not correspond to the "3 years" that was mentioned as the time it would take for an individual to make a round trip to Mars. I'm not a "rocket scientist" so I have no idea why a rocket with the lander and rover would only take 7 months and a rocket with a couple of individuals would take 18 months. Anyone have any insight on this? BTW, I would like to thank Wirt for the all the work on the pictures and information. While it may be "off topic" for the group, I am sure I am not the only one who appreciates the work and postings to the list... Thanks Wirt! ___ / / Larry Boyd: Horizontal Growth Solution Manager HEWLETT/hp/PACKARD Commercial Systems Division (CSY) /__/ [log in to unmask] (408)447-4127 All opinions are my own, and not necessarily those of Hewlett-Packard. -----Original Message----- ROLL, ROVER. Those of you following the exploits of the Sojourner rover as it rolls across the surface of Mars might be interested to know that Hewlett-Packard played a part in getting the 25-pound explorer to the Red Planet. The navigation applications for the Pathfinder lander were run exclusively on an HP platform, consisting of HP 9000 J-class and Series 700 Model 735 workstations. Here are a pair of interesting tidbits regarding the mission: the Pathfinder traveled 312 million miles (500 million kilometers) on its 7-month journey to catch up with Mars. And the rover was named after a year-long, worldwide essay competition open to students under 18 years of age. It's namesake was Sojourner Truth, an African-American reformist who lived during the era of the U.S. Civil War in the 19th Century. Twelve-year-old Valerie Ambrose of Bridgeport, Connecticut, submitted the winning essay.