In article , Jim Logajan
says...

"Vaughn Simon" wrote:
This may be just a bit OT, but good news anyhow. First indications
are that NASA has successfully flown the Phoenix spacecraft to a soft
field landing on the surface of Mars. Historically, the odds of
success were not great.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ph...ain/index.html

Now we know why the success rate of spacecraft to Mars has been so low.
According to the text associated with this image:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ph..._full_001.html

the Phoenix has "octagonal solar panels" but in fact there appear to be
10 sides. Fortytwo possible explanations:

1) Mars is so far from Earth that space-time warping changes the way
edges are counted.

2) Eight in base eight is written 10, just as ten in base ten is written
as 10, so "octagonal" sometimes means "ten" such as during a full Phobos
moon.

Don't I remember that a prior Mars launch failed when there was a
disconnect between engineers working in English units and those working
in metric? Your explanation above isn't really so far-fetched. *grin*

8) The Martians are messing with our minds and attached two more panels
in the infamous 15-minute gap before they were deployed. Clever little
imps!

Martian haors?

--

"Tis an ill wind that blows no minds"