It was fun to share some of the behind-the-scenes details with our followers! I thought it was pretty funny when Nick or I were too lazy to walk over to each others’ offices to ask a question, and asked each other over twitter instead. ha! I guess those questions probably give you a feel for the nitty-gritty of planning a cycle, anyway. I hope it was interesting! If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments.

If you missed it and want to read through the saga, I made an archive of tweets with the #hitwycle hashtag. (I didn’t start this until part-way through, though, so unfortunately the first few days of tweets are missing. Soon you can check the Library of Congress for them! ) You can see the whole archive here:

http://www.twapperkeeper.com/hashtag/hitwycle

Some of my favorites are below.

@nick_space Observation schedule passed to @laughingrid . Took her 5 minutes to find the first errors. Ho-hum. #hitwycle

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:46:45 +0000 – tweet id 10580054252 – #5

@laughingrid @nick_space That’s only because there’s an app for that. #hitwycle

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:02:44 +0000 – tweet id 10580649141 – #7

@nick_space Orbital mechanics guys do things precisely. Error in knowledge of where MRO is at start of cycle 89 =2 seconds along track. #hitwycle

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:51:56 +0000 – tweet id 10684333640 – #35

@laughingrid 9 public targets from #HiWish got scheduled! Some are even stereo! Your HiWish can come true, too! http://bit.ly/9Phhfb #hitwycle

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:15:46 +0000 – tweet id 10689737369 – #42

@laughingrid Fun fact: Our downlink rate from Mars->Earth is either 6 or 3 Mbps (megabits per sec), depending on the DSN station receiving. #hitwycle

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:09:48 +0000 – tweet id 10745661825 – #76

@nick_space Oh help!!! My HiTS has just walked out the door for the weekend. I’m on my own with this stuff. *shakes at knees* #hitwycle

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:39:43 +0000 – tweet id 10749117500 – #80

@nick_space Back to the grindstone. Going to go the whole HOGG today. #hitwycle

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:26:56 +0000 – tweet id 10788612411 – #86

@laughingrid @nick_space Bring home the bacon! #hitwycle

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:47:31 +0000 – tweet id 10789304081 – #87

@laughingrid Gold star to @nick_space for making my job easy! No major conflicts, good datavolume management, helpful notes, stuff makes sense. #hitwycle

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 03:44:46 +0000 – tweet id 10907883703 – #117

@nick_space .@laughingrid *smiles modestly and attempts to stop halo slipping over his eyes* #hitwycle

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 03:46:56 +0000 – tweet id 10907975462 – #118

@nick_space Check out where we have programmed new HiRISE images. Go to http://bit.ly/96icKS, Click: Search Suggested Targets, Click: Search #hitwycle

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:28:17 +0000 – tweet id 10922698369 – #120

@HiRISE (Hint for HiWishers!) @nick_space: @HiRISE doesn’t have enough targets in Hellas Basin. There’s some real cool stuff down there. #hitwycle

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:42:27 +0000 – tweet id 10940591066 – #133

@nick_space Hope the young student from the general public that asked for that image in Solis Planum has a big computer. Image will be 2 GB!! #hitwycle

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:14:12 +0000 – tweet id 10988935603 – #144

@laughingrid I said a HIPHOP the hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop, don’t stop, the rock it to the bang bang boogie up jumps the boogie #hitwycle

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:52:24 +0000 – tweet id 10992856514 – #146

@laughingrid So, natch: When the pimp’s in da club, drop it like it’s hot DROP IT LIKE IT’S HOT drop it like it’s hot #hitwycle or should I say hitwyzzle

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:19:58 +0000 – tweet id 11001410157 – #152

@nick_space Whoops! Software just exploded. Communication to the database wasn’t working. Oh well. Re-boot! #hitwycle

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:39:03 +0000 – tweet id 11045096803 – #161

@laughingrid Status: Commanding a spaceship! #hitwycle

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:57:17 +0000 – tweet id 11102052732 – #172

@nick_space Although I personally prefer spaceCRAFT. )) @laughingrid #hitwycle

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:46:48 +0000 – tweet id 11104178216 – #175

@laughingrid Person doing the safety check for me is the HiBUTS = HiRISE Backup Targeting Specialist. Don’t blame me for that one. #hitwycle

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:56:23 +0000 – tweet id 11104568119 – #178

@laughingrid 241 (!!!) observations’ command files sent to be radiated! They’ll go to Mars via the Deep Space Network. #hitwycle

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:14:53 +0000 – tweet id 11110152161 – #182

@HiRISE See next week’s planned images in Google Mars! http://bit.ly/cLDAVC Load this KML file in, will show footprints #hitwycle (via @laughingrid)

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:55:15 +0000 – tweet id 11111750083 – #184

@nick_space Looks like we have imaged a fresh impact site with HiRISE. Somewhere between Jan 05 and Feb. 10, a meteorite hit the surface. #hitwycle

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:12:10 +0000 – tweet id 11205809969 – #188

@nick_space Oh WOOOOWWWWW!!! First image from Hellas Basin region. THAT is going in a press release. Super choice by CTX team. #hitwycle

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:37:10 +0000 – tweet id 11206790843 – #190

@nick_space THAT @laughingrid IS DELETING MY OBSERVATIONS!!! RIOT! PROTEST! …… ok maybe not. That’s the way it is. Cos she’s the boss. #hitwycle

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:08:20 +0000 – tweet id 11275476112 – #199

@laughingrid To make @nick_space feel better… Also, this should totally be the theme song for Seasonal Change! #hitwycle ♫ http://blip.fm/~nsb5g

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:18:32 +0000 – tweet id 11275959488 – #200

@laughingrid LOL! a science team member’s justification for using bin1 (highest res): "High resolution RULES!" YEAH it does! +So does our team! #hitwycle

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 03:17:52 +0000 – tweet id 11287777550 – #201

@milkysa fundamental difference btwn science ops w/MRO, @CassiniSaturn: RT @laughingrid Oh well, it’s an orbiter – it’ll come around again! #hitwycle

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:43:56 +0000 – tweet id 11314236568 – #205

@elakdawalla Woo hoo! That’s #2 for me! RT @nick_space: Public suggestion from @elakdawalla is down [from Mars Recon Orbiter]. #hitwycle

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:51:11 +0000 – tweet id 11347490753 – #214

@nick_space Had a power outage here. The HiTS on cycle 90 has a deadline to make….. ooohhhhh getting tight. #hitwycle

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:44:30 +0000 – tweet id 11383455186 – #220

@laughingrid @nick_space Week 2 plan looked really boring, so I replaced all your images with night side calibrations. APRIL FOOLS #hitwycle

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:24:25 +0000 – tweet id 11426700682 – #224

@milkysa Time to make the final target file! (Sadly, no doughnuts) #hitwycle

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 19:15:09 +0000 – tweet id 11440267402 – #229

@HiRISE Load this KML file into Google Mars to see footprints of next week’s planned HiRISE observations: http://bit.ly/9C09m2 #hitwycle

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 21:23:14 +0000 – tweet id 11501136879 – #234

@nick_space .@laughingrid Yes. But it’s really worth it. Lovely image of fretted terrain in Protonilus Mensae just come down. #hitwycle

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 17:37:32 +0000 – tweet id 11709614663 – #244

@nick_space And there are no fretted guitars on Mars incidentally. #hitwycle

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 17:38:05 +0000 – tweet id 11709637963 – #245

@nick_space Cycle 89 has completed on MRO. The data is (ok "are") down on the ground and most has been processed. #hitwycle

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 22:17:46 +0000 – tweet id 12068892653 – #266

What are some strategies to improve my suggestion’s chances?

First, make sure you justify the image in terms of small-scale features that might be seen, things like boulders or thin layers or dunes, not giant volcanoes or channels. We need to know how HiRISE’s meter-scale resolution is necessary, especially if there are existing MOC, CTX, HSRC or other images of the area.

Second, choose an appropriate science theme. There are one-sentence descriptions below the map, and detailed descriptions via clicking on the science theme name.

Third, choose a location on Mars that isn’t very popular—avoid regions with lots of other suggestions. Other suggestions are shown with white markers (when you are zoomed in on the map).

How long might it take for my image to be taken and released?

This is very difficult to predict. First, there’s the caveat that we can’t guarantee that we’ll get to it. It depends on how highly a Science Theme Lead prioritizes it. They look at suggestions on a monthly basis. Uplink, downlink and validation are a matter of weeks. And, our PDS releases occur on a monthly basis. So in the absolute best case, it is a matter of months. Remember that you are competing against other suggestions and for the STL’s prioritization.