"Jim Logajan" wrote in message
.. .
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:


I can only think of these three reasons.

3) They figured no one would know what 'decagonal solar panels' meant.



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.


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!


Keep an eye on that article, their time-police might get wind and fix it.