"..It wasn't switched on because it might have endangered the landing..." what?? why?? how??

"..have now got funding to switch the mike on and process its signals..." It wasn't planned for?

"..the mike is a simple cell phone-like mike, not a high-fidelity one.." Done on the cheap?

This may sound whimsical, but I get the feeling that this microphone was added as a last minute 'unofficial upgrade' by a junior engineer who thought it would be a good idea. Only later, after launch, did he tell his senior colleagues - "Hey, guess what, I rigged it up with a microphone! :) "

It's a mic (short for microphone - not mikerophone).....unless the mic is named mike, I suppose.

An excuse to put up an "artists impression". A scientists impression might be more realistic, but I'll settle for a martian's impression of GW Bush.

The 'Mars mic' is a public outreach project supplied by the (not-for-profit) Planetary Society.

Full details, including why it wasn't switched on during descent, can be found here:

http://tinyurl.com/4eklq4

"If they can pick up sounds like a shovel passing through gritty sand or scraping a rock, then they'll try listening when the Lander's tools are idle."

I'd be happier if they heard the lander singing "heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to work we go" followed by whistling.

Why do NASA not know how to have fun? Sigh

Lets hope the quasi-barnacles don't silence the mission first . . .

We need playmobil pictures...i want to SEE and HEAR the martians

Clearly, they have found one of Mars' native life forms. They're attracted to the heat of the lander, especially since the martian winter is coming.

They spent umpteen million (billion?) dollars on this project. They couldn't have splurged an extra $25 for a decent microphone? "Hey guys, I know how we can keep this under budget!"

Ull-la! Ull-la!

Still, the chances of that are a million to one...

<< Why do NASA not know how to have fun? Sigh >>

I suspect it's because they've learned a hard lesson, one that most public-facing organisations learn sooner or later: a sense of fun is a dangerous thing when you're dealing with the public at large. If I suffer from an abject lack of sense of humour, a significant part of that is down to years spent in a job involving talking to the public.

I don't know if you recall a certain incident in the 1970s, when NASA released a certain photograph with a certain geographical (all right, areographical, if you insist) feature on it that looked a little bit like a face? NASA probably thought, "oh, cool - look: a rock that looks like a face; isn't that groovy?" (I'm paraphrasing - it was the 70s.)

NASA must have learned pretty quickly after that that you have to be enormously careful about what you say and what you suggest. Show a sense of fun, or any kind of emotional investment in what you're doing, and the public will take indignant offence; or they'll mock you for your stupidity (and "it was just a joke" doesn't ring true even when it's true); or they'll misrepresent whatever you said and construct unconvincing yet elaborate conspiracy theories about it, with websites and everything.

Where's the Kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth shattering kaboom!

"Somebody on the surface 20 feet away from you could be talking and you wouldn't hear a thing, just see their lips moving." Could I relocate the missus there?? It sounds ideal.

Sarah - my sponsors (The B. Manning & J. Davidson Preservation Society) take all my enquiries. Please forward any correspondence on to my willing assistants (who are all currently running around the park at high speed in naughty-nurse underwear).

"NASA must have learned pretty quickly after that you have to be enormously careful about what you say and what you suggest"

Well, the nerds at JPL clearly didn't get that memo:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=1041

<< Well, the nerds at JPL clearly didn't get that memo: >>

Good on them. I like to see people enjoying their work, and I salute their bravery. But I stand by my previous answer.