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NASA's Mars Science Laboratory |OT| 2,000 Pounds of Science!

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They could have still have done what they did with spirit and opportunity which was inflate huge balls around them, would have been safer approach as it would have only hit the ground 4 miles per hour faster then this one. A rocket assisted descent is the riskiest way to go about this.

What? The thing is the size of a car.
 

Niks

Member
They could have still have done what they did with spirit and opportunity which was inflate huge balls around them, would have been safer approach as it would have only hit the ground 4 miles per hour faster then this one. A rocket assisted descent is the riskiest way to go about this.

I think there has to be a reason why they coudnt do that this time. Dont you think?
 

KHarvey16

Member
The landing sequence being based on real time telemetry data on the eyes on program is freakin sweet. I hope the uplink is made successfully so we can watch that!
 

Pimpwerx

Member
I know your joking but unless you can transmit faster than the speed of light, it ain't happening.

I mean even a delayed signal. AFAIK, we're not gonna see shit of the module approaching or landing. I'm not a tinfoil hatter, but it's boggling that the 60s had better coverage of the space program than we're getting. PEACE.
 
They could have still have done what they did with spirit and opportunity which was inflate huge balls around them, would have been safer approach as it would have only hit the ground 4 miles per hour faster then this one. A rocket assisted descent is the riskiest way to go about this.

Nope. Plenty of articles and videos saying why.

It's not as big as an suv, just saying.

It's over 1 ton dude.
 

Megasoum

Banned
Have we seen a live landing since the 60's lunar landings? CONSPIRACY!!! PEACE.

Actually we did recently lol... NASA was able to confirm that all but one of the American flags was still standing on the moon (they could see the shadow with new instruments). The Apollo 11 flag was knocked down when the LM took off at the end of the mission because Buzz Aldrin put it too close to the ship. That was known since Aldrin came back to earth btw so expected.

They said they were surprised the flags were still up after all those years but that are most probably discolored because of the sun.
 

nemesun

Member
Eyes on The Solar System is bee's knees. Can't believe how far we come in the past twenty odd years. Here's hoping for a safe landing.
 
I mean even a delayed signal. AFAIK, we're not gonna see shit of the module approaching or landing. I'm not a tinfoil hatter, but it's boggling that the 60s had better coverage of the space program than we're getting. PEACE.

Dunno why I'm replying, but you do know that Mars is "exponentially farther" than the Moon right?
 

Trouble

Banned
They could have still have done what they did with spirit and opportunity which was inflate huge balls around them, would have been safer approach as it would have only hit the ground 4 miles per hour faster then this one. A rocket assisted descent is the riskiest way to go about this.

I'm pretty sure they went the risky route because the equipment on the science lab can't handle the Gs from the impact of the airbag approach.
 

Paches

Member
They could have still have done what they did with spirit and opportunity which was inflate huge balls around them, would have been safer approach as it would have only hit the ground 4 miles per hour faster then this one. A rocket assisted descent is the riskiest way to go about this.

Well SHIT, why didn't you call NASA and let them know
 

jambo

Member
oJhhD.jpg
 

Pimpwerx

Member
Dunno why I'm replying, but you do know that Mars is "exponentially farther" than the Moon right?

Hence, delayed signal. I'm an engineer, guys. I understand physics. I'm wondering why the lunar landing has footage of the approach (we've all seen it), but I don't remember any of the Mars landings ever having video of said approach or landing. Delayed or otherwise. No one should expect live video much like we never got live video of the Voyager fly-bys. Just random musings on my part. Don't take it for more than it is. PEACE.
 
Nope. Plenty of articles and videos saying why.



Nasa said itself that it is as big as a mini-cooper.

I don't even know why I am arguing with you but I can't help it.

It's not the size of the thing that matters. It's the mass. Air bags are not a reliable way of ensuring the payload (aka curiosity) survives impact at that mass. If it was the size of an Expedition yet was light airbags could still be used.
 

Smokey

Member
They could have still have done what they did with spirit and opportunity which was inflate huge balls around them, would have been safer approach as it would have only hit the ground 4 miles per hour faster then this one. A rocket assisted descent is the riskiest way to go about this.

so you're smarter than the folks at NASA? LOL
 

KHarvey16

Member
A mini-cooper is an SUV?

Have you given up on this idea of NASA choosing the worst way to land and is now just spinning their explanation? Just say so, then we can discuss what particular vehicle you'd like to compare the rover to.

If the landing fails, every critic will hit on the fact that the rocket landing was very risky. Unless of course it breaks apart as it hits the atmosphere or something.

How should they do it?
 

Pimpwerx

Member
To further my point, people would care more about the space program if we got more visual evidence of it at work. The lunar landings were documented very well. The Mars landings...not so much. NASA can't expect to get more funding when all appearances are that they've stagnated. PEACE.
 

Verdre

Unconfirmed Member
Hence, delayed signal. I'm an engineer, guys. I understand physics. I'm wondering why the lunar landing has footage of the approach (we've all seen it), but I don't remember any of the Mars landings ever having video of said approach or landing. Delayed or otherwise. No one should expect live video much like we never got live video of the Voyager fly-bys. Just random musings on my part. Don't take it for more than it is. PEACE.

There was an article saying that the bandwidth for the current rovers on Mars is only ~35kbps and that's only thanks to one of the newer satellites in orbit. There just isn't enough bandwidth to do any real video. I imagine that's why what little video it's going to take will be in the single digit FPS
 

TheFatOne

Member
Wait is the live stream going to have video or pictures of the landing? Or is this just to see if they were successful?
 
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