AstroNut325
Member
LOL!
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NASA's Mars Science Laboratory |OT| 2,000 Pounds of Science!
- Thread starter DrForester
- Start date
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LOL!
Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
I'm sooooo scared of that landing system they've devised.
Wish they could have tested it with a dummy but I guess there was no budget for two launches.
GODSPEED!
Wish they could have tested it with a dummy but I guess there was no budget for two launches.
GODSPEED!
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
2000 pounds of science sounded cooler than 900 kg of science.
Opportunity is one of the most badass things humanity has ever built.
Omegasquash
Member
I really feel like anyone that complains about tax dollars being wasted can STFU.
Keeping my fingers crossed for a safe landing.
Keeping my fingers crossed for a safe landing.
NASA's Mars Science Lab |OT| OVER 9000hg of Science!
edit: what is the prefix for hecto? Just h? That is what I wanted to use, not regular old gram...
AstroNut325
Member
I would like to vouch for a title change to THIS!
Partial Gamification
Banned
There are 1000g in one kilogram...
It would still be correct, but just not close to actual weight.
Yay I forgot about this, mine is there too. AWWWW YEEEEAAAA
Partial Gamification
Banned
Yeah but why not just make it sound even cooler and say almost 1million grams?
As far as the title is concerned, " a rose with any other name..."
SolidusDave
Member
(j/k, yeah, it's just hg. Though I can't remember the last time I saw this unit being used. I'm for 900.000 g or 0.9 tons of science!)
I edited my post to state my intentions
I haven't had my coffee this morning yet!
astroturfing
Member
how did i miss this? i feel left out
i hope it wasnt for americans only, since Curiosity has non-american built parts as well.Partial Gamification
Banned
Yeah, no worries. The edit could have made the correction. A simple search could have revealed the answer. It can mislead people. I can empathize with the coffee thing so it isn't personal when I say that it was sloppy.I edited my post to state my intentions
I haven't had my coffee this morning yet!
how did i miss this? i feel left out
Worldwide
ThaneKrios
Banned
I'M SO FUCKING HYPED.
maquiladora
Member
Seeing those color pictures of Mars in the link... i can't help but feel excited seeing pictures of ANOTHER PLANET directly from the ground. Even if its just craters and empty fields. Seems surreal. Kinda sad to know that we'll probably never see humans going there in our lifetime, or not until all us 20-30 years old are grandpas.
Opportunity's camera seems to be getting old though, all that blue & green mixed in the 2012 pictures are not a good sign. Good thing the new guy is almost there.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Wow, that doesn't really inspire confidence.
Wonder why they went with such a complicated multi-process landing. Don't they know the golden rule of engineering, as little moving parts as possible = less to go wrong. With this, if there is even one hiccup, it's game over man.
Fenderputty
Banned
I saw this at JPL in pasadena during their last open house. They were about to send it off to FLorida for the final cleaning and launch.
Very impressive engineering accomplishment.
Very impressive engineering accomplishment.
Partial Gamification
Banned
The Messenger probe was put into orbit around the planet. No rovers, not much atmosphere for an impressive sunset.
Rendition:
The Messenger probe was put into orbit around the planet. No rovers, not much atmosphere for an impressive sunset.
Rendition:
I don't really care about a sunset since i know Mercury barely have an atmosphere to begin with, but just getting someday a picture coming from some rover on Mercury's ground with the giant sun in the sky would be pretty epic. It would probably remind me a lot of some Mass Effect 1 skyboxes.
But NASA seems more interested in Mars than any other planets. Even Venus seems to be ignored, but i guess its just impossible to send something there with what's going on on the surface.
N
NinjaFridge
Unconfirmed Member
I am SO excited for this.
My name is engraved on it
Mine too. I can't find the certificate but I still have the number.
Partial Gamification
Banned
Well, deciding between the closest two planets from Earth, Mars provides more science with current technology. Tough decisions are made in those budget meetings. A Venus rover is not impossible, just not practical, today.
timetokill
Banned
They had a web thing (that you are seeing posted by a bunch of people now, awesome guys!)
But my signature is also on it. I went to NASA JPL's open house and they had paper you could write on (real paper dudes) that they were going to convert as well. So my name is probably on that thing like 3 times, actually!
The arrival of this massive thing to carry on the work of Spirit and Opportunity... The drama! It's like a shonen anime of SCIENCE.
Yeah i know Mars makes more sense these days with current technology, and i bet a Venus rover wouldnt able to see shit down there with all the strong winds, duststorms, thick clouds and whatever else is happening on this planet.
I have that framed. I love that image.Sunset on Mars.
Omegasquash
Member
Isn't the surface temp of Venus around 900 degrees or something? Getting something down there that doesn't melt in a few moments, let alone work, would be a awesome.
that sunset is amazing.
Full size pic here - http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_347.html
Full size pic here - http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_347.html
ConfusingJazz
Member
You get more bang for your buck on Mars. Anything you try to land on Venus will die in a matter of minutes with current technology.
Sounds like a job for 70s soviet engineering!
It did melt in a few moments, but it was still awesome.
The main thing limiting the amount of pictures we have is issues with camera lens cap, which they couldn't really solve.
For real.
Sounds like a job for 70s soviet engineering!
It did melt in a few moments, but it was still awesome.
The main thing limiting the amount of pictures we have is issues with camera lens cap, which they couldn't really solve.
For real.
Didn't that last like 10 minutes?
NM, didn't scroll down far enough haha.
ConfusingJazz
Member
Sounds like a job for 70s soviet engineering!
Which were promptly crushed in 2 hours.
That's a lot of money to burn for 2 hours.
Indrid Cold1
Member
I have just had a blissful geek-out moment hearing the mass effect star map music on the Horizon documentary on Curiosity that's on BBC right now
Edit: now the illusive Man's theme as well, fucking awesome, so fitting.
Edit: now the illusive Man's theme as well, fucking awesome, so fitting.
Mackenzie 92
Member
900 degrees really isn't that much, we have coatings that can insulate that much now, and that's available for commercial use.
As for the pressure, it's only about as much as going down 1k in the ocean, so definitely manageable.
NASA has just had a hardon for Mars for so long; much to their detriment as people have gotten bored. We should have focused on Venus, Titan and Europa. All challenges that would have advanced technology and kept the public interested and the funding coming in.
Aw yeah, you had me at Venus <3 Can't agree more. Venus is so much more interesting, Titan as well. Europa is the most exciting one to me, but getting down there, that is one big hurdle to overcome.
orientalNoodle
Banned
Cant focus on all these planets and moons with a limited budget. However, Titan + Europa are more intriguing to me than Mars.
Fenderputty
Banned
I don't know about the details here, but those two by themselves aren't all that challenging. Combining both high temps and pressures together creates more issues that neither of your examples deal with though. The materials capable of handling those pressures at 1K down in the ocean would behave completely different when heated to 900F.
They had a simpler landing process, but they had to change it since this rover weighs so much.
ConfusingJazz
Member
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