NASA Mars Rovers, wow.

messiah khan said:
Didn't they miscalculate the atmospheric drag or something?
Pretty much. Both the parachutes and the landing protection were puny compared to NASA standards. OK, so they didn't have a NASA-sized budget, but the whole lot is pointless if you can't land the thing. Skimping on the budget for parachutes and the like just wasn't on and as much as I hate it, they got what was coming.
 
We all know Beagle landed perfectly well, then one of the rovers ran over it! ;)

They are really impressive machines, such accuracy in all the instruments too. I always imagine them being controlled like remote control cars, zooming around mars like crazy when in fact they move at about half a mile an hour and stop every 10 metres.
 
What in gods name is that? its like a triangle with crystals in the central part of it...

(after closer inspection)
is it where its been drilled by tools off the rover
pia08699-516.jpg
 
Mik3 said:
We should be committing a lot more resources as a united planet to space exploration as we do in killing each other.

Bill Hicks said:
You know all that money we spend on the military ever year - trillions of dollars? Instead, if we use this money to feed and clothe the poor of this world, which it would do many times over, then we can explore space, inner and outer, together, as one race.

*n
 
Berserker said:
Pretty much. Both the parachutes and the landing protection were puny compared to NASA standards. OK, so they didn't have a NASA-sized budget, but the whole lot is pointless if you can't land the thing. Skimping on the budget for parachutes and the like just wasn't on and as much as I hate it, they got what was coming.

thing is, one of the satellites around mars took a high res (still terrible resolution compared to what MRO will be able to do) of beagles landing site, and they *think* that they can see beagle's lander, opened up and with a chute to the north east (top right in the photo ive seen) of it... so maybe the landing systems didn't fail and it just didn't call home once the automatic opening of the lander finished?

the NASA rovers are doing great, Spirit is not very well, as said, its got wheel failures, and due to it being further from the equator, it has more of a chance of failing during winter than opportunity has.

i used to visit the site daily in the first few months, but updates are rare these days due to power issues, so i visit monthly now for my little dose of Mars :)
 
Absolutely incredible. Technology like this is astonishing and it really does make you wonder at the vastness out there. I totally agree with Penski's post.
 
Alu_ATC said:
Absolutely incredible. Technology like this is astonishing and it really does make you wonder at the vastness out there. I totally agree with Penski's post.

The wonders out there are probably beyond our imagination - billions of galaxies in a sea of wonders.
 
Mik3 said:
The wonders out there are probably beyond our imagination - billions of galaxies in a sea of wonders.

OR

There is nothing outside our atmosphere and a secret cabal of Lizard-Jews keeps us simultaneously oppressed and living in hope by filtering 'information' about space to the population...

*n
 
penski said:
OR

There is nothing outside our atmosphere and a secret cabal of Lizard-Jews keeps us simultaneously oppressed and living in hope by filtering 'information' about space to the population...

*n

Are you always this pestamistic? :D
 
Oh, on the subject of astonishing stuff, it looks like they've finally found some substantive evidence for the existance of dark matter (by observing the effects of two colliding galaxies).
 
Dark matter (sorry it was late at night ;)) at last... got any links?

Im interested in this new Atom smashing process they have been conducting. Several have been built now and apparently they achieved a good result from colliding 2 nuclei of atoms of gold together creating a force of a black hole for a mear fraction of a milli second. (hard to remember what the exact number was but it had a lot of 0's lol)
 
Last edited:
Mik3 said:
The wonders out there are probably beyond our imagination - billions of galaxies in a sea of wonders.

Exactly, maybe its me being a dreamer, but I always think about this kind of stuff, just amazes me.

Btw, totally disagree with Penski's last post :D Although no way to prove if his theory is right or not, lol.

And, good sig Mik3.
 
I can't wait till they send something to Titan's surface, or have they already?Probably not there yet!
 
Back
Top Bottom