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NASA's Curiosity Rover - Touchdown confirmed. 21-0 Duke

TheTwinAndreBen

TheTwinAndreBen

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Sitting on top of an Atlas Rocket. Its got lazers and stuff too.

Watching the video though, the deployment of this thing looks VERY ambitious. There is a parachute and a 'crane' sequence where a hovering pod places the rover on the surface and then blasts away. I'm no engineer, but it seems like there has to be a better way to get our $1.5B investment to the ground.

http://www.theverge.com/2011/11/9/2549726/nasa-curiosity-mars-rover-explore-launch
 
Did you watch the video? The likelihood of it sucessfully freeing itself from the lander and getting to the ground safely seems very low imo. Seems like there are a trillion things that could go wrong with that overcomplicated process.
 
TheTwinAndreBen said:
Did you watch the video? The likelihood of it sucessfully freeing itself from the lander and getting to the ground safely seems very low imo. Seems like there are a trillion things that could go wrong with that overcomplicated process.
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Yeah, you'd be surprised at some of the immensely complicated distribution systems that NASA has used for various planet based probes.

They don't want to lose $1.5bn of valuable science any more than you do, so I can assure you that they've tested the shit out of the delivery platform.
 
TuffaloDeac10 said:
Good use of tax dollars, IMO. I'm sure this project is on-time and under budget, too.
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Because the expansion of the human race beyond our measly little planet isn't important ;)

It's about 30% over budget, but it is essentially on time.
 
To the idiot Giants fan that tagged this thread. I'll have fun hanging out on Mars and living there comfortably as a result of the science that Curiosity performs, while you are wallowing away in your own filth on Earth, staring down the gun barrel of an asteroid.
 
I'd rather spend money on space exploration than on most of our defense projects, or for that matter most of the things our government spends its/China's money for.
 
TWDeac said:
I'll have fun hanging out on Mars and living there comfortably as a result of the science that Curiosity performs
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You planning to live for another 500 years or more? :thumbsup:
 
One of the most interesting things about these rovers is the method through which they generate power. Unlike Spirit and Opportunity, which were hindered when their solar panels were covered in dust, Curiosity has it's own energy source, radioisotope thermoelectric generators.

It derives its power from the radioactive decay of plutonium. This is the same concept that drove the Voyager probes (they are still functioning almost 40 years later.) It is difficult to get approval for these generators due the difficulty in approving the use of plutonium.

It allows the rover to function regardless of season and solar input. I have high hopes for this probe and can't wait until it gets to work.
 
^^^So all the nice parts of Mars are going to be completely irradiated by these things by the time you get there. Sweet.
 
The RTG also can provide heat to various parts of the rover in the event of a freezing event.
 
TheTwinAndreBen said:
^^^So all the nice parts of Mars are going to be completely irradiated by these things by the time you get there. Sweet.
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Seeing as Mars has almost no atmosphere, it already gets pounded by the sun's radiation.
 
RacerDeac said:
Seeing as Mars has almost no atmosphere, it already gets pounded by the sun's radiation.
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This. The planet also has no tectonic activity and it's core is cold, meaning it doesn't have a magnetic field. If you hung out in your bathing suit on Mars, you could have a pretty bad day.
 
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