Posted on 11/26/2011 8:31:17 AM PST by lbryce
Historic Mars Launch: NASA Giant Rover 'Curiosity' Blasts Off YouTube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-LudR2pQyU
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
I heard the islamists, you know the ones who contributed greatly to form this nation built the NASA giant land rover. .....he he he he he he he .............
Oh, you mean they added their level of technology, stone wheels?
notice those four tall towers around the launch with the white things on top. wonder what they are? some positioning or nav stability aid?
They are giant lightning rods to protect the flight hardware.
Hmm. Interesting. I’ve been too busy posting stuff to notice. Thanks for pointing it out. If I get to find out I’ll let you know.
NASA, once again reinventing the wheel. Same as before, but bigger.
What the current project should be right now is the creation of a permanent Lunar habitat. Using known technologies to create a nuclear powered horizontal rock tunneling robot, probably built by The Robbins Company, it would land on the Moon, next to a “twilight crater” (which mostly remains in twilight as the Moon turns) wall.
In function, as the robot would grind away at the rock wall, rubble would fall onto a conveyor belt underneath the robot, to be carried far outside the tunnel on the robot’s conveyor belt “tail”. Periodically it would insert reinforcing rod into the ceiling, common practice in hard rock mining. Before backing out of the tunnel, it would spray liquid sealant for any micro-fissures.
Since it was on a one-way mission, its lander could be cannibalized for things like automatic sealing “smart” tunnel pressure doors, floor, walls and ceiling paneling with electrical connections.
Finally, before the astronauts had even arrived, it could fill the tunnel with warm air, so that the door could measure pressure and heat loss from the tunnel. The nuclear reactor used by the robot could then be used to provide power and heat for the tunnel.
After doing this on the Moon, we could then use the experience to do the same thing on Mars.
There you go. Post #6 saves the day.
awesome. must be a pretty spectacular lightning strike when it hits one of them.
Thanks lbryce.
They are reinventing nothing. They are using a wheeled rover design, however. My 2012 Nissan uses 4 wheels, just like the Model T.
That said, I get what you are saying. I'm afraid such things will only be a pipe dream for the foreseeable future. We lack vision in the White House, and we lack the money and the will to do it. This is our last great planetary mission. It is sad.
Metric mishap caused loss of NASA orbiter
Minor quibble, when they use the term, 'orbiter' isn't that the Shuttle?
If this doesn't crash into the planet then maybe it will work.
Luna has many miles of huge lava caves. I have seen the pics of them where you can see where the roofs collapsed in places over the eons.
Volatiles from comet impacts and the solar wind have probably frozen out inside the lava caves just like at the Lunar South Poles.
They are big enough for a good sized base with oodles of radiation shielding and a large heat sink.
You could go with inflatable habitats and artificial lighting for growing food.
Bet when the Chicoms land, they will plant their flag and claim the entire planet!
That was a beautiful launch. The US is really good at producing robotic space vehicles and video games. Manned flight hardware... not so good. If only our engineers could design a light weight durable composite material for a space plane fuel tank that won’t collapse under load. Then we wouldn’t have to break out the old apollo command module drawings for our next generation manned spacecraft.
I got $100 that says we will find life on Mars, at least microbes. Any takers?
Arthur C. Clarke pointed out years ago that photos from previous rovers had things that looked like root systems, seeds, and seashells. I think NASA is well aware that Mars had life and probably still does. Why they are afraid to say so mystifies me.
NASA is under pressure now because the Russkies or Chicoms might beat them to the momentous discovery. I’ll bet this rover provides definitive proof.
personally i hope a pic comes back of a shard that has hieryogliphics on it.
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