Tumbleweed Rover [Space Ball To explore Mars by rolling with winds]

AstroBio ^

[AppyPappy]

Tumbleweed Rover based on JPL/NSF report

A balloon-shaped robot explorer that one day could search for water on other planets has survived some of the most trying conditions on planet Earth during a 70-kilometer (40-mile), wind-driven trek across Antarctica.

This is not your parent's Mars rover A giant inflatable ball -- bearing little resemblance to better-known rovers like Sojourner or MER -- might someday prowl the surface of the Red Planet. A 6-meter diameter ball on Mars could accelerate to about 10 m/s (22.4 mph) pushed along by Martian afternoon winds of 20 m/s (44.7 mph). Credit: NASA JPL

The Tumbleweed Rover, which is being developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., left the National Science Foundation's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station on Jan. 24, completing its roll across Antarctica's polar plateau roughly eight days later.

Along the way, the beach-ball-shaped device, roughly two meters (six feet) in diameter, used the global Iridium satellite network to send information about its position, the surrounding air temperature, pressure, humidity and light intensity to a JPL ground station.

The test was designed to confirm the rover's long-term durability in an extremely cold environment, with an eye toward eventually using the devices to explore the Martian polar caps and other planets in the solar system. It reinforces the findings of a test conducted previously on the Greenland ice cap, also carried out under the auspices of NSF's Office of Polar Programs (OPP).

OPP manages the U.S. Antarctic Program, arranging logistical support and infrastructure for NSF-supported scientists as well as other government agencies, such as NASA, when they conduct science in Antarctica.

[AppyPappy]

[In_25_words_or_less]

Let me guess -- someone thought of this during a game at Dodger stadium. ;o)

[Viking2002]

Soccer Ball Of The Gods? LOL

[Pikamax]

bttt

[dirtboy]

Along the way, the beach-ball-shaped device, roughly two meters (six feet) in diameter, used the global Iridium satellite network to send information about its position, the surrounding air temperature, pressure, humidity and light intensity to a JPL ground station.

Great. Now all we need to do is build an Iridum satellite network around Mars for this to work...ET, phone Mars...

[Jonah Hex]

OK, but you need to put a hamster inside it for those windless days...

[Lokibob]

In the early 60's, 3 or 4 of us were in the weather station in Camp Century, Greenland, bored out of our skulls.

One of us picked up a weather balloon, inflated it by mouth, and threw it out the door in a 20 kt wind. It bounced and bounced out of sight.

Thinking this great fun, we all got balloons, inflated them and released.

Guess we went through 100 balloons that day.

First Sgt cornered me in mess hall that night and asked if we had weather balloons that didn't go up in the air. I told him they were "VISIBILITY BALLOONS". We inflated them and timed how long we could see them, to see how the visibility was.

He told me that the engineers working outside started chasing them in their vehicles.

[Bob Mc]

Dammed thing will probably fall in a crevice after 10 minutes of "roving" and get stuck there permanently.

Who thought of this bright idea?

[MikeD]

The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind...

[tet68]

The ants are yours friends, they're blowing in the wind.
The ants sirs, are blowing in the wind.

Seeeeeeeeeeeeeeee them rooollllllllllling aloooong.!