- Apr 17, 2008
- 6,574
- 3
- 0
check out the pics from mars. look at pic 9 and check out that guys first name:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/...,0,414123.photogallery
http://www.chicagotribune.com/...,0,414123.photogallery
check out these mars pics
- Thread starter OBLAMA2009
- Start date
shortylickens
No Lifer
- Jul 15, 2003
- 80,287
- 17,082
- 136
Anandtech.
Where thousands of nerds congregate to see an asian man with the name Fuk.
Probe just landed on Mars with pics and we're telling jokes that might amuse a slow 12 year old.
Lovely.
- Apr 17, 2008
- 6,574
- 3
- 0
imagine if you had to work with that guy and other people didnt know his name, they would think you had severe tourettes syndrome
look at pic 10..."will search for teh"...looks like we have someone from ATOT working for the Tribune!
destrekor
Lifer
- Nov 18, 2005
- 28,799
- 359
- 126
its comical how much that sticks out to us folk.
I too was simply clicking through each picture, as most were boring. The university has a lot of good photos of the surface posted on their website, that was linked to in a previous thread. I love looking at the photos of Mars exploration... not of people celebrating in the office with boring captions. Can't wait till they get this rover doing some good work, and here's to hoping it'll outlive the original projections. Look at the other two rovers, which are like what... a few years past their projected useful dates? And they keep making discoveries useful to science.
Maybe the next Cold War destined to happen between the US, Russia, and likely China, will bring with it a Space Race to put man on Mars. Revisiting the Moon before 2020 is cool and all, but what are we going to do? Unless they have plans to build on the Moon, I say skip it and figure out how to put man on the red planet.
+
- Apr 17, 2008
- 6,574
- 3
- 0
Jeff7
Lifer
- Jan 4, 2001
- 41,596
- 20
- 81
Perhaps you missed the ginormous Mars Phoenix Lander thread
It's quite stationary - saves money that way. No autonomous driving abilities, no navcams, no wheels or suspension systems, just one long arm with a scoop and analysis equipment, and a camera mast.
Problems with sending humans to Mars:
1) They need to remain alive on the way there.
2) They need to remain alive once there.
3) They want to return to Earth alive.
4) They probably want to remain sane for the duration.
All present problems, surprisingly enough.
Food, water, waste management, living quarters, landing systems, return systems, and acceleration limits all present problems. Martian dust is another problem they don't know how to solve, along with static electricity.
Food, water, and waste management systems all add bulk and weight to the spaceship.
Living arrangement problems - you need to have space to move around, and there needs to be some sort of exercise equipment, as this journey would take at least 7 months each way, probably more. That means a big spaceship, which means more weight, which means more fuel, which means more weight. To give you an idea of the weight, Cassini, mission to Saturn, weighed somewhere around 6000lbs at launch. Half of that was fuel.
Tying in sanity with living conditions would be the other issue of how many people to send. Solitary confinement can cause problems with people, and being that way for nearly 2 years could cause psychological problems. Ok, so let's send 2 people instead. Now you have increased requirements for food, water, and living space. There is also the possibility of in-fighting between the two people. Imagine being stuck in a tiny room with one person for 2 years.
3 people? The ship just got even bigger, and it still doesn't really alleviate the possibility of harsh disagreements among the crew.
Landing: Can't use airbags, as they'd likely kill the crew on that first impact.
So that means you'd need thrusters = more fuel = more weight. A parachute will only work to a certain point. The atmosphere on Mars is a lot thinner than Earth's, so you'd need a HUGE parachute to allow for a soft landing. Huge parachute = more weight = more chance of something getting tangled and it not deploying properly.
Dust: There's dust and there's static electricity. The dust is also mildly corrosive, and I'd imagine it would be toxic, perhaps with the risk of some variant of silicosis. Dust can ruin seals in suits and on vehicles, which could be bad if visitors would want to continue to breathe. Static electricity buildup could also be a serious problem. Go out, walk around on the dusty surface for awhile building up an enormous charge, then when you go to hit the button to get into the airlock, you send out an insane static charge that fries the circuitry. Oops. Better hope there's a manual release there. Oh, and don't track in any dust, which is now clinging to you and the spaceship due to the charge differentials.
Then there's the possibility of dust storms. Some are regional and blow out quickly. Some are global and last for months on end.
We should probably skip all these complicated suits and technologies and just send people to Mars in giant polycarbonate hamster exercise balls.
That's the benefit of robotic explorers. They don't complain about working conditions, they don't need to come back home, they don't need living space, and can in fact be folded up and compacted for the trip, they don't need bulky food and water supplies, and they don't care if you literally work them to death.
First, it's not a rover, it's a lander.Originally posted by: destrekor
....
Can't wait till they get this rover doing some good work, and here's to hoping it'll outlive the original projections. Look at the other two rovers, which are like what... a few years past their projected useful dates? And they keep making discoveries useful to science
Maybe the next Cold War destined to happen between the US, Russia, and likely China, will bring with it a Space Race to put man on Mars. Revisiting the Moon before 2020 is cool and all, but what are we going to do? Unless they have plans to build on the Moon, I say skip it and figure out how to put man on the red planet.
+
It's quite stationary - saves money that way. No autonomous driving abilities, no navcams, no wheels or suspension systems, just one long arm with a scoop and analysis equipment, and a camera mast.Problems with sending humans to Mars:
1) They need to remain alive on the way there.
2) They need to remain alive once there.
3) They want to return to Earth alive.
4) They probably want to remain sane for the duration.
All present problems, surprisingly enough.
Food, water, waste management, living quarters, landing systems, return systems, and acceleration limits all present problems. Martian dust is another problem they don't know how to solve, along with static electricity.
Food, water, and waste management systems all add bulk and weight to the spaceship.
Living arrangement problems - you need to have space to move around, and there needs to be some sort of exercise equipment, as this journey would take at least 7 months each way, probably more. That means a big spaceship, which means more weight, which means more fuel, which means more weight. To give you an idea of the weight, Cassini, mission to Saturn, weighed somewhere around 6000lbs at launch. Half of that was fuel.
Tying in sanity with living conditions would be the other issue of how many people to send. Solitary confinement can cause problems with people, and being that way for nearly 2 years could cause psychological problems. Ok, so let's send 2 people instead. Now you have increased requirements for food, water, and living space. There is also the possibility of in-fighting between the two people. Imagine being stuck in a tiny room with one person for 2 years.
3 people? The ship just got even bigger, and it still doesn't really alleviate the possibility of harsh disagreements among the crew.
Landing: Can't use airbags, as they'd likely kill the crew on that first impact.
So that means you'd need thrusters = more fuel = more weight. A parachute will only work to a certain point. The atmosphere on Mars is a lot thinner than Earth's, so you'd need a HUGE parachute to allow for a soft landing. Huge parachute = more weight = more chance of something getting tangled and it not deploying properly.
Dust: There's dust and there's static electricity. The dust is also mildly corrosive, and I'd imagine it would be toxic, perhaps with the risk of some variant of silicosis. Dust can ruin seals in suits and on vehicles, which could be bad if visitors would want to continue to breathe. Static electricity buildup could also be a serious problem. Go out, walk around on the dusty surface for awhile building up an enormous charge, then when you go to hit the button to get into the airlock, you send out an insane static charge that fries the circuitry. Oops. Better hope there's a manual release there. Oh, and don't track in any dust, which is now clinging to you and the spaceship due to the charge differentials.
Then there's the possibility of dust storms. Some are regional and blow out quickly. Some are global and last for months on end.
We should probably skip all these complicated suits and technologies and just send people to Mars in giant polycarbonate hamster exercise balls.
That's the benefit of robotic explorers. They don't complain about working conditions, they don't need to come back home, they don't need living space, and can in fact be folded up and compacted for the trip, they don't need bulky food and water supplies, and they don't care if you literally work them to death.
PlasmaBomb
Lifer
- Nov 19, 2004
- 11,636
- 2
- 81
If Earth is destroyed Mars would be the next most likely place humans could survive. I think the 420 million spent on Phoenix is about the same as pissing in the wind, but who am I to say. That's not nearly enough to invade and conquer a country that has oil. I once asked God, 'Which way is this hell you want me to go to?'. The only reason I asked was so I could go ahead and go there without all these further side trips and delays.
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