What will Astronuts do on Mars?
in [Physics]
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From: Javi on 30 Jan 2010 11:06 mary wrote: > Collect Rocks. > > Then What? > > Collect Sand. > > Take pictures of Rocks and Sand. > Look around for water (3 mi radius) > > > Then What ? Research, make science, evaluate the feasibility of a colony. And who knows what they unexpectedly may find.
From: J. Clarke on 30 Jan 2010 13:55 jmfbahciv wrote: > J. Clarke wrote: >> jmfbahciv wrote: >>> Mike Jr wrote: >>>> On Jan 28, 9:35 am, "mary" <nos...(a)invalid.com> wrote: >>>>> Collect Rocks. >>>>> >>>>> Then What? >>>>> >>>>> Collect Sand. >>>>> >>>>> Take pictures of Rocks and Sand. >>>>> Look around for water (3 mi radius) >>>>> >>>>> Then What ? >>>> Push Spirit out of its rut. >>>> >>> Is there a way to do that without breaking anything? I don't >>> remember a hitch on Spirit. >> >> Should be able to pick it up and carry it--on Mars it only weighs a >> hundred pounds. > > Sounds like the requirement would be 2 men. One male picking it up > might jostle or bend protrusions. I was just curious. > >> >> One hopes though that they have now learned the lesson about wheel >> diameter--don't put a roller-skate wheel on a dune buggy. >> > <grin> Is that how it got stuck? I never thought about that. > What kind of tires did the dune buggy on the Moon have? "Roller skate" is an exaggeration--they're about 10 inches in diameter, smaller than on a go-kart, the ones on the lunar rover were 32 inches in diameter, about the same as a typical dune buggy. While I'm not privy to the details, the description sounds like it's just plain stuck in the sand--while a larger wheel doesn't guarantee that that wouldn't happen, it makes it much less likely. On the other hand I don't see any real cause to complain--it did everything that was expected of it and an awful lot more besides.
From: Strange Creature on 30 Jan 2010 20:47 On Jan 28, 10:37 am, Uncle Al <Uncle...(a)hate.spam.net> wrote: > mary wrote: > > > Collect Rocks. > > [snip] > > Be brave. > Look for their film badges. > Bury their dead. > Freeze. Probably everyone on Earth now will be long dead before their bodies are sandblasted away over the millenia. My guess is that between 90 and 99 percent of all people on Earth will have even had their bones disintegrated into powder and then taken up into the tissues of other plants and animals, or become indistinct sedimentary rock. My guess is that being buried on the Moon is much better, however, when it comes to that. It seems doubtful to me that any type of algae on or in their bodies would survive or replicate in the extreme cold. One could take comfort in the fact that if that were to happen that a few somewhat more insane environmentalists would have a momentary fit, but the descendants of those lichens or algae if it were able to survive could possibly be around a lot longer than nearly all of those environmentalists, who might also have long since decomposed into nonexistence. Of course, they might also be pre-empted by genetically engineered lichens or algae specifically designed for the purpose a century or two later.
From: Jonathan on 30 Jan 2010 21:08 "J. Clarke" <jclarke.usenet(a)cox.net> wrote in message news:hk1vjs02trm(a)news6.newsguy.com... > jmfbahciv wrote: >> J. Clarke wrote: >>> jmfbahciv wrote: >>>> Mike Jr wrote: >>>>> On Jan 28, 9:35 am, "mary" <nos...(a)invalid.com> wrote: >>>>>> Collect Rocks. >>>>>> >>>>>> Then What? >>>>>> >>>>>> Collect Sand. >>>>>> >>>>>> Take pictures of Rocks and Sand. >>>>>> Look around for water (3 mi radius) >>>>>> >>>>>> Then What ? >>>>> Push Spirit out of its rut. >>>>> >>>> Is there a way to do that without breaking anything? I don't >>>> remember a hitch on Spirit. >>> >>> Should be able to pick it up and carry it--on Mars it only weighs a >>> hundred pounds. >> >> Sounds like the requirement would be 2 men. One male picking it up >> might jostle or bend protrusions. I was just curious. >> >>> >>> One hopes though that they have now learned the lesson about wheel >>> diameter--don't put a roller-skate wheel on a dune buggy. >>> >> <grin> Is that how it got stuck? I never thought about that. >> What kind of tires did the dune buggy on the Moon have? > > "Roller skate" is an exaggeration--they're about 10 inches in diameter, > smaller than on a go-kart, the ones on the lunar rover were 32 inches in > diameter, about the same as a typical dune buggy. While I'm not privy to > the details, the description sounds like it's just plain stuck in the > sand--while a larger wheel doesn't guarantee that that wouldn't happen, it > makes it much less likely. I think the last straw was when a second wheel out of six seized and they've had to drag them along. And it's the rf, and rr that are seized. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20100120a/1263754008_4717-2_mera-rrhaz-2145-and-2147-ultimates_br.gif > > On the other hand I don't see any real cause to complain--it did > everything > that was expected of it and an awful lot more besides. > Opportunity is still rolling
From: J. Clarke on 30 Jan 2010 22:54
Jonathan wrote: > "J. Clarke" <jclarke.usenet(a)cox.net> wrote in message > news:hk1vjs02trm(a)news6.newsguy.com... >> jmfbahciv wrote: >>> J. Clarke wrote: >>>> jmfbahciv wrote: >>>>> Mike Jr wrote: >>>>>> On Jan 28, 9:35 am, "mary" <nos...(a)invalid.com> wrote: >>>>>>> Collect Rocks. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Then What? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Collect Sand. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Take pictures of Rocks and Sand. >>>>>>> Look around for water (3 mi radius) >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Then What ? >>>>>> Push Spirit out of its rut. >>>>>> >>>>> Is there a way to do that without breaking anything? I don't >>>>> remember a hitch on Spirit. >>>> >>>> Should be able to pick it up and carry it--on Mars it only weighs a >>>> hundred pounds. >>> >>> Sounds like the requirement would be 2 men. One male picking it up >>> might jostle or bend protrusions. I was just curious. >>> >>>> >>>> One hopes though that they have now learned the lesson about wheel >>>> diameter--don't put a roller-skate wheel on a dune buggy. >>>> >>> <grin> Is that how it got stuck? I never thought about that. >>> What kind of tires did the dune buggy on the Moon have? >> >> "Roller skate" is an exaggeration--they're about 10 inches in >> diameter, smaller than on a go-kart, the ones on the lunar rover >> were 32 inches in diameter, about the same as a typical dune buggy. >> While I'm not privy to the details, the description sounds like it's >> just plain stuck in the sand--while a larger wheel doesn't guarantee >> that that wouldn't happen, it makes it much less likely. > > > I think the last straw was when a second wheel out of six seized and > they've had to drag them along. And it's the rf, and rr > that are seized. > > http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20100120a/1263754008_4717-2_mera-rrhaz-2145-and-2147-ultimates_br.gif Yep, that didn't help. > > > >> >> On the other hand I don't see any real cause to complain--it did >> everything >> that was expected of it and an awful lot more besides. >> > > Opportunity is still rolling |