Spaceballs Could Invade Mars

Byteme writes: "CNN reports giant tethered inflatable balls that are being developed by NASA as a potential alternative to the unsuccessful roving robots. The balls apparently will inflate and deflate to catch favorable wind directs and to stop on location. Not quite the fast, cheap and out-of-control solution... but it could be fun to watch!" I wonder if there are any MPEGs of the test this article talks about -- it sounds pretty fun to watch.

Comments

Balls transversing the landscape

[SilentChris]

I always thought it would be kind of sad if one of the celestial bodies we explored actually HAD intelligent life, and we kept on sending satelites over it and robotic probes over the surface.

A few Pathfinders are one thing, but can you imagine if an alien ship came above New York City, dropped house-sized balls and had them "blow around in the wind"? Say there is a living creature on one of these planets that is small enough to be crushed by one of these things, but measurably intelligent? The balls seem like overkill.

No.

[Tuxinatorium]

The pressure of wind is proportional to the square of the windspeed relative to whatever its hitting. Martian winds are faster than on Earth. This thing doesn't have to be light either. Changes in the weight would affect acceleration, but have little impact on the top speed.