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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.
Aw shit, there goes the planet!
One future, two choices. Oppose them or let them destroy us.
Are you sure this 'space ball' idea isn't the work of the european space agency... because those things look like giant soccer balls. Could you imagine the soccer riots that british and german soccer fan astronauts could get into when they finally land on mars! :)
===> An eye for an eye makes everyone blind - MG
...Martians across the globe are boarding up their windows, in anticipation of the thousands of so-called "soccer hooligans" on their way to see the semi-final match.
Residents are advised to stay off the streets, and if meeting one of these British soccer fans, not to claim loyalty to any particular team.
Well, at least it's innovative. Gotta admit that.
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giant intelligent inflated ball... "rover"... aiiiiiiieeeeee!!!!!
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
I like the idea of a sperical object not having to worry about getting hung up on rocks and all, but what are they going to announce?
"We have successfully landed our balls on Mars!"
and in a notoriously bad quote
"Remote vehicle landing specialist John Doe says he feels so lucky to have his job in that he gets to play with NASA's balls everyday."
Sorry, but that just sounds wrong.
I posted to
NASA builds this huge ball that can roll over anything. Packs it with cameras and sensors. Launches the thing from way behind the three point line, and gets it to Mars. Only then do they realize the ball is opaque!
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.
This reminds me of the polymorph from Red Dwarf (BBC TV) series.
At one point, the shape-changer flips through different object shapes until it settles on a basketball and goes bouncing down a corridor.
Now all we need are robots that can mimic shrinking boxer shorts and we're set!
NASA has no balls, and now they come up with this...
Alright, here is a link with a little more info and a couple more pictures:e d1.html
e ed_rovers.html
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/behind/tumblewe
And here is a place with a video of a test(Realplayer):
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/videos/technology/tumblew
Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
The rolling Mars robot could reach speeds of 35 km/h (22 mph) and come to a halt by releasing gas.
And I though only conversations could be brought to a halt by a release of gas....
Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
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.
Repeal the DMCA!
That is something I would like to see. Rapid exploration of large parts of the Martian surface, and not only a few small pathces here and there every two years. Currently we are stuck with the latter.
Cheap and vast numbers are equivalent. I think the costs of any new space equipment is mainly research and development. After it is done, you can make dozens of units with a price that is small when compared to the initial costs.
Launch costs are still the biggest problem of space operations, and this has nothing to do with that.