NASA Launching Two Mars Rovers in June

shaniber writes "NASA is planning the launch of the Mars Exploration Rovers this month. The rovers are scheduled for two two separate launches, between June 5th and July 15th. These rovers will both work as robotic geologists, including a human-eye height panoramic camera and a miniature thermal emmision spectrometer amongst their scientific equipment. NASA plans on webcasting the launches, as well. A press kit, with many more details, is also available as a pdf."

Comments

Rovers on Mars

[[cx]]

Have they tried putting those Japanese walking talking dogs on the planet? Or maybe just some human flesh to see how it reacted to being on the atmosphere?

I think we should bring back a huge piece of the Mars rock and put it on the moon and see if that somehow makes a chemical reaction that blows up the moon and we all are fearful of the crazy world Mars like in those 50s flicks.

Anyways this post just PROVES how ignorant the average man is to Mars and we need these rovers to prove my theories wrong, now march rovers, march!

[cx]

Re:Rovers on Mars

[Derg]

That, actually, is sort of interesting. What would it take to create an Sony Aibo based scientific rover? Its already pretty mobile, just strip out the "personality AI" and load it up with chemical sensors and whatnot. It would obviously have to be "hardened" for the Martian environment, but I cant imagine that would be too dificult. Something like I described could possibly avoid hiccups like the rover that got stuck on a 2 inch or some such rock, iirc. Has anyone thought of taking the off the shelf form factor and applying it to a more "practical" use such as Mars exploration? I know Sony wasnt too happy with a guy modding his to dance disco, but this is more scientific and nerdy... Maybe they would even bother to sponsor some sort of development...

just a thought...

Re:Rovers on Mars

[mikerich]

That, actually, is sort of interesting. What would it take to create an Sony Aibo based scientific rover?

A real problem with the Martian environment is that the dust on the surface is extraordinarily fine and penetrates deeply into any crevices. Worse still it is likely to be attracted by static charges that accumulate on the landers.

Since Martian dust is hard and abrasive it would quickly get to work on the joints of the machines making them much more prone to failure.

Wheels, particularly those on the rovers which are largely sealed units show much less vulnerability to wear and tear.

Best wishes,
Mike.

Competition is good

[Wolfier]

Good thing that the rest of the world is putting up a good fight against US space dominance.

I can't wait to see the Europeans make another important scientific discovery before US does.

Re:Competition is good

[btakita]

Seems like Europe is more application oriented (cheaper satellites) and the US is more research oriented (Mars, scientific fanfare, etc.).

Another question, can the US match Europe's space business model?

Imagery

[dekashizl]

I think it would be great to see some real color 3-D imagery from beyond Earth. They say human-eye height panoramic camera, but how about having two lenses to capture a 3D image? I'd pay $10 for a little View-Master with real 3D pictures from Mars, wouldn't you?

The value of unmanned missions

[fridzappa]

In the past, I would have been adamant in defending the shuttle program/ISS, but lately I've been wondering why so many billions have been spent on manned missions when that 500 million (USD) per launch could have been better spent (IMHO) on space probes.

FYI, these probes cost about 400 million (USD) each, and promise to return more science value than
all Shuttle missions combined (IMHO).

Granted, it was said of the very valuable (scientifically speaking) Apollo missions that 90 seconds of human-on-alien-world visual observation was more valuable than weeks or months of robot observations.

Still, given their cost and advancing robotic/computer technology, I would be very disappointed if NASA continued to spend so much on manned space "exploration."

Why Marsbots?

[jabbadabbadoo]

Instead of 400 000 000 USD Marsbots, why not 400 000 000 worth of research into more economic spacecrafts?

Re:Ask Slashdot: stowaway on board a spacecraft?

[richie2000]

There is one way: Die and have someone cremate you and hide the ashes in one of the experiments. That's the only way to get light and small enough to not be noticed, or indeed to find room at all.

Sorry about the big letters part. You could always move out into the desert and dedicate your life to digging mile-high letters in the sand, spelling "FUCK YOU" for the next shuttle crew that passes by. ;-)

woohoo!

[gohai]

Finally my name and the name of 3,551,644 other people will be sent to mars (on DVDs on board of the two landers, more details here)

I hope E.T. will check this out soon :D