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NASA Extends Rover Occupation of Mars
iocat writes "Reuters reporting that NASA is extending the Rover missions on Mars by another five months. However, they point out that while the rovers look poised to greatly exceed their planned life cycle, they could basically die at any time. Still, it will be cool to see a little more exploration."
Unmanned missions are great. Humans can run out of food and air, and get tired and homesick. Robots can run basically forever, until something breaks or they run out of juice. If these things prove 1/50 as durable as Galileo did, they'll provide science more than we ever could have hoped for.
Hoist Number One and Number Six.
The durration of their "Occupation" isn't changing. They are there to die and be buried in dust. Their operation limetime has been extended!
wouldn't it make sense to initially plan the mission for as long as the rovers remain operational, however long that may be?
Stupid people make stupid things profitable.
I expect at least part of the reason is because it is inexpensive. According to the Reuters report, "NASA said it would spend $15 million more to keep the rivers exploring the planet's surface through September." Can you think of a more cost-effective way for NASA to spend that money?
Only Women Bleed (Sex, Sharia remix)
Unmanned missions are great.
So Are manned ones in the right context like Mars.
Humans can run out of food and air, and get tired and homesick.
On Mars humans can make their own air water and food provided a power source like a portable nuclear reactor and the air and ground around them. It's called living in-situ. As long as you don't send flakes, the homesickness isn't an issue. They're allowed to sleep and would have more waking time than the rovers so I wouldn't worry about them getting "tired".
Robots can run basically forever, until something breaks or they run out of juice.
You just contradicted yourself there.
If these things prove 1/50 as durable as Galileo did, they'll provide science more than we ever could have hoped for.
Perhaps but humans on the surface would have been able to work faster and smarter these probes. Galileo was well suited to its mission and a human would not have been. In the case of Mars, humans are much better suited.
Blaze a trail to the New World
Every day or so, I head over to this site to check out the latest images. Some of the high-res color photos look like something I could have shot with my digital camera out in the desert somewhere, but then I remember: they were taken on ANOTHER FREAKING PLANET. It really is a amazing thing to be alive to see. The folks at NASA and the JPL should be proud of themselves.
Viking lander 2: success
Pathfinder: success
Polar Lander: fail
Spirit: success
Opportunity: success
What am I missing here?
karma capped
OMG!! Yes, I want a fukcing Sr-90 in cell phones!!!
Look on the fucking periodic table. Sr-90 is almost chemically the same as calcium. So yeah, put it in my cell phone. Then your kinds will have it in their bones!!! I guess leukemia is a type of flu in your world.
Sr-90 is one of the *worst* contaminants. google Same thing for iodine-131
You already have to use steel that was forged before WWII to make high sensitivity radiation detectors. But that's not a problem, lets fuck up the planet (ie. us) so we can talk on the cell phone for 50 years!!!!!!
Use RTG in a very limited way for science, esp. for space probes where power is scarce. DO NOT USE IT IN A CELL PHONE!!!