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Opportunity Rover Encounters Its Own Heat Shield
blamanj writes "Mars Rover Opportunity, a few meters shy of the 2km mark on its odometer, has come across the remains of the heat shield from its landing. This map traces the path of the rover for the past 11 months. It's been averaging about 6 meters/sol.
Spirit, which had to stop to dislodge a rock, is still climbing the "Columbia Hills". It's tough going, and Spirit experiences slippage of up to 80% as it climbs the hills."
Since I assume that they would not know the precise location of the shield, it must have been quite a moment when the thing first slewed into view. It's a bitch getting that Mountain Dew out of the keyboard, isn't it?
"...all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness..." yada yada
The crushed-body of an evidently indigenous species was found sprawled in the impact zone of the heat shield....
That stuff is gonna be worth a lot of money some day, when a kid digs it up in their back yard. On Mars. You know, after we all move there.
"It's tough going, and Spirit experiences slippage of up to 80% as it climbs the hills."
Sounds a bit like trying to get out of Gehennom with the amulet.
From the article;
"A potato-sized rock got caught in Spirits's right rear wheel on sol 339"
Come *on* NASA. Potatos vary so wildly in size that comparisons like this are totally useless!
In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
NASA discovered microbes in the immediate area...
Map
I wonder if these rovers use Energiser (TM) solar panels... they just keep going and going and going :-)
...and then the rest of the vets had a good laugh at the expense of the "new kid" they failed to clue in on the location of the shield they had been knowing. Ahh, c'est la vie.
kurzweil_freak
5th Kyu Genbukan Ninpo/KJJR student
Be the darkness that allows the light to shine.
Yeah, I had 80% slippage my first time, too. But you get better after that and it's not as embarassing.
>> he rovers are astonishing in what they can do, but a human would dramatically outpace them. What it might take a rover an entire day to do, a human could do in a 30-45 seconds.
Parent has never seen a unionized workplace...
If you reckon Lutefisk is bad, you obviously have not yet had the "pleasure" of encountering the Swedish "delicacy" known as "Surströmming".
;-)
To make surströmming you take a perfectly good piece of raw fish, stick it in a tin can, and then let it sit there fermenting for at least a year (the longer the better, apparently).
After that, you open it, and eat it without any further preparation. Don't ask me what you normally have with it, because I don't know; 5 seconds after the can has been opened I am a few kilometers away, desperately attempting to escape the stench (generally together with everyone else in the neighbourhood).
So, just be thankful it's only Lutefisk on that map - had it been surströmming the martians would have accused us of chemical warfare!
After the heat shield, what will Opportunity look at?... Are there scientific targets identified, or are they maybe going to try to "sprint" Opportunity and see how far it can get in the shortest amount of time?
I have the NASA rover plans right here, and the schedule is as follows:
1. explore Endurance crater (complete)
2. examine discarded heat shield (complete)
3. run rover for endurance trials
4. sprint rover (you called it)
5. race rover
6. jump rover
7. make rover do acrobatic tricks
8. crash rover
9. profit
To make surströmming you take a perfectly good piece of raw fish, stick it in a tin can, and then let it sit there fermenting for at least a year (the longer the better, apparently).
mmmm....sounds a bit like what we call tunafish.
Parent forgot to post where the pictures are, go to:
C:\My Documents\My Pictures\Mars Rover Mission
You'll find them there.
Actually it would be C:\Documents and Settings\Mars Rover Mission\My Documents\My Pictures. NASA wouldn't dare risking the Mars mission to Windows 95/98! Only the best for the Mars rovers: Windows Server 2003 with the Workstation hack installed!
What it might take a rover an entire day to do, a human could do in a 30-45 seconds. ...including suffocation & hypothermia.
We're already trashing up the place!
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B - D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
Act 1, Scene 1
Somewhere on Mars, Opportunity crests a rise and sights the Beagle probe. Several hours later, it rolls up to it and begins to extract its rock abrasion tool.
BEAGLE[In British accent] : Is that a rock abrasion tool in your pants or are you just happy to see me?
And even if we could get to it, what would we do? Poke at it with the rock abrasion tool?
If they could get both rovers over there they could take a picture of one rover pointing at the biggest chunk from the debris field and NASA engineers could photoshop in a 'EuroSpaceTrash' sign. You know, like the kind you used to hang on passed out drunks in the frat house, or like Lyndie England might do.
The Freedom Fries Congress ought to vote NASA a budget increase after that.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Close.
:p
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\My Pictures\Mars Rover Mission
Cuz all those NASA geeks just *have* to be Admin, you know
I'm from Minnesota, where the dish is rather common. (Though I've never eaten it.. yuck)
From what I've heard, people of nordic decent (of which there are a lot in MN) eat it as a tradition, definately not because of its taste, but as a reminder of harsh times.
As for why they named a rock after it, who knows. Do the rovers have taste sensors? I'm sure it doesnt taste much different.
Americans have long dominated the litter industry here on earth. It's encouraging to see their desire to continue that domination on other planets. Too bad their are no Native Martians in need of extermination.