Slashdot Mirror
Opportunity Spots Curious Object On Mars
EhobaX writes "Space.com is reporting that NASA's Opportunity Mars rover has come across an interesting object -- perhaps a meteorite sitting out in the open at Meridiani Planum. Initial data taken by the robot's Mini-Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES) is suggestive that the odd-looking "rock" is made of metal."
So that is what happened to the Beagle lander! They finally found it.
Kinetic stupidity has a new brand leader: Allen Zadr.
I still prefer a cute bunny over metal robot.
To make a good sci-fi story though, Opportunity might have just reached its expiry date and that'll keep everybody in suspense for a long time.
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
Wait -- I've seen this movie! DON'T GO LOOK AT IT!
If we tell GWB it's a WMD, maybe we'll finally get a real space program...
Jimmy Hoffa has been found...
Be careful with the abrasion tool or there could be an earth-shattering kaboom.
I always wondered what happened to it.
-- I discovered this SIG in the lost and found department.
I stress that this is very preliminary!
:)
Did this guy think that by saying that he would somehow prevent half of the internet preparing some crackpot theory within 5 seconds of reading it?
Personally, I'll wait before jumping to conclusions, and look forward to reading the followup!
I'm not stressed. I'm just terribly, terribly alert.
This is a big deal. You don't find raw metal much on Mars; most of it is tied up with oxygen. Raw metal has many implications: if it is common, it can be a great source of base building. If the metals are rare on Earth as well, and they're common on Mars, they could provide a potential export source. If it is a meteor, and they're common, it could affect our models of how often Mars gets struck by meteors. Since the rock isn't buried, it could provide clues as to how long it's been on Mars, how fast Meridiani Planum is eroding, and give us dataon how metals wear over time on Mars.
Any time you find something you've never found before, it's a big deal. Honestly, to people who've been following the mission, it looked like Opportunity was pretty much wrapping things up. It just left a geological treasure trove and there isn't much more "on the map", so to speak. It's neat to see it continue making nice finds.
We're practicing our labials.
Actually, the Heat Shield WAS important.
Designing re-entry shields for planets you don't know alot about ( compared to earth ) can be tricky. Undoubtably they overengineered it, and made it heavier than needed just in case.
By examining the heat shield, and the thermal damage, they can get a better feel for the physical and thermal stresses caused by a martian re entry.
This would lead to lighter, better heat shields. And since cost is proportional to weight, a lighter more effective heat shield leads to cheaper future mars missions, or allows one to cram more instruments into a probe. Either way, WIN!
They are tooling around a planet we still know little about, so it's all good.
It could be a terrible miscalculation in scale. Good thing there are no small dogs on Mars.
Interesting find, but what's up with that caption?