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Mars Rover Stuck in a Dune
Bamfarooni writes "The NASA Mars rover Opportunity has gotten stuck in a dune, buried up to the hubs of the wheels. While they haven't given up yet, it doesn't look good for the little guy who's now 359 days into the extended mission." From the article: "The Mars machinery had been cruising southward across the open parking lot-like landscape of Meridiani Planum, full of larger and larger ripples of soil. Opportunity has been en route to its next stopover, Erebus crater, nestled inside an even larger crater known as Terra Nova."
It was probably attacked by a giant sandworm.
Clearly the Martian Highways Dept. need to get a crew up there right away and fix these potholes before someone gets hurt.
They need bigger wheels! Knew they shoulda opt for those shiny 18" !
If they had a caddie they would know that they could use a sand wedge to get it out. But nasa is far too cheap and doesn't like to tip.
NJ Local Music Scene
This is going to take a whole lot of floorin'! /obligatory simpsons quote
Poor little rover. We should send someone up to push it out. I volunteer!
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
If you had let Xzibit and West Coast Customs pimp out the Rover with 20 inch rims you would have avoided this problem.
Letter
They have two rovers. The solution is obvious.
They'll get there in less than 30 minutes or the next tow is free!
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
BEAGLE to the RESCUE!!!
...or maybe not...
Hack your mind out of its sandbox.
"We are very optimistic that we'll be able to get out of here, but we're really going to take our time doing it."
It sounds like NASA is going to use a technique I discovered playing video games as a child. If you're stuck somewhere, just wiggle the joystick back and forth for a few hours to see if you can work your way out of it. Too bad they can't reload a saved game. I found that technique helpful too.
I'm a big tall mofo.
My bet is that its grounded on the wreckage of Beagle II. :)
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
If only NASA engineers watched more BattleBots they'd have realized that they needed a flipper arm underneath.
The One thing I hope NASA people not doing now is reading slashdot.
> careful Rover Watchers noticed that it hadn't moved in a few days, and started to wonder why. Apparently NASA had to say something, because people were asking questions.
My wife hasn't moved in a few days either. Being a careful watcher, I am starting to wonder why.
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
Translation:
Rover operators are optimistic they can extricate the robot from its jam
sure thing boss, no problem, get it right out of there (oh crap, we're screwed)
having gotten dug in before
Yes boss, we've done it before, no problem(I can't believe we got stuck dune hopping again, this never happens with my r/c cars at home...)
but we're really going to take our time doing it
It'll only take a little while... (OH @#$& I just dug it in deeper, whats on Monster.com?)
man, I feel like mold.
In other news, AAA membership fees are being raised to $70,000,000 per year.
They're too embarrased to admit it, but they actually found the rover on red cement blocks and some Mars fiend has stolen the wheels.
Was it a winch that magically worked in sand? A Sand winch? Sandwinch... sandwich... mmm lunchtime.
You create your own reality - Leave mine to me.
Now if only one of those dustdevils that's been cleaning the solar panels would be kind enough to wedge a 2"x12" behind the drive wheel...
Sure it would have only gotten a few km down away from the lander before needing to gas up, but no little dune would stop it unless the engineers were afraid of getting it dirty since they only want to use the H2 to drive to the local Mars mini-mart and back.
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
looks like worm sign to me...
The Mars Rover would look completely dope with some chrome-plated, 20-inch spinnaz, yo.
We need to get those volvo driving NASA geeks out of the drivers seat and call in Cousin Clyde. Sure, he's used to driving a F350 with 10" lift and 32" mudboggers, but hell, just tell him it's eight wheel drive and there's a case of PBR in it for him. He'll have it unstuck in no time.
I told NASA to call MTV so they could Pimp Their Rover. These bureaus just don't listen. It's gonna be tough to drive the beater to West Coast Customs now.
Though I do wonder how fine it would have went with spinning rims...
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
That really is a small planet!
I am defenseless. Use your button. Mod me down with all of your hatred.
I guess that's why I'm not in charge of NASA.
sigs, as if you care.
The Mars machinery had been cruising southward across the open parking lot-like landscape of Meridiani Planum full of lager
Just let him sleep it off, apart from a headache he'll be alright in the morning.
-= This is a self-referential sig =-
If they would just have coughed up the $50 for their AAA membership, this wouldn't be a problem.
As it stands, the towing charges are going to be astronomical.
He had a life, but he got it from Microsoft so it crashed! hahah. I'm so clever.
And they could have launched it on a Rice Rocket. I'm picturing an old Delta-2 with an oversized "Type R" decal, a dozen gigantic fog lights, oversized chrome-plated bell nozzles on the engines, racing stripes, and extraneous fins. ;)
Dear Lord: One of your creatures may be hurt tonight. Please let it be the other creature.
if the rover stays in one place too long, it may be eaten by a sandworm. I hate it when sandworms eat my harvesters.
Just call MacGyver! Get him some straws, a soda can and some duct tape and he'll be there next week!
http://xs4.xs.to/pics/04481/p556222.gif
The rover is dead. Somebody has already stripped the hub caps and key'd the side of the vehicle. Left rear axle is up on blocks. Birds have covered the front and rear windows with poop. It doesn't look good for the little guy who's now 359 days into the extended mission. It is unlikely that a tow truck will reach it anytime soon.
I think it's called the "Scotty method."
The human race knows infinitely more of our red neighbor thanks to your hard work.
I think we can thank Walmart and Mike Chinoy(CNN) for that.
Just take the floormats out and put them under the wheels for traction. Or you can let some air out of the tires which will give them a bigger footprint and better traction.
What the hell is this shit? Did /. just become livejournal?
There has been an error!
I thought that the Rover was stuck on Dune.
.. paranoid crackpot leftover from the days of Amiga.
In other news, NASA can't figure out why after 48 hours of going backwards and forwards, that the rover is still in the same place.
Onstar?
Use your head, can't you, use your head,
You're on earth, there's no cure for that - S. Beckett
How comical. Your smug distinction would be completely lost on the 90% of the world's population who have no car at all.
But don't let that stop you from patting yourself on the back. Knock yourself out.
-ccm
Too much Law; not enough Order.