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NASA's New Lunar Rover in Action
holy_calamity writes "New Scientist has video of Nasa's new Chariot lunar rover in action on simulated moon surface in Houston. As the associated story explains, the two-ton "truck" has a top speed of 20km/hour and is currently fitted with a plough, with additional back hoe and drill attachments to come. Sure it's not glamorous — more of a lunar tractor — but sure looks handy for establishing that permanent moon base NASA wants."
We'd get back on the moon real fast if we just allowed more corporate sponsorship. I'm starting to suspect Lunartics is the future of space exploration.
I wonder if this is the same simulated surface where the original landings were filmed.
Also all the other things a "truck" in Houston should have.
*Gun Rack
*Redneck Bumper stickers
*Shiney nude girl mudflaps
*A Wooden Back bumper (Usually 4x8)
*Empty Bud cans on the floor
*A Nascar Sticker on the Back window. #3 or #8) or both !
*Marlboro boxes everywhere.
Guns are for wimps... Use a crossbow.. this way you can pin them to their chair when you go postal.
you jack ass. it was Watergate that caused us to not focus on our next return to the moon mission during the 70s. It's only taken 40 years to bounce back from that fiasco. Leave NASA alone. At least they're trying to find ways to reach out from this planet instead of shelling out countless billions every week on a war that's destined to destroy it.
No, they've spent the last 35 years just doing enough to justify their budget each year and making grandiose promises to keep people interested. They know damn well they're not going to the moon or Mars. It's all just PR and budget hearings for them now.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Good. Now we can advertise on the moon, thanks NASA! :)
It seems like new lunar tractor can drive forward in any orientation. That is pretty cool.
Bearded Dragon
I'm sure there's some people that would want to have a word with NASA. Can't just start building stuff whenever you want you know.
"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard"
When he made that speech we'd not even got close to the moon. You've got to aim high if you plan to achieve anything worthwhile.
At the risk of being modded -1 pendantic:
If it's not on the moon roving, it's not "in action."
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
and is currently fitted with a plough...
Vital for those sudden lunar snow storms.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
I guess it's cheaper for NASA to fund simulated moon action than real Mars action.
Maybe this has been discussed before on another thread, but how the heck do you protect your buildings that are completely exposed to the elements of space? Without an atmosphere to burn up or dismantle most of what comes at it, is there really a plausible way to shield your structures from essentially anything at any speed? Hopefully some of the space guys can shed some light on this for me.
They haven't had the motivation. But just wait until the politicians realize how much gasoline there is on Titan.
They got ho's on the moon? Sign me up!
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
Why do we not try and 'pave' parts of the moon we want to land on? Ok, granted it'd probably be pretty difficult (rocket science and all that...) to land in the exact same 30m x 30m grid every time, but the point remains. If we have so many concerns about moon dust and what damage it can cause, why don't we solidify a large section of the top layer?
I refuse to believe I'm the first person to suggest this, but I have yet to see it mentioned anywhere else.
My suggestion, since that's what your thinking at this point, is some type of ceramic.
I certainly hope farming isn't an integral part of the moonbase plan.
I don't think we ever went to the moon in the first place.
Now what the "troll" mods send me to oblivion for saying the unsayable.
Who should live on the moon? There could be build a high security prison for dangerous people, or a permanent home for previous world leaders/ unwanted politicians.
It would be interesting to automate this and then send a couple of these to a moon to start work ahead of time.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
I think it really needs a roll-bar or cage to protect the lunar worker. Our terrestrial intuitions about what looks stable may not be accurate for the mooon.
So now we can say: That's no moon... It a moon with a space station...
ok bad mod me -5 old joke used too often
This reminds me of the Robo-Dozers on the old Outpost http://www.outpostuniverse.net/ computer games. Good games, they taught me a lot about resource managment for Real Time Strategy.
W is such an idiot. The first step for warmongering America is to build runways on the moon for AIRPLANES!!! NO WAR FOR MOONDUST!!
The truck balls.
two-ton truck? So it's something like this?
I'm all for space exploration, but a base on the moon just sounds like ISS Deluxe to me, a huge money sink for NASA's strained budget?
What is the enormous science potential for an as far reaching project like that? At least on Mars, we haven't set foot there before and it's still a curious planet with lots of unknowns, but our Moon has already been studied -- from the surface itself as well as from above.
Is it mostly just a stepping stone to Mars? Do we really have to have a Moon station there first? Because building stations on moons are probably not cheap, neither in time nor other costs.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
If anyone is interested, here's some pics my coworkers and I took. Plus a few more pages of crud.
The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
Those who don't remember the sixties are doomed to repeat them.
Youve got to be all mine, all mine
Ooh, foxy lady
What?
That's no moon!
From TFA:
Independent steering on each of its six pairs of wheels... give the vehicle the ability to raise or lower each individual wheel to keep its chassis level on uneven ground.
I've remotely driven that *exact* sort of vehicle! Well, in simulation, at least. I just can't believe it took from 1982 to now to go from simulator to prototype.
And they still didn't get the forward and vertical blasters! Hokey plows and an ancient drill bit are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
...proving we are the rednecks of space! I wonder if the moonbase is going to look like a mobile home...
"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted." -Groucho Marx
Granted, weight is not a good unit here, as the moon's gravity is around 1/4 that of the earth's (I think). But the machine looks pretty light-weight to me, especially in terms of construction equipment. How practical would this thing be? I can only see it being used as something to move a person from point A to point B. Imagining how it would use a plow is stretching my imagination.
In order to go to Mars, we really need basic infrastructure waiting on the first human (housing, oxygen, etc.). This would greatly reduce the risk and cost of the trip. That means robotics. Why send a human operated 2 ton tractor to the moon when you should be practicing for "the big trip"?
They'd be able to succeed if there weren't luddites like you cutting their budget.
They were nuclear powered to survive the 14-day night, drove tens of kilometers. At that time computers werent too powerful, so these were intereactively controlled (2 sec delay) with live telemetry.
I'm not a luddite. I'm just not a dreamer who throws money at wasteful and pointless programs just to show up some commies.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I don't think we ever went to the moon in the first place.
I know I didn't go to the moon. Did you?
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/9224/slashdotwhatte4.png
"The Chariot - so named because the current model has no seats, windows, or doors, and can be driven from the rear -"
And here I was hoping it had been named after the vehicle in "Lost in Space."
"Where's Dr. Smith?"
"He took the Chariot to go look for diamonds."
"That son of a..."
No, they've spent the last 35 years putting their minuscule budget (http://science.slashdot.org/science/07/11/17/0549234.shtml) to work doing ACTUAL science, like they're supposed to. Now, after the Bush administration's great idea to go back to the moon, NASA has had to slash budgets on real science experiments in order to do what the four-year thinkers (politicians) have decided is "best" for the country.
Coming to you live from another dimension.
Has to have the GD Texas state flag being displayed, a bumber sticker that says "proud to be a texan" and another saying "the south will rise again". Of course, this is NASA. When I taught there, nearly all said that they love NASA, but hate Texas.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
I wonder if NASA does a good enough job, if Bigelow will be allowed to purchase a few of these? They already bought the rights from NASA for their space station. The idea is to put it on the moon surface. I could see them looking over this truck and buying at least the rights, if not a number of these. Then they could run it remotely and prepare a landing site for their station. Keep in mind that they are looking to bury it in dirt (either in a hole, or by pushing dirt on top of it).
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Clearly, the idea of manned human spaceflight must seem outlandish. Then again, perservatives, microwaves and satellites would have seemed pretty outlandish to the average schmoe around 1850.
Much better to spend 30% of the federal budget on bombs and guns, amirite? No dreaming allowed, and that'll definelty show up some commies.