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How Do You Land a Nuke-Powered Mini-Cooper On Mars?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the we're-gonna-need-a-bigger-boat dept.

tcd004 writes "Miles O'Brien narrates this video simulation of NASA's next Mars shot, which promises to out-gun all previous efforts. The Mini Cooper-sized Mars Science Laboratory, which is now named Curiosity, will crawl the Martian surface under steam from a nuclear powerplant — but it's a gentle giant compared to its predecessors. Recent theories have emerged that previous attempts at identifying organic compounds in Martian soil may have actually cooked away any signs of life-giving elements. Curiosity will go to great pains to avoid scorching the Earth ... erm ... Mars."

25 of 218 comments (clear)

  1. RTFA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yo dawg we herd you liked mini coopers so we put a mini cooper on yo mars planet.

    1. Re:RTFA by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "How Do Yo Land a Nuke-Powered Mini-Cooper On Mars?"

      Clearly, it's a pun on the word "Yo-yo".

      Since the plan is that it does down, but not back up again, it's just a "yo".

      --
      http://www.geoffreylandis.com
  2. Oy vey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    >gentile giant
    What, it's an uncircumcised, nuclear powered Mini Cooper?

  3. Genitle Giant? by The+Angry+Mick · · Score: 3, Informative

    As opposed to what, "Semitic Softie"?

    --

    I'm not tense. I'm just terribly, terribly, alert.

  4. +1 by Kid+Zero · · Score: 5, Funny

    +1 for the great headline!

    Otherwise, I'll state the obvious: Carefully!

  5. Gentile Giant? by Michael_Burton · · Score: 4, Funny

    Personally, I don't think the space lab's religion is any of our business.

    --
    When all you have is an axe, everything looks like a grindstone.
    1. Re:Gentile Giant? by Michael_Burton · · Score: 3, Informative

      Oh, drat. My witty and insightful comment has been rendered nonsensical by an edit of the post. It really did say "gentile giant," honest!

      --
      When all you have is an axe, everything looks like a grindstone.
    2. Re:Gentile Giant? by Chris+Burke · · Score: 5, Funny

      Personally, I don't think the space lab's religion is any of our business.

      I dunno... it could be a problem if it's a strict 6000-yr Creationist.

      NASA: Okay MSL, send us the data from the last sample analysis.

      MSL: I'll save some bandwidth and just give you the summary. No life, no precursors.

      NASA: Okay, but if you could please just send us the raw data, that'd be great. This sample looked really promising and...

      MSL: I said NO LIFE!

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
  6. Re:"Its" is possessive by Xeleema · · Score: 5, Funny

    "It's" is a conraction. It means "it is."

    I think you mean't "contraction"

    --
    "When I am king, you will be first against the wall..."
  7. Re:"Its" is possessive by Shikaku · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The law of correcting typos: attemping to correct a previous poster's typo creates a typo from the current poster.

  8. Easy. Here is a demo: by geekoid · · Score: 3, Funny

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_KXgFpguE0

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  9. Re:Corporate sponsorship... by Thanshin · · Score: 4, Funny

    One wonders how much BMW paid to have "the Mini Cooper" used to describe this thing... :)

    Two libraries of Congress.

    And a ping-pong ball.

  10. Nuclear Powered by physburn · · Score: 3, Informative
    Its not a full reactor, just a RTG, radiothermal generator powered by radioactive decay.

    ---

    Space Craft Feed @ Feed Distiller

    1. Re:Nuclear Powered by Knara · · Score: 3, Funny

      Won't stop anti-Nuke whargarblers from protesting about the nuclearization of space. Apparently we're supposed to send diesels up there or something.

  11. Re:Land? by c++0xFF · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Over-rated? The Mars Polar Lander didn't fare so well during its landing.

    Granted, that was a different system, but I'm not sure an airbag system will work for something over five times heavier than Spirit or Opportunity. Landing is definitely a hard thing to do.

  12. Re:Long live the ability to read ... by Drethon · · Score: 4, Funny

    You mean the way real people would nuke a living tree and its nine foot tall blue worshipers?

  13. Not so gentle, it has a Nuclear powered LASER! by wisebabo · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't know why they claim it is a "Gentle Giant". It's got a nuclear powered LASER used for remotely zapping targets of interest to determine their composition!

    I mean, how would you like it if a giant robot dropped out of the sky and started shooting frikking laser beams at you! ;)

  14. Re:A better question by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How do we stop submitters from using words like "yo" in the headline?

    --
    Palm trees and 8
  15. Skycrane by Cally · · Score: 4, Informative

    Absolutely terrifying animations of the Skycrane EDL architecture : http://www.youtube.com/results?aq=f&search_query=MSL+skycrane&search_type=&hl=en-GB&gl=GB&oq= Skycrane's intended as =the= standard EDL system for all future Mars landers. Frankly MSL scares the crap out of me, because there's only one shot at getting it right, and so much riding on it. Apart from anything else it's the last Mars lander planned for the next decade, apart from the vapourware joint JPL/ESA dual-rovers nonsense supposedly pencilled in for 2016. IMHO that'll never make it past the Powerpoint stage. If MSL lands perfectly it should last years, certainly longer than the astonishingly long-lived MER rovers Spirit and Opportunity. If it fails - that's it until the 2020s.

    --
    "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe
  16. Re:"Its" is possessive by Meumeu · · Score: 5, Funny

    The law of correcting typos: attemping to correct a previous poster's typo creates a typo from the current poster.

    You meant "attempting", apparently it's recursive...

  17. Show of hands... by theghost · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Who was disappointed not to see Colm Meaney? Yeah, me too.

    --
    The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
    1. Re:Show of hands... by pluther · · Score: 3, Insightful

      For not knowing, you'd have to turn in your Trekkie card.

      For having to ask, that'll be your Google license.

      --
      If the masses can keep you down, you're not the Ubermensch.
  18. Re:Corporate sponsorship... by OzPeter · · Score: 4, Interesting

    One wonders how much BMW paid to have "the Mini Cooper" used to describe this thing... :)

    Well they could have said "small car", but that is kinda subjective as what amounts to a small car in the US is gi-friggining-normous everywhere else in the world. Instead I'm guessing that the news program just went with a recognized make/model that is in use all over the place, and that no money changed hands.

    Mini Cooper - the new Library of Congress for volume measurements!

    --
    I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
  19. Re:"Its" is possessive by svtdragon · · Score: 5, Funny

    You meant "recursive"; apparently it's recursive.

  20. Re:English-to-metric conversion? by mcgrew · · Score: 4, Informative

    You just made the same mistake NASA did once; a Mini-Cooper is smaller than a VW.

    --
    Free Martian Whores!