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Curiosity Gearing Up for Drive to Next Study Location

Posted by samzenpus on from the warming-up-the-engines dept.

Curiosity has spent most of the past 5 weeks running instrument and system checks, but on Friday that is all scheduled to change. The plan is to "drive, drive, drive" until a suitable rock for the rover's first robotic "hands-on" analysis is found, says mission manager Jennifer Trosper. The rover will head to a location about 1,300 feet away labeled "Glenelg," where three different types of rock intersect.

9 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. Ah, Ye Olden Times. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The rover will head to a location about 1,300 feet away...

    That be 12/36ths of a cubit, multiplied by four and 1/4 rods, then minus sixteen and 1/8th hogsheads.

    1. Re:Ah, Ye Olden Times. by isorox · · Score: 5, Funny

      When you put a rover on Mars, you can pick whatever units you want.

      That worked out so well for the Mars Climate Orbiter

    2. Re:Ah, Ye Olden Times. by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 4, Funny

      When are American's going to grow up?

      When you stop abusing the apostrophe.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    3. Re:Ah, Ye Olden Times. by NotSanguine · · Score: 3, Funny

      What is that in a civilized unit of measure?

      When are American's going to grow up?

      It's Americans, not American's and that's a very good question.

      Also, 1m=3.275ft, so 1300 feet = 396.95m or 1.97 furlongs.

      --
      No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
    4. Re:Ah, Ye Olden Times. by felipekk · · Score: 5, Funny

      I know it's a different one, but still oblig:

      http://xkcd.com/695/

    5. Re:Ah, Ye Olden Times. by PPalmgren · · Score: 2, Funny

      I love the irony of it. I was having a discussion with a buddy from Montreal and he was railing on the US for not being metric. I was like....bro....you're the only province on the continent that speaks French. I'll spend trillions converting the US to metric if you spend trillions forcing everyone to learn the dominant language, English.

      The EU is where most of the imperial unit bitterness comes from, and it has 23 official languages. Oh sweet irony.

  2. Lazy scientists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Taking a car when they could have just walked 400 meters. Don't they think of the environment?

  3. what hands? by FranTaylor · · Score: 3, Funny

    I don't see hands on the ends of those robot arms. I don't know what they are talking about.

    The robot devil had to sign a deal with Fry to get hands.

  4. Glenelg? by aglider · · Score: 3, Funny

    Curiosity will certainly end up in a palindrome loop!

    --
    Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.