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Mystery Rock 'Appears' In Front of Mars Rover
astroengine writes "After a decade of exploring the Martian surface, the scientists overseeing veteran rover Opportunity thought they'd seen it all. That was until a rock mysteriously 'appeared' a few feet in front of the six wheeled rover a few days ago. News of the errant rock was announced by NASA Mars Exploration Rover lead scientist Steve Squyres of Cornell University at a special NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory '10 years of roving Mars' event at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, Calif., on Thursday night. The rock, about 'the size of a jelly doughnut' according to Squyres, is thought to have either come from a freak "flipping" event or a very recent meteorite impact. However, the latter isn't thought to be very likely. Although they are still working on the rock's origin, the rover team believe it was 'tiddlywinked' by Opportunity's broken wheel; as the rover was turning on the spot, the rock was kicked from place under the wheel and flipped a few feet away from the rover. Never missing a science opportunity, Squyres told Discovery News, 'It obligingly turned upside down, so we're seeing a side that hasn't seen the Martian atmosphere in billions of years and there it is for us to investigate. It's just a stroke of luck.'"
Yes -- luck that bored Martian teenagers don't have very good aim.
Not just any rock.
An ~~alien~~ rock. From space!
Well, kinda horta.
Table-ized A.I.
I'm just dumbfounded at the implication here that the rover's ability to flip a small rock is regarded as luck. If it's such a valuable occurrence, should they not have included a rock-flipping function in the plans?
It would only make sense to include that sort of functionality if it would be regularly used, which isn't likely. Given the tremendous constraints that they are under for space and weight it probably doesn't make sense. As to what is lucky, there is more than one description for that.
Old joke: Lost dog! Blind in one eye, missing right ear, tail missing, recently castrated. Answers to name of "Lucky!"
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
That's what happens when you tell the rover to execute a burn out - sand and rocks fly everywhere!
Opportunity - leaving no rock unturned since 2014.
Ich bin ein Martianer!
Opportunity only brought scissors, not paper...
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
I know that the US has long resisted a shift to SI measurements, but since when does JPL measure things in jelly donuts?
that's what my grandpappy used to say, "if it looks like a jelly donut, walks like a jelly donut, and quacks like a jelly donut, it's probably a rover-flipped Mars rock."