Next Mars Rover Mission

[Sundancefisher]

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html

I saw a video on this new mission. Interestingly enough they are trying a new drop system. A mother ship will enter the atmosphere...then drop a sister ship...engage thrusters and thereby slow descent. The rover will be lowered...while falling to Mars on cables.

This looks like a very risky drop. Cable problems, thruster problems, wind problems, speed problems, mothership crashing into lander problems.

This will be the best ever landing to watch for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E37Ss9Tm36c

Tell me that is not cool.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Science_Laboratory

I still think they should take a pile of oxygen fixing lichen with them and start terraforming. Wonder if we should stock bass or rainbows first?

[roadkill]

Silly gal. Oxygen-creating lichen won't work. Aint you never seen Red Planet?

[countrykid]

Wow, that is a risky landing. An engineer must have got ahold of that one Interesting idea with the lichen, I didn't think of that. I thought, why don't we put our friend Mr. Gore's theory to the ultimate test and warm Mars up? With a temperate climate, terraforming will be much easier. Rainbows get my vote

[TreeGuy]

I dunno, Sun. Missions such as this just seem like a colossal waste of intellectual and financial capital, meant only to stroke massive egos. Maybe I just lack imagination, but I'd far rather see such efforts dedicated to more immediate concers, like say, curing cancer!

[C Taylor]

I'd be all for cutting trees and watching them float off in space.

[Ken07AOVette]

Originally Posted by TreeGuy

I dunno, Sun. Missions such as this just seem like a colossal waste of intellectual and financial capital, meant only to stroke massive egos. Maybe I just lack imagination, but I'd far rather see such efforts dedicated to more immediate concers, like say, curing cancer!

I agree totally.

[countrykid]

Originally Posted by TreeGuy

I dunno, Sun. Missions such as this just seem like a colossal waste of intellectual and financial capital, meant only to stroke massive egos. Maybe I just lack imagination, but I'd far rather see such efforts dedicated to more immediate concers, like say, curing cancer!

I understand your point Tree, and it's a very good one at that. My youth group leader once said, "You know, it's sad how society works today. We can put a rover on Mars, but we can't put food on the tables of poor people on THIS rock." I hear those words each time I read about human endeavors in space. I help out when I can, and as much as I can. Be that as it may, I still like hearing about said endeavors. The pictures Spirit and Opportunity sent back, and the newest rover Curiosity scheduled to be launched are very exciting.

[great white whaler]

Wonder how much it cost to put man on mars.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by TreeGuy

I dunno, Sun. Missions such as this just seem like a colossal waste of intellectual and financial capital, meant only to stroke massive egos. Maybe I just lack imagination, but I'd far rather see such efforts dedicated to more immediate concers, like say, curing cancer!

Sorry Tree, but you have just enunciated the biggest problem the Human race has, We've lost our spirit of adventure and are happy to be mundane. Cancer? Gonna be cured one of these fine days and then what are we going to do with all the people it kills now ? THAT is the real problem.

Grizz

[Ruger1022]

Originally Posted by TreeGuy

I dunno, Sun. Missions such as this just seem like a colossal waste of intellectual and financial capital, meant only to stroke massive egos. Maybe I just lack imagination, but I'd far rather see such efforts dedicated to more immediate concers, like say, curing cancer!

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

Sorry Tree, but you have just enunciated the biggest problem the Human race has, We've lost our spirit of adventure and are happy to be mundane. Cancer? Gonna be cured one of these fine days and then what are we going to do with all the people it kills now ? THAT is the real problem.

Grizz

I am not big into conspiracy theories, BUT I believe we will never have a cure for cancer and or there already is a cure. I know there are many different types of cancer with many different causes. No one "cure" is going to work for all types but Over $1Billion goes to sponsoring Cancer research each year. You cant tell me with all the money and time that we just come up empty every time. This earth is overpopulated and we are going to hit the 7 billion people mark by the end of this year(http://www.worldometers.info/) . Maybe cancer is a goverment way of "population control". I think we need to spread population around (like cancer) to other planets. We have to do it in baby steps by first landing rovers the manned missions.

Some scientests and theorist believe the first manned mission to Mars will be a commercial one!!??..

Enter SpaceX http://www.spacex.com/

[roadkill]

Originally Posted by great white whaler

Wonder how much it cost to put man on mars.

Well, a shuttle flight was a billion and a half, so it won't be cheap.

I'm with Grizz in that we've lost the adventurous spirit in the West. India and China both have something to prove, so look for one of them to have a moon base sometime in the medium future. China's been pretty clear about that particular plan. In contrast, NASA seems to be giving up the near space stuff to private enterprise so they can concentrate on an eventual manned Mars mission. Provided they still have rent money the current and near-future economy.

I think that sending probes out to the planets is an important way of learning more about our place in the solar system and the universe. I also think that we in the West won't love having population control measures stuffed down our throats, so compound increases to population on a planet with finite resources and space means we're going to need to colonise. Granted, that's depending on most of the guys here on AO being right about climate change. If my side of the argument is right, we don't have the time.

[enter climate change catfight here] [Shake hands and move on]

As for cancer, curing it is a long road, made more so by the fact that any big pharma company that makes a mint of treatment drugs will never prioritise a cure, for fear of cannibalising its own sales.

[kreator]

Some perspective: more money was spent on the US bank bailout than has EVER been spent by NASA. The 50 years of countless technological advancements and offshoots is also trumped by a current 2 year US military budget.

[Sundancefisher]

While the point my OP was targetting was the landing of this rover. Seemed to be very complicated.

As for is space exploration a waste of time...how are we ever going to meet the Vulcans.

If none of us wasted food on our plates...world hunger would not be a problem. If we all took public transit...oil would be $0.40 liter.

When visiting Kennedy Space Center there was a lot of talk about how much value the space program has generated for Americans...which spins off to other countries as well.

http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/

Interesting site on spin off inventions from the space race.

So back on topic...I will be amazed if that rover does not crash and burn based upon the landing design.

[roadkill]

Yeah, I kind of agree. Seems a little over-engineered to me. And not in the good, indestructible way.

but that's to be expected right? I mean, Nasa is the agency that spent a million bucks developing a pen that can write in space, while the Russians just sent up pencils.