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38 Comments
- sockpuppets, on 06/10/2009, -0/+20They tested it by dropping Rosie Odonnell out a C-130.
- SeyWat, on 06/10/2009, -0/+9Is it just me or does the video showing the landing of the rover look stupidly complicated and risky?
- photohunter, on 06/10/2009, -0/+7I wonder what it'd be like to go sky-diving with that thing
- zyklon, on 06/10/2009, -0/+6Before people blab about how 2,000 lbs is lighter than a lot of ***** that's chuted down from aircraft on earth, please remember that the gravity is far less powerful and the air is much thinner than here on earth. The rover will take longer to fall in the gravity and will fall faster because of the smaller air resistance, thusly the parachute will have to be ultra-ultra-mega to make the rover a rover and not a really expensive bullet.
- inactive, on 06/10/2009, -1/+7That thing is huge! (I know, that's what she said.)
- cuoops, on 06/10/2009, -0/+4http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/images/20 ...
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA10208.jpg
Send your name to Mars - http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/participate/se ... - rhedrick, on 06/11/2009, -1/+5"Space Parachute"? Parachutes are only effective when they have an atmosphere to act upon. The word "Space" doesn't belong.
I'm just saying. - kenlaw, on 06/11/2009, -0/+3You mean a C-17. The C-130 could never take the strain and a C-5 would be overkill.
- Bullislander05, on 06/10/2009, -2/+5Did anyone watch the video? It's got a friggin LASER GUN! PEW PEW MARTIANS!
- Suzilla, on 06/11/2009, -0/+3Waaaalleeeeeee!!!!
- orb9220, on 06/11/2009, -0/+3Watching the vid seems there are way to many complicated steps to landing that could and probably Will go wrong. Hope it makes it but have my doubts. Also seems there are a lot of little moving parts in the chain of soil extraction and analysis that is begging for failure. Take the little autobot door for receiving soil. If it flakes out then boom a multi-million dollar lab is useless.
- DBLaise, on 06/10/2009, -0/+2An expensive bullet like the Beagle lander a few years back. Glad that wasn't our mistake.
- RickScarf, on 06/10/2009, -1/+3Title is incorrect, should read Mars' Largest
- phosphite, on 06/11/2009, -0/+2What a drag
- greenwald, on 06/11/2009, -0/+2Glancing at some of your 600+ Digg comments leads me to believe your not the most unbiased person to comment on the Obama Admin's effects on Nasa. Of course your possible 4 and a half months of 'contract work' is VERY impressive and plenty of time to judge the Obama's intentions for an agency while taking over 2 wars and an epic financial crisis.
- lennybird, on 06/11/2009, -0/+2I lived near Wright Patterson Air Force Base and saw so many C-17's and C-5's come and go. They were literally giants in the sky, and so large it seemed that when they were coming in to land, they were just hovering in mid-air. You would wonder how come it wouldn't just fall out of the sky. Quite awe-inspiring.
- teemingvoid, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1*sky-floating
- greenwald, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1"To survive the Martian atmosphere’s massive drag, the 2000-plus-lb. Mars Science Laboratory rover will depend on the largest space parachute ever built."
Wouldn't 'massive drag' mean you'd need a smaller stronger parachute? - rowbot, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1-_- you beat me...
- inactive, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1"World's Largest Space Parachute" - probably not a very difficult record to break. I mean, really, how many space parachutes does the world have?
That's like finding America's most patriotic Chinaman. - asgardshill, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1I don't know who Dugg your comment down, but they need to go drink a big ol' refreshing glass of Stop Being A Moron. The exact scenario you pose occurred on the Mars Phoenix Lander - they couldn't get soil samples to feed into the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer because the mesh on the sample screen was too small. And they couldn't use another onboard experiment, the Mars Descent Imager, at all because of hardware incompatibility with other systems. All stuff that could have and should have been eliminated by good preflight headwork.
- inactive, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1The chute doesn't quite slow quite enough....much slower than the mach 2.2, but still fast enough to cause huge damage.
The "lander module" will hopefully gently place the lander on the surface then propel to the side and fall to never be used again. - TheZorch, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1And Dr. Evil couldn't get ***** sharks with lasers on their heads! Outrageous! LOL
- rheaume, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1Not to gang up on you bu what are your thoughts on Constellation? Forward of backwards? How about Griffith?
- rowbot, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1I made my name "hello aliens"
see:
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/participate/se ... - RSS14, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1It's so funny reading these comments from diggers who think they know more than the NASA engineers who designed this robot.
- InfiniteNothing, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1Solar wind maybe
- Bullislander05, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1By the way, is this the old blimp hangar down at Ames? If so, WOW. I was just over there (I'm from Virginia). That was the biggest hangar I've ever seen in my life (And I live right next to Langley/Nasa).
- Nerys, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1Correction to description. To Survive the Martian Atmosphere's nearly non existent drag, etc.. etc..
the REASON they need such a large chute is that Mars has a VERY VERY thin atmosphere IE VERY LITTLE drag so the chute must be massively oversized to produce ENOUGH drag to do any good.
"So to cushion its fall through the thin Martian atmosphere (which is less than 1 percent as dense as Earth’s)" - greenwald, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1buddypriefert-
When you claim to be a Nasa insider whose had a change of opinion about something in the last 4 months based on what you've seen from Obama, yet have several years worth of conservative rantings here, I am inclined to smell a bit of a hidden agenda.
And I don't claim to be unbiased either, but a what a manipulative paraphrasing, you didn't even bother grabbing the whole sentence. Here was my full comment on the Department of Homeland Security List:
"Political viewpoints no matter how extreme shouldn't put someone on DHS list. Though probability wise DHS knows there is about a 1/3 chance for domestic terrorism to occur from Right wing extremism as there would be from Muslim extremists. Oklahoma City bombing, abortion clinic bombings, lynchings etc. So they are just doing their job however un-American that job is." - Russelllucid, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1That video was, to say the least ambitious! Capsule with attitude control then giant parachute, launch a mini lander which can fly, hover, winch down the rover, uncouple, fly off the lander and not flatten rover... Bingo!
Thunderbirds technology at last!! - inactive, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1No, I meant a man from China. I did a study abroad in China so it's okay.
- rheaume, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1Dugg for the submitter making it so far on American Idol season 8
- Culyt, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1It's probably not much more complex than the moon lander.
I think the main point is to design modular space exploration systems. That way if you need a new mars rover, you don't have to design a whole new system to go from the launchpad to the surface.
If it works well, then they can use it on every planet exploration forever, just change the size depending on the planets gravity and payload weight/size.
The last landers just inflated into giant bouncing balls. This is not going to be a good solution for delicate equipment or people.
I also believe they used a similar system in the Phoenix lander. Although it was built into the lander itself rather than a separate bit. - buddypriefert, on 06/11/2009, -1/+1Ah, so I suppose your (paraphrased) "Right-wing extremist do just as much domestic terrorism as Muslim extremist" blurb doesn't count as biased either.
Since when did Digg become a posting board for unbiased opinions?
Working for two contractors over 2 yrs, living in Clear Lake, and owning property on Nasa Rd 1, and personally having friendships with lots of Nasa workers (and taking recreation excursions with 2 of the original 7 astronauts)...yeah, I'd say that qualifies me as somewhat knowledgeable of how differing administrations have affected the program over the years. Of course, you won't believe a word I'm writing anyway so...
Back to the original post, since you are debating that the Obama admin is doing more for space exploration than the previous admin, then please point a reference. - teemingvoid, on 06/11/2009, -1/+1Assuming that you meant Asian by that racial epithet, I know of several more patriotic than myself (and I'm white if it matters).
- warragul, on 06/11/2009, -0/+0Not as funny as reading about the "massive drag" of an almost non-existent atmosphere.
Someone ought to read this stuff before it gets posted.
No. I am not new here. - buddypriefert, on 06/11/2009, -2/+1Ever since I (doing contract work for NASA) have seen the lack of support for space exploration that the Obama administration has ushered in, it is hard to get excited over the now "teasers" of the magnificent space excitement that we saw 30 years ago.
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