I heard the islamists, you know the ones who contributed greatly to form this nation built the NASA giant land rover. .....he he he he he he he .............
notice those four tall towers around the launch with the white things on top. wonder what they are? some positioning or nav stability aid?
NASA, once again reinventing the wheel. Same as before, but bigger.
What the current project should be right now is the creation of a permanent Lunar habitat. Using known technologies to create a nuclear powered horizontal rock tunneling robot, probably built by The Robbins Company, it would land on the Moon, next to a “twilight crater” (which mostly remains in twilight as the Moon turns) wall.
In function, as the robot would grind away at the rock wall, rubble would fall onto a conveyor belt underneath the robot, to be carried far outside the tunnel on the robot’s conveyor belt “tail”. Periodically it would insert reinforcing rod into the ceiling, common practice in hard rock mining. Before backing out of the tunnel, it would spray liquid sealant for any micro-fissures.
Since it was on a one-way mission, its lander could be cannibalized for things like automatic sealing “smart” tunnel pressure doors, floor, walls and ceiling paneling with electrical connections.
Finally, before the astronauts had even arrived, it could fill the tunnel with warm air, so that the door could measure pressure and heat loss from the tunnel. The nuclear reactor used by the robot could then be used to provide power and heat for the tunnel.
After doing this on the Moon, we could then use the experience to do the same thing on Mars.
Metric mishap caused loss of NASA orbiter
Minor quibble, when they use the term, 'orbiter' isn't that the Shuttle?
If this doesn't crash into the planet then maybe it will work.
I got $100 that says we will find life on Mars, at least microbes. Any takers?
Arthur C. Clarke pointed out years ago that photos from previous rovers had things that looked like root systems, seeds, and seashells. I think NASA is well aware that Mars had life and probably still does. Why they are afraid to say so mystifies me.
NASA is under pressure now because the Russkies or Chicoms might beat them to the momentous discovery. I’ll bet this rover provides definitive proof.
So it’s come down to this. We have to get coverage of our space launches from Russian TV.
I saw Atlas on the launch tower was this this an upgraded liqued fueled Atlas? I remember the first Atlas launches from way back when I was little kid. Looks like I’ll retire before Atlas does.
bflr