For the engineers - putting a vehicle on Mars!

[sandbender]

A short video detailing how the Curiosity Seven rover will be placed on the surface of Mars in a little over a month from now.

[video=youtube;pzqdoXwLBT8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzqdoXwLBT8&[/video]

Enjoy.

 

[Dannytsg]

Very nice watch. It always astounds me how we as a human race have not only come to understand our own planet and the universe surrounding it, but to also have overcome it's challenges to be able to do this. Amazing

 

[Biker]

Too many links in that "what could possibly go wrong" chain for me there.

No pressure eh? :yikes:

 

[Tengu]

Well, at least they know they are going somewhere with no crowds and pretty scenery.

 

[dwardo]

Imagine the looks if it was your "bit" that messed it all up, you would be able to crawl under a post it note n die.

 

[sandbender]

"...Too many links in that "what could possibly go wrong" chain for me there..."

That was my thought, I liked the idea of just bouncing the lander across the surface using big beach balls, simple, easy and it seemed to work.

[video=youtube;KIDtfBXMZQw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIDtfBXMZQw[/video]

 

[sandbender]

One hour till landing (or impact).



http://countingdownto.com/countdown/91417

 

[santaman2000]

Touchdown!!!!

Now lets hope for a manned mission.

 

[sandbender]

Touchdown!!!!

Now lets hope for a manned mission.

Not much hope of a manned trip I think.

Curiosity has sent us a postcard.

 

[santaman2000]

Not much hope of a manned trip I think.

Curiosity has sent us a postcard.

http://twitter.com/MarsCuriosity/status/232352290919567361/photo/1/large

Cool!

Watching the landing and comments after, the engineers interviewed expect manned landing by the early or mid 2040s IF!!! progress continues at the current rate. Progress in propulsion; progress in life support, etc. And most importantly, continuity in funding and support from succesive administrations.

I expect setbacks on ALL fronts. But hopefully eventual success; hopefully within my lifetime. I remember when I was 12 sitting on the couch watching live coverage of the 1st moon landing with my grandmother (among others) It wasn't until years later that I thought about the speed with which that happened. My Grandmother had been alive and old enough to read about the Wright brothers' first powered flight and lived long enough to see the coverage change to live television of the first moon landing! From Kitty Hawk to the moon in less that 65 years! A single generation.

 

[sandbender]

"...And most importantly, continuity in funding and support from succesive administrations..."

I think that will be what kills their hopes, obviously the engineers rely on mars missions manned or unmanned to put food on the table, so they are always going sell the "on mars by 2040s" idea, it would be ice to see, I just don't see it happening.

"...I remember when I was 12 sitting on the couch watching live coverage of the 1st moon landing with my grandmother (among others)..."

Me too, I was a little younger though.

 

[santaman2000]

I think that will be what kills their hopes.

It'll

That sort of thing tends to swing back and forth. It'll definitely slow the rate at the very least.

 

[wattsy]

There won't be a manned mission unless they find oil or something there, there just isn't the funding otherwise.In 2010 NASA's budget was $8.7 billion. In its entire history from 1958 to 2011 its total budget was $526.18 billion. The US military budget in 2010 was $663.85 billion. In 1 year the US military spent $137.67 billion more than NASA has in 50 years.

6 of the top 10 global companies by revenue are oil and gas companies. Total revenue between them in 2010 was $2.1 trillion. If there's more oil on planets outside Earth then money will be spent trying to get it, guaranteed.

 

[sandbender]

There won't be a manned mission unless they find oil or something there, there just isn't the funding otherwise.In 2010 NASA's budget was $8.7 billion. In its entire history from 1958 to 2011 its total budget was $526.18 billion. The US military budget in 2010 was $663.85 billion. In 1 year the US military spent $137.67 billion more than NASA has in 50 years.

6 of the top 10 global companies by revenue are oil and gas companies. Total revenue between them in 2010 was $2.1 trillion. If there's more oil on planets outside Earth then money will be spent trying to get it, guaranteed.

No doubt. However most of that military budget is spent because the corporations who benefit from that spending or politicians in whose constituency will benefit from that spending push for it. We end up with the ridiculous situation where the Senate insists on funding Ships and Drones that the Military Doesn’t Want!

Now if we can only convince corporations and politicians to push for the funding of a manned Mars program instead of giving the military money they don't want and don't really need, then maybe we'll start to get somewhere.

While were at it maybe we can look into funding some new bridges, dams, transport infrastructure, communications infrastructure, education, maybe even health care.

Oil on Mars, I don't think that that is too likely, life on mars, well who knows...

[video=youtube;v--IqqusnNQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v--IqqusnNQ[/video]

 

[ged]

I'm an engineer, and I'm a great fan of scientific endeavour even for its own sake, and I watched this morning's coverage as it was broadcast, and I yelled and clapped my hands as much as many of the people at Mission Control. Well done guys!

But I really can't see the point of putting people on mars. Granted we might lean something more quickly by putting people there that we won't learn so easily by putting machines there, but what will be the cost of the opportunities lost in the process? There's only so much in the kitty and there are only so many pairs of hands. It would be a hideously expensive undertaking (even if the people who go agree not to bother with a return journey) and for the cost of one manned mission you could probably do ten other missions and cure world poverty.

Congratulations once again to the guys who put Curiosity where they did, it was a fantastic feat of imagination, engineering, and downright hard work, but I'm sorry, I'm very much against the idea of a manned mission with the current state of our technology. There's far too much other stuff to do to waste time and money on what is basically an ego trip. Maybe it will be worth another look when we can launch stuff into orbit for a hundred dollars per pound (or three hundred per ton):

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

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_airship)

 

[sandbender]

"...

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

..."

Now your talking!

 

[santaman2000]

...Congratulations once again to the guys who put Curiosity where they did, it was a fantastic feat of imagination, engineering, and downright hard work, but I'm sorry, I'm very much against the idea of a manned mission with the current state of our technology. There's far too much other stuff to do to waste time and money on what is basically an ego trip...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_airship)

Not really. Being the FIRST" one there is an ego trip, but the trip itself is another matter.

sanbender mentioned that more important priorities should be our education, infrastructue, education communication, etc. Do you realize that most of our recent advances in ALL of those fields resulted from the knowledge and infrastructure put into the Apollo program?

Communication? Modern computors (such as we are using as we speak) sattelites, digital, the list is endless; all byproducts of the space program.

Bridges, roads, transportation? Satelite surveying, construction techinques, new materials, again the list goes on; all byproducts of the Apollo program.

Education? The 1960s saw an unprecedented surge in students seeking science and engineering degrees; all because they wanted even just a piece of the research into space (albeit many were inspired as much bt the sci-fi of the day as by sci-fact; so what though? Said sci-fi was in turn inspired by the sci-fact of the day)

I agree that funding is unlikely unless companies responsible see a probable profit (unfortunately it's likely that privatized exploration is going to get much more prevelant) I seriously doubt if oil would be anywhere near a profitable commodity; cost to get there alone would be more than the oil's worth, let alone the costs for extraction, return, refining, etc. Rather I'm sure they'll see the profits from patenting any discoveries and scientific advances. After all, many of the current satelites are owned by private comunications media soley for profit.

I have no doubt that an effort to put man on Mars will have at least as much effect on our way of life as did the Appolo program. Likey much more.

 

[mrcharly]

People on mars? Not much point. Immensely expensive - you not only have to get them there, you have to get the fuel there to get them back.

I don't agree with the 'modern computers are here because of space program'. There is a huge disconnect between the chips used for space work and land work. The internet does not depend on satellites, it's terrestrial cables. Sadly, modern computers were developed on the back of military programs; firstly as calculators for artillery, then decoding military messages. Civvie applications came along much later.

Sat nav, weather monitoring, research into our planet; all these rest on the back of the space program and the benefits are immense.

 

[mountainm]

If we could put a man on mars it'd be great.... but only if I could choose who went.

 

[santaman2000]

...I don't agree with the 'modern computers are here because of space program'. There is a huge disconnect between the chips used for space work and land work. The internet does not depend on satellites, it's terrestrial cables. Sadly, modern computers were developed on the back of military programs; firstly as calculators for artillery, then decoding military messages. Civvie applications came along much later...

-The space program itself was originally for military application.
-Yes there is a disconect between the computors chips used for terrestrial vs space work but----the whole research was due to the need for the space program. And collaterally it was done by those engineers I mentioned that went into engineering because they were inspired by the space program, and the schools they attended had adequate programs precisely because of the demand they created. Granted not all of it is a direct association, but science advancement in general depended on the excitement of the era.