Scott Manley has some interesting tidbits, as always https://youtu.be/w2oFtu_KAbI
Nasa’s Mars Rover Opportunity Concludes a 15-Year Mission
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Re: Nasa’s Mars Rover Opportunity Concludes a 15-Year Mission
#12End of an era. We'll meet Opportunity again one day.
Same thing happened with Cassini. It's kinda poetic to see these outposts of Humanity's reach fade out after a sublime performance.
Re: Nasa’s Mars Rover Opportunity Concludes a 15-Year Mission
#13Self driving terraforming robots would be an excellent testbed for AI technologies. What is the reason for pushing humans again?
The discussion around humans vs robots in space in historically deep conversation with scientific, technical, and philosophical aspects. Do not simply brush it off without understanding the context.
Re: Nasa’s Mars Rover Opportunity Concludes a 15-Year Mission
#14Seems like they could just send a drone to go wipe off the solar panels...
I'm reminded of this entry in the wikiwiki: "Just" is a dangerous word. http://wiki.c2.com/?JustIsaDangerousWord
I recall having a chat with someone with a poor understanding of chemistry, and they asked why we couldn't "just have tiny robots take the carbon dioxide and turn it back into gasoline again"
Re: Nasa’s Mars Rover Opportunity Concludes a 15-Year Mission
#15And it will never be forgotten.
Re: Nasa’s Mars Rover Opportunity Concludes a 15-Year Mission
#16Don't give up just yet, guys! Get one of the new rovers to find some water on mars, take a microfiber cloth...maybe a squeegee...
Re: Nasa’s Mars Rover Opportunity Concludes a 15-Year Mission
#17Seems like they could just send a drone to go wipe off the solar panels...
It'll buff out.
Re: Nasa’s Mars Rover Opportunity Concludes a 15-Year Mission
#18And it was supposed to last 90 days...
Re: Nasa’s Mars Rover Opportunity Concludes a 15-Year Mission
#19And it was supposed to last 90 days...
It wasn’t supposed to last only 90 days, the initial mission specifications were for a 90 day mission.
While it’s an engineering marvel no one thought that it would last only 90 days if it successfully landed and deployed, the 90 days was a minimum figure for the design and also the initial operating budget for the mission.
Re: Nasa’s Mars Rover Opportunity Concludes a 15-Year Mission
#20And it was supposed to last 90 days...
It wasn’t supposed to last only 90 days, the initial mission specifications were for a 90 day mission. While it’s an engineering marvel no one thought that it would last only 90 days if it successfully landed and deployed, the 90 days was a minimum figure for the design and also the initial operating budget for the mission.
I too get annoyed at seeing this fun fact.
It's really hard to engineer something that will last 90 days. It's much easier to overbuilld it, which fulfills the requirement of 90 days.
It was designed to last as long as possible within the given weight and size budget.