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NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images

bbc.com

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Re: NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images

#131

Post by King-Aaron »

marshmallow_12 wrote: post #52
11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #44

Stupid question, but where is Perseverance's energy source? Answer: Plutonium It powers a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator. The plutonium decays at a few % per year, so that means it should be able to bring Elon a sandwich when he lands. https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/electrical-p...

a glowing green sandwich covered in red sand. But seriously, this stuff is powering those voyager probes 40 years later. Which makes me ask: why do we have to send there technologies 10 billion miles away to make them work? Why can't my fridge be powered this way?

Aside from the high cost of a consumer grade plutonium RTG, and the size constraint issues with putting one in the base of a fridge, or the health risks with having a reactor in your house under your food, one reason might be to prevent people exploding them.

Re: NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images

#132

Post by mLuby »

wait_a_minute wrote: post #36
idiocrat wrote: post #17

All the extraterrestrial expansion, dream of Men to conquer Space, star track enterprise! I'm pessimistic that we will ever leave our solar system, and if so in 1000 years, I do not care. Hopefully people learn how tiny our bubble is and protect our environment more. The Martian environment looks so boring -- as a replacement for polluted Earth. (We will pollute Mars faster than Earth). I'm living at the ocean, tryin…

The only solution is the spread of information and education. That's the only thing that will help. We must reach all people and present them with the evidence on environmental degradation. The planet is ours to protect and cherish, and I'm confident this is an achievable goal if we act fast. By advocating for access to internet and education at global scale! Starting with our homes.

"One person's trash is another's treasure."

The other solution is make it more profitable to collect and sell your garbage than to dispose of it. Which means it has to be worth it for a business to collect your trash from you. Better recycling and distribution technologies can enable this.

I dream of the day when businesses fight for the privilege of hauling away your trash. Maybe delivery drones could bring back garbage to make their return trips less, uh, wasteful.

Re: NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images

#134

Post by sytelus »

idiocrat wrote: post #17

All the extraterrestrial expansion, dream of Men to conquer Space, star track enterprise! I'm pessimistic that we will ever leave our solar system, and if so in 1000 years, I do not care. Hopefully people learn how tiny our bubble is and protect our environment more. The Martian environment looks so boring -- as a replacement for polluted Earth. (We will pollute Mars faster than Earth). I'm living at the ocean, tryin…

Most people are unable to realize distances in space. Humans are simply not designed to travel in space. For a space ship that can be self-sustaining in every way and capable of multi-year travel, it has to be almost like a city. Even when you get to planets, they are even less hospitable than Mars. I think future life forms which will colonize other planets will be machines, not humans.

Re: NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images

#135

Post by mLuby »

marshmallow_12 wrote: post #52
11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #44

Stupid question, but where is Perseverance's energy source? Answer: Plutonium It powers a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator. The plutonium decays at a few % per year, so that means it should be able to bring Elon a sandwich when he lands. https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/electrical-p...

a glowing green sandwich covered in red sand. But seriously, this stuff is powering those voyager probes 40 years later. Which makes me ask: why do we have to send there technologies 10 billion miles away to make them work? Why can't my fridge be powered this way?

Back in the 60's, people thought everything would be nuclear-powered; atomic cars, planes, trains, houses, etc. But like with building-sized computers, we've chosen a different path through the tech tree.

There were terrestrial exceptions though, like "the Beta-M is a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) that was used in Soviet-era lighthouses and beacons." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta-M

But people happened across them and got radiation poisoning, so imagine that happening a lot more often if they were powering all manner of home appliance. Also a lot more dirty bombs.

Re: NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images

#136

Post by itbeho »

"And we made it to Mars! I stepped out of the lander and took a look around. It turns out the place is just a bunch of rusty looking rocks. No hot green chicks, no angry little green men. I guess I was kind of hoping there would have been someone here to shoot it out with, or at least make out with."

- From the unpublished short fiction of itbeho

Seriously though, this is fantastic. Imagine being a kid today, seeing these images and being inspired to help get us there in person, hopefully in the near future.

Re: NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images

#137

Post by kgrimes2 »

malwarebytess wrote: post #65

Stunning? Boring is the truth. They look as haphazard and unconsidered shots of earthly, unremarkable, landscape. NASA needs artists and poetic photographers to capture inspiration on Mars if they want to snare the hearts of the public. What a waste of fortunes if they cannot do that. If only the images were as great as the feat and engineering itself.

Dude, it's a scientific experiment, not a fucking Instagram shoot

Re: NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images

#138

Post by kgrimes2 »

All ya'll complaining that you can take better pictures with your iPhones than Percy can on Mars, please read this: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/cameras/

These are ENGINEERING cameras for taking incredibly precise measurements. Not for populating an Instagram page.

Re: NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images

#140

Post by fnord77 »

khuey wrote: post #111
matheusmoreira wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> easily shielded by essentially any solid material If that shield fails for any reason, including tampering, you're looking at the radiological contamination and likely deaths of everyone nearby at the very least.

Alpha sources outside the human body are of little health concern. You'd have to break it open and eat the plutonium inside for it to be a serious risk.

or breathe particles. grind it up into a fine powder and you have a nasty dirty bomb
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