Massive Martian dust storm endangers NASA rover
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Re: Massive Martian dust storm endangers NASA rover
#2I'll just link this short story:
https://www.wired.com/2016/12/jon-rogers-a-martian-goes-hunt...
Re: Massive Martian dust storm endangers NASA rover
#3Do dust storms only occur on planets with an atmosphere? And does their severity depend on how dense the atmosphere is?
Re: Massive Martian dust storm endangers NASA rover
#4“It’s like you have a loved one in a coma in the hospital, and you have the doctors telling you you just have to give it time and she’ll wake up,” says Callas. “But if it’s your 97-year-old grandmother, you’re going to be very concerned, and we are. By no means are we out of the woods.”
This is just a sad analogy. Yes, let's compare the life of a robot to the one of a human being.
Re: Massive Martian dust storm endangers NASA rover
#5Do dust storms only occur on planets with an atmosphere? And does their severity depend on how dense the atmosphere is?
IANAAstronomer but I would imagine the atmosphere is necessary for both the suspension of dust particles and the propulsion of dust particles.
Re: Massive Martian dust storm endangers NASA rover
#6“It’s like you have a loved one in a coma in the hospital, and you have the doctors telling you you just have to give it time and she’ll wake up,” says Callas. “But if it’s your 97-year-old grandmother, you’re going to be very concerned, and we are. By no means are we out of the woods.” This is just a sad analogy. Yes, let's compare the life of a robot to the one of a human being.
The life of a human being can be evaluated in terms of how many people they've interacted with, the influence they've had on those peoples' lives, and the lasting memories that people carry with them once that human has gone.
It is quite possible to apply the same metrics to "a robot" (which is actually an entire science program at JPL), and see that this program has affected the lives of many more people than most humans ever will. There are people whose entire careers have been based on this program, and the community of technicians, scientists, engineers, administrators etc around the robot is just as real as the community around any person.
If this robot ceases functioning, the entire project stops, careers are ended, and a community is fractured. To this community the robot is just as important as any human.
Your lame attempt at concern trolling shows very little respect for the community involved in this project.
Re: Massive Martian dust storm endangers NASA rover
#7TL;DR -- The issue is lack of sunlight rather than damage from dust or blanketing of the solar panels.
I was curious if Opportunity has a way to clean its solar panels. Answer: no, but sometimes a wind gust helps out.
https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-Mars-rover-manage-to-clean-...
Curiosity doesn't have solar panels but rather a "radioisotope thermal generator".
Re: Massive Martian dust storm endangers NASA rover
#8I'm intrigued by what research and plans have been made for how Martian colonists will deal with this sort of problem. I'm guessing solar won't be enough to keep a colony going. Wind power, even in a dust storm, wouldn't be possible because the air is so thin. Nuclear of some kind seems the only other option.
Re: Massive Martian dust storm endangers NASA rover
#9“It’s like you have a loved one in a coma in the hospital, and you have the doctors telling you you just have to give it time and she’ll wake up,” says Callas. “But if it’s your 97-year-old grandmother, you’re going to be very concerned, and we are. By no means are we out of the woods.” This is just a sad analogy. Yes, let's compare the life of a robot to the one of a human being.
The life of a human being can be evaluated in terms of how many people they've interacted with, the influence they've had on those peoples' lives, and the lasting memories that people carry with them once that human has gone. It is quite possible to apply the same metrics to "a robot" (which is actually an entire science program at JPL), and see that this program has affected the lives of many more people than most h…
Not to mention that far more than a lifetime has been collectively invested in it. Given its budget of $400M, and assuming an engineer costs roughly $1,000/day, we have about 1000 people-years invested in this project.
Re: Massive Martian dust storm endangers NASA rover
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
The life of a human being can be evaluated in terms of how many people they've interacted with, the influence they've had on those peoples' lives, and the lasting memories that people carry with them once that human has gone. It is quite possible to apply the same metrics to "a robot" (which is actually an entire science program at JPL), and see that this program has affected the lives of many more people than most h…
Not to mention that far more than a lifetime has been collectively invested in it. Given its budget of $400M, and assuming an engineer costs roughly $1,000/day, we have about 1000 people-years invested in this project.
A modern day pyramid: monumental sacrifice and sights to behold.