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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

#13

Post by dimator »

bsder wrote: post #10
tiahura wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for having the courage to make this comment. While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it’s not like these are mind bending technicolor panoramas. They look like every other picture of Mars we’ve seen since the first pictures of Mars decades ago. At some point someone needs to ask why we’re spending billions on more pictures of Mars and answering deep questions like “Is Mars soil 36.7 or 36.8% silicon?”

The "science" mostly isn't in the images. Images, however, are the easiest thing for the lay public to grasp.

Images I would argue serve an invaluable purpose: inspiring the public and the next generation of space explorers.

Re: NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images

#15

Post by perardi »

tiahura wrote: post #5
chovybizzass wrote: post #2

they don't look all that stunning to me.

Thanks for having the courage to make this comment. While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it’s not like these are mind bending technicolor panoramas. They look like every other picture of Mars we’ve seen since the first pictures of Mars decades ago. At some point someone needs to ask why we’re spending billions on more pictures of Mars and answering deep questions like “Is Mars soil 36.7 or 36.8% silicon?”

This project will cost $2.8 billion…over the 10-year life of the project.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_2020

In government terms? That is nothing. We’ll burn that much on defective F-35 fighters in a year.

And we are not “just” assessing the mineral content of the soil—not even close.

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/science/

(If you’re that offended by the cost, I will Venmo you the 0.1 cents per year this is taking out of your tax bill.)

Re: NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images

#17

Post by idiocrat »

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, trying to keep my vicinity free of garbage. Today I pulled out pair of trousers and some plastic bands out out water. Sometimes I'm having fights with my elderly village neighbors, who are burning household trash (paper, wood) on the ocean shore. I take their garbage out their hands and carry it to my home, later drive to the garbage processing center.

Re: NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images

#19

Post by NL807 »

etaioinshrdlu wrote: post #16

Does anyone know what type of data compression is being used to transmit these images? There's been huge progress since the last rover.

I'm speculating here, but I think these images are transmitted in some kind of raw format, or close to it, making them more resilient to data corruption. Compressed images will incur greater data loss when compressed, compared to raw images where you might lose a few image blocks at a time.

Re: NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images

#20

Post by soheil »

jerkstate wrote: post #7

I remember a recent article on HN about being able to receive signals from Tianwen-1 with a homemade satellite dish - is it possible to receive these pictures over radio with the right equipment, or do they come down encrypted?

I would think encryption would slow down the transmission rate. So most likely are sent in the clear
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