261–270 of 365 posts
Stupid question maybe but like is there a reason the picture quality seems worse than a decent dslr photo? I'm so curious what that photo would look like, taken with an everyday camera, without the bizarre 'scientific' look of these shots.
The picture labeled "wind carved rock" is interesting. If the atmospheric pressure is 610 pascals or 0.088 psi (less than 1%) earth pressure, how could any wind be powerful enough to carve a rock? Does the wind blow 600-1200 mph on Mars? Don't answer as the question is rhetorical. Air pressure that thin would require winds several hundred MPH just to kick up fine dust particles, well before we get to erosion of rock.…
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
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It never ceases to impress me that we have the ability to do this sort of stuff. A couple thousand years ago, the height of technology was shooting something from a few hundred metres away with a bow and arrow, now we are landing machines on another planet and transmitting data back and forth through the solar system. Incredible.
A couple of thousand years ago is the peak of the Romans, so you're way off on your 'height' of technology at that time. Using bows and arrows as an example when you've got wonders of pretty advanced engineering like the Parthenon, plus they also had ballistae, chariots and catapults, so not the peak at all. Not only that, but even the bows were more advanced, composite bows much more powerful than simple ones made o…
The picture labeled "wind carved rock" is interesting. If the atmospheric pressure is 610 pascals or 0.088 psi (less than 1%) earth pressure, how could any wind be powerful enough to carve a rock? Does the wind blow 600-1200 mph on Mars? Don't answer as the question is rhetorical. Air pressure that thin would require winds several hundred MPH just to kick up fine dust particles, well before we get to erosion of rock.…
10/10 satire
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People are probably going to answer “safety”. But it’s also hideously expensive. Plutonium is, apparently, one of the safer ways to build these things, because it is easy to shield, and the power density is good. But plutonium, as it’s not naturally occurring, is stratospherically expensive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_ge...
The first nuclear bombs cost billions of dollars each. I wish I could say that’s a good thing. But no, after the first of them, nuclear weapons seem to have justified their own existence, no matter the cost. I would rather see remaining weapons material repurposed as deep-space power sources. If that were to solve problems. Anyhow, Perseverance makes me happy.
No, at least union's ones were priced at around $100000-$120000 a pop in materials.
Giant amount of money back in seventies union for an individual, enough to live on for a lifetime.
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My question is why was the “sound of Mars” release only 18 seconds long? Why not record hours of what it sounds like to be on another planet? Even the sound recordings from decades ago on (I think Titan) was only a short creepy clip. I understand it’s mostly going to be wind and interspliced with the robots sounds but I still don’t get how we don’t have hours of Mars already.
Perseverance is the first rover with microphones on Mars. This is why we don't have audios from prior missions.
Stupid question maybe but like is there a reason the picture quality seems worse than a decent dslr photo? I'm so curious what that photo would look like, taken with an everyday camera, without the bizarre 'scientific' look of these shots.
My question is why was the “sound of Mars” release only 18 seconds long? Why not record hours of what it sounds like to be on another planet? Even the sound recordings from decades ago on (I think Titan) was only a short creepy clip. I understand it’s mostly going to be wind and interspliced with the robots sounds but I still don’t get how we don’t have hours of Mars already.
With 100x thinner air, the air molecules would not even be close enough to forward such vibrations. You wouldn't be able to hear a gunshot a few feet away.
The fact that NASA would provide any sound at all just demonstrates this is all a staged fakery, being done here on earth with a bit of augmented virtual reality to spice up the film. Since sound doesn't travel in 1% atmosphere the way it does in real earth atmosphere, you should hear virtually nothing.
This whole affair is a Hollywood sci-fi production being sold to you as science. You want so deeply for it to be real that cognitive dissonance and Dunning Kreuger will likely cause you to have a visceral reaction to my remarks. That's OK.
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"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 gar…
Profit has been a deprecated concept. Technology we have today can automate Maslow's hierarchy of needs for all at global scale.
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Why can't my fridge be powered this way The MMRTG is a cylinder 25" in diameter and 26" high, it's going to seriously impact space in your 'fridge. Plus it weighs nearly 100 lbs. It outputs around 100W of power, which might be enough for a small refrigerator, but it also emits around 2000W of thermal energy, so your kitchen's going to get a little warm (probably a good thing in the winter, not so much in summer). Tho…
According to the below, The Perseverance could potentially give you a dose of 210 milligram in an accident. That’s not as much as I’d have thought, though would make getting the milk from the nuclear fridge a little hazardous. https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/rover/electrical-p...