331–340 of 360 posts
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Apollo landers had human brains operating them. We're not quite there yet with technology.
Surveyor and other probes have landed autonomously in the years leading up to Apollo, and after it as well. We definitely do have the technology, but having not used it for a couple decades, we've gone a bit rusty with it.
These 2 failures could have been easily avoidable both times. I really wish there was a push in the US government to create and stockpile plutonium-238 and ensure it's readily available, subsidized, and offered for all US probes/rovers/other scientific instruments in space (whether it be for NASA's use who currently has to ration because of how little they have left, or for private use after approval). Like, why aren…
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Especially never invade the part of Russia that's in Asia, in winter.
The thing about the more generalized form is that on most of the cases people remember, the invasion started on spring or summer.
Not being critical here, just a question from my curious naivety (lunar exploration is hard): these landers seem spindly and unforgiving, landing-wise. Are there bouncy ball type craft that could be made, or something that can reorient or push itself up after landing? I have a vague memory of something like that being used on Mars.
Yep, most of the previous Mars rover prior to Curiosity did it this way. They had a number of balloons surrounding the rover and landed and bounced along the surface. Then the balloons were deflated in a particular order so the rover ended up the right way up. But for these there was some atmosphere to slow the descent with a parachute and balloons. But for landing on the moon you need the thrusters to slow you down…
Wonder if it would be feasible/worth it to design something to land next to it and tip it upright.
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For (1): except, of course, if you’re the Mongol army. They preferred attacking in the winter (swamps and rivers are frozen so easily passable). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_invasion_of_Kievan_Ru...
I think the fact that they were coming out of rather than heading into the steppe was a major factor.
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Placing movable type and perfecting layouts could be quite a cathartic and engrossing game...
I have honestly never heard of movable type on the web or is it all movable, rather than carthartic it's confusing.
Kind of passed over in the discussion of the science and toppling - but did they give any idea why it landed 250 miles from its intended landing site? Seems like a really large error?
These 2 failures could have been easily avoidable both times. I really wish there was a push in the US government to create and stockpile plutonium-238 and ensure it's readily available, subsidized, and offered for all US probes/rovers/other scientific instruments in space (whether it be for NASA's use who currently has to ration because of how little they have left, or for private use after approval). Like, why aren…
One reason all space scientific instruments are not powered by RTGs is that prior to each launch NASA has to run a very involved and time-consuming risk analysis program to determine just how much of the state of Florida becomes uninhabitable for the next 10,000 years if the rocket blows up on the launch pad. I used to conduct said risk analysis.
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A rational reference, but there are no hard and fast rules. Perhaps more importantly, in well written English superfluous words are removed - thus 'private robotic spacecraft' becomes 'private spacecraft', since all spacecraft are by definition at least partly autonomous.
In the domain of moon spacecraft particularly, doesn’t there remain a clear distinction to be drawn between manned and unmanned spacecraft, given the power of the “man on the moon” trope in English-speakers’ imagination? “Private spacecraft tips over on moon” would mean something rather different if a modern-day Neil Armstrong were inside at the time. If anything, the fact that it’s just a machine matters more to me…