NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images
361–365 of 365 posts
Re: NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images
#362Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh we're talking real money. JPL will destroy 78 production grade parachutes to find all the ways they can break. There is tremendous energy poured into eliminating risk, because launch is so expensive. As it becomes cheaper, perhaps these measures won't be as necessary.
With Spacex being able to launch a car out beyond the orbit of Mars, is their current capability being considered for future JPL missions? Or is everything waiting on Starship?
Thankfully, SpaceX isn't waiting for anyone. They are in the front with a machete wacking down the limbs leaving a trail for others to follow. Of course SpaceX is standing on the shoulders of those missions that lead the way before, but let's be honest, after Gemini, Mercury, Apollo, Shuttle, everything else has been a bit stagnant. Not taking anything away from all of the probes and rover missions. Those are the only things that make NASA relevant. Finally, we have a space agency actively working on humans in space again.
Re: NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images
#363Earlier quoted context omitted.
With Spacex being able to launch a car out beyond the orbit of Mars, is their current capability being considered for future JPL missions? Or is everything waiting on Starship?
Thankfully, SpaceX isn't waiting for anyone. They are in the front with a machete wacking down the limbs leaving a trail for others to follow. Of course SpaceX is standing on the shoulders of those missions that lead the way before, but let's be honest, after Gemini, Mercury, Apollo, Shuttle, everything else has been a bit stagnant. Not taking anything away from all of the probes and rover missions. Those are the onl…
And it's not like people at JPL are clenching their fists and screaming, "Damn you, Shotwell! Begone, Mueller! SEC eat you, Musk!". NASA is fully on-board with what SpaceX is doing - cutting straight into and reversing the dreaded Space Mission Costs Spiral. They may be cautious now, but eventually, they'll just start putting scientific probes on SpaceX rockets too (and those of competitors). SLS notwithstanding, NASA is happy to outsource launches and focus on bleeding edge missions.
And if SpaceX blazes the trail? Expect more scientific missions to follow, as cheaper and more frequent launches - the Spiral put into reverse - cuts mission costs across the board. NASA will be able to do more cool stuff with their budget. And so will everyone else.
Re: NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images
#364Looking at closeups of the Rover, I cannot help but think: are those screws, nuts and bolts? And if so, why? Why carry the weight or decreased stiffness of or by the notches, slits, threads etc. that makes screws be screwable. To a place where no-one ever will unscrew them?
Because you'd need higher weight in wall thicknesses if using weaker 3D printed aluminum instead of aluminum sheet, bar stock etc. Which actually has a coherent grain.
This presumes the only alternative to "screws and nuts and bolts" is "3dprinting". Which I know to be false.
Re: NASA's Perseverance rover sends stunning images
#365Earlier quoted context omitted.
Plastic recycling done in Asia is the result of incredibly cheap return shipping as most containers come back empty. People who get outraged about it don't understand that due to cheaper wages and energy costs, plus the need for raw feedstock in the manufacturing countries it's actually a really decent system. It's a closed loop where plastic goods are produced in Asia and recyclable plastic returns on the same ship,…
That's the theory. However, in practice plastic recycling waste is contaminated & worthless, so much so that a number of Asian countries including China and Malaysia have banned imports.
> in practice plastic recycling waste is contaminated & worthless
China is still by far the biggest plastic recycler on Earth, and that product is very likely in plenty of things you have bought this week.