# NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [November 26, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144 "2011-11-26T14:35:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 14
### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/261 "2012-08-06T19:59:06Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> Werner von Braun wanted to send six ships to Mars, to provide help and rescu should the need arise.
> I presume a very large tanker will go, the problem is getting it down there.
> Some suggestions have been to send the return vehicle, fuel and supplies first, so the guys who get there have food and gas for sure.
Here’s what I’d love to see if/when preparing to set up for an indefinite human martian presence:
Start with foundational design principles, like:
• Everything is a “pod.”
• All pods have designations: Resources (water, atmosphere, food, etc.); Supplies (medicine, tools, batteries, wiring etc); Materials (building materials, nuts and bolts, replacement parts, electronics, and of course, duct tape); Fuels; Shelter; Automation; Missions; Labs; etc.
• All pods are standardized in shape and size; modules that can fit snugly together – including conduits for electrical, ventilation, pipes, and what have you – wherever needed, which can scale up to meet any capacity.
Hexagonal would probably be ideal, like a huge, Martian version of Settler’s of Catan — a modular approach would allow efficient design, coordination, and an almost “assembly line” like approach to bringing the entire venture into fruition.
• Automated robotic guys like Curiosity could do a lot of the gathering and assembly before anyone ever got there.
• Over the course of 10—15 years, we’d keep shunting as many of these modules we could, or need, to a specific, predetermined area (any spoilables or sensitive items would be sent last in line), while designing and building the manned vehicle.
• Once we arrive, we rotate out personnel along with supplies and what have you, as it makes sense to do so.
Yay Mars!
---
### Author:  [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/262 "2012-08-06T21:48:01Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#):
>
> [Here](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20120803.html) are some facts.
Hmm.. 2MP? so a good bit worse than a decent webcam.
---
### Author:  [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/263 "2012-08-06T22:23:24Z")
> [@cmyk](#):
>
> Well, holy crap. Congratulations to you and your team, I could feel the exhilaration from here. Can’t imagine the elation.
>
> But tell me, did you have the SDMB up on your monitor? 😉
Thanks! I’m still just totally floored. Seriously. Rocket-powered autonomous robotic winch-copters. Like, that’s the most rock-and-roll amazing Rube Goldberg machine ever _and it worked_. The EDL team did an amazing job. And now… I have a robot on Mars to give me data for my research, duties to help operate it, and the opportunity to help guide its mission over the next years. The little boy I once was couldn’t even have daydreamed this. 😃
I did, in fact, have this thread open in a tab. But I wasn’t in that room with all the baby-blue-shirted controllers, and I was too busy to check the boards 😉
---
### Author:  [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/264 "2012-08-06T23:32:43Z")
> [@wolfstu](#):
>
> Thanks! I’m still just totally floored. Seriously. Rocket-powered autonomous robotic winch-copters. Like, that’s the most rock-and-roll amazing Rube Goldberg machine ever _and it worked_. The EDL team did an amazing job. And now… I have a robot on Mars to give me data for my research, duties to help operate it, and the opportunity to help guide its mission over the next years. The little boy I once was couldn’t even have daydreamed this. 😃
>
> I did, in fact, have this thread open in a tab. But I wasn’t in that room with all the baby-blue-shirted controllers, and I was too busy to check the boards 😉
Very very cool.
…Can you make it spell SDMB in the dirt? With the tire tracks or something?
Seriously, that’s fantastic to be a part of that.
---
### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/265 "2012-08-06T23:53:47Z")
An [image sequence video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcGMDXy-Y1I) of the Curiosity’s descent to Mars.
---
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/266 "2012-08-07T00:09:18Z")
> [@Bumbershoot](#):
>
> …Can you make it spell SDMB in the dirt?
No, no, no.
**CECIL**
---
### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/267 "2012-08-07T00:23:03Z")
> [@Bumbershoot](#):
>
> Very very cool.
>
> …Can you make it spell SDMB in the dirt? With the tire tracks or something?
>
> Seriously, that’s fantastic to be a part of that.
> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> No, no, no.
>
> **CECIL**
Screw you guys! Can you make the laser burn “cmyk wasn’t here” into a rock face?
---
### Author:  [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/268 "2012-08-07T00:24:06Z")
Or, given its knowledge-seeking scientific mission, how about
**CITE?**
---
### Author:  [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/269 "2012-08-07T00:33:28Z")
> [@gunnergoz](#):
>
> That’s funny - the science source I heard from NASA was saying that this “skycrane” was not a feasible way to land packages that were heavier than Curiosity and that they were still looking for some practical means to land really heavy packages, i.e. manned landers.
Unless I’m mistaken, the only reason to use the skycrane was to prevent dust kicked up by the thrusters from blanketing the rover. If there were humans on board, preventing the dust wouldn’t be such a priority, so the skycrane approach wouldn’t be necessary.
---
### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/270 "2012-08-07T00:38:19Z")
I don’t get the impression at all thats the ONLY reason. You can make a good engineering arguement that it is ALSO the most mass efficient and/or safest method to do so. More mass bang for the buck and safer basically. Look up other threads on the Dope for discussions about it. For one thing apparently the air bag method won’t scale up. They noted that some payload dead WEIGHTS weighed more than some of the previous rovers!
Though I suspect you are right and by the time you get up to a big assed manned lander something like the Apollo lunar landers are the way to go.
---
### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/271 "2012-08-07T00:40:25Z")
> [@wolfstu](#):
>
> Thanks! I’m still just totally floored. Seriously. Rocket-powered autonomous robotic winch-copters. Like, that’s the most rock-and-roll amazing Rube Goldberg machine ever _and it worked_. The EDL team did an amazing job. And now… I have a robot on Mars to give me data for my research, duties to help operate it, and the opportunity to help guide its mission over the next years. The little boy I once was couldn’t even have daydreamed this. 😃
>
> I did, in fact, have this thread open in a tab. But I wasn’t in that room with all the baby-blue-shirted controllers, and I was too busy to check the boards 😉
Well, shoot, speaking of Rube Goldberg, [this should be your theme song!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w&feature=youtube_gdata_player) (see time 2:09, especially)
---
### Author:  [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/272 "2012-08-07T01:39:24Z")
Today’s [xkcd strip](http://xkcd.com/1091/) summed up my day.
:o (yawn)
I only got about 3 hours of sleep last night.
---
### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/273 "2012-08-07T01:42:09Z")
> [@robby](#):
>
> Today’s [xkcd strip](http://xkcd.com/1091/) summed up my day.
>
> :o (yawn)
>
> I only got about 3 hours of sleep last night.
I actually almost did use that as an excuse. But thought better of it.
---
### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/274 "2012-08-08T14:46:52Z")
> [@voltaire](#):
>
> Unless I’m mistaken, the only reason to use the skycrane was to prevent dust kicked up by the thrusters from blanketing the rover. If there were humans on board, preventing the dust wouldn’t be such a priority, so the skycrane approach wouldn’t be necessary.
The moon & Mars are significantly different. Mars has a lot more gravity and atmosphere and yet not enough to fly around like on Earth.
---
### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/275 "2012-08-08T17:33:48Z")
> [@robby](#):
>
> Today’s [xkcd strip](http://xkcd.com/1091/) summed up my day.
>
> :o (yawn)
>
> I only got about 3 hours of sleep last night.
Ha! My wife laughed at that cartoon. She knows I fell asleep around 2 AM two nights ago – the landing happened around 12:30 local time, but I was too jazzed up by the whole thing to sleep right away.
---
### Author:  [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/276 "2012-08-10T03:51:46Z")
> [@cmyk](#):
>
> Well, shoot, speaking of Rube Goldberg, [this should be your theme song!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w&feature=youtube_gdata_player) (see time 2:09, especially)
Heh, that’s fun. So far so good with the rover! I’ve been away from the internet the last few days with terrestrial field research (I’ve got other things to do besides support MSL).
---
### Author:  [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2012, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/277 "2012-08-10T08:32:46Z")
[360-degree color panoramic mosaic photograph of Gale Crater taken by Curiosity.](http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/675227main_pia16029-full_full.jpg)
The NASA site says that some of the gray splotches on the ground near the rover are the result of the descent stage’s rockets blasting the ground.
Not the most interesting picture visually, but it’s from freakin’ Mars! Very cool!
---
### Author:  [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/278 "2012-08-10T13:46:55Z")
[CNN.com](http://CNN.com) has quite a few photographs Curiosity has taken…fucking sweet!
> **[Mars panorama shows Curiosity's prime target | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2012/08/09/us/mars-curiosity/index.html)**
>
> Mars rover Curiosity beamed back a sweeping color panorama of a rocky, reddish desert and the mountain it will explore in coming months.
---
### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/279 "2012-08-18T17:30:06Z")
_I’m firing my laser!!!_
[Mars Rover to Test Rock-Zapping Laser, 1st Drive Set | Space](http://www.space.com/17164-mars-rover-curiosity-laser-big-drive.html)?
> [@](#):
>
> NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity is slated to fire its rock-vaporizing laser for the first time this weekend, shortly before the 1-ton robot’s maiden drive on the Red Planet.
>
> Scientists plan to blast a Martian rock called N165 with Curiosity’s laser, which is part of the rover’s remote-sampling ChemCam instrument. The 3-inch-wide (7.6 centimeters) stone sits just 9 feet (2.7 meters) from Curiosity, well within ChemCam’s 25-foot (7.6 m) range, scientists said.
---
### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/280 "2012-08-20T02:47:55Z")
Wow, it’s got a blaster that can vaporize rocks! Why didn’t we use these in Iraq???
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