# When will the new mars rover start doing interesting things? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643 "2012-08-06T18:58:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/41 "2012-08-08T04:37:53Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > Related… A pretty good breakdown: [Why Do the Mars Rover’s Images Look So Bad?](http://gizmodo.com/5932521/why-do-the-mars-rovers-images-look-so-bad) Thanks for the link > [@aceplace57](#): > > Interesting development. > [http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/08/07/article-0-146D5F6B000005DC-954\_634x462.jpg](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/08/07/article-0-146D5F6B000005DC-954_634x462.jpg) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/42 "2012-08-08T15:30:59Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Is there a version of that in English? A sol is a solar day on Mars - it’s 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds. So on the 5th Martian day (which is just over 5 days on Earth) they’ll start the science. They’ll be using two Martian days to do computer checkouts on the primary computer and two on the secondary. I remember that the time shift was an issue for the other Rovers, which only ran during the day on Mars (solar powered). So after every day the “work shift” shifted by about a half an hour. Made the work schedule rather interesting for the folks running the rovers. I think this one can function day and night, but I’m sure daytime (on Mars) is better for a lot of reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/43 "2012-08-08T15:39:07Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Interesting development. > [http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/08/07/article-0-146D5F6B000005DC-954\_634x462.jpg](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/08/07/article-0-146D5F6B000005DC-954_634x462.jpg) > > [http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/08/07/article-0-146D5F6F000005DC-5\_634x568.jpg](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/08/07/article-0-146D5F6F000005DC-5_634x568.jpg) > > Interesting & Exciting. 😉 [And this one](http://graphicjoke.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/mars-curiosity.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/44 "2012-08-08T17:48:27Z")
Is it outside the realm of possibility to send something up there that can come back? With, say, a few kilograms of Martian rocks? Sent from my SGH-i677 using Board Express ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/45 "2012-08-08T17:50:51Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Is it outside the realm of possibility to send something up there that can come back? With, say, a few kilograms of Martian rocks? It’s not out of the realm of possibility, and several sample return missions have been proposed. It’s just so far been too expensive to be picked when missions were selected. Might happen in the next decade, depending on how much budget planetary explanation gets. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/46 "2012-08-08T21:49:46Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > When will the new mars rover start doing interesting things? Oh, about 8 months ago. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/47 "2012-08-08T22:27:28Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > I thought you meant sodomize and murder Opportunity… Dunno about any murdering, but I assume that the sodomy angle will explored as part of next year’s mission: Bi-Curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/48 "2012-08-08T23:46:45Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Dunno about any murdering, but I assume that the sodomy angle will explored as part of next year’s mission: Bi-Curiosity. I dunno, I hear Mars’ bigger moon is real homophobus. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/49 "2012-08-09T09:20:12Z")
So, I get why the Wolf trap didn’t make the cut for the very first rover, but it seems like a pretty easy, cheap, and effective test to have gotten around to including. Why hasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/50 "2012-08-09T11:27:17Z")
what was or is the wolf trap? googling wolf trap mars rover isn’t finding anything ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/51 "2012-08-09T12:06:30Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > what was or is the wolf trap? googling wolf trap mars rover isn’t finding anything > **[Wolf V. Vishniac](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_V._Vishniac)** > > Wolf Vladimir Vishniac (April 22, 1922 – December 10, 1973) was an American microbiologist. He was the son of photographer Roman Vishniac and the father of astronomer Ethan Vishniac. Educated at Brooklyn College and Stanford University, he was a professor of biology at the University of Rochester. He died on a research trip to the Antarctic attempting to retrieve equipment in a crevasse. The crater Vishniac on Mars is named in his honor. > Wolf Vishniac contributed greatly to the search for life o... ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/52 "2012-08-09T22:52:48Z")
Basically a super culture medium that things love to grow in. I believe it was used in Antartica to discover previously unknown and hard to find microorganisms. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/53 "2012-08-11T04:34:37Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > [Wolf V. Vishniac - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_V._Vishniac) I was expecting an article on a court case. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/54 "2012-08-12T23:53:54Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Basically a super culture medium that things love to grow in. I believe it was used in Antartica to discover previously unknown and hard to find microorganisms. Now that makes sense. I assume you just keep sprinkling dust or samples over time on it and see what happens. The concept has been around since Viking 1, why hasn’t this been on any of the rovers or landers yet? ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/55 "2012-08-13T09:26:26Z")
The primary focus for Curiosity is repeatable geology and geochemistry, focussing on “following the water”. The instruments on Curiosity are designed with this goal in mind. Tests like the Wolf trap are one-shots, and can produce ambiguous results (as Viking 1 showed). There just is not the payback in terms of experiment mass. Some of the analysis equipment can detect complex carbon compound that may indicate life, and the Isotope analysis experiment will determine Carbon Isotope ratios (which vary on earth due to the presence of life). These results will give pointers, but not definitive results. Also, if NASA equipped Curiosity with specific “search for life” experiments, then the whole mission becomes about that one goal (_is there life on Mars?_) - and the consequences of not detecting anything (or an ambiguous result) would be the immediate association of the mission with failure in the public mind, and the inevitable loss of funding for the ongoing geological research, which Curiosity can hopefully sustain for many years. Far better for Curiosity to create a picture of the geohistory of Mars, identify the hydrological environment, maybe point out the features that could indicate life or the remains thereof, and still be successful with it’s primary mission in the ongoing public perception. Si ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/56 "2012-08-14T02:24:39Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > Also, if NASA equipped Curiosity with specific “search for life” experiments, then the whole mission becomes about that one goal (_is there life on Mars?_) - and the consequences of not detecting anything (or an ambiguous result) would be the immediate association of the mission with failure in the public mind, and the inevitable loss of funding for the ongoing geological research, which Curiosity can hopefully sustain for many years. I don’t think Curiosity needs to try to do too much, but it seems like it’s been a long time since we had a Mars probe really focus on the issue. ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/57 "2012-08-14T02:33:55Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I don’t think Curiosity needs to try to do too much, but it seems like it’s been a long time since we had a Mars probe really focus on the issue. One of the lessons from Viking is that attempting a ‘life detector’ experiment without first have a really good understanding of the soil chemistry can give you inconclusive results. Thus, Curiosity has a set of tools for getting a really good idea of exactly what the surface of mars is made of. Once we have a better idea of exactly what the surface chemistry is, we can design a better experiment for detecting life in it. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/58 "2012-08-29T03:37:32Z")
Curiosity has transmitted [the first song from Mars](http://news.discovery.com/space/curiosity-transmits-new-william-song-from-mars-120828.html) (will.i.am’s “Reach for the Stars”). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/59 "2012-08-29T04:23:50Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Curiosity has transmitted [the first song from Mars](http://news.discovery.com/space/curiosity-transmits-new-william-song-from-mars-120828.html) (will.i.am’s “Reach for the Stars”). As well, BBC TV just reported that Curiosity has already transmitted back more information than all the other probes combined. ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643/60 "2012-08-29T13:37:50Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > As well, BBC TV just reported that Curiosity has already transmitted back more information than all the other probes combined. BBC is not being quite correct. Curiosity has transmitted more data than all previous probes had after being on the surface for the same amount of time. It hasn’t yet transmitted more data than all previous probes has during their entire time on mars. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-new-mars-rover-start-doing-interesting-things/630643.md?page=4)