Gallery: Landing site chosen for new Mars rover Curiosity

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• Can we please make this next one nuclear powered

  so it can heat itself and run day or night for 10 or more years?

  

  fr_gough

  22 July, 2011 14:25

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  • RE: ...nuclear powered

    @fr_gough
    
    From the caption on image #1: <i>Curiosity will contain a <b>nuclear battery</b> that will allow it to operate more freely that the original Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity.</i>

    

    fatman65535

    22 July, 2011 14:48

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• RE: Gallery: Landing site chosen for new Mars rover Curiosity

  How long do you think it will be before it scouts a location for a Wal-Mart?

  

  venom8

  22 July, 2011 14:31

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  • RE: ...before it scouts a location for a Wal-Mart?

    @venom8
    
    Good question?!
    
    But, considering Wally-world's <i>low price</i> mantra; the shipping costs will kill the business model.
    
    (satire)
    At least on Mars, they will not have to worry about appeasing local governments concerning siting issues!
    (/satire)

    

    fatman65535

    22 July, 2011 14:51

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• Totally missing the point

  There is an alien figure carved into the mountain. Can't you see it: head; neck; shoulders; arms; legs..... hellooooo

  

  deepee912

  26 July, 2011 08:32

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• RE: Gallery: Landing site chosen for new Mars rover Curiosity

  I can't help but note that, when the scientists associated with Mars rovers are chattering on tv, they consistantly mention the polar regions as most likely to have capability to sustain little green men. I can't speak to the priorities of the program, but isn't a search for life among them?
  The pictured landing site seems to be likely to produce a fairly redundant series of red-tinged photos of pebbles and boulders and not much else. Still, they're the experts....

  

  iouzero

  26 July, 2011 08:57

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  • Search for life == search for water (now or long ago)

    @iouzero
    The Phoenix Mars Lander was sent to the Northern arctic region of Mars in 2008. It did find some intriguing results, but it is basically far too cold for liquid water to have been present for significant periods of time. If life arose, it would likely have not started there. On the other hand, there may be water under sufficient pressure under the polar caps to liquify, and if life formed on Mars, remnants may have migrated there. Unfortunately, that water is currently too difficult to reach. (It's costing billions of dollars just to send something the size of an SUV to Mars; try to imagine sending an oil-rig.)
    
    Curiousity is being sent to a place that shows signs of having once had water for a significantly long period of time. If life did exist, it would leave chemical evidence (and hopefully fossils!) in the rocks and soil. What makes the landing location particularly interesting is the deep crater and a large mountain. Rather than try to dig through eons of geologic evidence, some meteorite was able to do all the backbreaking labor for us, digging down and prying up millenia of rock strata, right to the surface where Curiousity can easily get at it.

    

    JJMach

    26 July, 2011 09:28

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