Life on Mars

[Gary Stockton]

I always thought that proof of extra-terrestrial life was that they HADN'T been here

 

[Chris]

What exactly do we think an alien visitor would think of us and our 'civilisation'....

I don't know, but if they make it here, it's bound to be in Landcruiser

Chris

 

[Chas]

 

[Rob]

http://www.panoramas.dk/mars/greeley-haven.html

I like the look of that, if only it was a tad less red and add a hint of green it would look like some parts of Mongolia. Certainly felt like we were on Mars when we were exploring it. Wait, maybe that's were they sent it

 

[SpinDrift]

Brilliant for off roading if you ask me. How about organising a club event?

 

[Crispin]

that looks so cool.

I wonder if they sent a brush with the new one so he could clean the other one's solar panels.
I find it interesting that no on thought dust would be a problem on them.

 

[Graham]

What exactly do we think an alien visitor would think of us and our 'civilisation'....

I don't know, but if they make it here, it's bound to be in Landcruiser

Chris

.
OMG,

As long as it's not in an 80, with quad 37 inch super warp driven injected turbo ram jet high compression boosted, with a mark 9, Warn tractor beam fitted, or we'll never hear the end of it.

Gra.

 

[Crispin]

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=2


A collection of images from the rover.

 

[Graham]

Amazing, and very clear as well.

Gra.

 

[Crushers]

what would they think?
seriously?
well, that we are a backward race that contaminate everything. that we are selfish and ignorant of the true world around us. that we have a misinformed feeling that everything on this earth is here for OUR use with no care for other life.

i suspect they would look at us as ants and burn our "anthills" and laugh while we scurry to find cover.

on the other hand they might just sit down and have a brew or two.

yah, it seems to be raining here so the glass is half empty.

 

[Crushers]

i wonder what pics they are not allowing us to see?

 

[Crispin]

I don't think it would be as bad as that? I they would look at us and say "yup, we were like that 11.7 million years ago. Look at them, still walking on two feet. lol lol."
Compare ourselves now to 300 years ago, it's called evolution; I would imagine all species evolve.

 

[Crispin]

i wonder what pics they are not allowing us to see?

I guess if they sent us nothing everyone would be saying "There is something they are hiding" were as flooding the 'net with pics makes us think it's all ok.

 

[Crushers]

ah, a glass half full type of guy, eh?

I don't think it would be as bad as that? I they would look at us and say "yup, we were like that 11.7 million years ago. Look at them, still walking on two feet. lol lol."
Compare ourselves now to 300 years ago, it's called evolution; I would imagine all species evolve.

 

[Crispin]

nooo. My glass cracked and all the optimism leaked out.

 

[Graham]

Still good pics though.
What I can't understand is the way they are needing to "reprogram" the rover, so it can drive.
Going to take then 4 days to reprogram.
Apparently, the rover was programmed to fly and land, but did not have enough memory to drive?
Then I read that the average mobile phone has more memory than the rover.
So guessing the rover has maybe 8 gig? then would it have been so much of a hardship for the US scientists to have given it 16 gig?
Not like it's a weight thing or any thing like that.

Just a thought.

Gra.

 

[BobMurphy]

Even if you sent 1000 people on that sort of journey it wouldn't be long at all until they all started playing dueling banjos

That was sooooo funny, had me cracking-up all day

(Or is it just my sense of humour ).

Bob.

 

[Crispin]

Graham, the computers on-board have limited RAM and can only hold so much code. So they probably break up the different functions so save space.
The current ones on board cost around $200k each (one main, one backup)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_ ... ifications

Computers: The two identical on-board rover computers, called "Rover Compute Element" (RCE), contain radiation hardened memory to tolerate the extreme radiation from space and to safeguard against power-off cycles. Each computer's memory includes 256 kB of EEPROM, 256 MB of DRAM, and 2 GB of flash memory.[23] This compares to 3 MB of EEPROM, 128 MB of DRAM, and 256 MB of flash memory used in the Mars Exploration Rovers.[24]
The RCE computers use the RAD750 CPU, which is a successor to the RAD6000 CPU used in the Mars Exploration Rovers.[25][26] The RAD750 CPU is capable of up to 400 MIPS, while the RAD6000 CPU is capable of up to 35 MIPS.[27][28] Of the two on-board computers, one is configured as backup, and will take over in the event of problems with the main computer.[23]
The rover has an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) that provides 3-axis information on its position, which is used in rover navigation.[23] The rover's computers are constantly self-monitoring to keep the rover operational, such as by regulating the rover's temperature.[23] Activities such as taking pictures, driving, and operating the instruments are performed in a command sequence that is sent from the flight team to the rover.[23] The rover installed its full surface operations software after the landing because its computers didn't have room for it during flight. The new software essentially replaced the flight software.[29]

 

[Graham]

Thanks Crispin.
Good info

Gra.

 

[Chas]

Computer graphics of Mars lander showing landing system.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8509080.stm