Oh, yeah! That hole is definitely worth getting a good look at.
Mystery Rock appears in front of Mars rover Opportunity
- Thread starter DarthTom
- Start date
Oh, yeah! That hole is definitely worth getting a good look at.
I'd like to see a simulation that shows the position of this body with respect to the rover--a top view showing the relationship to any attachment points. It could be that part of the backshell might have overheated into a dollup of slag that fell on the rover and was later dislodged.
That or its a Jammie Dodger.
That or its a Jammie Dodger.
Maybe Patrick Stewart can impersonate the Mystery Rock and answer William Shatner under a bridge?
on this old picture taken by Curiosity, you can see a lot of these ring-shaped rock structures at the left.
LOL you beat me! I was just going to post the same. Great minds, apparently 
Clearly evidence of a coverup!
They drove the wheel over the rock deliberately.
Oh boy. Wonder how much time & money they wasted on ''solving'' this ''mystery''.
More concerning is the fact that the wheels are suffering. This thing isn't really all that much larger than the MER-bots like Spirit and Opp'
A little history of the design:
In section seven of the report, Donna Pivirotto, MRSR Rover manager at JPL, reported that the Pre-Phase A Rover design was based on the “Bickler Pantograph,” a single-cab system with a complex articulated frame and six one-meter-diameter wheels. The design, developed by JPL’s Donald Bickler, would be capable of climbing a 1.5-meter vertical step, could span a crevice 1.5 meters wide, and could tip 45° without falling over. The Bickler Pantograph would become the basis for the mobility system on the 1997 Sojourner minirover, the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, and the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity.
Larger rovers were actually what was wanted--as per the quote from the article below: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/02/mars-roversample-return-pre-phase-1988/
Pivirotto lamented that “large ‘Godzilla’ rovers which simply roll over all obstacles would be precluded by launch vehicle mass and volume constraints.”
No longer---Godzilla roars for an SLS ride below...
Cartoon of “Godzilla Rover” from Donna Pivirotto Papers, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Archives.
Falcon Heavy has a payload shroud no better than the two Titan IV's this scheme required. It has better mass--but not volume.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/03/footsteps-mars-1993/
A little history of the design:
In section seven of the report, Donna Pivirotto, MRSR Rover manager at JPL, reported that the Pre-Phase A Rover design was based on the “Bickler Pantograph,” a single-cab system with a complex articulated frame and six one-meter-diameter wheels. The design, developed by JPL’s Donald Bickler, would be capable of climbing a 1.5-meter vertical step, could span a crevice 1.5 meters wide, and could tip 45° without falling over. The Bickler Pantograph would become the basis for the mobility system on the 1997 Sojourner minirover, the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, and the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity.
Larger rovers were actually what was wanted--as per the quote from the article below: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/02/mars-roversample-return-pre-phase-1988/
Pivirotto lamented that “large ‘Godzilla’ rovers which simply roll over all obstacles would be precluded by launch vehicle mass and volume constraints.”
No longer---Godzilla roars for an SLS ride below...
Cartoon of “Godzilla Rover” from Donna Pivirotto Papers, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Archives.Falcon Heavy has a payload shroud no better than the two Titan IV's this scheme required. It has better mass--but not volume.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/03/footsteps-mars-1993/
None.
Probably much less than it was cumulatively wasted by people berating NASA on the Internet for doing what they went there to do in the first place, and calling investigation of rocks – a huge part of their scientific mission – a waste of time and money.
Yeah, the guys at NASA are definitely shaking in terror, questioning their life goals, because I made that post on a Star Trek nerd board. I feel so powerful now.
Stupid stuff like this wastes time and money as well.
That hook came from the NASA announcement about the finding where NASA refers to it as having the appearance of a jelly donut.
Maybe they meant it looks like a jelly donut run over by a rover.
Might I suggest attacking its weak spot for Massive Damage™.