Martian Target Practice

[JOES66FURY]

I am not a fan of space exploration. To me it is non-value added, but I have to admit, Curiosity has got its hooks in me...

Guess they blasted a rock with a "laser"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48719169/ns/technology_and_science-space/?__utma=14933801.421262373.1344456872.1345480942.1345485343.12&__utmb=14933801.9.10.1345485343&__utmc=14933801&__utmx=-&__utmz=14933801.1344456872.1.1.utmcsr=(direct)|utmccn=(direct)|utmcmd=(none)&__utmv=14933801.|8=Earned%20By=msnbc%7Ccover=1^12=Landing%20Content=Mixed=1^13=Landing%20Hostname=www.nbcnews.com=1^30=Visit%20Type%20to%20Content=Earned%20to%20Mixed=1&__utmk=149133750

[Barry Donovan]

so they can determine density?

plain old iron like earth would excite them no doubt.

[pdub]

The comments at the bottom of that story are pretty good.

[DanStokes]

That has to be the most expensive gravel EVER. (I'm imagining the rock blown to bits).

Dan

[BigBlockMopar]

...

[tedly]

I love this stuff. It's like the human race is at the toddler stage, just starting to explore more than our immediate surroundings.

[oldsman496]

actually - they aren't blowing the rock to bits....they are burning it. and the smoke it produces is photographed by a very sophisticated device which analyzes the different light in the smoke and that tells them EXACTLY what the rock was made of... its called ChemCam and it almost didn't make it onto Curiosity. but its gonna be a really great tool for letting us know what mars is made of. I think the coolest thing about this rover is that its powered by about 22 lbs of enriched Plutonium... the Plutonium gets hot and generates electricity for all the rover's functions. This hotrod has the chance to live on mars for maybe 5 yrs or more.. its designed for one mars year or a little over two years here on earth, but considering that the previous rovers were designed for 90 days and one of them is still cruising around ...!... its been roving for EIGHT yrs now... pretty dang good engineering, i'd say...

honestly, i think they are lookin' for fossils....i hope they find 'em.............

[pdub]

Mike, you could have actually saved the taxpayers a shitpot full of money by just sending one of your own photos to NASA.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Is this what our space program has come to? shooting rocks with lasers? I hate to break this to them, but mars is made up of stuff.

.... and all along I thought Pdub was more a rock then a fossil.... see what you can learn on BS?

[oldsman496]

Thanks PeeWee...

but if they find dead fossilized martians... it would rock the world. so many folks just take it for granted that , yes , there is life elsewhere in the universe... but truthfully.... we REALLY don't know... we may very well be all alone in this big big place we call home.

[pdub]

Is this what our space program has come to? shooting rocks with lasers? I hate to break this to them, but mars is made up of stuff.

.... and all along I thought Pdub was more a rock then a fossil.... see what you can learn on BS?

Fossils ARE a rock, so....but..

[pdub]

Thanks PeeWee...

but if they find dead fossilized martians... it would rock the world. so many folks just take it for granted that , yes , there is life elsewhere in the universe... but truthfully.... we REALLY don't know... we may very well be all alone in this big big place we call home.

One or two or both marriages ago, I was completely alone in a "home" with supposedly another human in the "home" but the layout wasn't physically as big as the whole universe or even the solar system. A little house, both times.

But actually, both of those social experiments together in the end were probably more expensive money-wise than the nuclear-powered Mars rover, so all is finally well with the world as we know it. But from it all, I'll bet I learned more that I can use later in life than NASA ever will.

[Thumpin455]

[oldsman496]

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/19aug_curiosity3/

cool article.

[DanStokes]

I know they aren't REALLY making Martian gravel but that was the mental picture I got at first thought.

Dan