Spirit Condition Upgraded as Twin Rover Nears Mars

"Jason Clayton" wrote in message
om...
So the method they used is 3/3, I say we land everything on Mars that way.
Forget those totally rocket controlled descents, this bouncing ball method
is proven. I can't wait until we start bring some samples back and maybe
doing some seismic stuff.

Jason


That'd not a valid line of thought. Air bags appear work very well for
landing zones that are flat and relatively clear of pointy things. If you
want to land in a place with more interesting topography, bags may not be
the best answer.

I guess it would be a problem in a canyon, although if we are able to bring
the costs down to where we can send numerous rovers, then we could risk
having the rover land in a canyon with a relatively wide valley floor.

Another thing, I have seen some incredibly high resolution sat. images and I
am sure the CIA folks have even better stuff. Why don't we have that kind
of resolution from our orbiting spacecraft there? I know we spend enough
money on them to have the best stuff.

"Dosco Jones" wrote in message
link.net...

"Jason Clayton" wrote in message
om...
So the method they used is 3/3, I say we land everything on Mars that
way.
Forget those totally rocket controlled descents, this bouncing ball
method
is proven. I can't wait until we start bring some samples back and
maybe
doing some seismic stuff.

Jason


That'd not a valid line of thought. Air bags appear work very well for
landing zones that are flat and relatively clear of pointy things. If you
want to land in a place with more interesting topography, bags may not be
the best answer.

"Jason Clayton" wrote in message
news
I guess it would be a problem in a canyon, although if we are able to
bring
the costs down to where we can send numerous rovers, then we could risk
having the rover land in a canyon with a relatively wide valley floor.

Another thing, I have seen some incredibly high resolution sat. images and
I
am sure the CIA folks have even better stuff. Why don't we have that kind
of resolution from our orbiting spacecraft there? I know we spend enough
money on them to have the best stuff.

"Dosco Jones" wrote in message
link.net...

"Jason Clayton" wrote in message
om...
So the method they used is 3/3, I say we land everything on Mars that
way.
Forget those totally rocket controlled descents, this bouncing ball
method
is proven. I can't wait until we start bring some samples back and
maybe
doing some seismic stuff.

Jason


That'd not a valid line of thought. Air bags appear work very well for
landing zones that are flat and relatively clear of pointy things. If
you
want to land in a place with more interesting topography, bags may not
be
the best answer.

"Jason Clayton" wrote in message
news
Another thing, I have seen some incredibly high resolution sat. images and
I
am sure the CIA folks have even better stuff. Why don't we have that kind
of resolution from our orbiting spacecraft there? I know we spend enough
money on them to have the best stuff.


One significant limitation is size. One of our best orbital intelligence
assets is the Advanced KH-11 "Crystal" type spysat. It's roughly 50 feet
long by 15 feet in diameter, with a dry weight of ten metric tons. Keyhole
has a primary mirror that is at least 7.5 feet in diameter with a best guess
ground target resolution of 10 to 12 centimeters.

Think of it as a Hubble Space Telescope with a maneuvering rocket stuck on
one end. Getting a package the size of Hubble to Mars isn't something we
can easily do right now.


Dosco

"Jason Clayton" wrote in message
news
Another thing, I have seen some incredibly high resolution sat. images and
I
am sure the CIA folks have even better stuff. Why don't we have that kind
of resolution from our orbiting spacecraft there? I know we spend enough
money on them to have the best stuff.

Spysats tend to be about the size of a school bus. Much too heavy and
large to send to Mars with the launch capablilities and budgets we now
have or will have for such things in the forseeable future.

Carsten

"Carsten" wrote in message
...
Carsten



We aim to please.

On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 13:59:48 -0500, "George" carved in
granite...


"Carsten" wrote in message
k...
Carsten



We aim to please.

You aim too, please.
Carl

--
"Volunteer emergency personel are like toilet paper- no one realizes how valuable they are until they're needed." -- Coalbunny


-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

(Coalbunny) wrote in message ...
On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 13:59:48 -0500, "George" carved in
granite...


"Carsten" wrote in message
k...
Carsten



We aim to please.

You aim too, please.
Carl

You have to say it's a far hike with a shovel. Especially when we
don't even know what goes on on this dungheap. There's an awww...ful
lot of people would like to see that money spent on better education
(generally). Especially if we're to believe the figures on literacy
etc... Which side of the balance has the most prestige? And who
foots the bill for it?

"George" wrote in message . ..
"Carsten" wrote in message
...
Carsten



We aim to please.

Ah, George, George, ...George, ... ' Who ?'