Mars Rover freed from sand dune

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/spa....ap/index.html

Sounds like a solution from the 1960s would be a
better bet for the next Mars rovers:

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/lunrworm.htm

On 6 Jun 2005 02:04:36 -0700, wrote:

Sounds like a solution from the 1960s would be a
better bet for the next Mars rovers:

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/lunrworm.htm

Trouble is, you'd have to make it operate like a sidewinder
rattlesnake in order to negotiate sand dunes.
-Rich

On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 01:48:45 -0400, RichA wrote:

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/spa....ap/index.html

These little guys have definitely 'paid' for themselves AND made up
for the two losses in 1999. They seem to be unstoppable, they've
written/rewritten whole chapters of Mars science and history. This is
NASA/JPL at it's best!

Sadly NASA doesn't do the obvious (especially in it's current fiscal
situation) and start mass-producing them, one pair for each successive
opposition...all the R&D has been paid for for pity's sake! Making
new ones should be relatively cheap, maybe a few hundred million each.
How much will the one-shot Mars laboratory cost? Probably the
equivalent of 10 of these little guys. Sad. I'd love to see one of
them land in the middle of Valles Marineris or try to land one down in
the caldera of one of the volcanoes (unfortunately I think Olympus
Mons' caldera is too high; not enough atmosphere to brake with).

-Drew