Rover spots 'possibly artificial' MYSTERY SHINY OBJECT on Mars
Martian nuclear tank Curiosity has spotted a bright metallic-looking object sparkling on the planet's surface as it went in for its first soil sample, which could be a piece of the robot rover itself. Curiosity's first scoop also shows bright object The rover was scooping sand for the first time with its robotic arm when its …
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This is what you get for outsourcing robot construction to Whirlpool.
Mmmm
My money would be on explosive bolt debris from the landing which got hung on on the rover and has just fallen off during the scoop process.
Re: Mmmm
"My money would be on explosive bolt debris from the landing which got hung on on the rover and has just fallen off during the scoop process."
More than likely. Or some debris that was blasted this far when it landed.
Re: Mmmm
You mean the explosive bolts that were not used anywhere in the descent mechanism which has been extensively described in any number of sources?
Re: Mmmm
My money ... would be on a typical US contractor build: bits drop off everywhere.
You dodged a lawsuit there over a keyboard.... luckily, I can rinse this one out...
;)
Sounds like you have experience of rinsing out keyboards....got your own cubical where you work have you?
:-)
Nope. Do some work in what amounts to a tropical rain forest, things get wet, even my badass Elitebook.
;)
Is it just me
Or does it look like there are bits of wire on Curiosity that are twisted together, insulated with Sellotape and zip-tied down?
Re: Is it just me
There are certainly some braided cables. Can't tell if its Sellotape, or some other transparent thin film.... Like-wise, can't tell if there are zip-ties, or something else performing the same function. Zip-ties were originally developed for holding cable looms in aircraft, so wouldn't be too out of place here- even of if most of us encounter them in dusty bag in the garage.
Re: Is it just me
Would be Nasatape (TM?), not Sellotape. The glue on the regular stuff would freeze.
Re: Is it just me
Yup, simple ties using simple knots.
I read an article somewhere about how the loyal order of knotologists were happy that the simplest knot was being used on something so advanced; and then the article went into detail about how this particular knot would spread out the pressure across a larger area, compared to other knots.
Ah, here we go: http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=4028.0
Oh, and it was the International Guild of Knot Tyers :-)
Re: Is it just me
Stumbling upon these dusty corners of the internet makes me remember what a wonderful thing it really is :)
Re: Is it just me
Probably Kapton with its distinctive yellow/gold colour, rather neat stuff for working with electronics as it doesn't melt when touched with a soldering iron and the stickytape version doesn't leave residue when peeled off.
Re: Is it just me
And to think, only just a few years ago, the whole internet was green fields and boundless meadows, interspersed with gems like this in dusty corners. But alas, now it's all been concreted and paved over by the likes of Amazon, Google and Facebook.
Re: Is it just me
C'mon lyrictards, can we have a verson of Big Yellow Taxi?
Look sir! Droids!
Pretty sure we can safely identify the source of this mystery piece of metal...
In our dreams. :)
Though it would be lovely. Now where's my tinfoil hat?
Re: In our dreams. :)
buried in a few inches of Martian 'soil', it would appear.
Is it that mysterious?
Curiosity had a complex multistage landing involving heatshields, parachutes, explosive bolts, landing engines, with various separations and jettisons en route. It wouldn't be surprising at all for bits of foil and other junk to be scattered all over the vicinity.
Re: Is it that mysterious?
No, not really that mysterious. Yes, it probably is from the craft or the landing as it's presently only about 500m away from the landing zone.
From NASA's own press release it's more a case of stopping the soil sampling while they work out if it's going to have any impact on the results.
However, "Oh my God! Aliens!" gets more page views*.
* Having said that, the Register is being a lot more sombre about it than some news sources.
Hi-Res image
here http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/694811main_pia16225-43_full.jpg
looks like dirt in the sensor to me.
Re: Hi-Res image
Not dirt in the sensor,
here is a closeup : http://1.usa.gov/R1fZHt or here http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/proj/msl/redops/ods/surface/sol/00062/opgs/edr/ccam/CR0_403005421EDR_F0050104CCAM01062M_.JPG
Irony
To the average US tax payer, this piece of NASA's litter, is probably the most 'curious' thing found on Mars so far.
The last surviving martian...
...just about to get run over.
Re: Curiosity
Phht, like humanity would build intelligent robots just for them to sit and rust in a corner...
Re: Curiosity
Dunno... but that thing must still be under manufacturer's warranty. NASA should ask them to send an engineer and fix it or replace the whole machine free of charge...
Antenna
Its the antenna from a buried spy robot from Wolf 359. Now it knows that Mars is infected with life the robots will soon arrive to sterilise the solar system. The first sign we will see will be when Pluto & Charon turn pink. From then on you have mere days left.
Now where to I go to register a Cult?
Re: Antenna
> The first sign we will see will be when Pluto & Charon turn pink
Oh No! I've just taken a photo of them with my iPhone 5, and they appear to be doing just that!
Is it just me..
.. or is it still seriously awesome that we get this quality of imagery from a planet so far away?
Meanwhile, I can't get decent 3G out on the sticks. Maybe we need some NASA guys to improve the design..
Re: Is it just me..
Or maybe you need an aerial the size of Jodrell Bank.
Oh, and I thought we established some weeks ago that the actual bit-rate from Mars was pretty shoddy. You may still be getting a better signal, but NASA have more patience.
Actually
It is my 20 pence piece from when i visited there last month through my wormhole device.
NASA I want it back!
Puny humans
even our most technologically advanced robots still get distracted by shiny things...
Curiosity...
...is evidently the Black Knight of Mars.
Arthur: Now stand aside, worthy adversary.
Black Knight: 'Tis but a scratch.
Arthur: A SCRATCH? Your arm's off!
Could very well have been deposited by life alien to Mars...
We've sent enough shit there over the years!
Didn't we lose Beagle?
Yeah, but then NASA reckon they found it. Not in one piece, but they found it.
Seriously ...
This is NOT the droid part you were looking for *waves hand* ...
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