Comments on: Curiosity rover laser zaps Martian rock

By: Jim Mooney

Jim Mooney — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 04:50:34 +0000

Microbial life has been shown to be amazingly resilient. And if there is an attempt to find life on Mars that is an implicit statement that is might be possible. Given that, I hope the rover has been Totally decontaminated. Otherwise it might leave a few microbes, return at a later date, and find a thriving “Martian” colonly ;’)

By: GatorALLin

GatorALLin — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 17:09:55 +0000

..good info…Thanks!

By: Lord Penguin

Lord Penguin — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 18:27:37 +0000

For those wondering, the rover is expected to live at least 4 years, but will continue working indefinitely (until it breaks down), similar to a car. The RTG power source uses plutonium, with a half life of 87 years (although the thermocouples degrade, so the output decreases somewhat faster). How little power it can last on I don’t know, but as the power output decreases, more and more is turned off, so it begins to lose its usefulness as a scientific instrument after a while.

By: Bri

Bri — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 18:01:45 +0000

They bop till they drop. NASA tries to milk out whatever they can get from them. Some have been quite remarkable. Me personally, I’d rather see more effort to easier targets, like a moon base, or space stations. Mars is a tuff nut to crack. It’s popular though, and that’s good for business.

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:56:37 +0000

nuclear power
see

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/interactives/learncuriosity/index-2.html

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:54:21 +0000

Main Function: Provide power to the rover
Location: Aft side of the rover
Size: 25 inches (64 centimeters) in diameter by 26 inches (66 centimeters) long
Weight: about 99 pounds (45 kilograms)
Power Source: Uses 10.6 pounds (4.8 kilograms) of plutonium dioxide as the source of the steady supply of heat
Electrical power produced: slightly over 100 watts
Batteries: 2 lithium ion rechargeable batteries to meet peak demands of rover activites when the demand temporarily exceeds the generator’s steady electrical output levels
Reliability: NASA has used this power source reliably for decades, including the Apollo missions to the moon, the Viking missions to Mars, and the Pioneer, Voyager, Ulysses, Galileo, Cassini, and New Horizons missions.
Safety: Built with several layers of protective material to contain its fuel in a wide range of potential launch accidents, verified through impact testing. Manufactured in a ceramic form, is not a significant health hazard unless broken into very fine pieces or vaporized and then inhaled or swallowed. In the unlikely event of a launch accident, those who might be exposed would receive an average does of 5 to 10 millirem. The average American receives 360 millirem of radiation each year from natural sources, such as radon and cosmic rays. — info courtesy of NASA web site — go to

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/interactives/learncuriosity/index-2.html

By: GatorALLin

GatorALLin — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 13:13:56 +0000

..ok that video you posted was funny…

http://www.kurzweilai.net/were-nasa-and-we-know-it-mars-curiosity

By: GatorALLin

GatorALLin — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 13:03:08 +0000

I understand that the Rover Curiosity will have a 2 year mission on mars, but does anyone know the maximum time it could continue to work (does it have Nuclear or other power to last 5 years for example?). This rover seems a lot less likely to get stuck….I hope it gives them years of faithful service and data. Maybe just hard to be patient, but seems like this mission is going slower than I was expecting….

By: Bri

Bri — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 11:34:37 +0000

I though the Martians were supposed to come and zap us with a ray gun!