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Title: Why NASA Intentionally Put Large Holes In Curiosity's Wheels
Source:
Business Insider
URL Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa ... osity-wheels-morse-code-2012-8
Published: Sep 2, 2012
Author: Dina Spector
Post Date: 2012-09-02 22:29:08 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 1340
Comments: 2
NASA's Mars Curiosity rover may be loaded with a bunch of highly-sophisticated instruments to help it scoop, drill, and snap awesome photographs, but it doesn't come with a built-in GPS. The only way to track Curiosity's whereabouts and how far it has traveled is by following the car-sized Martian explorer's wheel marks. For this reason, engineers put holes in Curiosity's treads so that every time the wheels turn, they leave a unique imprint on Mars. Orbiters photograph the print and scientists can determine how far the rover has moved. What's really cool is that the track pattern spells out "JPL" in Morse code through a series of "dots" and "dashes." JPL is an acronym for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the agency arm in charge of Curiosity. On Aug. 22, the six-wheeled, one-ton roving laboratory left its coded track on Mars after completing its first successful test drive, rolling forward 15 feet, rotating 90 degrees and then reversing about 8 feet back to see its original spot. Mechanical Engineer Armen Toorian explains the purpose of Curiosity's unique wheel print in the video below:
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#1. To: A K A Stone (#0)
Actually I think it spells: .../-/---/-././/../...//.-//--/---/.-./---/-.
pr nonsense. as pathetic as any democrat pr spin department can come up with. i work there. every inch of curiosity wheel rotations are commanded and logged. further stupidity of this "no gps" simpleton comment to the simple slack jawed public is that gps systems require satellite up/downlinks. figure that one out. this started out a a really worthwhile project called "mars drill" with many mission plans for substantive science with multi instruments --- morphed into solely yet another single minded mission run by trekkie kooks still hunting for their holy grail of water. same "water" as they comically claimed to have found 2 years ago. funny how at goddard/jpl, theory becomes fact then reverts to theory once peer review occurs. but.....that said....now that chief trekkie and climate clown bolden runs things.....the public will un-endingly be fleeced for $$$$$$$$$$$ to pursue the nasa/trekkie religion.
------always bet on black------
#2. To: A K A Stone (#0)
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