The official story is one of a modest laser device, used to blast tiny holes in rocks, and analyze the resulting dust and debris with a spectrometer. This, according to the briefs, will allow scientists to determine the chemical structure of the rocks. NASA/JPL just released a picture of their first test firing.
From the looks of the images, you’d think “no big deal. A little tiny hole in a rock.” The truth, however, is much more sinister.
We all know the government never tells you the complete story about these things. Remember when spy satellites were all the “top-secret” rage, and they “could read the license plate number on your car”? Of course, the capabilities were far more than was admitted. The same thing applies to Curiosity.
A nuclear reactor? To power a golf cart and a laser pointer? Not bloody likely…
7 Minutes of Terror – landing on Mars – by Sky-Crane
August 6, 2012
Jim Reeves commentary, geek, News, video 7 minutes, Curiosity, JPL, landing on Mars, NASA, seven minutes of terror 1 Comment
This is the best video I’ve seen so far explaining how Curiosity was designed to land. I’m just amazed that it worked. Twelve year old Space Cadet Jimmiejoe was bouncing up and down, telling me it was going to work no sweat, but I really didn’t believe him. I worried that the parachute would fail, or the heat shield would get hung up, or the retro-rockets wouldn’t fire correctly… and I really sweated the whole sky-crane thing. That was just crazy writ large! Hover 60 feet in the air, and drop this huge thing down on a tether? Are they nuts?? Then the tethers had to be cut, allowing the rocket frame to fly away. If that hadn’t worked, it would have dropped on top of the lander once it’s fuel ran out.
BUT IT WORKED!
Congratulations to NASA and JPL!
You know what would be cool? I know it can’t happen, but wouldn’t it be something if Curiosity could, at the end of it’s science programs, drive to one of the other lander’s locations, just to visit? Too far, over terrain that would probably be impossible, and the mechanisms of the machine would likely never survive, but that would be something to see.
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