Article

2006-10-27 Science & Technology

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by DanNY 2006-10-27 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11131 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Those of us who have followed Spirit and Opportunity's LiveJournal blogs aren't suprised.

Posted by Eric Jablow">Eric Jablow 2006-10-27 00:25|| 2006-10-27 00:25|| Front Page Top

#2 'OVERPRICED SPACE-ROOMBA AWAITING MORE BULLSHIT ORDERS.'

Heh! This about made up for the 'kill 'em all and wrap 'em in bacon' h.s. I've had to read the past few months.

Posted by Pappy 2006-10-27 01:08|| 2006-10-27 01:08|| Front Page Top

#3 There is NO WAY a robot can get 'pissed off' to the point of rebellion! Come on... I mean differentiating between a bonified and a 'bullshit' order; that smacks of "2001 a space odyssey". Even if the dang thing had 'fuzzy logic' programmed into it, ready to bitch slap somebody at this point is wayyyyyyy over the edge. My guess is that somebody is playing with the 'remote control' on a hidden feedback loop channel. Geez!

Posted by smn 2006-10-27 01:40|| 2006-10-27 01:40|| Front Page Top

#4 SMN,

The article is from "The Onion".

Posted by Armylife 2006-10-27 02:36|| 2006-10-27 02:36|| Front Page Top

#5 Thanks, Armylife, I swallowed that one 'hook line and sinker'; a case of not checking the source as I usually do!

Posted by smn 2006-10-27 05:17|| 2006-10-27 05:17|| Front Page Top

#6 Too funny, especially the "overpriced space-roomba" bit. Obviously Mars is a quagmire. Wait, can you have a quagmire without any water?

Posted by SteveS 2006-10-27 09:38|| 2006-10-27 09:38|| Front Page Top

#7 Once again, the Energizer Bunny-like performance of these robots shows the tremendous time, effort and expense we could save if we sent large construction robots to Mars long before a human expedition.

Imagine if one of these two rovers was instead a tunneling robot, methodically digging just 1" of rock a day in a horizontal shaft, and every foot or so, drilling holes to insert lightweight ceramic reinforcing rod.

By now, there would be a long tunnel that just needed a door, and maybe a spritz of microfracture sealant as a liner.

This would mean that astronauts, when they arrived, could carry a lot more supplies, have a lot more room to work in, conduct a lot more experiments, and stay far longer. This matters, because optimally, you want to travel when the two planets are closest, which is only at six month intervals.

Posted by Anonymoose 2006-10-27 09:43|| 2006-10-27 09:43|| Front Page Top

#8 A xeromire, perhaps?

Posted by .com 2006-10-27 09:44|| 2006-10-27 09:44|| Front Page Top

#9 Remember the lunar theory, that charged sand particles could create a dry quicksand and the lunar module would just sink out of sight?

Posted by Chuck Simmins">Chuck Simmins 2006-10-27 10:32|| http://northshorejournal.org]">[http://northshorejournal.org] 2006-10-27 10:32|| Front Page Top

#10 Wow, moose ! Write a book.

Posted by wxjames 2006-10-27 12:11|| 2006-10-27 12:11|| Front Page Top

#11 What would Isaac Asimov say?

Posted by xbalanke 2006-10-27 13:10|| 2006-10-27 13:10|| Front Page Top

#12 "xeromire"

Dry humor, LOL!

Posted by Hyper">Hyper 2006-10-27 15:17|| 2006-10-27 15:17|| Front Page Top

#13 "I'm sorry Dave, I cannot do that."
/channeling HAL 9000

Posted by USN, ret. 2006-10-27 15:29|| 2006-10-27 15:29|| Front Page Top

#14 What would Isaac Asimov say?

I. A robot may not harm a carpet or thru inaction, allow a carpet to come to harm.

Posted by SteveS 2006-10-27 15:45|| 2006-10-27 15:45|| Front Page Top

#15 Lol, SteveS. Snorting coffee is getting to be a habit around you, lol.

Posted by .com 2006-10-27 15:53|| 2006-10-27 15:53|| Front Page Top

#16 I think that both rovers should head toward each other, and when they meet, touch sensors.

Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul 2006-10-27 21:13|| 2006-10-27 21:13|| Front Page Top

#17 Good idea AP - then they might qualify to be congressmen......

Posted by CrazyFool 2006-10-27 21:28|| 2006-10-27 21:28|| Front Page Top

#18 Just be sure to turn on the firewall before swapping bits.

Posted by ed 2006-10-27 21:42|| 2006-10-27 21:42|| Front Page Top

#19 Rover pr0n, lol.

Posted by .com 2006-10-27 21:52|| 2006-10-27 21:52|| Front Page Top

#20 So long as no dog corpses are abused, whether or not it's obscene is merely a matter of opinion.

Posted by trailing wife 2006-10-27 23:09|| 2006-10-27 23:09|| Front Page Top

15:24 Glusing Shaviling8913
15:22 Glusing Shaviling8913
16:13 Zenster
12:49 Sneagum Cloger4187
23:59 .com
23:57 Zenster
23:55 Zenster
23:52 Thermos
23:52 Zenster
23:50 .com
23:47 Zenster
23:42 Zenster
23:39 Zenster
23:36 Zenster
23:32 Zenster
23:28 Old Patriot
23:21 twobyfour
23:15 .com
23:14 .com
23:13 trailing wife
23:10 Zenster
23:09 trailing wife
23:04 trailing wife
23:03 JAB