Althouse: Curiosity brushes off a rock.

January 8, 2013

Curiosity brushes off a rock.

On Mars.

20 comments:

traditionalguy said...: Damn. Still no water.; 1/8/13, 2:05 PM
rehajm said...: 'PLAY BALL!!'; 1/8/13, 2:11 PM
Wince said...: Then this guy comes along.; 1/8/13, 2:13 PM
Nomennovum said...: "... and carves 'Curiosity killed the microbe' in the stone."; 1/8/13, 2:14 PM
Nonapod said...: Doing anything remotely on Mars from Earth is a slog since you have to deal with at least 8 minutes of latency (4 light minutes there and 4 light minutes back).; 1/8/13, 2:15 PM
sparrow said...: Zzzzz; 1/8/13, 2:18 PM
Sorun said...: At the BBC, it's "Nasa" rather than NASA. Is that a British thing? If so, shouldn't it be the Bbc?; 1/8/13, 2:18 PM
Shawn Levasseur said...: rehajm said...
'PLAY BALL!!'

Damn. Beat me to it.

But can Curiosity call balls & strikes ?

I know it's way out on Mars, but the way some umps call the game, their heads must be in Uranus.; 1/8/13, 2:19 PM
Tibore said...: I think it'd be a hell of a lot more interesting if lightning strikes Curiosity and it becomes alive, a-la Number 5 from Short Circuit. Could you imagine the pics we'd get then? :); 1/8/13, 2:32 PM
Levi Starks said...: It breaks my heart to think of the tiny micro-ecosystem that was probably destroyed by that brushing action.
Is there no limit to the evil that man will cause in this universe.; 1/8/13, 2:33 PM
campy said...: At the BBC, it's "Nasa" rather than NASA. Is that a British thing? If so, shouldn't it be the Bbc?

Nasa is an acronym, pronounced as spelled. BBC is three letters. Totally different.; 1/8/13, 2:41 PM
Rusty said...: Did anybody bother asking the Mars people if they want this thing there?
I bet they didn't.; 1/8/13, 2:50 PM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: I sure hope that hammer-drill doesn't release the Martian version of Cthulhu.; 1/8/13, 2:57 PM
edutcher said...: Me, too, Shawn.

I wonder who's playing.; 1/8/13, 3:36 PM
Synova said...: I'm on curiosity's google plus list and get lots of pictures of greenish rocks and tan dust. Basalt is boring. Last week there was a picture of white crystals in a tan rock. (Curiosity has a facebook page, too.)

Oh, I'm taking a class this semester with Dr. Agee, who is mentioned in this article about a new Mars meteorite find.; 1/8/13, 3:58 PM
Synova said...: Everyone is so on about water. So far our rovers and now Curiosity and even the new Mars meteorite are showing chemistry that suggests water. Water, water, water, all the time. We know there's water ice. People are hoping for life.

I'm hoping for economic geology on Mars, and that's not a sure thing at all. And I don't know how people could go there and live if the geology is more or less homogeneous. And what do volcanoes get you? More boring basalt. Without an active geology to sort elements and materials into concentrations that can be mined and utilized for construction, we might be stuck as mere visitors.

That would suck.; 1/8/13, 4:06 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: My favorite part is where Curiosity snapped a checkered tablecloth and set up a little tea party with its robot pals and stuffed toys.

NASA did learn to deal with the four minute delay.

Pour the tea stop pouring the tea.

It was discovered that it isn't so important that everyone gets a full cup so much as everyone is recognized because they don't drink it.

This exercise bodes positively for future tasks.; 1/8/13, 4:56 PM
SomeoneHasToSayIt said...: All brought to you by the guys (yup) you made fun of in school.; 1/8/13, 6:39 PM
Sam vfm #111 said...: "At the BBC, it's "Nasa" rather than NASA. Is that a British thing? If so, shouldn't it be the Bbc?

Nasa is an acronym, pronounced as spelled. BBC is three letters. Totally different. "

NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration

BBC = British Broadcasting Corporation

No difference, both are acronyms.; 1/8/13, 9:56 PM
campy said...: BBC = British Broadcasting Corporation

No difference, both are acronyms.

Difference.

It's only an acronym if you say it like it's a word (nasa). If you pronounce the initials individually, (bee bee see) it's just a group of letters.; 1/9/13, 6:47 AM