[meteorite-list] NASA Rover about to make a BIG mistake

From: Walter Branch <branchw_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Jan 18 21:06:01 2005
Message-ID: <003d01c4fdca$e0b9a360$6101a8c0_at_launchmodem.com>

Yes, we need to scratch that rock.

They could make it the last act the rover performs.

Just think...minutes away from final
failure of the solar panels... a race against
time to upload the final commands to just
scratch the surface... the command is sent..
"across the gulf of space" (sorry, digressing to
the War of the Worlds)...the arm extends...contact...
spins...retracts...the mass spectrometer does it's
thing...the data comes in...kamacite...taenite...
trace elements...

then silence...forever

...and meteorite enthusists the world over bow their
heads in reverence.

Seriously, if we can sacrifice the Clementine
spacecraft at the end of it's useful lifespan to try
to kick up some ice in a cold crater at the south pole
of the moon (an unplanned experiment with negative
results) we can certainly sacrifice the RAT on the
rover for this noble cause.

-Walter
Received on Tue 18 Jan 2005 09:02:06 PM PST