They’re gonna drive that thing till the wheels fall off.
And the little bugger is still chugging along. Amazing.
Im tired, boss.
What I’m curious about is the “engineering model.”
All NASA missions have duplicate probes, satellites, rovers, here on earth. They’re essential for testing various scenarios like training astronauts (in the case of the Hubble repair missions), or testing the limits of the systems in question. I wonder if the engineering model for Curiosity has one of its wheels cut away in the same pattern, to simulate difficulties in navigation and traction?
Maybe that’s why the took the photo of the wheel?
Now that you mention it, that’s probably why.
typical humanity dropping plastic pollution on another planet before ever setting foot on it
That’s metal.
🤘
You’re saying we’ve polluted Mars with microplastics too!?
No, the wheels are made of aluminum, not plastic
Oh, Cool!
Not just Mars, but yes. Biodegradability isn’t even a factor since there’s no biosphere to speak of, which also raises philosophical questions like: “what is pollution, exactly?”
What will really bake your noodle is to imagine a future where we settle the Moon and Mars. Do old space program artifacts become monuments and parks (debris and all), or are they trash to be removed from the environment?
Knowing humans, yes! I think they will. Probably not the bits that fall off, they’ll most likely be placed in the visitors centre but given how sentimental we are as a species I can absolutely see us one day touring the sea of tranquility space reservation.
Removed, obviously. Gotta put that new STARbucks somewhere
It’s okay, Mars is low on fossil fuels and could use some global warming, so the Martians are already burning it as we speak.
The guy that tied up the wiring on the side there is looking at this photo (probably) and saying to himself: that wiring I arranged is on motherfucking mars and that’s just crazy.
