NASA Testing Lunar Rovers In Moses Lake, WA

deadaluspark writes "I work at a local news station, and found out NASA was testing their lunar rovers in a nearby city. I pulled some strings and got our news director to send out one of our reporters. I would link to the original video on the KVEW website, but the video is screwing up on the badly designed, WMP only website. So I uploaded the package to youtube for everyone on Slashdot to enjoy. Very cool video of NASA toys in action." Don't believe anyone who says it always rains in Washington.

Rain in WA

[treeves]

When someone says it always rains in Washington (1) they're exaggerating. a bit. (2) they mean WESTERN Washington. Moses Lake is in Eastern Washington.

Re:Color scheme

[Carnildo]

Which came first I wonder?

NASA. They've been using the white (standard reflective paint), black (heat shields) and gold (reflective gold foil) color scheme since the beginning.

Moses Lake

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes. Seattle is in Western Washington. If you drive East from Seattle until you cross over the Cascade Mountains, you find yourself in very different weather: dry and hot in the summer. One time I passed through Moses Lake in August, and the temperature was over 100 degrees F (Seattle was more like 75 or 80 degrees F, IIRC).

Moses Lake is in the dry part of the state, and there is a decent airport there, so that's probably why NASA is testing there. Yakima would also be a good choice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Lake,_Washington [wikipedia.org]

Weather data here:

http://www.wunderground.com/US/WA/Moses_Lake.html [wunderground.com]

Right now it's 77 degrees F in Moses Lake, while it is 63 F in Seattle. (The whole month has been cold and wet. People are calling it "June-uary".)

As for the famous rain in Seattle, it is indeed exaggerated. But we really do get about nine months out of the year with slate grey overcast; heavy clouds block out the sun. I don't mind; I'm happiest in a dark office writing software. But some people get "Seasonal Affective Disorder" (SAD) from the months of bleak darkness. It sure makes you appreciate the other 3 months, though. And you can always drive over to Eastern Washington for some sun.

It always rains in Washington

[jbrader]

[i]Don't believe anyone who says it always rains in Washington.[/i][p]Yeah, I live in Pullman, Washingington. The day before yesterday it snowed. Today it was 70 degrees. I wish it was raining.

Re:How can they test them ?

[livewire98801]

Unless you're skipping rocks on Moses Lake, you don't know it's there. I live in Wenatchee (about an hour away). It's a semi-arid desert here, and ML gets less precipitation than we do. Trust me, the lake isn't going to interfere with desert-based operations :)