Curiosity Rover Fires First Laser Beam At Martian Rock 167
A martian rock named "Coronation" was shot with 30 pulses over a 10-second period by Curiosity's laser today in order to determine what elements it was made of. “We got a great spectrum of Coronation — lots of signal,” Roger Wiens of Los Alamos National Laboratory, leader of the ChemCam scientific team, said in a press release today. “Our team is both thrilled and working hard, looking at the results. After eight years building the instrument, it’s payoff time!” Another rock known as N165 was selected for later testing.
Bagger 288 (Score:5, Funny)
How long until we send a Bagger 288 to mars? That'll show those rocks what for.
Re:Bagger 288 (Score:5, Informative)
95% of the readers just wooshed.
Bagger is series of gigantic bucket-wheel excavators, for the unitiated. Some (the biggest, at least) were made by East German TAKRAF. I think others were made in west.
They made some pretty bizarre machines, like RB293 [wikipedia.org] (of bagger series) and F60 [wikipedia.org]
Gotta move that coal...
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95% of the readers just wooshed.
You underestimate how many of us Americans watch the History channel. Modern Marvels [youtube.com]
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I'm glad they didn't name Curiosity "Shark," imagine how polluted this threads would have been with tired old jokes. Bad enough as it is...
I want to buy that rock (Score:1, Redundant)
Does it shoot back?
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Does it shoot back?
No. But what you didn't read about the Curiosity Rover landing was how the got the shark with the laser there.
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No. But what you didn't read about the Curiosity Rover landing was how the got the shark with the laser there.
It was a Space Shark. Duh.
Re:I want to buy that rock (Score:5, Funny)
I'm still waiting for the earth shattering kaboom. There was supposed to be an earth shattering kaboom. Especially if it tests a rock with illudium Q-36 in it.
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I'm still waiting for the earth shattering kaboom.
That'd be a hell of a kaboom considering the Earth is quite a ways away.
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Refer to this chart [thinkgeek.com]
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Re:I want to buy that rock (Score:5, Funny)
Wait for the George Lucas remastered documentary, and the rock will have fired first.
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When they do this again in a few years, they'll make it so the rock actually shoots first.
This means war! (Score:5, Funny)
You folks realize that this is very likely to result in a Council of War from the Elders. It's bad enough to litter the landscape with Earthling detritus, but offensive weaponry on innocent and passive Martian rocks cannot be tolerated!
Re:This means war! (Score:5, Funny)
I wouldn't worry - once George Lucas re-edits the footage the rock will have fired first...
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You almost got me PMSL... good show, Sir or Madam...
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Yeah, but it was self-defense; we were breaking all her eggs.
And your unnecessary apostrophe makes you look uneducated.
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K'Breel, Speaker for the Council of Elders will certainly have issues with such war mongering as...
It’s so rich, we can expect great science [exploitation] from investigating what might be thousands of targets with ChemCam in the next two years.
His response will be quick and just I'm sure.
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Re:This means war! (Score:4, Funny)
We had a tip there were WMD's inside it.
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Re:This means war! (Score:5, Funny)
One problem... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:One problem... (Score:5, Funny)
One less to worry about...
Re:One problem... (Score:5, Funny)
What if the martians ARE rocks?!
Its last words were "Don't laze me bro."
Re:One problem... (Score:5, Informative)
Close! [twitter.com]
Now it's taken to social media to turn public opinion against lasing of rocks.
Re:One problem... (Score:5, Funny)
Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor... not a bricklayer!
Re:One problem... (Score:5, Interesting)
What if the martians ARE rocks?!
Maybe they feed on energy and like a fresh blast.
Meanwhile, pet rocks on Earth are nervous. Hopefully this won't stir religious conflicts on Earth involving those who believe the spirits of their ancestors live in rocks.
Curiosity will also be giving us data on energetic protons from solar events. Since Mars has essentially no magnetic field, much lower energy particles can reach ground level than on Earth. Measurements were made on the way there. From the background levels, it looks like about half makes it through the Martian atmosphere.
Studying solar weather on Mars may provide some insights as to what to expect when our magnetic field at home weakens. It's dropped 10% or so in the last 150 years which is a relatively fast rate of change.
http://www.stce.be/news/154/welcome.html [www.stce.be]
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-it-true-that-the-stren [scientificamerican.com]
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Well, it didn't have a magnetic field, but since it's mass recently increased 0.03% [reallifecomics.com] it now does.
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What if the martians ARE rocks?!
That explains the rock saying ouch, flipping the rover off and waddling away rubbing it's ass.
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According to Thunderbirds are Go, the Martian rock-snakes [blogspot.com] will shoot back!.
Old mystery explained. (Score:5, Funny)
So this is how Curiosity kills cats? I guess the next mission needs to be called Satisfaction.
Re:Old mystery explained. (Score:5, Funny)
I guess the next mission needs to be called Satisfaction.
Except then we'd never get that mission...
Re:Old mystery explained. (Score:5, Funny)
I guess the next mission needs to be called Satisfaction.
Except then we'd never get that mission...
but we'll try, and we'll try...
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It would start a pussy riot
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It's only one way of several. (Score:2)
The laser is only for cats the keep a respectful distance. Any other cat will be irradiated to death with neutrons from the on-board fusion reactor (the one in the DAN experiment).
More ad laden slashdot bullshit (Score:5, Informative)
Anybody want to tell me why they don't link to the source [nasa.gov]
And anybody want to tell me why sppammers can post more frequently than I can?
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If you post under an account you are allowed to post more often.
AC's are restricted in how often they post, and the more posts you do as an AC the longer the wait till you can post again.
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...hence you can't do shit.
Proxy, baby
Judging from your UID# it would appear that yours is one of the many spam/shill accounts that have flooded/invaded the site in recent times. It would do us all good if you would follow your own advice.
Re:More ad laden slashdot bullshit (Score:5, Funny)
damned kids, get off my lawn.
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Notice the summary is not credited to a reader submission? Notice how all the Mars stories link to wired? News for Nerds. Stuff that Wired paid for.
Actually - you'll notice how the link still has feedburner crud embedded in it. I'd say someone came across it via their google reader account, pasted the link into a slashdot summary.
Still doesn't excuse this particular submission getting promoted instead of one that properly linked to NASA.
Pew! Pew! Pew! (Score:2)
Item drops (Score:5, Funny)
In my experience of shooting lasers at rocks, there's usually a chance of finding a health pack or some coins.
Quite an expensive rock collection (Score:3)
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Simply giving a name to something doesn't make it part of your collection...
Unless perhaps you are Alexander Selkirk...
I am monarch of all I survey,
My right there is none to dispute;
From the centre all round to the mare,
But all are rocks so it is just moot.
-Curiosity, with apologies to the *other* William... (Cowper)
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...and I have, at the Met, the Tate, and the Louvre.
Oh, I'm sorry, were you referring to imaginary attributes? Sorry to intrude.
But think about leaving mom's basement some decade. Those really are fine museums.
If you are thinking of stealing something, then may I suggest a guard. Some of them are incomparable.
NASA link (Score:5, Informative)
Here's a more official news link: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20120819b.html [nasa.gov]. I hope they will announce soon the actual results of the spectroscopy somewhere.
Also a reminder that NASA's official page for this mission is:
http://www.nasa.gov/msl/ [nasa.gov]. This is probably a better source for MSL news than wired.
Would it hurt slashdot editors to post the official NASA links as well as the submitted, third-party news links? We pay them to be editors after all.
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Re:NASA link (Score:5, Funny)
Yea, I have given my two cents so often that, perhaps, I have contributed $5.00. So, that gives me rights!
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Are you just making assumptions based on statistics and demographics of slashdot readers, or do you know something that none of the rest of us do? Are you a paid subscriber?
As for shutting off ads, slashdot has been offering to do that for me for the last year or two.
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They have intermittent teleconferences at around 10:30 am, they should mention the info then. I think they said the next one was scheduled for Tuesday on Fridays conference. Check the news link posted also keep an eye on the ustream feed. http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl
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media event schedule for next week.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-247&rn=news.xml&rst=3477
Oh dear. (Score:1)
Soon, it will start trundling, not locomoting. (Score:5, Funny)
> A martian rock named "Coronation" was shot with 30 pulses
ZAPPED, God damn it!
Robots on Mars with freakin' laser beams and claws zap things!
This project needs a midwesterner. (Score:5, Funny)
Out here we know...don't name it if you're gonna shoot it.
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And thus began what historians would call (Score:1, Troll)
George Bush's First Interplanetary War.
I, for one... (Score:5, Funny)
We've put on Mars a large machine that blasts the landscape with a heat ray. A heat ray. And we have set the example that such a machine can be robotic, and impervious to microbes. That's sure to end well.
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> And we have set the example that such a machine can be robotic, and impervious to microbes.
Earth microbes, maybe. Mars microbes, on the other hand ...
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Pah. The chances of anything going wrong in that respect are at least 10^6 to 1.
Laser or Heat-Ray (Score:5, Interesting)
or as H.G. Wells put it,
Re:Laser or Heat-Ray (Score:4, Funny)
My word! The only good thing about Woking is the fast service into London. The fiends!
War of the Worlds Gutenberg ebook (Score:2)
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36/36-h/36-h.htm [gutenberg.org]
Just realized I have seen the film adaptations but had never actually read the original work. Just skimming it, it looks good! It starts out with a guy and a telescope seeing some outgassing from the rim of Mars.. and then discovering an ash-covered cylinder in a crater... that starts unscrewing its end!
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p.s. that was the HTML version. The link to the downloadable ebooks is:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36 [gutenberg.org]
NASA Fundraiser Alert (Score:5, Interesting)
Even better (Score:4, Funny)
NASA should offer the chance to laser-engrave your name on a Martian rock. For megabucks, they could write your name in giant cursive with the rover's wheel tracks; all applications must include a program written in LOGO.
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And then the dust devils will come and wipe it off ...
That's a feature, not a bug! It'd give the corporate sponsors some coverage without permanently defacing the surface of the planet.
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When curiosity starts driving, it will leave JPL written in morse code in the sand. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Curiosity_wheel_pattern_morse_code.png [wikipedia.org]
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I'm up for the risk of someone doing something stupid as long as it gets more money into space exploration/study.
Where is the earth-shattering boom? (Score:5, Funny)
There was supposed to be an EARTH-SHATTERING BOOM!!!
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There was supposed to be an EARTH-SHATTERING BOOM!!!
It's meant to be an "earth-shattering ka-boom".
Your failure to make this small, yet important distinction makes me very angry.
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And thus does iPhone auto correct precipitate a tragic, needless intergalactic conflict....
(Duly noted and thank you for the correction. Too bad I do not have a Illudium Q-36 explosive space modulator with which to alter the original post...)
NASA never met a problem... (Score:5, Interesting)
it cannot solve with the proper use of rockets, lasers and in one notable case, duct tape.
Someone start a White House petition to rename NASA to "Federal Department of Rockets and Lasers". Because who in their right mind (or several of the wrong ones) would cut funding to the Department of Rockets and Lasers?
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LASERs.
It's an acronym.
Re:NASA never met a problem... (Score:5, Informative)
It originated as an acronym; it is now fully acceptable to use as a proper or even regular noun. Indeed, this seems to be the preferred usage, as shown by the Federal Department of Rockets and Laser's own usage [google.com].
And I tend to defer to the Federal Department of Rockets and Lasers in matters regarding all things laser and/or rocket.
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it cannot solve with the proper use of rockets, lasers and in one notable case, duct tape.
Someone start a White House petition to rename NASA to "Federal Department of Rockets and Lasers". Because who in their right mind (or several of the wrong ones) would cut funding to the Department of Rockets and Lasers?
roman_mir? ;o)
Why name the rock right before you vaporize it? (Score:2)
Maybe they shouldn't have named it first? I bet it's harder to vaporize a rock after it like has an identity and stuff.
Earth has Invaded Mars with a laser-wielding robot (Score:5, Funny)
Early days yet, can only sizzle a bit of rock. Today, some scientific samples, tomorrow the galaxy!
In related news ... (Score:5, Funny)
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Haven't you heard? US does not recognize political asylum.
I hear that a lot lately. Particularly in Miami.
Ha ha ha ha! (Score:2)
We come in peace (Score:3, Funny)
Putting all humor aside..... (Score:2)
... to find me, turn the rock over, NOT blast it with a laser... jeeze
All those movies about Mars invading.. (Score:2)
.. and we send a laser armed robot to Mars to shoot up the locals disguised as rocks.
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What We Really Hope For (Score:2)
http://www.whkeith.com/bolo-art.html [whkeith.com]
http://www.whkeith.com/graphics/bolo-mark-xxiv.jpg [whkeith.com]
You know you do.
We get this:
http://www.johnny-five.com/layout/newlogo.jpg [johnny-five.com]
But we want this:
http://www.pinktentacle.com/images/terminator_2_large.jpg [pinktentacle.com]
or even this!
http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/5493/266530-battletech.jpg [giantbomb.com]
Sigh ...
Just think... (Score:2)
According to H.G. Wells, Mars would have been the first to send vehicles to fire laser beams at us...
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So, what are you doing in your daily life to help with those things that you think should be the one and only focus of mankind?