Canadian Space Agency Shows Off Prototype Rovers 70
An anonymous reader writes "At its headquarters in Longueuil, Que. Friday, the Canadian Space Agency rolled out a fleet of about a half-dozen prototype rovers that are the forerunners of vehicles that may one day explore the moon or Mars. The agency said the terrestrial rovers bring it one step closer to developing the next generation for space exploration."
On what Rocket? (Score:2, Funny)
But how are they going to get them to Mars Eh?
Secret LOX and Maple Syrup rockets?
Re:On what Rocket? (Score:5, Funny)
But how are they going to get them to Mars Eh?
Secret LOX and Maple Syrup rockets?
I had to think on that one. But I did that calculations and found that maple syrup only has about a fifth the enthalpy of combustion of something like RP-1. And Canadian maple syrup is famous for being pretty viscous. It might clog up the rocket engines and I don't think any Canadian could in good conscience adulterate the maple syrup to make it flow more smoothly. I understand that they have a large strategic stockpile, but I think they should just feed it to their astronauts and continue to use normal rocket fuel for their spacecraft.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
The same way the USA will have to move the heavy stuff now they've given up - Soyuz.
Note that SpaceX is already flying a capsule designed for humans. It just hasn't been man rated yet by NASA.
Re: (Score:2)
Except Soyuz isn't a heavy lift booster, in fact it's a fairly modest booster as such things go. Meanwhile, the US has the Delta and the Atlas, and the Falcon 9...
Re: (Score:2)
Canadian Whiskey
Re: (Score:2)
Secret LOX and Maple Syrup rockets?
Well, if you managed to convert maple syrup into sorbitol with any efficiency, and then mixed in some potassium nitrate - or even just extracted sucrose from it to mix it with KNO3 - you'd get some usable amateur rocket fuel.
Re: (Score:1)
Wait, are you saying that being in possession of Maple Syrup means you the main ingredient for creating a bomb to blow up the White House? You need to phone the FBI!
Re: (Score:2)
So, you're saying we spend twice as much per capita on our space program?
Re: (Score:2)
I don't understand your comment... but if the US has 300 million people and Canada has 30 million, the US spends $59 per person and Canada spends $10
Re: (Score:3)
You're right, I missed the "per capita" in your comment.
Still, $300 million a year can go pretty far when a Falcon 9 launch (which will eventually be able to carry astronauts) costs $50 million... Let NASA blow all their money on ludicrously overpriced and bureaucratic lift capacity like Orion, Canada can get people into space on our own dime at a fraction the cost with private companies that don't have to build parts of their craft in every different state to get their budget past congress...
Re: (Score:2)
Plus prototype rovers that *may* fly in 8 years time aren't nearly as exiting as a rover that's actually there [space.com] and doing some science.
Maybe FedEx will deliver them (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
In the long run, it was probably good that the atom bombs were used when they were. That is, when they were still really small (relatively speaking). It is why people are and were scared as hell to use them when they got really big; and why anyone who is a proponent of using them for a first strike is feared if they are in power and roundly ignored otherwise. If we didn't see what they did, we wouldn't know, and likely Armageddon would have already happened and we'd either all be dead or playing Fallout 3 f
Re: (Score:2)
Not really the case. If it was how did Cadadarm [asc-csa.gc.ca] and Dextre [wikipedia.org] get there?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Hint: NOT on Canadian boosters - which was the point.
There you go, it was also *my* point. If the science gets done and the mission is accomplished what does it matter?
For that matter, if that was your point then your original analogy wouldn't make any sense, after all no-one has put the non-existant Iranian nukes on *any* delivery system, Iranian or otherwise.
Re: (Score:3)
Theres a whole lot less delta V involved in getting a missile warhead a thousand kilometers or so than getting a rover all the way to Mars, plus the rover has to land in one pice when it gets there.
(Note Iranian missiles will not be aimed at USA, they will be aimed at Haifa and Tel Aviv
Re: (Score:3)
Because nobody in the world is offering any sort of commercial launch services, and certainly nobody in California is working on superheavy commercial launch vehicles that might have the capacity to take a probe to Mars...
Re: (Score:2)
Distance.
Re: (Score:2)
With the difference being...?
The difference being that the SM-3-equipped guided missile US Navy warships will have to go to all the way to the Mediterranean to intercept them.
Canada is often overlooked (Score:1)
Given that Canada has a smaller population than California, I am very proud of the innovations and contributions that we make in science and engineering. If only we had the ability to market ourselves as an innovative country instead of producers of snow and maple syrup. We need less humility and more pride!
Re: (Score:2)
As a fellow Canadian I wish I had mod points...
True purpose revealed (Score:3)
Ostensibly it is indeed a "Space" agency, but the real insider scoop is that in about a year the rovers will actually be sent to Vermont as a prelude to invasion and subjugation of that state's maple syrup and dairy industries. Of course the Green Mountain Boys will welcome us with roses.
You read it here first.
I wonder... (Score:2)
International cooperation (Score:4, Informative)
There are a few projects that NASA, CSA, and other agencies are working on together. The idea is to try to make exploration much cheaper by having modular components. So you can pick a target like the moon. Decide what you want to do like drill some core samples from the polar regions and sample them. You need a chem lab, drill, Rover, lander, and launch vehicle. If you can pick ones that have already been designed and flown you can save lots of money.
http://www.americaspace.org/?p=21059 [americaspace.org]
Re: (Score:3)
In space, particularly due to the wide range of temperature environments, that's like having a modular system that can go to the bottom of the Marianas Trench, the Greenland ice cap, the Sahara desert, or the Amazon jungle. It's been studied again and again, but it never actually works beyond
Re: (Score:3)
I don't think I was clear. I didn't mean to say you would have a Rover that could go anywhere. It means you could have one Rover that is designed for Lunar Polar Regions, One for Lunar Equatorial Regions, One for Mars Polar, Mars Equatorial, etc. The same with the Landers and instruments.
You are right that in the past it's been difficult due to launch costs. But with commercial space we are seeing launch costs drop. This opens up some interesting opportunities. When your launch vehicle costs $300 million yo
CSA page for the rovers (Score:3, Informative)
If you're interested in actually seeing the rovers, the Canadian Space Agency has a good page describing them:
http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/media/backgrounders/2012/1019.asp [asc-csa.gc.ca]
Re: (Score:2)
The Artemis river has a wheel like you are describing. It's a solid spoked aluminum hub. Then a bunch of sharp metal claws are spring mounted to the hub with wire ropes. It's flexible at all temperatures and has lots of traction.
TIL. (Score:2)
Today, I learned: Canada has as Space Agency.
Re: (Score:1)
In fact, next March the ISS will be commanded by a Canadian - Chris Hadfield.
Re: (Score:1)
Will all of the science experiments on ISS from that point on be syrup based?
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
You do realize Canada has been in on the ISS since inception as a project
Get your facts right, Canada was involved in the ISS long before Inception was filmed.
Prototypes (Score:2)
These are prototypes. Prototypes don't get sent anywhere. They are only design projects.
The Great Red Planet (Score:1)
Bob and Doug McKenzie go searching for beer on mars, eh?
key question (Score:2)
does it have square wheels?