Anybody else watching this? Just saw episodes 2&3 last night, and while I love stuff about Mars, I'm torn on whether to stay up for the rest of them. I get that they're trying to mix documentary with drama, but episode one seemed like a commercial for Elon Musk, and in episode three especially, I just cannot believe that this mission was planned with an eye to success. No backup systems, no redundancies, freaking helicopter drones flying in the (neglibible) Martian atmosphere? I'm having trouble buying into the whole astronaut thing too. Unless we're talking the MarsOne reality show, these six should be the best of the best. Yes, professionals are human too, but they don't draw out every piece of information for maximum dramatic effect, they tell their colleagues the necessary information as soon as possible. I dunno, it's modern "educational" television, I guess I should be happy that Bigfoot hasn't appeared driving an Oscar Meyer Wienermobile yet.... Thoughts?
The thing is, the production values are really good. It doesn't look like a bunch of people wandering around in Arizona or in front of a green-screen, and the actors' credibility is good. I don't feel like they're just actors reading their lines, I just feel like they're idiots who have no business being first colonists. It's the writers I want to smack.
The quad drone thing is a bit out there (do they even physics). Whats next? Hole in an enviro-suit, the cure duct tape? Well that is sad they had to choose from column D when deciding who should go and colonize. Smack away.
The quad drone thing is a bit out there (do they even physics). Whats next? Hole in an enviro-suit, the cure duct tape? Well that is sad they had to choose from column D when deciding who should go and colonize. Smack away.
Blame NASA: "Helicopter on Mars? Why not?" Who may be right, there also this helicopter for Mars that JPL is apparently developing.
@EnginEsq Well they should test it first. Might be bit hard to keep it at a low enough altitude in 1/3 gravity. Otherwise it will be a multi billion dollar oopsy, when it flies off into space with some poor sap. But it won't be their first gaff, considering a lander buried instead of landing. But who knows. Just be glad we aren't the guinea pigs in that little endeavor.
Right, I stand corrected but still somewhat unconvinced. I'm still having trouble believing that even the combination of .4G and ultralight materials is really good enough for rotary wing aircraft there, but... okay. Duct taping a suit is pretty plausible, AFAIK. However, last night they were going into a lava tube of unknown diameter from a hole in the top. The cable on the winch wasn't long enough, so they cannibalized some from their lander. All spliced together, they had.... ...just... ...enough (are we going to make it?).... ...cable by a margin of a couple meters to reach the bottom. And winching someone into the darkness was the only way they could find out how big it was, because nobody brought a chemlight (oh, they did) or a laser rangefinder or anything.
I guess they were only given a screw driver and a wrench. That has to be the worst way to measure depth of a hole. In reality they probably would have been stranded down there. Kinda hard to splice cable and hold on to some one at the same time. Also was the lander right next to the lava tube, or was it back at base camp a few kilometers away? For the sake of adding to their little drama, I hope somebody dies in a meteor shower or something just as horrific. Though I will settle for being blown away in a sandstorm.
Nah, the lander was something like 75k away. Equipment failure on atmospheric entry made them miss their mark. They were supposed to live in the lander, and have a pre-landed lab/3d printing manufactory right next door. Instead, they had to take a rover (people carrier bus, not Spirit), but it broke down halfway there because it was 2000 kilos overweight (from carrying six people). Not sure why they couldn't make two trips, six people and their suits shouldn't be much more than 1200 kilos (KSR values for suit weight). Anyway, all the line (the original line, as well as the lander guylines) spliced together still fit on the drum, which is nice. I know I'm nitpicking, but when something gets off to a bad first impression with me, I start to notice everything. My students know that formatting is almost as important as content
Damn, now I guess we will never get see half a dozen people riding on a highly advanced remote control car.
