Why not a MER?

Space/Science » in reply to Likely a mountain climber robot with a harpoon

Why not a MER?

Lee — 5/27/2007 8:21:39 PM (archived)

Take a MER rover, attach a wench with a few thousand feet of fishing line, and have it carry a probe fitted with a light source, camera, and a couple of other instruments. The rover would approach to within a few hundred feet of the hole and fire the probe via a CO2 cartridge. Afterwards the probe could be reeled back in by the rover.

Such a mission could be performed with minimal cost as the MER design has already been developed and tested.

The whole thread (78 posts)

A plain in Mars, nothing special....and then..ooops,a whole!! - Raoul - 5/26/2007 8:04:56 PM
- The secret entrance to the Martian Underground... - SDAI-Tech1 - 6/2/2007 8:35:36 PM
  - Up to now.... - Raoul - 6/2/2007 11:44:42 PM
- re: A plain in Mars, nothing special....and then..ooops,a whole!! - TAFKASE - 6/1/2007 9:17:18 PM
- Digital Mirage - nick hoffman - 5/30/2007 1:24:21 AM
  - OK, I'm wrong - nick hoffman - 6/5/2007 8:37:03 AM
    - Thanks! - TB - 6/5/2007 4:08:53 PM
  - re: Digital Mirage - Buck Galaxy - 5/31/2007 6:03:58 AM
  - re: Digital Mirage - excentryk - 5/30/2007 11:19:51 PM
  - re: Digital Mirage - confirmation - nick hoffman - 5/30/2007 6:45:39 AM
    - The plot thickens... - nick hoffman - 5/31/2007 12:45:48 PM
      - We might be making too much of this - TB - 5/31/2007 4:32:27 PM
        
        Apparently there are plans to picture the same area... - Raoul - 6/3/2007 6:20:54 PM
        
        re: We might be making too much of this - N R A Hoffman - 5/31/2007 11:45:22 PM
        
        I can not find an MOC image for those exact coordinates. - REB - 5/31/2007 6:46:36 PM
        
        I am searching through the MOC files for it. I found another one very close to it. - REB - 5/31/2007 5:57:40 PM
        
        And notice that dark layering in those collapsed lava tubes. - REB - 5/31/2007 6:06:37 PM
  - re: Lots of relief, etc.., - Raoul - 5/30/2007 5:37:58 AM
    - re: Lots of relief, etc.., - Marcia - 6/1/2007 1:46:52 AM
  - I don't think so... - TB - 5/30/2007 4:27:49 AM
    - re: I don't think so... - nick hoffman - 5/30/2007 5:51:43 AM
      - Try OpenEV. - Robert Clark - 5/30/2007 7:10:43 PM
      - re: I don't think so... - TB - 5/30/2007 5:53:10 PM
      - re: I don't think so... - REB - 5/30/2007 3:36:30 PM
  - Sunlit floor of proposed skylight Dena (8.5 mb) - pb - 5/30/2007 2:56:21 AM
    - "Dena" is a little different. - nick hoffman - 5/30/2007 3:32:31 AM
      - Thanks - pb - 5/30/2007 4:30:31 AM
- This is probably the most fascinating mars picture I have seen yet... - Arrell - 5/29/2007 6:50:31 PM
- Does it still look like a HOLE??? (image enhanced) - Raoul - 5/28/2007 8:18:51 AM
  - terraces - nick hoffman - 5/30/2007 5:56:29 AM
  - As you pointed out in another post... - TB - 5/28/2007 4:47:34 PM
    - Maybe it is a liquid. - Lee - 5/28/2007 7:05:35 PM
      - How about once liquid? - REB - 5/29/2007 12:57:31 PM
        
        re: How about once liquid? - Marcia - 6/1/2007 2:05:21 AM
        
        Very white ice cap covering a hot spring? - REB - 6/1/2007 1:46:08 PM
        
        A volcanic crater filled with obsidian would be cool. - Lee - 5/29/2007 6:53:23 PM
- These holes should be a top priority for Scout or New Horizon type missions - Buck Galaxy - 5/27/2007 9:16:38 PM
- Short Scientific paper on the Martian holes - folcwine - 5/27/2007 12:54:53 AM
  - Could multicellular life exist in such caves? - Robert Clark - 5/29/2007 2:50:42 PM
  - re: The hole is in APOD, today! - Raoul - 5/28/2007 8:36:23 AM
    - re: The hole is in APOD, today! - It's not just the large one, but there are a few other smaller ones. - Marcia - 5/28/2007 5:04:30 PM
      - Maybe it's one huge cavern with several holes.... - Raoul - 5/28/2007 5:45:14 PM
        
        re: Maybe it's one huge cavern with several holes.... yes. - Marcia - 5/28/2007 6:18:38 PM
      - re: The hole is in APOD, today! - It's possible that... - Marcia - 5/28/2007 5:17:20 PM
  - MOC image of sun lit floor of Dena - pb - 5/27/2007 8:32:47 AM
    - Found it (8.5 mb) - pb - 5/30/2007 2:57:51 AM
- It's the shadow of Phobos. (n/t) - Lee - 5/26/2007 10:25:41 PM
  - It shows a real rim on the closeup photos. Just no bottom. (n/t) - TB - 5/26/2007 10:55:32 PM
    - Yeah, I noticed that after I posted. - Lee - 5/27/2007 2:06:07 AM
- And that's not the only one - TB - 5/26/2007 9:52:38 PM
- re: A plain "on" Mars... (n/t) - Raoul - 5/26/2007 8:06:01 PM
  - RE:That's really incredible - Daniel - 5/26/2007 1:17:26 PM - Ted Ferdinand - 5/30/2007 5:11:34 AM
  - That's really incredible - Daniel - 5/26/2007 8:17:26 PM
    - Several mysteries discussed - Raoul - 5/28/2007 7:44:42 AM
    - Fascinating! Potential for a human base there? - Buck Galaxy - 5/26/2007 9:22:16 PM
      - re: Potential for a human base there? - TB - 5/26/2007 9:57:23 PM
      - Can we learn anything by hitting it with radar? - TB - 5/26/2007 9:46:07 PM
        
        MOLA? - pb - 5/27/2007 9:19:02 AM
        
        Or,... maybe MOLA data already exists? - pb - 5/29/2007 7:20:52 AM
        
        re: Sun overhead - Raoul - 5/27/2007 8:19:28 AM
        
        So who will be the first to go in there? - richard - 5/27/2007 6:51:39 PM
        
        Likely a mountain climber robot with a harpoon (n/t) - Raoul - 5/27/2007 7:08:31 PM
        
        Why not a MER? - Lee - 5/27/2007 8:21:39 PM
        
        MERs should be standard equipment. - Lee - 5/27/2007 10:47:30 PM
        
        Where would it get its energy if the Sun doesn't shine in the hole? (n/t) - Raoul - 5/29/2007 7:32:26 AM
        
        The MER wouldn't go into the hole. - Lee - 5/29/2007 11:21:23 AM
        
        MER would make a good platform - Fox - 5/30/2007 4:00:19 AM
        
        Good idea except make it of the Pathfinder class. - Robert Clark - 5/29/2007 2:05:39 PM
        
        It didn't last very long and Sojourner also had solar panels (n/t) - Raoul - 5/29/2007 4:03:45 PM
        
        The trick will be finding a wench who's any good at fishing. (n/t) - TB - 5/27/2007 10:35:41 PM
        
        I'd prefer a mermaid over a sea hag. ;) (n/t) - Lee - 5/27/2007 10:50:39 PM
        
        A good idea (n/t) - Buck Galaxy - 5/27/2007 9:10:19 PM
        
        Water? - Jeff F - 5/27/2007 8:12:40 PM
        
        re: Water? - Jeff F - 5/27/2007 8:13:17 PM
        
        No radar image - Raoul - 5/27/2007 10:26:32 PM
        
        re: No radar image - ed - 6/10/2007 2:14:02 AM
        
        The first (an last) words of the first astronaut to come upon the Hole of Mars - edgar - 5/28/2007 9:45:39 PM
        
        "My god ... it's full of stars!" (n/t) - D - 5/31/2007 3:45:59 AM

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