[time-nuts] Martian FMT test
Hal Murray
hmurray at megapathdsl.net
Wed Jan 27 08:57:56 UTC 2010
NASA is giving up on getting Spirit out of the sand trap. But it will have a
new life that looks interesting to time-nuts. (frequency-nuts?)
http://tinyurl.com/yzbslwz
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/01/spirit-rover-probably-stuck/?utm_sou
rce=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+
Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29
"That imperative to drive is relaxed," Squyres said. "That enables us to
focus on new classes of science that you can only do from a science platform
that isn't moving around a lot."
In particular, he said that the team would focus on tracking Spirit's radio
signal very precisely, which could allow them to determine whether the
Martian core is solid or liquid through a telltale wobble in the planet's
rotation.
"The way that Mars wobbles depends on its internal structure," said Squyres.
"When you go through the math, if Mars has a solid core of iron, it will
wobble in a certain well-defined way. But if that core is liquid, it will
wobble in an ever-so-slightly different way. And by tracking the signal, we
can distinguish between the two."
--
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's. I hate spam.
More information about the Time-nuts_lists.febo.com
mailing list