This image of Mars shows the north polar ice cap, the border between highlands and lowlands, former river valleys, plains covered by dark sands and the large Hellas Planitia impact basin in the south. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU BerlinAdialaktos t1_j96n6oc wrote
Silly question,but why didn't we send the rovers there,since on ice there is higher chance of finding maybe remnants of microbial life? Is it too cold/tech issue?
Gamingmemes0 t1_j96rbyv wrote
think about how hard it is to drive a car on a regular icy road.
Now make that road be made out of CO2 and water ice add in unpredictable terrain and then put the drivers seat in a room so far away it takes 15 minuites for inputs from your wheel for the car to respond.
kerfitten1234 t1_j96t87r wrote
IIRC(applies to entire comment) mars rovers haven't actually been 'driven' since before MER. The rovers have rudimentary AI that takes instructions like "do science on that rock from this picture" and figures out how to do it, only needing humans for complex precise movements or troubleshooting.
The_Fredrik t1_j9aswge wrote
That is cool! How have I never heard about this? Thanks!
Adialaktos t1_j96rzwk wrote
Yeah,makes sense.too bad.hopefully future tech will allow this
djellison t1_j98mah6 wrote
A spacecraft was sent up there - https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/index.html - and was able to establish ground truth for the existence of sub surface ice.
[deleted] t1_j9ayxci wrote
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