Rovers on Titan

Originally posted by Ghaele
I don't understand this obsession with having to send people on suicide missions just to plant a pair of feet on some sand.

I agree with you to a certain point. I believe settlement should be left up to the private industry, exploration should be up to the Gov'ts. Allthough the best type of Exploration is not done by bots they are done by us, so getting a human on Mars or whereever is still going to be the primary goal.

I was talking bout the mars science lab,the humvee sized nuclear powered one.
i wanna see what that baby can do!
Then we need to build one for titan.

A humvee sized probe?!?! Nuke powered too?!?! I have never heard of such a thing, do you have any links to the proposels?? U have interested me

Here is the link for the Mars science Laboratory due for launch 2009.

marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov...

Originally posted by sardion2000

I was talking bout the mars science lab,the humvee sized nuclear powered one.
i wanna see what that baby can do!
Then we need to build one for titan.

A humvee sized probe?!?! Nuke powered too?!?! I have never heard of such a thing, do you have any links to the proposels?? U have interested me

yup,its pretty exciting,
www.aerospaceguide.net...
that site says it will be volkswagen sized.

yes the Mars Science Laboratory will be a giant leap ahead in space
exploration. The ability to operate around the clock and a greatly expanded
range will provide for a wealth of science never before seen on Mars

For Titan much of the same designs would have to be employed except to
withstand a much more hostile environment. Mars is pretty tame compared
to Titan.. Any mission of such scope will obviously be out aways.
Any attempt to return to Titan will probably not happen before 2030... and by
then we will be concetrating on the Moon and Mars. So the Huygens probe
will probably be my only view of Titan in my lifetime...

Hopefully, though we will return. I believe we have to.

XEVEN! Great answer! I am with you 100% on the space elevator issue. This will provide the cheapest means of lifting heavy cargo and supplies, and this is really what we need in order to test the new proplusion systems that will get us around our solar system. I think a realistic near term goal would be a permanent moon and mars colony. It seems to me that at point, space exploration can't help but expand, and exponentally!