Roaming Robot May Explore Mysterious Moon Caverns 29
ananyo writes "William 'Red' Whittaker often spends his Sundays lowering a robot into a recently blown up coal mine pit near his cattle ranch in Pennsylvania. By 2015, he hopes that his robot, or something like it, will be rappelling down a much deeper hole, on the Moon. The hole was discovered three years ago when Japanese researchers published images from the satellite SELENE1, but spacecraft orbiting the Moon have been unable to see into its shadowy recesses. A robot might be able to 'go where the Sun doesn't shine', and send back the first-ever look beneath the Moon's skin, Whittaker told attendees at a meeting of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program in Hampton, Virginia, last week. And Whittaker is worth taking seriously-his robots have descended into an Alaskan volcano and helped to clean up the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant."
darn! (Score:5, Informative)
I wanted to see a picture of the moon hole. Here's [nasa.gov] one on Mars, I'd like to see a robot investigate that!
Re:darn! (Score:5, Informative)
Here's one! [universetoday.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks! They look like the pictures of Mars holes. This really is an exciting time.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Thank goodness that was real... I'm sure you can guess what I was expecting...
Re: (Score:3)
No, this is the moon. You'll get the goatse pictures and jokes when we find a hole on Uranus.
Re: (Score:3)
Thank goodness that was real... I'm sure you can guess what I was expecting...
The Ass of Moon? Yeah, this is it. I believe it's directly opposite to the Face of Moon.
Re: (Score:1)
What are the odds that they send a rover down there and it turns out it's just a dead-end, with no tunnels, no nothing? That would be like the world's biggest let-down.
Re: (Score:2)
So... You want to see a hole-y rover, then.
Re: (Score:1)
So you'd like to see a giant space-spider battle a robot on Mars?
That's actually a pretty good idea.
We've already looked into darkness (Score:2)
Wait, I saw this already...Apollo 18. Is NASA finally fessing up to the conspiracy or are the moon rocks we brought back just now coming to life and we have to figure a way to kill them. Exciting times indeed,
Re: (Score:2)
Red Whittaker won the 2007 DARPA Grand Challange (Score:5, Informative)
Whittaker is worth taking seriously ...
Red Whittaker [wikipedia.org] is worth taking seriously for other reasons as well: He lead the Carnegie Mellon team that won the 2007 DARPA Grand Challange [wikipedia.org].
When it comes to robots, I don't think there is anyone that should be taken more seriously.
Just remember to pan up and down. (Score:2)
Because if you see teeth, you'd better get the fuck outta there!
'go where the Sun doesn't shine' (Score:3, Funny)
Wait, are they planning to explore the Moon or Uranus?
Meandering Moon Mech Must Map Mysterious Moon Maw (Score:4, Interesting)
Might as well take the alliteration in the title all the way.
The Lotus Caves (Score:1)
No Point To It (Score:3)
Since we all already know what's down there [2001aspaceodyssey.org] there's no point in even bothering to send the robot.
Enough with the space rocks (Score:2, Troll)
I mean, what else do you think a rover would find down there? While potentially exciting for planetary geologists, for most of us -- including the vast majority of people who pay for these missions -- studying rocks, aside from the engineering gymnastics of getting into the cave, does not stir the human spirit of exploration. Lets explore the seas of Titan, the volcanoes of Io, or the water geysers of Enceladus, not another rock-hunting trip with taxpayer money. There's a decent chance of finding life in o
Re: (Score:2)
lucky damn robot! (Score:3, Funny)
Nothing to see but ..... (Score:1)
1. Ancient metal corridors coming back to life as the detrius covered battle station comes out of hibernation.
2. The remains of an ancient city.
3. An intact, stasis shielded something or other that has a worn but still workable button poking out of the stasis field.
4. A giant swastika on an iron door ala Iron Sky.
5. A large circular thingy with chevrons along the outer edge.
6. The rocky bottom of a hole that happens to be on the moon.
Roaming outside your country (Score:1)