NASA's Scarecrow rover to scour Mars in 2009

Just months after learning the truth behind the fall of the late Mars Global Surveyor, NASA is already test driving the next great planetary invader. The vehicle, dubbed Scarecrow for its (current) lack of brain matter, is already conquering terrain in the Mars Yard as it prepares for a scheduled launch in 2009. Its sole mission in life will be to "follow the evidence of water that has already been found on the surface of Mars," and just in case any unforeseen hostiles attempt to sabotage its assignment, the engineers have equipped it with a "laser that can pulverize rock from 20 feet away." So much for a peaceful visit.

[Via The Raw Feed, image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech]

[Grey Acumen @ Jun 20th 2007 10:40AM]

Lets hope they don't decide to confuse inches with centimeters in its programming so it at least LANDS first...

[John Doe @ Jun 20th 2007 11:05AM]

I love how everyone loves to shit on NASA by focusing on what they do wrong. Not one mention of the fact that Spirit and Opportunity have gone WELL past their mission requirements.
NO one has come close to matching these achievements. But hey. Who cares right? Lets all shit on NASA.

[Grey Acumen @ Jun 20th 2007 11:39AM]

What exactly makes you think I'm shitting on NASA?

I'm just pointing out a really stupid mistake, that cost a lot of time and money all over the place. Are you saying you think they should make more of these mistakes?

Did I say NASA sucks or that they shouldn't bother? No. I said let's hope they don't [make that same mistake] so that it actually [completes the first and most important part of any mission to another planet]

So cool your jets. I'm not interested in having your head explode if something actually does go wrong. I didn't even realize NASA fanboys existed.

[strider_mt2k @ Jun 20th 2007 11:57AM]

They do.

-and there are lots more old probes still in operation too.

[Grey Acumen @ Jun 20th 2007 12:14PM]

Oh yeah, if anything, my issues with that inches/cm thing are because of those old probes that are still working.
They only had the most basic understanding of what they were doing early on, but they have stuff that is still hanging around. Those are the standards that I'm holding them to.
I'm not bashing on them cause I think they suck, but because I know they're better than that.

[l3ong @ Jun 20th 2007 10:49AM]

Uh, ill take 2.

[Wes @ Jun 20th 2007 11:07AM]

I think the article meant to say 'frickin' laser.

[Mr. Sneakery @ Jun 20th 2007 11:28AM]

Oh the lack of humanity? I'm tired of rover's dropping onto moons or planets. I just read an article yesterday saying they aren't gonna try to send people to Mars until like 2018. I'm tired of waiting people its 2007, get some people there already and at least have a robot society there or something. Don't talk about going to the planets, get us there. Geez. Plus I think they should send a few sharks with laserbeams!

[ram.kandasamy @ Jun 20th 2007 11:55AM]

Sending robots is a lot more effective than sending people. Its a lot cheaper, as there are no life support systems and it's only a one-way trip. The risk is only that of losing money, not lives. NASA's latest plans to build a new command capsule and rocket have leeched money from many other research projects, which could have given us much information not only about space, but about ourselves.

[John Stracke @ Jun 20th 2007 12:37PM]

Sending sharks is too expensive—water is heavy. I think Dr. Evil's going to have to settle for ferrets with laserbeams.

[Mr. Sneakery @ Jun 20th 2007 12:45PM]

Well I just feel like we are well behind where we should be for 2007. I mean the Jetsons was done in the 1960's and "that future" was supposed to be the 1980's. Fast Forward an extra 20 years to now and we still don't have any of that coolness going for us.

[Sir Loin @ Jun 20th 2007 11:30AM]

"So much for a peaceful visit."

OK, I laughed :)

[paul34 @ Jun 20th 2007 12:32PM]

Just admit it already, NASA. You've been fighting a secret war on Mars for years now... which also explains the mysterious "disappearances" of certain craft...

Stop trying to take over Mars! We need it later as a trashdump.

[John Stracke @ Jun 20th 2007 12:36PM]

Nah, Venus is more suitable as a trash dump. It's closer, and it's ludicrously uninhabitable.

[wblake0000 @ Jun 20th 2007 12:55PM]

The barebones prototype is referred to as "Scarecrow" (since it has to manually controlled as seen in the picture in the linked article). The actual rover is conveniently named the MER (Mars Exploration Rover). BTW if you're ever in the LA/Pasadena area you should see if there's a tour of the MSL (Mars Science Laboratory) at JPL it's awesome.

[hectar111 @ Jun 20th 2007 4:51PM]

no, scarecrow is the test mobility system for MSL. MER is already on mars.

[wblake0000 @ Jun 20th 2007 4:59PM]

hectar111 is correct, I was mistaken. The MER are already on Mars (Spirit and Opportunity). The MSL is the next rover:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/Rover_Update.html
Sorry about that.

[GioNYC @ Jun 20th 2007 3:55PM]

For what? So we can collect more rocks and dust? Enough already with Mars. Real life lies in EUROPA.

[GioNYC2 @ Jun 20th 2007 4:19PM]

Heres is what's going to happen. USA will be the first team to hit EUROPA because USA loves to stick there nose into anything first. NASA discovers life in EUROPA. The President and Sec. Defense will be the only ones to know of this discovery. The U.S. Govt will keep it a secret and say "NO LIFE" Results are Negative. Why?: A: To prevent Religous HAVOC which can weaken the U.S. Economy and International Affairs. B: To prevent SPACE contamination disease that can destroy the human race. C: To Prevent More Terrorism.