Comments on: 2009 Mars Rover Features Laser Cannon, Badonkadonk Butt (Updated)

By: mark

mark — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 18:59:48 +0000

Please, I don’t read after the jump. I just head straight to the comments.

By: david ponce

david ponce — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:06:21 +0000

Well, Mark, Evan does mention that the MSL will be powered by nuclear power.

By: mark

mark — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 13:11:48 +0000

I agree Mars is cool but is worth all the money? I mean the cost of launching the weight of that thing will be around 17 mil.
Also do you know how that laser will be powered? I am thinking it would need a tiny nuclear reactor on board. I think the Chinese built a nuclear rover but I could be wrong.

By: Evan Ackerman

Evan Ackerman — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 09:14:04 +0000

Oops, amazing what a difference a little “m” makes versus a big “M.” Let me try and redeem myself by mentioning that the MSL laser only fires for 5 nanoseconds, which means that (if I did my math right this time) the Spyder can sustain a pulse for 720 billion times longer before running out of juice.

By: Grumpf

Grumpf — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 08:58:07 +0000

250 mW = .25 W = .00025 KW = .00000025 MW =.00000000025 GW so yeah, you’re right. Try to hook up 4 billions spyders and then you may be able to vaporize a little stone…