Desert Rats Wheels

[davisgreen2020]

Shame those wheels wil not be on the Moon in 2020 !! :((

[aghabeypasha]

When he said that he has been working for Nasa since 2004, she replies" ... A couple of years" does this mean this video was shot back in 2006??

[czubspenx]

...and how much of taxpayer's money did this cost?

[birthdaymatt]

Good point...no money for health care but lots for tires on the moon.

[InsideLosAngeles]

This is why Canadians should not get involved with US matters. Hey idiot, the US spends more money than any other country on Health care. We need reform, not more money.

Please keep your ignorant and stupid mouth shut. Thanks

[sexydorkmo]

and this displays that people in LA are quite charming

[jwcornish]

Mind you, NASA's budget is less than one third of one percent of the total US Federal budget. The funds allocated to NASA bring us a lot of value.

[birthdaymatt]

I did not know that. Not much money by comparison. I changed my mind. Thanks.

[jwcornish]

Mind you, every dollar spent went into paying an American scientist or engineer, or into American machinery used to build the rover, or build the tools used to build the rover.

[czubspenx]

So, if I pay an American soldier to fight a needless war, that's okay. If I pay an attorney to start a frivolous lawsuit, that's okay. If I pay some government worker to do some needless job, that's okay. I don't think any of that is okay. I want more bang for my dollar in tax money. I want something to show for all the hard work, like maybe a freeway or a park or something like that. Not some tire on a landing craft.

[jwcornish]

Do you know what's in the US Federal Budget?

Look up '2009 United States federal budget' on wikipedia.

most of it ($1.89 trillion) is Mandatory spending

$644 billion - Social Security

$408 billion - Medicare

$224 billion - Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)

$360 billion - Unemployment/Welfare/Other mandatory spending

$260 billion - Interest on National Debt

The rest is 'discretionary' spending, of which half goes to the Dept. defense.

NASA gets crumbs

[czubspenx]

You people crack me up. Spend, spend, spend no matter what. Hey, guess what? This country is broke, the wars abroad are killing us, there is NO money, the printing presses are running 24/7 printing money out of thin air, etc. Everyone says cut somebody's elses budget. This country has to quit spending money like drunken sailor, whether it's NASA, The Dept of Defense, etc. It costs close to a million dollars to put one troop on the front line for one year. Now, go figure it out.

[jwcornish]

Pt 2

Now, would you say that an American engineer developing a new technology that no one has tried before 'needless'

Look at that computer on your desk. What you have there is an absolutely IMPOSSIBLE device--from the point of view of companies like IBM in the 60's. There was no need for any small computers at all. You could have terminals connected to a building sized mainframe to run everything.

[jwcornish]

pt3

Except for NASA. NASA needed an extremely compact computer. And the Apollo guidance computer was the first to use Integrated circuits. That manufacturing technology that Americans developed for the space program is now in just about every device in your home, car and where you work.

Yes, spend spend spend. You pay less than a penny on the tax dollar, and you as a result get to complain about it on your computer over ARPANET---er, the Internet

[jwcornish]

pt4,

and guess what. I agree about military spending. I think it should be cut back quite a bit.

I also think that NASA should be having the private sector provide the ride into orbit and back for our astronauts (look up the SpaceX Dragon capsule)

I do think we should be putting billions more into education, basic science research and infrastructure (I live near Seattle and our SR99 Viaduct is likely to fall in the next major quake)

[jwcornish]

so here's the deal, and I"m going to sound like a socialist. No individual can foot the bill for defending our borders and interests, building a bridge, teaching a child, handling a pandemic, feeding the hungry or taking us to the Moon.

So how about this. I chip in some money, and you chip in some money, and we'll have our representitives work it out in the congress.

If you don't like how your tax dollars are being spent, don't say it on YouTube, write your congressperson a letter.

[hyhhy]

I find her very hot. Makes it hard for me to concentrate on what they're saying... but I don't mind.

[DrHavanger]

i don't understand, don't we already have a rover on the moon? have aliens disassembled it and taken it to their mother ship? we've already invented the wheel for the moon, why must we re-invent this????????

[jwcornish]

DrH.

The Lunar rovers were marvelously engineered vehicles. (if you are ever in Seattle, check out the engineering test article that is on display at the Museum of Flight)

However, the Lunar rovers were designed with some limitations.

First, mass--two suited astronauts, communications gear, a video camera, some tools and some samples were what they were designed to carry.

Also, they have been in hard vacuum and thermal cycling between -300F to +200 every two weeks (One Lunar Day)

[jwcornish]

Although I recall one of the engineers who worked on the lunar rovers saying that if you were to put a new battery in them, they would likely be drivable.

However, here's the biggy--the lunar rovers are NO WHERE NEAR where NASA is planning to land. The two rovers are at the Equator, and the immediate plans for the return to the Moon are to land at the South Pole.

There isn't a practical way to get those rovers to the new base.

[sexydorkmo]

i saw we drive em there

[mvertigo16]

Sounds like time for a road trip!

[jwcornish]

Also, why 'reinvent'. I assume you drive a car built in 1969? Or use electronics manufactured in 1969? We have electronics, motors and batteries a fraction of the mass that the Lunar Rover uses, but more powerful/higher capacity/more rugged than was available.

Are you saying that I should be taking a wagon train to work because that was good enough for my grandfather? Why must we re-invent this??

[Rigo0Jancsi]

I had the feeling she just goes through her list, adds an "awesome" or "excellent" here and there but doesn't really care for the content. But the content is actually awesome. Videos like this show how many details have to be worked on to create a successful mission. Awesome!

[Ronestar]

Seemed kinda awkward...

[snarplaya]

agree

[juliandeathgod]

She's a good interviewer, in my opinion.

[LondonCrusader]

I wonder if China would like to buy these awesome tires?

--

Seriously though, must be one hell of a lifesty/e/job to be working on this kind of thing.

Hopefully, despite any future budget cuts, NASA can still at least continue to be at the leading edge of some tech' development.

[kungura]

not the best interviewer...

[moneyman10k]

she is a fine amateur interviewer, he is just a bad interviewee, nobody can carve a marble statue out of concrete

[kniix]

what's awesome?

the tire's awesome?

sheeee's awesome! ;-)

[snoopyloopy]

so the question of course is how much did that "twheel" cost?

side note to youtube: commenting limit fails or needs to be user-settable.

[Nigelcf]

hahaha she can't stop saying assuum!!

[dogstar7]

That's relly awesum

[snoopyloopy]

lol yea she said that too many times