4 ms·
Looking at closeups of the Rover, I cannot help but think: are those screws, nuts and bolts? And if so, why? Why carry the weight or decreased stiffness of or b
by berkes 6y ago
Looking at closeups of the Rover, I cannot help but think: are those screws, nuts and bolts? And if so, why? Why carry the weight or decreased stiffness of or by the notches, slits, threads etc. that makes screws be screwable. To a place where no-one ever will unscrew them?
- vasco 6y agoI predict that the chances of someone ever unscrewing them are higher than not. Just not super soon. Plus during development its useful, and why would you change the platform you test when deploying to live?
- berkes 6y agoMy thoughts as well: the benefits during development outweigh any downsides during transport and deployment. My other thought is that I simply saw it wrong and there are no screws in the rover, just things that look like screws, nuts or bolts.
- bregma 6y agoThe chances of someone unscrewing on Mars are a million to one they said.
- johnchristopher 6y agoI'd be amazed if we could build a single-use unibody rover but even so I suppose those bolts and nuts give some needed flexibility when landing and moving. Any structural engineer around?
- carabiner 6y agoBecause you'd need higher weight in wall thicknesses if using weaker 3D printed aluminum instead of aluminum sheet, bar stock etc. Which actually has a coherent grain.
- berkes 6y agoThis presumes the only alternative to "screws and nuts and bolts" is "3dprinting". Which I know to be false.