3 ms·

What innovations from this vehicle can we expect to see trickle down into the consumer space?

ars 14y ago
First you need a time machine. These types of trickle down are not identified till much later. If you knew what it would be in advance you wouldn't need it to trickle down - you could just use or develop it directly.
- joshontheweb 14y ago
  I'm sure there are people in the HN community that are familiar with it's build and could make some predictions.
- rm999 14y ago
  I think the Curiosity team would object to your answer. They've been working on the project for almost a decade, have spent thousands (millions?) of man-hours on it, and have written 500,000 lines of code to control it. The dollar amount that has gone into building it is greater than the value of many fortune 500 companies! There are probably some awesome innovations that came out of such a large project, it's a great question to ask.
  - tomjakubowski 14y ago
    Those 500k LOC are just for the EDL. Wonder what they wrote it in, presumably C? http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2012/july/0726-ss-msl.html http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2012/ju...
    - iamdave 14y ago
      I've been hearing (sic: reading) a few folks suggesting actually python. This was in the ##curiosity IRC chat this morning during the landing
Xcelerate 14y ago
Genuine excitement.
agildehaus 14y ago
The first major one is all the kids watching this who are saying to themselves: THIS IS AWESOME, I WANT TO BE AN ENGINEER!
nickpinkston 14y ago
For one, the robot gearing was designed with zero backlash (well +/- 0.000001") using a novel set of EDMachining techniques developed to achieve this accuracy virtually no part distortion - which was reported in literature and trade journals. Eventually, this could lead to super precision/efficient mechanical systems in scientific instruments, micro-robotics, etc. Also - come on a SkyCrane!?!?
pinaceae 14y ago
the realization that none of the people involved in making this happen will ever be getting 1b dollars by facebook in a buyout for their work. the realization that none of the people involved in making this happen will ever be on a Forbes 500 list. and still they did it. because they love it, it is progress, science, exploration. and not a way to ruin pics with a filter.
- InclinedPlane 14y ago
  Nobody's going to see a blurb about instagram in a history book 20 years from now.

ars 14y ago

First you need a time machine. These types of trickle down are not identified till much later. If you knew what it would be in advance you wouldn't need it to trickle down - you could just use or develop it directly.

joshontheweb 14y ago
I'm sure there are people in the HN community that are familiar with it's build and could make some predictions.
rm999 14y ago
I think the Curiosity team would object to your answer. They've been working on the project for almost a decade, have spent thousands (millions?) of man-hours on it, and have written 500,000 lines of code to control it. The dollar amount that has gone into building it is greater than the value of many fortune 500 companies! There are probably some awesome innovations that came out of such a large project, it's a great question to ask.
- tomjakubowski 14y ago
  Those 500k LOC are just for the EDL. Wonder what they wrote it in, presumably C? http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2012/july/0726-ss-msl.html http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2012/ju...
  - iamdave 14y ago
    I've been hearing (sic: reading) a few folks suggesting actually python. This was in the ##curiosity IRC chat this morning during the landing

Xcelerate 14y ago

Genuine excitement.

agildehaus 14y ago

The first major one is all the kids watching this who are saying to themselves: THIS IS AWESOME, I WANT TO BE AN ENGINEER!

nickpinkston 14y ago

For one, the robot gearing was designed with zero backlash (well +/- 0.000001") using a novel set of EDMachining techniques developed to achieve this accuracy virtually no part distortion - which was reported in literature and trade journals. Eventually, this could lead to super precision/efficient mechanical systems in scientific instruments, micro-robotics, etc. Also - come on a SkyCrane!?!?

pinaceae 14y ago

the realization that none of the people involved in making this happen will ever be getting 1b dollars by facebook in a buyout for their work. the realization that none of the people involved in making this happen will ever be on a Forbes 500 list. and still they did it. because they love it, it is progress, science, exploration. and not a way to ruin pics with a filter.

InclinedPlane 14y ago
Nobody's going to see a blurb about instagram in a history book 20 years from now.