NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover

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A lemmy community for scientific discussion of the Curiosity Rover and Mars Science Laboratory.

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4312 - Wheel check (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 month ago by paulhammond5155 to c/curiosityrover

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It's had a tough journey, but it's still trucking

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Other than weight, why isn’t the wheel solid? Seems like a safer bet for a rover, and you don’t have passenger comfort to take into account.

[–] paulhammond5155 7 points 1 month ago

why isn’t the wheel solid?

Weight is an issue
The wheels were the rover shock absorbers during landing (by the sky-crane back in 2012)
Yes, no passenger comfort, but there is an amount of sensitive electronics and instruments to protect.

[–] atocci 7 points 1 month ago

I have a hard time imagining it's for any reason other than weight.