J/Laz/Kazmir - The JLK System. Rocket Scientist|Mountaineer|Jeeper|YouTube sci show host|F1|MLB 🏳️🌈PanPolyClosed He/They #Mach25Club🔞@kangamutt🧡@corviphagy
Feb 23, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
By the way, JPL being JPL, they assembled the supersonic parachute with colors that spell out in a 10-bit pattern the motto of JPL, "Dare mighty things", along with lat/lon coordinates for where JPL is on Earth.
Because it's JPL, and they do things like this, because that's JPL.
This isn't the first time JPL has done something cheeky. The original wheel designs for Curiosity had "JPL" built into the tread. NASA said, "We have a no branding policy, we can't have the JPL logo being imprinted everywhere you drive on Mars. Remove it."
Feb 23, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
What seriously blows my mind about the Descent Stage and Sky Crane system: YOU CANNOT ACTUALLY PHYSICALLY TEST THE WHOLE SYSTEM ON EARTH. It's /Mars-only/, it only works there.
Over a decade after design and 2 for 2 on use, this is the first time we've seen it all at work.
You can test the parachute by launching it to the fringes of the Earth's atmosphere. You can test the cables, and test the mobility deploy in a lab. You can test the radar and terrain navigation systems on a plane/helicopter. But you CANNOT test the system as a whole all at once.
