
Ceres: The Planet That Wasn't - kostyk
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150831-the-planet-that-wasnt
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akshayB
Why can't we send a rover something similar to Mars Curiosity on Ceres. As
water has been detected, it can prove to be a great opportunity for future
space explorations. Right now people are totally focusing on Mars but we do
need to realize that in order to sustain humans settlement we need lot of
water and oxygen. What we really should try to do is choose places where there
is lot of water and some basic resources for life so we don't need lot of
space just to carry water and basic life supporting resources on space
explorations.

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Animats
The Dawn orbiter just got there. We now have basic surveillance video of all
of Ceres. The orbital altitude will be decreased, yielding higher-resolution
pictures and more data from other instruments. If there are any interesting
places to visit, we should know later this year.

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akshayB
I am aware of the Dawn orbiter. My reasoning for sending a rover is most
likely you will be able to collect more details and information. With
satellite all you get is high resolution images but if you have a rover you
can perform hand on tests on the surface, try drilling and do whatever you are
looking to do.

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maxxxxx
Not sure but wouldn't a rover be difficult to land with the low gravity?

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Symmetry
Easier, I would think. The gravity is low enough that you don't need a big
rocket to land but high enough that you don't have to worry about bouncing
off.

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maxxxxx
I was thinking about the way they slam the mars rovers into the ground with
airbags. That certainly wouldn't work or the rover would bounce around for a
long time. But I guess there are other ways. It would certainly be interesting
to see what NASA comes up with.

