while watching 'Gravity'...

[LAW (Murphy)]

In between the amazing scenery shots of the earth and Sandra Bullock's sports bra I got a little bored in the movie 'Gravity', and I started to think how cool a war movie would be set on the moon. Obviously there are the added logistics if getting air and water as well as soldiers up there, firearms would still work (with 8x the range)... Lots of considerations, but the one That's really got me thinking is how to navigate on the moon?

Compasses wouldn't work, there's no GPS, the earth is one point of reference but would the stars be visible during the 'day'?

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Yes - away from the Sun the sky is dark and stars are visible during the "day" because there's no atmosphere to disperse the light as there is on Earth.

[Andy01 (Andy)]

You got bored? Wow, I held my breath for the whole 90 mins! Check out the cult movie Iron Sky. It's about Nazi's on a secret base on the moon : )

[mr bruess]

gotta see the movie 'Gravity'.

i'll go tuesdays when prices are on special

[tlgerdes (Trevor)]

Originally Posted by LAW

I started to think how cool a war movie would be set on the moon. Obviously there are the added logistics if getting air and water as well as soldiers up there, firearms would still work (with 8x the range)... Lots of considerations,

Check out "Iron Sky" Zere are Nazis on zee moooonnnn!

[LAW (Murphy)]

Haha, Nazis on the moon sounds brilliant!

Gravity just seemed a little too..."American". All the problems were too contrived, and the solutions were too convenient. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone but the pivotal moment in the film between the two main characters and some parachute rope involved some disappointingly bad physics, considering how gloriously well thought out the sound was, they could have done better in some respects.

But are the stars currently the best form of navigation on the moon? How do the rovers navigate on Mars considering its uneven magnetic field?

[Astro_Bot]

Originally Posted by LAW

Haha, Nazis on the moon sounds brilliant!

It's worth a laugh, if nothing else.

How do the rovers navigate on Mars considering its uneven magnetic field?

Basically, they use cameras:

To decide which navigation method to use, NASA uses the Rover Sequencing and Visualization Program (RSVP), which is basically a Mars simulator. RSVP shows Curiosity’s current position on Mars, along with surface topology, obstacles (rocks), and so on. RSVP can then be used to plot a move (go forward 10 meters, turn 30 degrees right, go forward 3 meters) — or to pick an end point, which Curiosity will dutifully, autonomously navigate to. To safely navigate Mars, Curiosity uses its Hazcams (hazard avoidance cameras) to build a stereoscopic map of its environment, identifies which objects are too large to drive over, and then plots out a course to the end point.

How does NASA drive Mars rover Curiosity?