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| Member |
OK, pardon my lack of scientific knowledge, but why is one foot of the helicopter a different shape than the other three feet? | ||
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| Do---or do not. There is no try. |
Low bid. | |||
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| Member |
Well, the other three do resemble left-overs from discarded golf club heads. I guess if we are so cheap that we send astronauts to the space station in salvaged rockets, we might as well use salvage parts on Mars surface!  | |||
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| Member |
Maybe a reference point to determine orientation when they look at pictures and videos of it? | |||
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| Muzzle flash aficionado  |
A way to determine orientation of it from its footprints? flashguy Texan by choice, not accident of birth | |||
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Age Quod Agis |
It's already growing Mars Fungus. It's only a matter of time now. {sigh} "I vowed to myself to fight against evil more completely and more wholeheartedly than I ever did before. . . . That’s the only way to pay back part of that vast debt, to live up to and try to fulfill that tremendous obligation." Alfred Hornik, Sunday, December 2, 1945 to his family, on his continuing duty to others for surviving WW II. | |||
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| Age Quod Agis |
Fuck you! Mutants Rule!!! "I vowed to myself to fight against evil more completely and more wholeheartedly than I ever did before. . . . That’s the only way to pay back part of that vast debt, to live up to and try to fulfill that tremendous obligation." Alfred Hornik, Sunday, December 2, 1945 to his family, on his continuing duty to others for surviving WW II. | |||
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| Thank you Very little  |
Presume he's referencing the foot with the loop..  | |||
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Void Where Prohibited |
The stock photos of the helicopter show four solid feet. It will be interesting to know why one has that loop. Maybe used With some optic for ranging or sighting? "If Gun Control worked, Chicago would look like Mayberry, not Thunderdome" - Cam Edwards | |||
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| Edge seeking Sharp blade! |
I'll guess its either for retention on the mother ship, or for retrieval by the rover if it crashes. | |||
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| Member |
Well, here’s the answer. It had to do with how it was attached to the belly of the rover. https://space.stackexchange.co...genuitys-legs-differ | |||
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Lost |
It has to do with the landing leg retention clamps. They found they needed a little more clearance on that corner when the vehicle was in the stowed position beneath the rover, and rather than redesign all the lower geometry, it was easier to add that little strut on the foot for the clamp to grab onto. You can see the retention arm on the left side where the arrow is pointing... | |||
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| Member |
You guys, as usual, have helped me to keep my dignity (what little I have ever possessed!). My six-year-old great-granddaughter noticed it and wanted to know why. It is not good for the great-grandfather to admit to lack of knowledge above and beyond a six-year-old.  | |||
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Member |
Buy three tires, get the fourth one free.. ______________________________________________ Life is short. It’s shorter with the wrong gun… | |||
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