[time-nuts] Martian FMT test

[Hal Murray]

NASA is giving up on getting Spirit out of the sand trap.  But it will have a 
new life that looks interesting to time-nuts.  (frequency-nuts?)

http://tinyurl.com/yzbslwz
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/01/spirit-rover-probably-stuck/?utm_sou
rce=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+
Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29

"That imperative to drive is relaxed," Squyres said. "That enables us to 
focus on new classes of science that you can only do from a science platform 
that isn't moving around a lot."

In particular, he said that the team would focus on tracking Spirit's radio 
signal very precisely, which could allow them to determine whether the 
Martian core is solid or liquid through a telltale wobble in the planet's 
rotation.

"The way that Mars wobbles depends on its internal structure," said Squyres. 
"When you go through the math, if Mars has a solid core of iron, it will 
wobble in a certain well-defined way. But if that core is liquid, it will 
wobble in an ever-so-slightly different way. And by tracking the signal, we 
can distinguish between the two."


-- 
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's.  I hate spam.