The discoverers are gonna need an electron microscope or something...since it's a microchip that's being placed on the rover this time around
Quote from: punkboi on 03/23/2009 05:05 amThe discoverers are gonna need an electron microscope or something...since it's a microchip that's being placed on the rover this time around I think that's completely goofy. At least the records on the Voyagers also have a plate that shows how to read them.
Quote from: MKremer on 03/23/2009 05:22 amQuote from: punkboi on 03/23/2009 05:05 amThe discoverers are gonna need an electron microscope or something...since it's a microchip that's being placed on the rover this time around I think that's completely goofy. At least the records on the Voyagers also have a plate that shows how to read them.True...but does that mean you're NOT going to submit your name to go to Mars?
Putting it on a chip is a much better idea -- it can be protected from the elements and you can also draw pictures of a sort to indicate to the reader, how to decode any data (I presume the names will be in binary or something). Encoding names on a CD is a bit absurd.
I was actually thinking that you might just etch images into the chip using standard techniques and read it using (as punkboi suggested) an electron microscope -- not actually etch a circuit as such. It would give quite good data density and be easier to interpret.A functional chip has issues with reading the data, just like a CD.
They are still accepting names. How late is this microchip going into the spacecraft.