But, they are moving slower than expected, in part because of the wheel worries.

Mesh might not do well in sand because sand particles get inside the wheel easily. Keep in mind they are driving up a slope.

More bad luck than bad planning because the type of terrain they landed on had not been observed on Mars before.

It's not "bad luck", it's why you explore. If you send out a scout to the east, and he comes back with an arrow in his back, bummer for the scout, but at least you now know the east is dangerous before sending the rest of the troops to the east.

Better we find out about stiff rocks now instead of when humans are driving a rover there, without AAA.

Note this rover is better able to handle sand based on lessons from the last rovers.

But the wheels aren't failing. The skin on the wheels is failing but the wheels will work fine with structure alone.

Not exactly. The bent skin can potentially rub against cables, sawing them up, goofing up wheel control and other parts of the electrical system. Plus, they may start sinking in sand without skin. Sand was a big problem for earlier rovers.

I wouldn't be so sure:

http://www.dailydot.com/lol/ch...

"That has lead to all kinds of problems."

Like how quickly disease spreads.. oh wait, that's in a city.... How about the increased crime rate!! Nope, city life again.

What exactly are you fucking talking about?

who the fuck says yolo any more?

There is no way a printed foundation will outperform a concrete solution.

Isn't that the name of the "mormon" planet? Authors might get sued by the church.

...build a KFC nearby

I'm waiting for the Duke Nukem edition

I wish I had upvotes for you.

I am a power user. I'm currently surrounded by two very powerful PCs... rather a high-end 'docked' mac laptop dedicated to development work and a frankenstein's monster BYOC dedicated to gaming, Watching and converting video (-- Anime junkie) and artwork.

I also own a little Samsung Android tablet. Despite the mobile development workstation, I use the ever-loving snot out of that tablet. I use it to watch video I've converted for it, read books and magazines, browse web while seated in my nice club chair in the living room, have a reference site up while console gaming, and art. Turns out that Autodesk has a VERY nice painting app for $6. Works beautifully with cheapy capacitive styluses.

I consume the vast majority of my Crunchyroll subscription on it (more anime and manga).

However, I don't use it at ALL for email.

So yeah, mobile matters.

Do Germans eat crow with bratwurst?

They are about to get an ash-kicking

no, they are too busy writing Windows 8.2