Rover (space exploration)

A rover (or sometimes planetary rover) is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of a planet or other celestial body. Some rovers have been designed to transport members of a human spaceflight crew; others have been partially or fully autonomous robots. Rovers usually arrive at the planetary surface on a lander-style spacecraft.

Comparison with space probes of other types

Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they examine more territory and they can be directed to interesting features. If they are solar powered, they can place themselves in sunny positions to weather winter months. They can also advance the knowledge of how to perform very remote robotic vehicle control which is necessarily semi-autonomous due to the finite speed of light.

Their advantages over orbiting spacecraft are that they can make observations to a microscopic level and can conduct physical experimentation. Disadvantages of rovers compared to orbiters are the higher chance of failure, due to landing and other risks, and that they are limited to a small area around a landing site which itself is only approximately anticipated.

Rover (The Prisoner)

Rover is a fictional entity from the 1967 British television program The Prisoner, and was an integral part of the way 'prisoners' were kept within The Village. It was depicted as a floating white ball that could coerce, and, if necessary, disable inhabitants of The Village, primarily Number Six. In one incident, it even killed a person, but it is not clear whether the ability to kill was a normal feature of Rover or if this incident was a malfunction. Several aspects of the Rover device were not explained, presumably left to the imagination/speculation of the viewer.

In the novel The Prisoner: Number Two by David McDaniel, based upon the series, the name Guardian was used instead of Rover.

Portrayal

Description

Rover was depicted as a large white inflatable balloon, not quite fully inflated, with a flexible skin. Rover would often produce a muffled roar sound when attacking. It would also sometimes emit a strange light display / luminescence from its interior. Once released, Rover could bounce and glide across the land and sea for a long range and at high speed, faster than a vehicle or boat.

Rover incident

The Rover Incident (Chinese: 羅發號事件) occurred on March 12, 1867 when the American merchant ship Rover, en route from Shantou to Newchwang shipwrecked off the coast of Formosa (Taiwan under Qing rule). The ship struck a coral reef called Qixingyan (七星岩) near Oluanpi and drifted into the area of Kenting. The American sailors were killed by Taiwanese Aborigines in revenge for earlier killings of Kaolut (Koalut/Ku-a-lut/etc) tribe members by foreigners. Subsequently, the U.S. military decided to send a military expedition against the tribe members responsible.

American Reaction

Following the wreck of the United States ship and killing of the surviving crew by aborigines, the American Consul to Amoy Charles William Le Gendre quickly traveled to Foochow, arriving on 2 April 1867, to persuade the governor generals of Fukien and Chekiang to intervene and put pressure on the Chinese authorities in Taiwan to resolve the issue. The governor general of Fukien gave Le Gendre permission to go to Taiwan himself, and wrote him a letter of introduction to take to the prefect of Taiwan, asking him to cooperate with Le Gendre, but adding that "if the consul takes measures to manage the case himself, please invite him not to do so, for these savages might give him more trouble that he thinks." Le Gendre commissioned the United States steamer Ashuelot, under the command of Captain John C. Febiger, in order to visit the scene of the wreck and to try (unsuccessfully) to get foreign officials in Taiwanfoo (capital of Taiwan Prefecture, where he arrived on 18 April) to act. After a subsequent failed punitive expedition carried out by Rear Admiral Henry H. Bell of the United States Navy, Le Gendre again returned to Formosa—this time without any reference to his superiors. While in Taiwan, he asserted United States consular authority, selected a deputy consul in north Taiwan, visited the Keelung mines, and gathered information from United States merchants.

Play (Brad Paisley album)

Play, also known as Play: The Guitar Album, is the sixth studio album by American country music artist Brad Paisley. It was released on November 4, 2008 (see 2008 in country music). Like all of his previous albums, Play was released on Arista Nashville and produced by Frank Rogers. The album is largely instrumental in nature, except for five vocal tracks. One of these tracks, "Start a Band" (a duet with Keith Urban), has been released as a single and has become Paisley's ninth consecutive Number One country hit, and his thirteenth overall. The album cover photograph was taken at Bristow Run Elementary School in Bristow, Virginia.

Content

Play is largely an album of instrumentals, though Paisley sings five duets with other vocalists, including B.B. King, Buck Owens, and Keith Urban. King and Urban both play guitar on their respective duet tracks. Another track, "Cluster Pluck", features James Burton, Vince Gill, Albert Lee, John Jorgenson, Brent Mason, Redd Volkaert and Steve Wariner. The Buck Owens duet is a song which Owens co-wrote. It is not strictly a country music record, featuring jazz guitar and a song described by Paisley as "very heavy metal." The final track, "Waitin' on a Woman", was first included on Paisley's 2005 album Time Well Wasted, and was later re-recorded as a bonus track to 2007's 5th Gear, from which it was released as a single. The version featured here includes guest vocals from Andy Griffith, and is the version used in the song's music video.

Días Que No Vuelven

Días Que No Vuelven is the debut album of the Mexican pop band Play. Released in 2006 in Latin America, the album produced the singles "Días Que No Vuelven" and "Pense".

Track listing

Play (Mike Stern album)

Play is an album by Mike Stern, released in 1999 through Atlantic Records. The album reached a peak position of number twenty-one on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart.

Track listing

Personnel

References