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NASA Radar-Ready Rover Helps Solve Murder Case
Back in 1991, Dawn Sanchez vanished after having last been seen in the car of her boyfriend, Bernardo Bass. Bass was a suspect, but police couldn't gather enough hard evidence to charge him with the crime. The case was closed until, years later, an informant told police that the car had been taken apart, and buried in an abandoned lot in Alviso, California. But there was a problem: the lot was littered with tons of trashed metal parts, which would make locating the pieces of Bass's car nearly impossible. That's where NASA stepped in.
The space agency, along with Senseta, Inc., had been working on a rover designed for underground surveying on distant planets. After being contacted by the district attorney, NASA loaned the authorities a Senseta MAX 5.0A rover that mapped the lot and pinpointed the spots where the car parts would most likely be found. After digging, authorities did find pieces of Bass's car. The case was re-opened and Bass plead no contest to manslaughter charges.
Screenwriters are probably already working on a small-screen adaptation of this story -- whether an episode of 'CSI,' or a Lifetime movie. We'll help them out with the title: 'Rovers, Romance and Radar.' [From: Popular Science]
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Comments
19
Subscribe to commentseMaxJul 15th 2010 9:58AM
Once again. NASA's technology is used in normal life for the good of everyone....
Continuing to prove that money that goes into developing technology for NASA helps everyone.
NASA should have an unlimited budget and push the envelope for all of mankind.
tlee47ftwJul 16th 2010 11:43AM
I am an avid NASA supporter, but "unlimited" is a little extreme.
Dedicated ServersJul 15th 2010 10:44AM
It is good that,NASA is developing technologies for secure future........
TomJul 16th 2010 7:26AM
Ground-penetrating radar is not a NASA technology.
It has been around for much longer than 20 years.
Numerous environmental consulting firms have used it to locate buried objects.
LarryJul 16th 2010 8:57AM
Damn! I thought this was going to tell us they found Jimmy Hoffa on Mars!
CandyJul 16th 2010 9:01AM
NASA should have an unlimited budget? What about the Veterans Administration Hospital to help our soldiers who have served their country? There is not a mandatory budget for that. The VA should be funded first and foremost. Then NASA can wait in line.
IsDandyJul 16th 2010 9:33AM
Beautiful sentiment Candy.
Only problem is this is not an article about the Veterans Administration Hospital.
It may be true that the comment from eMax might be a bit overzealous, it is on topic and I believe well intentioned.
While I agree with you that we need to take better care of our veterans, this is not a story about them.
NASA (and the military for that matter) has come up with technologies that are beneficial to everyone, veterans included, and they should be applauded for that.
Pull back and look at the big picture.
RobertJul 16th 2010 9:51AM
the vetrans get the best of everything, they get special treatment that should be available to all human beings
CandyJul 16th 2010 10:06AM
IsDandy, Yes I agree with you, but I think Robert is a little bit misinformed if he thinks that Veterans get the best of everything. I am a Veteran and I can tell you that is a lie. I am lucky that I do have Tricare for Life and Medicare and can see an outside doctor who can properly treat me for illnesses that the VA has let go for years. Think before you speak please.
CandyJul 16th 2010 10:06AM
Point I was trying to make is that we need more funding for the health of our veterans than sending a robot to the moon or mars or another planet for that matter. Take care of humans on this earth first. Yes, solving a murder was wonderful. But I do have the right to explound on that and say that Veterans are being murdered every day because of lack of care. I hope that makes sense to you.....
lindabelleJul 16th 2010 10:19AM
Health care should be for everybody not just for veterans. Candy, you should think before you speak. There are a lot of people who don't have decent insurance for health care and most of them are in health care professions. Now we can get back to the radar thing.
RachelJul 16th 2010 11:26AM
Yes Linda, lets do get back to the radar thing. But before we go just let me say that I do not have a problem supporting our veterans 100% whether they ever fired a shot or not. They stand ready to put their life on the line when and where needed. If they never risk their life in war they still endure family seperations, low pay and the fun of being stationed in places you wouldn't believe exist. I DO have a problem supporting stellar health care for all these lazy civilians who just sit on their a double s and expect me and people like me to fund their health care, food stamps, child care and whatever else they can weasel in. Now, it is good that NASA got a boost here and though ground radar has been around for years it is the unique way NASA developed it that deserves the credit.
trishmartin45Jul 16th 2010 2:06PM
Let me make a few points about your comment, lindabelle -
VETERANS are those who have served their country, putting their life and family cohesiveness on the line for the good of their country. There are two kinds of veterans - those who served honorably but did not spend the time required for full retirment benefits, and those who spend the time to receive full retirement benefits. EACH kind of veteran is promised care and consideration from the country they protected/fought for - this care is part and parcel of the contract between the government and the service member at the time of entry into military service. No veteran gets this consideration for nothing...they ARE required to WORK for this benefit - it is not a hand out... it is an EARNED benefit!
Veterans take the job knowing that the financial compensation for this sacrifice to their country is PITIFUL...the upside being that after doing their duty to God and country, moving every three years (or more often), living in areas that the average person would avoid (war zones come to mind), being on call 24/7/52, missing birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's Day, birth of children, first grade school plays, high school graduations, etc., they are promised health care for life - for those who served for TWENTY PLUS YEARS, they are promised healthcare for life for them AND their spouse (who has "served" right along with the veteran). And it really SUCKS to find out when you get to the point of trying to get what was promised as part of the "hiring package," the promise was all smoke and mirrors and no one gives a damn.
I'm sorry there are those who don't have health care - that situation, however, has nothing to do with the evaporation of benefits promised to veterans in exchange for a LIFETIME OF SERVICE.
I KNOW this has nothing to do with the NASA and the ROVER, but I could not let this statement go unchallenged. Those who feel that "veterans" are somehow not worthy of the care being asked for need to be introduced to the real world where we get what we EARN and EARN what we get!
AngelaJul 16th 2010 11:24AM
CSI: The NASA Chronicles!
rhdad554Jul 16th 2010 11:54AM
Is solving crime part of NASA's mission or is it empowering Muslims to make them feel better about themselves? Did NASA figure out that there was nothing wrong with the Toyota accelerators as well? Any new kids sign up for physics classes yet? Cmon NASA , get with it.
Who cares if the average model rocketeer will be able to shoot higher then NASA by next year? The World wants to know.
sarah UnderwoodJul 16th 2010 1:06PM
lindabelle- I can tell you as the wife of an Iraq war veteran, many veterans DO NOT have insurance, like my husband for instance. He was injured in Iraq, discharged and left to flap in the wind a year after he was out. He has been out since 2004 and has not had ANY insurance since then. ANY. AT ALL. Too bad he has bad ankles, a bad knee and PTSD due to his combat service. Due to his VA Disability, he does not qualify for State Insurance because he "makes too much money"- even though we have a hard time covering our bills each month. I am not terribly fond of the idea of some lazy lay about getting treated better than my husband who almost died for his country so many times, there is NO fairness in that.
J. HOODJul 16th 2010 12:51PM
Great images from NASA. but as far as Nasa goes, where are we going to go? Mars is an 18 month trip minimum. The russians did long term weightless expierements. they came back and couldn't even walk. Untill a space craft can travel at the speed of light we are going no where but maybe mars, our closest planet or the moon.We also have to be able to navigate at the speed of light, and protect the ship from micro meterorites. Even then a planet 400 light years away will take 400 years to reach.Nasa research has helped us all in many ways in our daily lives but Nasa is one big waste of money untill these problems are resolved.
cqdeedJul 16th 2010 1:33PM
J. HOOD .. You are absolutely right, up until you said NASA is a big waste of money. We are not going to come up with the solutions to the problems you pointed out by spending money on everything but NASA. At least NASA is or will be looking into those and many other problems that may take us beyound Mars. So, in my opinion, NASA is definitely NOT a big waste of money. I would much rather the money be spent on NASA than provide funding for someone to sit on their fat backside and produce more kids that are taught to do the same. -- Edgar
cowboy541Jul 16th 2010 2:43PM
In the past NASA was great.
But now that their main goal or directive is to reach out and improve the relations with the Muslim world they will go down the tube just like Washington DC.