Martian Catahoula?
Boudreaux — (Space)man’s Best Friend?
NASA will continue this partnership, in the form of a robotic rover (sorry about that) like Spirit and Opportunity of Mars exploration fame — Boudreaux, the robotic “dog” (Extra Vehicular Activity Robotic Assistant).Recently put to the test in the Mars-like Utah desert, Boudreaux is programmed to follow astronauts on its own, planning a route for itself autonomously. It can carry tools, to reduce the burden on astronauts. It’s stereovision cameras can relay pictures to a control center, making it the eyes of mission control.
The article doesn’t explain where they got the name for the thing, but I can’t help but cringe when I imagine future astronauts giving verbal instructions to “BOO‘drauw”.
November 7th, 2004 at 7:11 pm
Tom,
The explanation of where it got it’s name is in todays Times Picayuune (to everyone else, yes, that is the real name of the paper):
http://www.nola.com/search/index.ssf?/base/living-0/109981448677200.xml?nola
What is very interesting is it was developed by a contractor in Baton Rouge.
And how many of your readers knows that a Catahoula is a breed of hunting dog in South Louisiana?
November 7th, 2004 at 8:23 pm
I figured if anyone wanted to know, they would ask…it was a deliberately obscure allusion.
Thanks for the link.