A Dumb MER question

From what I've read and heard about the MERs, they will stop working after a
few months only because Mars dust will cover top of the solar panels. If
this is the case, why didn't the MERs include a little automated air blower?
It seems like a simple solution. Does any knowledgeable person know the
answer?

In article ,
Japperm wrote:
From what I've read and heard about the MERs, they will stop working after a
few months only because Mars dust will cover top of the solar panels. If
this is the case, why didn't the MERs include a little automated air blower?

It's not so easy in extremely thin air, especially when nobody is really
sure how hard you'd have to blow.

By that time, the MERs will also be losing power because of deteriorating
Sun angles (which couldn't be fixed short of making the solar arrays
movable), and the deepening cold will be starting to damage their
electronics, so the incentive to stretch things out a little longer is
limited.

Long-term operations on the Martian surface really need nuclear power, so
that there's plenty of heat available during the night.
--
MOST launched 30 June; science observations running | Henry Spencer
since Oct; first surprises seen; papers pending. |

I recall reading the reason Sojurner couldn't last was not so much the solar
panel issue as one of the very wicked night cold and it's effect on battery
performance. I read it had a few small capsules of radioisotopes in it just to
create internal heat to keep it going longer, but these were small and only
lasted a short time. Had the mobile probes been powered by RTG's, I daresay
they could ahve run far far longer, but they would have been heavier and more
complicated. Everything's a tradeoff. Dust could be blown off solar panels by
an ultrasonic vibrator as well as by electrostatic means... both would require
power, though, which is where the panels came in, in the first place;-)

A windscreen wiper? Would running that only on need use more power than the other suggestions? I think it might even be more effective than these other more fancy solutions.

..spade.

"Japperm" wrote in message ...
From what I've read and heard about the MERs, they will stop working after a
few months only because Mars dust will cover top of the solar panels. If
this is the case, why didn't the MERs include a little automated air blower?
It seems like a simple solution. Does any knowledgeable person know the
answer?

In article ,
..spade. wrote:
A windscreen wiper?

Could be a really bad idea if the Martian dust is as abrasive as lunar dust.
--
MOST launched 30 June; science observations running | Henry Spencer
since Oct; first surprises seen; papers pending. |

(Henry Spencer) writes:

In article ,
.spade. wrote:
A windscreen wiper?

Could be a really bad idea if the Martian dust is as abrasive as lunar dust.

Mechanized "tear off", as used by onboard cameras during formula car
events. Weight and reliability issues would abound, but if you
could double your useful life with one...

-dB


--
Butterflies tell me to say:
"The statements and opinions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily
represent those of Oracle Corporation."

On Sun, 4 Jan 2004 18:53:58 GMT, (Henry Spencer)
wrote:

In article ,
.spade. wrote:
A windscreen wiper?

Could be a really bad idea if the Martian dust is as abrasive as lunar dust.

....It might not be, considering that it does get blown around by the
Martian air, unlike the soil on the airless Moon. Then again, how
difficult would it have been to have brought along an air compressor
to blow the dust off?

OM

--

"No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m
his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms
poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr

OM wrote:

On Sun, 4 Jan 2004 18:53:58 GMT, (Henry Spencer)
wrote:

In article ,
.spade. wrote:
A windscreen wiper?

Could be a really bad idea if the Martian dust is as abrasive as lunar dust.

...It might not be, considering that it does get blown around by the
Martian air, unlike the soil on the airless Moon. Then again, how
difficult would it have been to have brought along an air compressor
to blow the dust off?

Oh, come now. You've read Dietz... we don't have that kind of
technology.

;P

--
Scott Lowther, Engineer
Remove the obvious (capitalized) anti-spam
gibberish from the reply-to e-mail address

Scott Lowther wrote:

Oh, come now. You've read Dietz... we don't have that kind of
technology.

Ah, your wit continues to inform us of the quality of both
your arguments and your character.

Paul

Paul F. Dietz wrote:

Scott Lowther wrote:

Oh, come now. You've read Dietz... we don't have that kind of
technology.

Ah, your wit continues to inform us of the quality of both
your arguments and your character.

Oh boo-hoo. So which is it: do we have the technology to put an air
compressor on a Mars over, or not? We have not done this yet, so your
arguement, based on recent posts by *you*, would be that we do not have
that technology. Thus my previous post would be in complete agreement
with your position on this matter.

So, you don't like it when people disagree with you, and you don't like
it when people *do* agree with you.

--
Scott Lowther, Engineer
Remove the obvious (capitalized) anti-spam
gibberish from the reply-to e-mail address