A Space & astronomy forum. SpaceBanter.com

Go Back   Home » SpaceBanter.com forum » Space Science » Science
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Mars Rover longevity again limited by dust build-up



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #11  
Old January 8th 04, 09:11 PM
Henry Spencer
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Mars Rover longevity again limited by dust build-up

In article ,
Velovich03 wrote:
Presuming no other major failures occur I predict the rovers will never
fail dues to dust and will work for years.


Sojuner didn't.


Sojourner was still working fine when we last heard from it. When Mars
is actually unknown. (Probably not much longer than MP, though.)
--
MOST launched 30 June; science observations running | Henry Spencer
since Oct; first surprises seen; papers pending. |
  #12  
Old January 8th 04, 09:54 PM
Mark Hittinger
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Mars Rover longevity again limited by dust build-up

toddh writes:
Mount a pump with a rotating nozzle and hit them with a jet of air.
Would also be handy to stir up ground dust for analysis.


What we need is a rover garage!

Seriously the rover has been getting warmer than expected because of the
(apparent) insulating effect of the landing pad underneath. This insulating
from the cold ground effect was credited with having to use less energy to
heat the rover at night.

So what if we dropped a small insulating blanket on the surface to drive
the rover onto at night? This might save enough energy and reduce contraction
stresses enough to increase rover life. Then you think about walls to protect
from the wind and perhaps a blower to get rid of the dust buildup in the
morning just before we go out hunting.

Later

Mark Hittinger

  #13  
Old January 8th 04, 09:57 PM
Chosp
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Mars Rover longevity again limited by dust build-up


"Velovich03" wrote in message
...
Presuming no other major failures occur I predict the rovers will never
fail dues to dust and will work for years.


Sojuner didn't.



It is entirely unknown how long Sojourner Truth lasted.
The communication link was broken with the lander.
The rover was working just fine but could only
communicate through the lander. When the lander
stopped working all communication was lost with
the still-working rover.

  #14  
Old January 8th 04, 11:01 PM
Keith Harwood
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Mars Rover longevity again limited by dust build-up

toddh wrote:

On Wed, 7 Jan 2004 16:11:22 +0000 (UTC), Poliisi wrote:


Mount a pump with a rotating nozzle and hit them with a
jet of air. Would also be handy to stir up ground dust for
analysis.


I suspect this would not work. Look at the build-up of dust
on fan blades, and these have a much greater flow of air at
a much greater density.

Keith Harwood.

  #15  
Old January 9th 04, 12:39 AM
Stanislaw Sidor
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Mars Rover longevity again limited by dust build-up

Newsuser "Brian Davis" wrote ...

A good science is to send a probe which is able to work all 5 years!


Sure. Good science would be to put hundreds of trained geologist on
the surface of Mars, with equipment to traverse the surface.


Oh, yes, but explain it to the people ...

But economicly, there might be some constraints here.


More serious problem is to take risk when a lot of people expects that life
should be easy and nice form year to year.

--
(STS)

  #16  
Old January 9th 04, 12:39 AM
Stanislaw Sidor
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Mars Rover longevity again limited by dust build-up

Newsuser "Manfred Bartz" wrote ...

Personally I think the Beagle mission had a better and more ambitious
science package. They were going to look for past and present life,
not just at a few rocks in search of past water activity. Oh well,
maybe a few missions down the track we'll get serious.... :/


Do you think, that SETI is a 'good science'?

--
(STS)
Mars, predzej czy pózniej, bedzie nasz!

  #17  
Old January 9th 04, 12:40 AM
Stanislaw Sidor
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Mars Rover longevity again limited by dust build-up

Newsuser "Christopher M. Jones" wrote ...

Why? Because plutonium Pu238 is bad?


A good science is to send a probe which is able to work all 5 years!
Look at Vikings.
Viking budget was about $2.5 billions (for both, recalculated) and
ground stations worked 5 years (average lifetime V1 & V2) so monthly
cost is only $35 millions!!!


Hey, go easy, it's not just that RTGs are kinda politically
hard to sell (though really they aren't), mostly it's the
cost and mass overhead. Solar panels are inexpensive and
easy, RTGs are expensive.


Do you remember RTGs used for Vikings? Mass of 13kg. Is it to much?

I'd like to see an RTG powered
rover myself.


Me too

Just imagining it blows my mind away with
the possibilities, it would be the single greatest thing
in space exploration since Apollo, easily. And it would
go on for years! But, it's gonna be expensive, so I can
wait.


Why expensive?!
What a new design have to be done? Almost nothing!

Interestingly, NASA has plans for such a thing,
and if they can get funding then it will happen.


Funding is sufficient, but the "greens" are out of control :-(

--
(STS)

  #18  
Old January 9th 04, 02:50 AM
Henry Spencer
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Mars Rover longevity again limited by dust build-up

I wrote:
Sojourner was still working fine when we last heard from it. When Mars
is actually unknown. (Probably not much longer than MP, though.)


Somehow that lost a line in the middle. Should have been roughly:

Sojourner was still working fine when we last heard from it. When Mars
is actually unknown. (Probably not much longer than MP, though.)
--
MOST launched 30 June; science observations running | Henry Spencer
since Oct; first surprises seen; papers pending. |
  #19  
Old January 9th 04, 06:38 PM
Ool
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Mars Rover longevity again limited by dust build-up

"Stanislaw Sidor" schrieb im Newsbeitrag ...
Newsuser "Manfred Bartz" wrote ...


Personally I think the Beagle mission had a better and more ambitious
science package. They were going to look for past and present life,
not just at a few rocks in search of past water activity. Oh well,
maybe a few missions down the track we'll get serious.... :/


Do you think, that SETI is a 'good science'?


Yeah! All these "Close Encounters" type missions, and in all
this time, when was the last time we had a rover roam the Moon?
That's a place whose resources could actually help us on Earth--
solve our energy problems and all that. And it would be the
ideal jumping board to the rest of the Solar System, if we were
able to build and launch rockets from up there.

("Aluminum, silicon, oxygen, low gravity and lots of solar ener-
gy to be had..." *That's* music to my ears! As opposed to:
"Ancient fossilized microbes found on meteorite--maybe." So
what, even if they were??)

What's the deal with Mars if we haven't even built a base on the
Moon yet? Why do I get the feeling space exploration is funded
by people who get their idea of what's important from the head-
lines of the National Enquirer?

What's the deal with trying to find life out there? I mean, it
still doesn't mean that *we* could live there, and that's all
that counts!

 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Delta-Like Fan On Mars Suggests Ancient Rivers Were Persistent Ron Baalke Science 0 November 13th 03 10:06 PM
International Student Team Selected to Work in Mars Rover Mission Operations Ron Baalke Science 0 November 7th 03 06:55 PM
If You Thought That Was a Close View of Mars, Just Wait (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) Ron Baalke Science 0 September 23rd 03 10:25 PM
NASA Selects UA 'Phoenix' Mission To Mars Ron Baalke Science 0 August 4th 03 10:48 PM
Students and Teachers to Explore Mars Ron Baalke Science 0 July 18th 03 07:18 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 01:02 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 SpaceBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.