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Plucky little Mars rover just keeps on truckin'

Started by Tank, June 04, 2011, 07:41:05 AM

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Tank

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity Passes Small Crater and Big Milestone


QuoteScienceDaily (June 3, 2011) — A drive of 482 feet (146.8 meters) on June 1, 2011, took NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity past 30 kilometers (18.64 miles) in total odometry during 88 months of driving on Mars. That's 50 times the distance originally planned for the mission and more than 12 times the distance racehorses will run at the Belmont Stakes...

...Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, completed their three-month prime missions on Mars in April 2004. Both rovers continued for years of bonus, extended missions. Both have made important discoveries about wet environments on ancient Mars that may have been favorable for supporting microbial life. Spirit has not communicated with Earth since March 2010...

This little robot and its twin definitely seem to have laid 'the Mars Jinx' to rest.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

hismikeness

Those are two incredible machines. The skeptic in me says that NASA drastically underestimated their lifespans so if it all went horribly wrong then they only missed the three months of study they were originally planned for.

When Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars, they used an inflatable shield of balloons to bounce and roll to a stop, and then they powered up and rolled out. Check out this video for an animation of this landing technique.

In 2012, NASA will launch another, more sophisticated Mars rover called Curiosity. It is too big and heavy to land using the balloon bounce method, so NASA will employ a new technique. Check it out here.
No churches have free wifi because they don't want to compete with an invisible force that works.

When the alien invasion does indeed happen, if everyone would just go out into the streets & inexpertly play the flute, they'll just go. -@UncleDynamite

Tank

Solar-powered rover approaching 5,000th Martian dawn

QuoteThe sun will rise on NASA's solar-powered Mars rover Opportunity for the 5,000th time on Saturday, sending rays of energy to a golf-cart-size robotic field geologist that continues to provide revelations about the Red Planet.

"Five thousand sols after the start of our 90-sol mission, this amazing rover is still showing us surprises on Mars," said Opportunity Project Manager John Callas, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

A Martian "sol" lasts about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day, and a Martian year lasts nearly two Earth years. Opportunity's Sol 1 was landing day, Jan. 25, 2004 (that's in Universal Time; it was Jan. 24 in California). The prime mission was planned to last 90 sols. NASA did not expect the rover to survive through a Martian winter. Sol 5,000 will begin early Friday, Universal Time, with the 4,999th dawn a few hours later. Opportunity has worked actively right through the lowest-energy months of its eighth Martian winter.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Dave

Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Tank

If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Dave

Quote from: Tank on February 17, 2018, 07:35:16 PM
Quote from: Dave on February 17, 2018, 07:31:48 PM
Pretty damn good engineering there!
It was supposed to last 90 days!
I wonder if the 90 days was "built in"  to the design life of the rover? Or just the expected time before failure due to environmental stresses? Thst would influence the project expectations but would it influence the design parameters?

I would sugget they might design for at least twice the expected working life. Things like mechanical strength and component choice are not normally deliberately derated unless the pennies are very short. They would not choose cheap Chinese electronic components on the grounds they do not have to last long when they probably have shed-loads of milspec stuff, designed to survive for a long time in hazardous environments.

So, the Space Gods smiled in their project and decided not to zap it with a meteorite or super massive solar storm. If its mechanics and shielding stood up to the strain the electronics might just carry on.

Pretty damn good engineering! Luck go to those who prepare well to accept it.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Tank

Quote from: Dave on February 17, 2018, 09:11:47 PM
Quote from: Tank on February 17, 2018, 07:35:16 PM
Quote from: Dave on February 17, 2018, 07:31:48 PM
Pretty damn good engineering there!
It was supposed to last 90 days!
I wonder if the 90 days was "built in"  to the design life of the rover? Or just the expected time before failure due to environmental stresses? Thst would influence the project expectations but would it influence the design parameters?

I would sugget they might design for at least twice the expected working life. Things like mechanical strength and component choice are not normally deliberately derated unless the pennies are very short. They would not choose cheap Chinese electronic components on the grounds they do not have to last long when they probably have shed-loads of milspec stuff, designed to survive for a long time in hazardous environments.

So, the Space Gods smiled in their project and decided not to zap it with a meteorite or super massive solar storm. If its mechanics and shielding stood up to the strain the electronics might just carry on.

Pretty damn good engineering! Luck go to those who prepare well to accept it.
Apparently it could do all the basic science in 90 days anything it did after that was to be considered a 'bonus'!
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.