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The Curiosity On Mars Thread.

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    #1232
    namloc1980
    Registered Users Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭namloc1980


    Some of the other wheel damage is also quite alarming :

    20140818_0713MH0002620000204354E01_DXXX.jpg


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    #1233
    _Tombstone_
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,006 ✭✭✭_Tombstone_


    Ohh, that crease is heading right over to the rim.


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    #1234
    namloc1980
    Registered Users Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭namloc1980


    _Tombstone_ wrote: »
    Ohh, that crease is heading right over to the rim.

    Needless to say that the 2020 Mars rover, which is based on the Curiosity chassis, will have redesigned wheels.


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    #1235
    shedweller
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,029 ✭✭✭shedweller


    namloc1980 wrote: »
    Needless to say that the 2020 Mars rover, which is based on the Curiosity chassis, will have redesigned wheels.
    Then it'll last for decades!


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    #1236
    Thargor
    Registered Users Posts: 17,946 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    Surprised the wheels are in that state tbh, wouldn't they have driven them across the desert and other destructive tests hundreds of times back on Earth?


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    #1237
    shedweller
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,029 ✭✭✭shedweller


    Thargor wrote: »
    Surprised the wheels are in that state tbh, wouldn't they have driven them across the desert and other destructive tests hundreds of times back on Earth?
    I asked this here before and it was deemed acceptable wear. I'm still trying to make peace with that!


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    #1238
    Maximus Alexander
    Registered Users Posts: 13,080 ✭✭✭✭Maximus Alexander


    Thargor wrote: »
    Surprised the wheels are in that state tbh, wouldn't they have driven them across the desert and other destructive tests hundreds of times back on Earth?

    The planned mission duration was less than two years. The rover has now exceeded that, so the wheels met (and exceeded) requirements.


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    #1239
    shedweller
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,029 ✭✭✭shedweller


    Maximus Alexander wrote: »
    The planned mission duration was less than two years. The rover has now exceeded that, so the wheels met (and exceeded) requirements.
    Very true. But a teensy bit more metal on the wheels would have meant the rover could be driven anywhere the scientists wanted. Im sure they could have taken the weight from somewhere else!
    In any case it makes no difference now. Shes still motorin!


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    #1240
    K.Flyer
    Registered Users Posts: 8,565 ✭✭✭K.Flyer


    namloc1980 wrote: »
    Some of the other wheel damage is also quite alarming :

    http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/spacecraft/2014/20140818_0713MH0002620000204354E01_DXXX.jpg

    Don't see that wheel lasting too much longer. Looking through the large hole you can see straight through another one on the front of the wheel.
    What were they made from?


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    #1241
    Thargor
    Registered Users Posts: 17,946 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    Maximus Alexander wrote: »
    The planned mission duration was less than two years. The rover has now exceeded that, so the wheels met (and exceeded) requirements.
    They already knew how far beyond its mission it was likely to go after Spirit and Opportunity though, just seems an odd thing to let a mission like that end on if one of those goes and everything else is still operating fine. It wouldn't be beyond NASAs abilities to design a lightweight wheel that would last 10 years or more.


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    #1242
    Zubeneschamali
    Registered Users Posts: 16,686 ✭✭✭✭Zubeneschamali


    Thargor wrote: »
    They already knew how far beyond its mission it was likely to go after Spirit and Opportunity though, just seems an odd thing to let a mission like that end on if one of those goes and everything else is still operating fine.

    Logically, something has to fail first, and whatever fails first could have been designed to last longer.

    But they don't know in advance what is going to fail first.


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    #1243
    Thargor
    Registered Users Posts: 17,946 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    My point is that they should know in advance when something as simple as a wheel or tyre is going to fail. Curiosity has so far traveled only 10 km on the surface and its wheels are badly damaged, they couldn't have done a simple 100km test on similar terrain back on Earth and noticed that? On a $2.5 billion experiment?


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    #1244
    Zubeneschamali
    Registered Users Posts: 16,686 ✭✭✭✭Zubeneschamali


    Thargor wrote: »
    My point is that they should know in advance when something as simple as a wheel or tyre is going to fail.

    Bad NASA! No biscuit!


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    #1245
    shedweller
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,029 ✭✭✭shedweller


    K.Flyer wrote: »
    Don't see that wheel lasting too much longer. Looking through the large hole you can see straight through another one on the front of the wheel.
    What were they made from?
    Dejaja vous vous! This was covered here last year iirc.
    Aluminium machined out. I forget the alloy but id say it was more than yer average.
    To be fair, there is a rim on the inside so it will rock on im sure.


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    #1246
    Maximus Alexander
    Registered Users Posts: 13,080 ✭✭✭✭Maximus Alexander


    shedweller wrote: »
    Dejaja vous vous! This was covered here last year iirc.
    Aluminium machined out. I forget the alloy but id say it was more than yer average.
    To be fair, there is a rim on the inside so it will rock on im sure.

    Yeah, the rim looks fine, but you're in danger of sinking on a soft surface if all you have left is the rim.


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    #1247
    shedweller
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,029 ✭✭✭shedweller


    Maximus Alexander wrote: »
    Yeah, the rim looks fine, but you're in danger of sinking on a soft surface if all you have left is the rim.
    True dat.
    No doubt theres boffins working on fancy software to take into account the loss or forward-ness of that wheel!


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    #1248
    namloc1980
    Registered Users Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭namloc1980


    K.Flyer wrote: »
    Don't see that wheel lasting too much longer. Looking through the large hole you can see straight through another one on the front of the wheel.
    What were they made from?

    0.75 mm thick aluminium alloy. Super thin. And they did test them on Earth. Here's a wheel after c8km driving over very rough terrain :

    873191342574484513.jpg

    They just didn't expect the amount of exposed sharp bedrock that is at the landing site as it hasn't been seen at any other site. Also weight was a big consideration in the wheel design. I think with careful route selection further damage can be minimised.


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    #1249
    shedweller
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,029 ✭✭✭shedweller


    Still round...ish!


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    #1250
    shedweller
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,029 ✭✭✭shedweller


    Pic of driving through sand with damaged wheel:
    NLB_484314700EDR_F0471202NCAM00354M_-br2.jpg
    And a view of Logan pass, i think. Whats the proposed route?
    NLB_484314415EDR_F0471202NCAM00259M_.JPG
    And a panorama i butchered together!
    mars%20panorama%2008may2015_zpscjb5n9su.jpg


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    #1251
    shedweller
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,029 ✭✭✭shedweller


    Ah, a lovley sunse....hang on a minute??
    Pretty darn cool tbh. Will the next rover have the ability to record video or at least a smoother frame rate than this?
    pia19401-main_sunset.gif?itok=PEDTRWkt


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    #1252
    irishgeo
    Registered Users Posts: 9,508 ✭✭✭irishgeo


    shedweller wrote: »
    Ah, a lovley sunse....hang on a minute??
    Pretty darn cool tbh. Will the next rover have the ability to record video or at least a smoother frame rate than this?
    pia19401-main_sunset.gif?itok=PEDTRWkt

    its fierce foggy.


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    #1253
    shedweller
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,029 ✭✭✭shedweller


    Tis. Great drying out though!


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    #1254
    namloc1980
    Registered Users Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭namloc1980


    shedweller wrote: »
    Ah, a lovley sunse....hang on a minute??
    Pretty darn cool tbh. Will the next rover have the ability to record video or at least a smoother frame rate than this?
    pia19401-main_sunset.gif?itok=PEDTRWkt

    Similar camera system I think. It's also planned to have a drone copter:

    MarsRoverHelicopter-20150122.png


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    #1255
    _Tombstone_
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,006 ✭✭✭_Tombstone_


    Impact crater or supervolcano caldera?

    Siloe_Patera_large.jpg


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    #1256
    shedweller
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,029 ✭✭✭shedweller


    Hard to tell, in my uneducated opinion!


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    #1257
    _Tombstone_
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,006 ✭✭✭_Tombstone_


    Software Patch Fixes Mars Curiosity Rover's Auto-focus Glitch
    Scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory have successfully uploaded and applied a software patch to NASA's Curiosity Rover on Mars. The patch fixes a focusing problem that cropped up in November when the laser that helps to focus one of its cameras failed. "Without this laser rangefinder, the ChemCam instrument was somewhat blind," said Roger Wiens, ChemCam principal investigator at Los Alamos. "The main laser that creates flashes of plasma when it analyzes rocks and soils up to 25 feet [7.6 meters] from the rover was not affected, but the laser analyses only work when the telescope projecting the laser light to the target is in focus." Before the fix, scientists had to shoot images at nine different focus settings to distill a decent set of data. Now, they say the new software results in better images in a single shot than even before the laser broke down. The program that runs the instrument is only 40 kilobytes in size.


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    #1258
    shedweller
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,029 ✭✭✭shedweller


    Amazing. Gotta love progress eh?!


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    #1259
    Mountainsandh
    Registered Users Posts: 6,700 ✭✭✭Mountainsandh


    http://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2015/05/25/curiosity-rover-pulls-first-ever-donut-on-mars/

    Curiosity Rover Pulls First Ever Donut On Mars

    0.jpg

    That can't be good for the wheels. ;)


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    #1260
    mg1982
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,772 ✭✭✭mg1982


    Mountainsandh wrote: »
    http://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2015/05/25/curiosity-rover-pulls-first-ever-donut-on-mars/

    Curiosity Rover Pulls First Ever Donut On Mars

    0.jpg

    That can't be good for the wheels. ;)

    The martian police wont be too happy with that. ;)

    Glad i found this thread. Some great pics of the martian surface on here.


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    #1261
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,758 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    shedweller wrote: »
    Amazing. Gotta love progress eh?!
    amazing was the stuff they did with voyager,


    image compression meant it could send more pictures than it was designed to do , and from further out

    and using microsecond pulses of the engine meant so the craft could be rotated during the very long exposure photos further out


    And the money pit that was the space shuttle very nearly claimed the voyagers too
    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/salvaging-nasas-grand-tour/


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