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NASA Launching Two Mars Rovers in June
shaniber writes "NASA is planning the launch of the Mars Exploration Rovers this month. The rovers are scheduled for two two separate launches, between June 5th and July 15th. These rovers will both work as robotic geologists, including a human-eye height panoramic camera and a miniature thermal emmision spectrometer amongst their scientific equipment. NASA plans on webcasting the launches, as well. A press kit, with many more details, is also available as a pdf."
The science payload's page is on Cornell's site here.
I think it would be great to see some real color 3-D imagery from beyond Earth. They say human-eye height panoramic camera, but how about having two lenses to capture a 3D image? I'd pay $10 for a little View-Master with real 3D pictures from Mars, wouldn't you?
Oh dear. More cute rovers buzzing along the surface only to be abandaned later.
I felt sorry for that one a few years back. Kind of like leaving a puppy when you move.
My studio - www.graylands.ca
In the past, I would have been adamant in defending the shuttle program/ISS, but lately I've been wondering why so many billions have been spent on manned missions when that 500 million (USD) per launch could have been better spent (IMHO) on space probes.
FYI, these probes cost about 400 million (USD) each, and promise to return more science value than
all Shuttle missions combined (IMHO).
Granted, it was said of the very valuable (scientifically speaking) Apollo missions that 90 seconds of human-on-alien-world visual observation was more valuable than weeks or months of robot observations.
Still, given their cost and advancing robotic/computer technology, I would be very disappointed if NASA continued to spend so much on manned space "exploration."
Spacecraft
Cruise vehicle dimensions: 2.65 meters (8.7 feet) diameter, 1.6 meters (5.2 feet) tall
Rover dimensions: 1.5 meter (4.9 feet) high by 2.3 meters (7.5 feet) wide by 1.6 meter (5.2 feet) long
Weight: 1,062 kilograms (2,341 pounds) total at launch, consisting of 174-kilogram (384-pound) rover, 365-kilogram (805-pound) lander, 198-kilogram (436-pound) backshell and parachute, 90-kilogram (198-pound) heat shield and 183-kilogram (403-pound) cruise stage, plus 52 kilograms (115 pounds) of propellant
Power: Solar panel and lithium-ion battery system providing 140 watts on Mars surface
Science instruments: Panoramic cameras, miniature thermal emission spectrometer, MÃssbauer spectrometer, alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, microscopic imager, rock abrasion tool, magnet arrays
Rover A Mission
Launch vehicle: Delta II 7925
Launch period: June 8-24, 2003
Earth-Mars distance at launch: 105 million kilometers (65 million miles)
Mars landing: Jan. 4, 2004, at about 2 p.m. local Mars time (8:11 p.m. Jan. 3 PST)
Landing site: Gusev Crater, possible former lake in giant impact crater
Earth-Mars distance on landing day: 170.2 million kilometers (105.7 million miles)
One-way speed-of-light time Mars-to-Earth on landing day: 9.46 minutes
Total distance traveled Earth to Mars (approximate): 500 million kilometers (311 million miles)
Near-surface atmospheric temperature at landing site: -100 C (-148 F) to 0 C (32 F)
Primary mission: 90 Mars days, or "sols" (equivalent to 92 Earth days)
Rover B Mission
Launch vehicle: Delta II 7925H (larger solid-fuel boosters than 7925)
Launch period: June 25-July 15, 2003
Earth-Mars distance at launch: 89 million kilometers (55 million miles)
Mars landing: Jan. 25, 2004, at about 1:15 p.m. local Mars time (8:56 p.m. Jan. 24 PST)
Landing site: Meridiani Planum, where mineral deposits suggest wet past
Landing time: Approximately 1:15 p.m. local Mars time (8:56 p.m. PST)
Earth-Mars distance on landing day: 198.7 million kilometers (123.5 million miles)
One-way speed-of-light time Mars-to-Earth on landing day: 11 minutes
Total distance traveled Earth to Mars (approximate): 491 million kilometers (305 million miles)
Near-surface atmospheric temperature at landing site: -100 C (-148 F) to 0 C (32 F)
Primary mission: 90 Mars days, or "sols" (equivalent to 92 Earth days)
Program
Cost: Approximately $800 million total, consisting approximately of $625 million spacecraft development and science instruments; $100 million launch; $75 million mission operations and science processing
I hear NASA specifically designed these new rovers to make a beautiful plume of dust when they crash into the Martian soil due to unforseen programming errors.
Earthbound telescopes should all be trained to the heavens to catch this marvelous use of taxpayer money.
A previous generation had the Apollo moon landing as a life defining moment, for me it was the Mars rover. I distinctly remember being glued to the life tv broadcast, watching the first images of mars being beamed back to earth, in full colour, high-res, 360 degree glory. Is there anything else that has come closer to bring humanity closer together than the wonder of space exploration? I don't think so. I hope for success for all the landers and probes. We need them to succeed if we are to achieve the next stage of humanity. You know, the Startrek stage. ;)
A long time ago, people used to hide on ships thats headed for various places, for one reason or another.
My question is: does anybody think it would be possible (let's assume one can get past the security, etc) to be a stowaway onboard the mars-bound spacecraft, if I don't plan to come back?
I mean, a spacesuit + a oxygen + urine/feces bag + yourself does not weight THAT much; and the acceleration won't kill you going up anyway.
So... what y'all think? haul ass to Mars, dig a shallow grave, and write in really big letters nearby: FIRST HUMAN HERE, BIATCH!
(i am not trolling, btw - in philosophy this would be considered a "thought excercise")
My life in the land of the rising sun.
ESA launched their Mars probe on June 2nd. So, in about half a year there will be three different probes landing on Mars if everything goes as planned.
"I'd rather have a full bottle in front of me than a full frontal lobotomy"
I never had you guys down as nationalist but I have been disapointed by many of the recent comments on /.
You never saw americans as nationalist? You must already have been on Mars for the past few years then.
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
Then the Martians will come up (practical jokers that they are) and put silly putty in the robotic hand and some lady Martian's thong underwear on the robotic arm.
Harpo Tunnel Syndrome--my wrist feels funny.
Instead of 400 000 000 USD Marsbots, why not 400 000 000 worth of research into more economic spacecrafts?
NASA really needs this to be a success, especially after the Columbia.
Given the past performaces of Mars expeditions, NASA is taking a big risk.
Of course, technology has improved, but is this a prudent bet for NASA?
I always had American's, in general, down as far too patriotic, usually bordering on nationalistic. But most of the posters on this site seemed to be pretty intelligent and cycnical individuals, not your average blue collar chaps, who are generally pretty nationalist in any country (look at the crap printed in the Sun for an example in the UK).
YES! :-)
Now it will be very soon we'll have certainty about life on Mars: reall competition (ESA+Rusia vs. NASA)
Ps. I'm not a fundamental capitalist; in a few instances competition is bad. But this is one of the many good examples imho.
If their estimates for launches in this month include the 15th of July.
Yes, for example such as the discovery of America :-)
Joke aside, I think that competition as well as cooperation is good. And here, I kinda see both.
Why does it really matter who makes an important discovery? Is the world scientific community somehow enriched more because Uwe in Vienna or Piet in Den Haag made the discovery before Steve in Alamogordo? Or is it more accurate to say that you hate America?
Your first sentence seems to lean toward the latter explanation, as you seem to be upset about U.S. "space dominance," despite the fact that a look at the STS mission crew bios is more multicultural than a Rainbow Coalition rally. Aboard the ill-fated Columbia mission, for the first example that comes to mind, we had the first Israeli in space; I believe his name was Ilian Ramon (although I could be wrong about his first name). Additionally, Kalpana Chawla was born in India. Granted, she was a U.S. citizen at the time of her death, but I'd still say that on the whole, the goodwill extended by NASA in offering to take up scientists of so many nations stands as an eloquent counterargument to your belief in some sort of American doctrine of "Manifest Space Destiny." Were I you, I'd worry more about my own demagoguery than the perceived dangers of American astronautical hegemony.
In my travels to Europe, South America, and the Pacific Rim, I've met hundreds of intelligent, friendly, and generally cool people. I can only hope that when they read such ill-informed and sneeringly smug commentary as yours, that they are as horrified as I am when I see an American behaving rudely towards someone from another country.
They that would sacrifice their
Seems like Europe is more application oriented (cheaper satellites) and the US is more research oriented (Mars, scientific fanfare, etc.).
Another question, can the US match Europe's space business model?
just a thought...
I'm a little tea pot.
Don't bring any foam!
Bad joke..
Which level of hell do you belong on.
Of course collaboration is possible; the bickering and acrimony we see is possible precisely because we already are so intertwined. It's like family squabbles - they can get so bad precisely because the participants have so much in common.
What I think people in europe react to (at least here in Sweden - no idea about France), is that american nationalism and patriotism is so over the top. It's "My country, right or wrong", and any kind of critizism or attempt to set facts straight, no matter how correct or warranted, is taken as a personal attack. I also think europeans may be more sensitive to that sort of thing because we've been there, done that, got the memorials. Nationalism was a continent-wide sport for several hundred years here, with the world wars just the last and most emphatic disasters that resulted. We know what results this sentiment can bring, and are pretty wary of it.
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
ROBOT WARS!
Beagle-2 has Rover-A up against the pit! Beagle-2 is charging!!!!
Oh that's got to hurt! Rover-A is ducking out of the way and giving Beagle-2 a quick whack with the rock abraision tool!
The cocky brit recovers but the solar panel is cracked. Yes that's right folks, the beagle-2 solar panel is definitely cracked, and has lost some of its power generating capabilities.
But wait! what's that under the ground??? the mole probe from beagle-2 is ripping up Rover-A's aluminium rocker bogie wheels!
Oh the humanity! they're joined together! they're rolling into the pit!
Where's the ref bots???
An extreme example maybe but The Sun is the mostly widely read paper in the UK (highest circulation figures). Most Europeans have distinct reservations about the UK press and its opinion forming effect on the UK populace.
Just let us assume for one moment that the European Mars Express with its Beagle 2 lander does find something they claim is a sure sign of life on Mars. It would mean that the first European planetary mission ever finds something that NASA has been looking for for decades. Somebody in Congress is going to take that as a personal insult and push the space program some more -- while the Europeans will find funding their probes a lot more interesting. More space exploration for all...
But this is just chicken feed. Can you imagine the U.S. watching China build and man a moon base? Even having Chinese astronauts ("taikonauts", I believe they are called) walking on the moon will make them nervous enough to push funding.
There is nothing like space exploration for a nation's scientific prestige. This hasn't been apparent for the last few decades because the U.S. and the Soviet Union both decided not to get into that kind of arms race again, and after the fall of communism, the U.S. has had a monopoly. If that is challenged, it is a good thing -- certainly better than trying to build the largest navy, the most atom bombs, or some of the other things we've had in the past.
"Mom! this stereograph doesn't work! there's a rock in the middle that doesn't pop up."
"Hmmm... Well junior, that's because in the second photo that rock has grown little legs and moved to over there... Hey!"
Finally my name and the name of 3,551,644 other people will be sent to mars (on DVDs on board of the two landers, more details here)
:D
I hope E.T. will check this out soon
A real problem with the Martian environment is that the dust on the surface is extraordinarily fine and penetrates deeply into any crevices. Worse still it is likely to be attracted by static charges that accumulate on the landers.
Since Martian dust is hard and abrasive it would quickly get to work on the joints of the machines making them much more prone to failure.
Wheels, particularly those on the rovers which are largely sealed units show much less vulnerability to wear and tear.
Best wishes,
Mike.
The European Space Agency successfully launched theirs last Monday on a Russian rocket. Theirs cost $80 million compared to the US $400 million per craft. The Euros just have a robotic arm, while the Yanks use artificially intelligent rovers.
There is a low fuel (cheap) path to Mars in a two month window every 2.5 years. So this is why you see a flurry of launches. With a 40% success rate over the decades- 41 of 66 Mars craft didnt make it- hopefully at least one of these three will succeed. Lots of interesting craft planned for 2005 and 2008 launches.
If you have a decent 3D graphics card and an interest in unmanned space exploration, you should download Celestia:
a ges/mer.htm
http://www.shatters.net/celestia/
It runs on Windows, Linux, and OS X . . . Then, install one of the many spacecraft add-ons here:
http://homepage.eircom.net/~jackcelestia/
Images are here:
http://homepage.eircom.net/~jackcelestia/browseim
One add-on features a detailed model of the Mars rovers in interplanetary cruise configuration, together with two proposed trajectories for each rover. Add a high-resolution (8k x 4k) texture and bump map for Mars, and you'll have a very detailed and accurate simulation of the Mars missions. We're still trying to get trajectory data from the ESA so that we can make an add-on for the Mars Express mission.
--Chris