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Mars Rovers Moving After Winter Hibernation
jcasman writes to mention an article at Astronomy.com discussing the now on-the-move Mars rovers, which have been effectively in hibernation over the long Martian winter. Spirit has been stationary in the Columbia Hills area, just barely powered up and taking the finest panoramic shot of the planet to date. On the other side of the world, Opportunity has been skulking around the Victoria crater. Scientists have been getting to know the area before attempting to send Opportunity into the geographical feature itself. "Opportunity now is traversing Victoria's rim, and mission scientists are naming features they find after places visited by Ferdinand Magellan and his crew during the first circumnavigation of Earth. (Victoria Crater itself is named after the lone ship that completed Magellan's quest.) [Steve Squyres of Cornell University] and his team are committed to driving Opportunity into the crater eventually, if they're sure the rover will be safe -- in other words, that they can get it out again. Squyres is confident they can, and he thinks it will be sooner rather than later."
jcasman writes to mention an article at Astronomy.com discussing the now on-the-move Mars rovers, which have been effectively in hibernation over the long Martian winter.
I knew it. This is just more evidence of the vast bear conspiracy that's mauling our government from the inside out.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
Opportunity now is traversing Victoria's rim,
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>>Opportunity now is traversing Victoria's rim
anyone else find that strangely erotic?
Know what I like about atheists? I've yet to meet one that believes God is on their side.
... that after the first attempt to move the rover without success, they pointed the camera down and realized that the little guy was propped up on four cinder blocks...
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Considering that these rovers were initally spec'ed for a 90 day mission, the fact that they are still going after 3 years is something worth celebrating.
Here's that finest panoramic shot in Quicktime VR format: http://www.fotoausflug.de/en-mars.html
Leeme alone! It's too early to get up yet!
Is it just me or does it look like there is a mining raod leading to a city in the background of the pictures?
Digital Village Radio will be interviewing Scott Maxwell and John Wright, two Mars Rover drivers next Saturday (3/24/2007). Scott co-wrote (along with Frank Hartman) the August 2004 Linux Journal article Driving the Mars Rovers about the use of Linux and OSS by the Rover team. Scott is also the author of Linux Core Kernel Commentary.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/54360
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Recently a search took me to a Sprit status report from about sol 60 which described the rover as "almost middle aged"
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That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
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I'll agree. Though as I understand it (and I may be wrong), at least part of the reason that the rovers were spec'ed for 90 days was that NASA believed that the solar panels would end up covered in dust and be unable to generate power. Conveniently enough, there appears to be a nice breeze which is blowing dust off the solar panels so that they can continue to work.
I wonder what might happen when they drive the rover into the crater. If the end up driving it somewhere where this isn't much of a wind, will the solar panels get covered in dust and stop working?
Also--raging personal opinion based on no facts whatsoever--I think NASA low-balled on purpose. It's easier to ask for money to "extend the mission" than it is to ask for the money in the first place. If NASA had asked for the money to run two rovers around Mars for three years, they'd've been shot down. But once you have the rover on the surface and it's running, it's easier to go and say, "Hey, we've already spent this money and the equipment is still working so can we have more money to keep it running?"
It's a good way to deal with government bureaucracy...
I know this isn't popular on slashdot, but I'd love to see these rovers all over every rocky body in the solar system. . .different designs for different environments of course, but couldn't you image how cool a robotic boat surfing a methane sea on some moon would be? Honestly, I see no reason or usefulness for manned exploration, especially how much further that money could go on robotic missions. We could learn so much at the logical cost of "wow, people are walking there."
I can only get my XP Pro to wake up out of hibernate mode about 30% of the time...
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I don't know why they are so cautious about going into Victoria crater. The bot is already on borrowed time and they've been thru the process with Endurance crater. The crater walls look similar to Endurance's. Go for it, people. So what if there is a risk of not getting out; there is not much around besides the crater anyhow unless you drive another 7 miles or so. If you wait too long the bot will bust before you ever drill a single wall/rock in that crater.
Table-ized A.I.
Recently a search took me to a Sprit status report from about sol 60 which described the rover as "almost middle aged"
It might be that this "aging" was judged in part by the output of the solar panels. The winds or whatever that keep the panels clean probably don't do a complete job. They probably slowed the initial buildup so that middle age in terms of output arrived later, i.e. day 60 instead of day 45. Beyond that, we know it eventually leveled off, with the solar panels remaining usable at some level pretty much constantly for the last few years.Karnal
I wonder if one can bet on rover duration in Vegas. Everything else is bettable in Vegas.
Table-ized A.I.
I think the wind issue is likely.
Regarding the low-balling: The 90 day mission time and the driving distance goal were based on the performance of the previous Pathfinder mission. That one lasted about 3 times as long as it was supposed to before what was probably an electrical failure ended the mission. During that time, they also monitored the gradually decreasing power as the solar cells dirtied. Based on the data and improvements to the rovers, they made their estimates.
90 days (and 600 meters driving, and I think X number of observations) was actually the requirement for them to be able to call the mission a success. The mission budget included a 90 day operating extension if everything looked good at that point. Furthermore, there was a 180 day extended mission (with slightly reduced staff) if they were still rolling well after 6 months. Effectively, they needed 90 days, they built them to last 180 days, and were hoping for 360.
When 1 year passed, they actually had get a special budget allocation from Congress to keep running. 2 years later, most of the team has moved on to other projects and a lot of the tasks have been automated, but they're still running with a purpose.
The rover team has repeatedly expressed pleasant flabbergastation at their performance. They're probably more surprised than the rest of the world. I know it's going to be tough for them when the rovers finally do kick the bucket, or harder yet, are abandoned to focus resources on newer projects like MSL.
the page linked opens a Shockwave applet (no not flash but the other one) which dutifully crashed Firefox (thanks macromedia/adobe)
To
"Hey, we've already spent this money and the equipment is still working so can we have more money to keep it running?"
It's a good way to deal with government bureaucracy...
I thought that was by definition government bureaucracy
Whatver happens it'll be ok, they have a backup rover: MarsRover2.jpg
To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
Conveniently enough, there appears to be a nice breeze which is blowing dust off the solar panels
Actually, they think it is whirl-winds because the "cleaning" seem to happen suddenly (power increase the next day).
into the crater. If the end up driving it somewhere where this isn't much of a wind, will the solar panels get covered in dust and stop working?
Actually, I think the first detected cleaning was *in* Endurance crater. They speculated that being inside the crater created water vapor condensation on the solar panels, making it easier for movement or wind to push it off. There are even images of frost on the rover. But in the end, nobody knows for sure, other than the cleaning comes and goes.
Table-ized A.I.
Its what powers most of our probes.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
If you were go back to the start of the mission and tell Squyers and his team that the rovers - both of them - would still be chugging along after this long, they would have thought you a lunatic. No one, particularly the ones involved, hoped or expected the rovers to continue functioning, let alone moving and providing loads of data for over three years.
They didn't ask for a three-year mission because, at the time, they didn't think it possible; or at least, they couldn't guarantee it on any reasonable budget. The assumption about the solar panels of the rovers becoming dusted over was a pretty good one, since that had happened with previous missions. They just happened to luck out with those scrubbing dust devils. Ninety days: sure, they could do that, and even that seemingly brief period would have been outstanding. The Pathfinder lander in 1997, with its little Sojourner rover, only lasted that long and it was a wildly successful mission that captivated the public eye.
I won't deny your premise, however, that it is easy to start off with a conservative goal you are pretty sure you can make, and then see how far you can milk it. I'm not sure that they do it because they fear asking for more money upfront, though. I think they fear not achieving what they told everyone they would do. Careers and reputations are at stake in this kind of thing, and success at a modest goal seems better than failure at a more ambitious goal. It hasn't always been so, of course, Kennedy and the Apollo program is an apt counterexample.
It does seem to happen a lot with planetary spacecraft - or at least those fortunately enough to survive to the end of their original mission length - they get their missions extended. It is a lot cheaper to extend a mission that is already there than it is to send a replacement. Why do you think no one wants to see the Hubble retired? The recently lost Mars Global Surveyor was in its third two-year extension, after a five-year primary mission, when it finally kicked the bucket. Low-balling and then exceeding expectations is part of the Scottie school of engineering. It is, as you put it, a good way of working within a bureaucracy.
Take a look at a photo of Victoria Crater, taken by the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance orbiter (look close and you can actually see Opportunity sitting atop a ridge overlooking Duck Bay). Notice the sand dunes in the bottom of the crater. Aeolian features like these aren't probable in the absence of wind. Additionally, I doubt Dr. Squyres, et al., would bet the life of their mission on something like this w/out a clear understanding of his target, and the probability of making it out alive.
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Unfortunately, dust kicked up elsewhere can travel long distances in the atmosphere before landing.
Conveniently enough, there appears to be a nice breeze which is blowing dust off the solar panels so that they can continue to work.
Either that or the Martians have found a new god and are worshiping it with Windex.
and they need to find a safe way down.
Many of the slopes they already investigated don't look noticably steeper than those used in Endurance[1], and slippage was well within tolerance in Endurance. (It did have big slippage problems on some of the Endurance banks it was investigating, but not entry/exit.)
[1] I haven't formally measured, I should point out.
Table-ized A.I.
which have been effectively in hibernation over the long Martian winter.
There is more than one Martian winter, you insensitive clod!
Just to say that: Ferdinand Magellan (Portuguese: Fernão de Magalhães; Spanish: Fernando or Hernando de Magallanes; Spring 1480-April 27, 1521) was a Portuguese born maritime explorer who, at the service of Spain, attempted to find a westward route to the Spice Islands of Indonesia. in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Magellan
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They just happened to luck out with those scrubbing dust devils. Ninety days: sure, they could do that, and even that seemingly brief period would have been outstanding. The Pathfinder lander in 1997, with its little Sojourner rover, only lasted that long and it was a wildly successful mission that captivated the public eye.
Meanwhile, the poor devil with the sign "will clean solar panels for food" is still standing there waiting for his tip.
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Now, traversing Victoria's rim IS quite the opportunity...
This is just more evidence of the vast bear conspiracy that's mauling our government from the inside out.
Not only are the Bears breeding like rabbits, but now the Bear SUV's are causing global warming on Mars!