I cant imagine a data-pipeline that would work from MO2k1, MGS or MEX to the MTO, except, perhaps, for UHF forward (which can be done by MEX and MO2k1, but not, I believe, by MGS) to the Orbiter then Orbiter back to earth. Infact, MO2k2 could do 256kbps UHF-> MTO then MTO at >1MBps to earth.

BUT

The orbiters there now are basically designed in terms of instrumentation - to match the downlink ability they have. i.e. You wont find HiRise on MGS because MGS couldnt handle the downlink from it. Sure, another few Gbits/sol might be nice, but not essential

If you consider MGS-MOC's normal imaging - 1.5m/pixel - MRO-HiRise will have 25 pixels on the ground for every one of MOC's pixels.

Using C-Proto, MGS gets 0.5m/pixel downrange, and 1.5m/pixel cross range - and HiRise will have about 8 pixels for every CPROTO pixel..

In colour :0

Or 6km wide in Black and White

MOC can do 1.5m/pixel - but the downrange sampling is upped to 0.5m/pixel with CPROTO.

As for higher resolution - it would be hard, given that there's an atmosphere in the way, to go any higher than that -and even if we could, we dont have the bandwidth to send much more than that back to earth at the moment

Doug

Ooo - I like the idea - if you dont mind I may take it as inspiration and create something similar

Doug

HiRise is a BEAST

20,000 pixels across, and images typically 40,000 pixels tall

The centre 4000 pixels is in both Red and Blue

Each pixel will be about 30cm on a side projected onto the ground - giving a typical image size of 6km x 12km

To scan a full image wont take that long - but relaying back to earth at around 1.5Mbps will take about 15-20 minutes

Doug

I'd argue that the stuck steering actuator isnt related, being at the 'back' of the line of three wheels on its side of the rover. they were driving backwards remember.

Not only that but it's only a few degrees of straight-forward anyway - not much more than a bit of excessive toe-out for a racing car

Doug

I've emailed the KSC web guys asking if they'll switch one of the realplayer feeds they carry to carry one of the MRO feeds. The ISS stuff gets two or three feeds at the moment - NO FAIR

Doug

#3 is the only one that could derive engineering changes from #1.

You have 26 months from launch-to-launch

Call 8 months of that the cruise (sometimes more, sometimes less) - so you have 18 months.

The MER's spent about 6 months at KSC being checked out, bolted together and stock on a firework. - Giving you 12 months to define, design, build, test, rebuild, retest, integrate, and re-test at system level any changes you want - and then re-test at a system level to ensure your changes dont impinge on any other part of the spacecraft.

The only changes I could imagine being feasable are software or instruments.

Doug

It's better to whack out a layered feathered photoshop file from PTGui and adjust each layer using levels than it is to use the bright/cont from PTGui itself

Doug

Not sure - is an electrical discharge even possible in the martian atmosphere?

Doug

they CAN detect wheel slippage. They have inertial navigation which can be tallied with the rotation of the wheels - how else could they give us such specific slippage figures and how else would it complete a drive despite slippage occuring - such an incidednt would leave it short of the target.

And actually - I think it probably just did an end of drive wheel-wiggy just to settle itself after aborting the drive.

There is no blame to be had or pointed anywhere in this - it was probably a blind drive at the time (and 80m drive would probably be 60m + 20m autonav I'd imagine) and I can see why - all the dunes look the same and while sure - the tracks have been a little deeper over some dunes - we've not seen anything like this in more than 2km of Meridiani cruising, and there was nothing to mark out this dune as being different to any of the other 500 or so we've probably driven straight over.

Doug

They're probably just taking the Odyssey engine design and duplicating it to make up for the larger mass - or something similar.

Doug

I've dug up a few XYZ and UVW files from the MER Workbook - does anyone know a way of getting these things into a file format that would be useable like .vrml, .3ds, .dxf etc etc?

There are some good examples here..

http://anserver1.eprsl.wustl.edu/navigator...FF6904P1214L0M1 (fhaz - terrain)

http://anserver1.eprsl.wustl.edu/navigator...FF0309P1401L0M1 (rhaz - leaving lander)

http://anserver1.eprsl.wustl.edu/navigator...FF1120P1935L0M1
(navcam with rocks and arrays)

http://anserver1.eprsl.wustl.edu/navigator...FF1145P1214L0M1
(fhaz - humphrey)

I think this is about the only tool in the amateur-mer-imaging-toolkit that we dont yet have.


Doug

Looks like they're taking off a solar array (the umm, err, +Y, err, Sbrd array)

Doug

Once you measure a pressure drop - the devil is 'on' you literally - and then you start taking picture in ...well..which direction I guess you could have pseudo code like...

if delta-pressure > X over Y seconds then....
point cameras in direction of wind from 1 minute ago ( i.e prevailing downwind )
take movies for 5 minutes

but - far better would simply be to point the camera in a direction - and then when it notices something different in the field of view, start taking pictures - then once the 'difference' in frames is in the middle of the f.o.v., start moving the camera in the direction of travel.

Doug

If you want to have a webpage to monitor the two webcams without refreshing etc...

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/mro_webcam.htm

It'll autorefresh every 15 seconds or so - and should fit in a browser window at 1024. Click on the images to get actual full size - they've been shrunk to 500p across on that page.

Enjoy

Doug

There's some testing happening this year on the skycrane idea I believe - there was a swathe of documents in JPLs aquisition website for a rig to simulate skycrane ops (although to be honest it doesnt appear to simulate anything even slightly complex which couldnt be done quicker and cheaper in a virtual simulation)

Doug

Theisinger's said that a judgement call on Skycrane needs to be made by the end of this year - and I'd imagine the call how many, and when, will be made shortly thereafter

Doug

I dont want to do that just yet - well, actually I do, I'd love to do JUST that - but I think I should wait until I speak to publishers about a book first. I dont want to screw things up w.r.t. publishing/copyright etc.

Doug

Yeah - the black parts are the back of the solar arrays I'd imagine.

It needs a nice mylar coat before it'll look cool

Doug

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/doug_im..._arrive_ksc.mov

Approx 1Mb

I almost wanted to put 2001 Space Odyssey music in the bgrnd as those doors opened

Doug

No moving - thats just the different p.o.v. from the left camera and the right camera

http://www.cafepress.com/unmannedspace

Now open - I've used the logo and font from the banner title to brand up a few of the items available at Cafe Press. If you have a specific item from the Cafe Press range that you'd like and I've not put on the store - let me know and I'll add it on there is also a small link from the portal front page - http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?act=home - next to the paypal button. Thanks to those that have donated via the paypal button - thru that I've recieved the equiv. of two months hosting fees!

To give you an idea - I'll get about 10-15% of the price on most of the products there.

I've not added large posters of mars images, simply because I dont want to sell a mosaic, then find that I cant then publish it in a book as well.

Enjoy

Doug

Things that we should be able to find...

Viking 1 lander, Heatshield, Backshell & Chute

Viking 2 lander, Heatshield, Backshell & Chute

Pathfinder lander, heatshield, Backshell & Chute, and Sojourner of course - approx 5m, or 15 pixels away from the 1.5m or 5 pixel lander.

and of course - the same for Spirit and Opportunity ( we know exactly where they are but the higher res and colour imaging will be interesting )

and THEN....

MPL lander, perhaps heatshield, perhaps backshell and chute, perhaps just a crater.

Beagle 2 lander, perhaps backshell and chute, perhaps just a crater.

We know ROUGHLY where to look for those.

The observations of luck will be the earlier mars probes I would imagine. Mars 2, 3, 6 - and they were very small - B2 sized bodies iirc - so who knows what chance we have of finding them

As for the discarded cruise stages and MCO which will have burnt up on entry - I have no idea how much of them will have survived entry. Perhaps just the odd fuel tank a-la Delta II seconds stage earth entry - but we have no idea where to look

Doug

I'd think they might try and keep one of them at least 'hybernated' to act as a UHF test source for MRO, and perhaps MTO

Doug