Spirit dirtier |
Spirit dirtier |
Guest_PhilCo126_* |
Dec 16 2007, 02:08 PM
Post
#16
|
Guests |
Waaw, this rover needs another dust clearing wind
|
|
|
Dec 16 2007, 07:30 PM
Post
#17
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 276 Joined: 11-December 07 From: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Member No.: 3978 |
QUOTE Waaw, this rover needs another dust clearing wind My, my..... I am begining towonder if Lady Luck is going to smile on Spirit this time -------------------- |
|
|
Dec 16 2007, 07:33 PM
Post
#18
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 276 Joined: 11-December 07 From: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Member No.: 3978 |
We had better cross our fingers because with all this dust......u can never tell.
-------------------- |
|
|
Feb 24 2008, 08:24 PM
Post
#19
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1229 Joined: 24-December 05 From: The blue one in between the yellow and red ones. Member No.: 618 |
Oooohh! Feelthy peectures! Latest MI s
This looks positively yucky. At what point do we start to think about whether running the RAT brush across it would do more good than harm? If the choice is scratched solar panels or the Big Sleep, do we dare? How hard is the panel surface? -------------------- My Grandpa goes to Mars every day and all I get are these lousy T-shirts!
|
|
|
Feb 24 2008, 08:41 PM
Post
#20
|
|
Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14433 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
The RAT would be able to reach perhaps 3 cells out of the hundreds on the array, so it would achieve nothing if it were even a sensible thing to do. Which it really isn't. You could end up expending quite a few Whrs on the operation itself, with the very best result being perhaps a 2% power increase, and the worst result being a power decrease. Most likely, you would end up with three scratched cells, a damaged RAT brush, no more power, and an entirely wasted effort.
Doug |
|
|
Feb 25 2008, 04:38 PM
Post
#21
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
Well... we're at a 30-degree angle. How difficult would it be to use the IDD to "tap" the rover deck a few times? Maybe get the larger clumps to fall off?
No brushing, just a few taps... -the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
|
|
|
Feb 25 2008, 05:00 PM
Post
#22
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 754 Joined: 9-February 07 Member No.: 1700 |
If not, next spring maybe they can "shake, rattle and roll".
|
|
|
Feb 25 2008, 05:29 PM
Post
#23
|
|
Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8784 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Has anyone determined whether the dust is just being loosely deposited on the MERs, or if it's adhering electrostatically as well? I suspect the former since the cleaning events to date would have had to have been extremely energetic to work, but this is a good-to-know thing for future missions.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
|
|
|
Feb 25 2008, 06:00 PM
Post
#24
|
|
Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14433 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
|
|
|
Feb 26 2008, 01:23 AM
Post
#25
|
|
Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 83 Joined: 19-April 05 Member No.: 251 |
Can the IDD make mechanical connection with the deck? How about bringing the IDD into mechanical contact with the deck then running the RAT a bit. I would think that would produce at least a bit of vibration.
|
|
|
Feb 26 2008, 02:31 AM
Post
#26
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1229 Joined: 24-December 05 From: The blue one in between the yellow and red ones. Member No.: 618 |
Ooooh, derf, Like it, like it!
Worth trying. With the RAT ground down, it could well be out of balance. Just rest the IDD arm on the panel edge and gun it! -------------------- My Grandpa goes to Mars every day and all I get are these lousy T-shirts!
|
|
|
Feb 26 2008, 03:53 AM
Post
#27
|
|
Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8784 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Thing is, though, even if this vibration is enough to shake the dust loose, where is it going to go? What we really need is a transverse force--wind--to sweep this stuff off of Spirit.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
|
|
|
Feb 26 2008, 04:30 AM
Post
#28
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
Well - bad analogy time. Go up to your coffee table. Now touch tap it, with a motion of about 5mm/sec in one corner. Does any of the dust come off? Well -- if there was flour on it, not dust, and it was close to the flour's natural angle of repose, and if I kept my coffee table at a 30 degree angle, I could answer the question... *smile*... I'm mostly thinking that, even with a relatively slow, soft impact, even a small vibration might shift rock/salt dust if it's near the dust's natural angle of repose. Of course, we've likely gotten more of a jolt from descending down this slope than we could generate with the IDD. I will point out that you don't see a lot of dust collected on 30-degree slopes of exposed rocks in the area, and the only things around to clean them off are winds and seismic shocks. One might hope that a combination of this tilt and whatever natural vibrations plus winds might tend to clean Spirit off as time goes on, here. Still, I think we need to generate some way to shake these things so the dust can shake off... -the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
|
|
|
Feb 26 2008, 05:10 AM
Post
#29
|
|
Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8784 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Many years ago, I recall someone asking why the MERs wouldn't carry compressed air (I'd favor compressed CO2) bottles & spray fixtures to blow off the solar panels. Didn't seem worth the mass penalty at the time considering the optimal 90-day mission duration, but given the MERs' longevity I'd definitely think about adding such a system for any future solar-powered rovers...
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
|
|
|
Feb 26 2008, 08:20 AM
Post
#30
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1870 Joined: 20-February 05 Member No.: 174 |
grumble...
What Spirit needs to do is find a nice low hanging bush and sidle up under the branches and bear-rub the dust off. <dream on> |
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 13th June 2024 - 04:31 AM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |