The Storm, Dust storm of 2007 |
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The Storm, Dust storm of 2007 |
 Jul 20 2007, 07:36 PM
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#226
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 Member  Group: Members Posts: 710 Joined: 28-September 04 Member No.: 99  |
AND Spirit is only 20 sols away from beating Viking 2!
Back OT. From the space.com article: If Mars really wants to kill these vehicles it can, but we have a lot of things working in our favor. Question: what things? 
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Jul 20 2007, 07:48 PM
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#227
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 562 Joined: 29-March 05 Member No.: 221 |
QUOTE (OWW @ Jul 20 2007, 08:36 PM)  Question: what things? Rocket scientists 
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Jul 20 2007, 08:07 PM
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#228
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 213 Joined: 21-January 07 From: Wigan, England Member No.: 1638 |
THEMIS dust maps:
http://themis.asu.edu/dustmaps/ |
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Jul 20 2007, 08:22 PM
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#229
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 723 Joined: 13-June 04 Member No.: 82 |
QUOTE (djellison @ Jul 20 2007, 01:27 PM) A couple of decades. Doug Really? I looked at the project website, and they were saying that the RTG was designed to provide an operating lifespan of 'a full Martian year'. The MERs are already at twice that timespan. Bill |
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Jul 20 2007, 08:55 PM
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#230
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14432 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
It'll last for years and years and years - like NH's or the Voyager ones.
Doug |
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Jul 20 2007, 09:18 PM
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#231
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Member Group: Members Posts: 128 Joined: 5-May 04 Member No.: 74 |
QUOTE (Mongo @ Jul 20 2007, 04:22 PM) Really? I looked at the project website, and they were saying that the RTG was designed to provide an operating lifespan of 'a full Martian year'. The MERs are already at twice that timespan. Bill MSL is being designed to last a full Martian year the same way the MERs were designed to last 90 sols. |
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Jul 20 2007, 09:56 PM
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#232
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 444 Joined: 1-July 05 From: New York City Member No.: 424 |
The website describes the RTG power system as "giv[ing] the mission an operating lifespan on Mars' surface of a full Martian year (687 Earth days) or more." (my emphasis) All the page is saying is that the power system will work for a lengthy nominal mission. It's not discussing how much longer than the nominal mission the RTG can operate.
The prose could be a little more clear, but I think that mission designers are understandably wary of making comments that could be interpreted as predictions of exceptionally long lifespans for the equipment. The fact that the RTG will keep working for decades isn't very important unless lots of other systems are still working as well. TTT |
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Jul 20 2007, 10:26 PM
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#233
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 Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 5172 Joined: 4-August 05 From: Pasadena, CA, USA, Earth Member No.: 454 |
Phew! Story posted. This was a complex one and done in a bit of a rush so I'd appreciate an email if anyone finds any errors.
http://www.planetary.org/news/2007/0720_Th...Crisis_for.html --Emily -------------------- My website - My Patreon - @elakdawalla on Twitter - Please support unmannedspaceflight.com by donating here.
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Jul 20 2007, 11:24 PM
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#234
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 The Insider Group: Members Posts: 669 Joined: 3-May 04 Member No.: 73 |
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Jul 20 2007, 11:29 PM
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#235
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14432 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
The MCS stuff is great as well - really good to see what could be an outreach-challenging instrument get good airtime via TPS.
Doug |
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Jul 21 2007, 12:02 AM
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#236
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Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 5172 Joined: 4-August 05 From: Pasadena, CA, USA, Earth Member No.: 454 |
There's a lot more where that came from -- I only got those graphs an hour before I posted, so there's much more in there than I had time to explain. More from MCS next week -- that's the instrument that's REALLY designed to stuyd what's going on with the storm.
--Emily -------------------- My website - My Patreon - @elakdawalla on Twitter - Please support unmannedspaceflight.com by donating here.
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Jul 21 2007, 12:54 AM
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#237
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Member Group: Members Posts: 444 Joined: 1-July 05 From: New York City Member No.: 424 |
Emily,
Wonderful story; it's exactly what I was hoping for as a backgrounder on the storm. Is MCL still unable to perform vertical profiles? TTT |
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Jul 21 2007, 01:51 AM
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#238
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 70 Joined: 12-November 06 Member No.: 1354 |
QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Jul 20 2007, 05:02 PM) There's a lot more where that came from -- I only got those graphs an hour before I posted, so there's much more in there than I had time to explain. More from MCS next week -- that's the instrument that's REALLY designed to stuyd what's going on with the storm. --Emily Really excellent article Emily, thanks. If I might make a request? It would be very nice if you could post a follow up article in a day or two once we get comm back from Oppy that goes into more detail on the on going orbital results as well as Rover status. BTW You really should get that article to some of the major National/International newspapers. It would make a great Sunday Science article. |
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Jul 21 2007, 02:03 AM
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#239
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 144 Joined: 17-July 07 From: Canberra Australia Member No.: 2865 |
Emily,
As always, your article provides a clear and concise explanation of the situation. The dimming horizons graphic is outstanding. |
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Jul 21 2007, 03:06 AM
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#240
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 754 Joined: 9-February 07 Member No.: 1700 |
Great work Emily, I always enjoy reading your articles!
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