MSL Video |
MSL Video |
Mar 19 2007, 06:35 PM
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#61
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Member Group: Members Posts: 242 Joined: 21-December 04 Member No.: 127 |
Oh, and I forgot to mention that I love the Firefly style camera work in the JPL animation....
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May 30 2007, 07:30 AM
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#62
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Member Group: Members Posts: 648 Joined: 9-May 05 From: Subotica Member No.: 384 |
-------------------- The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful.
Jules H. Poincare My "Astrophotos" gallery on flickr... |
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May 30 2007, 10:55 AM
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#63
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8784 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Thanks, Toma!
Man...LOTS of moving parts on this critter... -------------------- 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.
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May 30 2007, 12:00 PM
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#64
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Member Group: Members Posts: 648 Joined: 9-May 05 From: Subotica Member No.: 384 |
I like that Hollywood-style action camera movement in and out of rover...
-------------------- The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful.
Jules H. Poincare My "Astrophotos" gallery on flickr... |
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May 30 2007, 01:35 PM
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#65
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The Poet Dude Group: Moderator Posts: 5551 Joined: 15-March 04 From: Kendal, Cumbria, UK Member No.: 60 |
Just watched the animation (a loooong download on dialup, but worth it! Thanks for the link!) and a whole range of thoughts went thru my mind...
Watching the initial descent: Wow, that's amazing!! Watching the Skycrane part: *****!!! Are they INSANE?!?!?!?!?! They're really going to DO that?!?!?!?! Hang it beneath a rocket platform like something off Thunderbirds?!?!?! Are they NUTS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Watching the surface operations: oh, can't wait for that... Watching the rover hang its head and go to sleep at the end of a sol: awwwwwwww........ Watching the rock sample going through the works: if THAT all works it'll be a miracle... Watching the closing sequence as the dusty rover rolls away: I want that. Now. -------------------- |
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May 30 2007, 03:20 PM
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#66
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Member Group: Members Posts: 129 Joined: 25-March 05 Member No.: 218 |
The whole suspend and release process really scares me. I remember a probable cause for the Mars Polar Lander's failure was when the landing gear extended the "bump" that created may have been interpreted as touchdown, so the engines cut off while still at altitude. I can see a similar tug or bump possibly happening to MSL while in suspended state (from air turbulence, swinging, or reaching the bottom of the cable reel-out.)
I don't know why the "skycrane" (in basically its same configuration), couldn't just have landing leg extensions (straddling MSL) and actually land (eliminating the MSL hanging in air). Once landed, MSL could just be similarly reeled down a few inches to the surface, cut loose, and then drive away. That way, they still have their immediately rovable rover, without the dangerous in-air suspension. |
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May 30 2007, 04:00 PM
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#67
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 96 Joined: 11-February 04 Member No.: 24 |
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May 30 2007, 04:01 PM
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#68
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14433 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
Once landed, MSL could just be similarly reeled down a few inches to the surface, cut loose, and then drive away. That way, they still have their immediately rovable rover, without the dangerous in-air suspension. I think you would end up with a lot of rocket exhaust and high velocity dust impinging on the rover if you did that. The MPL failure was, so they think, a software fault. A line of code would have fixed it - there's little analogous to MSL with the MPL failure really. And yes - MSL EDL looks crazy. Not as crazy as MPF and MER though. Doug |
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May 30 2007, 04:13 PM
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#69
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 96 Joined: 11-February 04 Member No.: 24 |
And yes - MSL EDL looks crazy. Not as crazy as MPF and MER though. There's a fine line in spacecraft design between aggressive and crazy. MPF and MER were both very aggressive designs. In addition, I would call MER an aggressive but excellent design. Unfortunately, the less said about MSL the better.... |
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Guest_AlexBlackwell_* |
May 30 2007, 04:31 PM
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#70
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Guests |
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May 30 2007, 04:47 PM
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#71
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 96 Joined: 11-February 04 Member No.: 24 |
I could have covered up the member name of this post and still have guessed that Gary is back Alex, I never really left. I've been too busy working to do anything other than lurk here. Have you been involved in the latest Mars Design Reference Mission (DRM)? They tried to suck me into it but the activity is unfunded (that says something). I'd like to be more involved with the DRM but can't justify taking time off from funded work. |
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Guest_AlexBlackwell_* |
May 30 2007, 05:41 PM
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#72
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Guests |
I'd like to be more involved with the DRM but can't justify taking time off from funded work. I'm not sure about NASA Ames but I believe JPL has a special financial code (like 999999 or something) for recording work time on "funding: uncertain" projects, aka "The Land of No Return." |
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May 30 2007, 06:56 PM
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#73
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 96 Joined: 11-February 04 Member No.: 24 |
I'm not sure about NASA Ames but I believe JPL has a special financial code (like 999999 or something) for recording work time on "funding: uncertain" projects, aka "The Land of No Return." About three years ago I was doing pre-Phase-A interplanetary work almost full time. Now, almost all of that has dried up. What little pre-Phase-A work that I'm still doing is unfunded, e.g. the occasional Venus and Saturn atmospheric probe. We were hoping that the Mars DRM would bring in more money but that was not the case. From my perspective there is nothing in the pipe line. The last interesting pre-Phase-A work that I was involved in was the "CEMMENT" study. CEMMENT was essentially a Mars Sample Return mission based upon an Ares-V launch vehicle and aerocapture at Mars. The bottom line for CEMMENT was $10 billion dollars riding on a single launch. I'm not optimistic about what's going to happen at JPL after MSL reaches its logical conclusion. It's like there's a curtain hanging over the end of 2008 and no one can see past it. I guess it all depends on what the next President has in mind for the Space Program and whether there is any money to achieve it. |
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May 30 2007, 07:30 PM
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#74
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2785 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345 |
Is there any possibility of mounting instrumentation (weather instruments, seismometer, etc.) on the "platform" section of the descent stage without making things too complicated?
Seems reasonable to expect that it could make a fairly soft landing and might make a nice local cross reference to data from the MSL as it wanders around. (Imagine the PR release as the MSL comes roving into view.) -Mike -------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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May 30 2007, 11:52 PM
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#75
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Member Group: Members Posts: 321 Joined: 6-April 06 From: Cape Canaveral Member No.: 734 |
Is there any possibility of mounting instrumentation (weather instruments, seismometer, etc.) on the "platform" section of the descent stage without making things too complicated? Seems reasonable to expect that it could make a fairly soft landing and might make a nice local cross reference to data from the MSL as it wanders around. (Imagine the PR release as the MSL comes roving into view.) -Mike It isn't going to make a "soft" landing. It will have no power nor telemetry or even a spacecraft computer. Also, MSL will probably avoid the descent stage since it will be leaking hydrazine |
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