MSL development & assembly, Until it's shipped to the Cape |
MSL development & assembly, Until it's shipped to the Cape |
Mar 29 2010, 08:11 PM
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#1
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2922 Joined: 14-February 06 From: Very close to the Pyrénées Mountains (France) Member No.: 682 |
In case you missed it there's 9 minutes on MSL (actual hardware visible) + 5 minutes with Dr Elachi on "This week in Space" there: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/
14 minutes out of 23 regarding Unmanned, not bad. -------------------- |
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Jun 14 2010, 01:53 PM
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#16
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Forum Contributor Group: Members Posts: 1372 Joined: 8-February 04 From: North East Florida, USA. Member No.: 11 |
What is the actual size of the HGAS ?
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Jun 14 2010, 03:18 PM
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#17
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14433 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
HGAS?
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Jun 14 2010, 04:50 PM
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#18
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Member Group: Members Posts: 808 Joined: 10-October 06 From: Maynard Mass USA Member No.: 1241 |
High Gain Antenna System????????? (thats all I have)
-------------------- CLA CLL
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Jun 19 2010, 04:14 AM
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#19
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Newbie Group: Members Posts: 1 Joined: 16-June 10 Member No.: 5376 |
If they want a really robust test location to simulate unknown Martian landing conditions they should go to the desert areas in and around Joshua Tree National Park. Good call, ElkGroveDan. After Rogers, we continued helicopter radar testing over Amboy Crater and Cadiz Sand Dunes about 50 miles north of Joshua Tree. Amboy has morphology (terrain shapes) similar to Eberswalde Crater and Mawrth. Cadiz Sand Dunes allowed us to test the radar over more "fluffy" terrain to make sure it doesn't absorb or otherwise dillute the radar beams (we found it doesn't). We also flew over Death Valley which has terrain similar to what we see from MRO images of Holden Crater and Eberswalde Crater. It also contains "Mars Hill" which has rock distributions strikingly like some sites on Mars (it looks a lot like the the Viking 2 site at Utopia Planitia). - Steve (BTW, I'm the GN&C manager for MSL) |
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Jun 19 2010, 04:30 AM
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#20
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
Great to have you aboard Steven. I tried to stop by Amboy with Doug Ellison last year but in the two decades since I went there on a geology field course the Park Service has closed off the road to the crater leaving only a foot trail and the sun was going down. But we did make it to Mars Hill the next day. Funny you would mention Cadiz. When Spirit first began looking back from Larry's Lookout it reminded me of the view from the hills above Cadiz. I would imagine that a jaunt up the Western side of the Owens Valley with all that fractured basalt and the number of cinder cones would provide for some challenging terrain for the radar too.
Please drop back in every now and then when you can and let us know how it's all going. -------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Jun 19 2010, 05:57 AM
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#21
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14433 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
For those wanting the soft squishy counterpart to the crunch radar targets....
Parachute testing up at the 120ft Wind Tunnel Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/user/JPLnews#p/u/4/O7vf2HUMMdo 2 http://www.youtube.com/user/JPLnews#p/u/3/JRRcbZlofOk 3 http://www.youtube.com/user/JPLnews#p/u/2/-NJamPhtRjA And my personal favorite - proving that Engineers are people to...Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/user/JPLnews#p/u/1/J6TceTZq1L0 The high-speed photography of chute deployment is a beautiful organic flowing rippling sea-creature like event that is worth watching on its own. Stunning. |
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Guest_Sunspot_* |
Jun 30 2010, 09:48 PM
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#22
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Guests |
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Jul 1 2010, 01:15 AM
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#23
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Member Group: Members Posts: 691 Joined: 21-December 07 From: Clatskanie, Oregon Member No.: 3988 |
It looks so mean, and ready to take on anything that gets in its way
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Jul 1 2010, 01:04 PM
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#24
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Forum Contributor Group: Members Posts: 1372 Joined: 8-February 04 From: North East Florida, USA. Member No.: 11 |
"Weighing almost a ton, the nuclear-isotope-powered is set for launch in the fall of next year, with landing on Mars almost a year after that."
They missed a word out in that scentence, and aren't they supposed to be using tonnes ?............. |
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Jul 1 2010, 06:23 PM
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#25
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1074 Joined: 21-September 07 From: Québec, Canada Member No.: 3908 |
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Jul 1 2010, 08:20 PM
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#26
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Member Group: Members Posts: 540 Joined: 25-October 05 From: California Member No.: 535 |
The wheels were installed onto Curiosity on June 28 and 29. Unless problems crop up during testing that would cause them to be removed again, the wheels are now permanently attached to the rover.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/msl20100701.html -------------------- 2011 JPL Tweetup photos: http://www.rich-parno.com/aa_jpltweetup.html
http://human-spaceflight.blogspot.com |
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Jul 2 2010, 12:04 AM
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#27
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Member Group: Members Posts: 691 Joined: 21-December 07 From: Clatskanie, Oregon Member No.: 3988 |
Let's just hope it can negotiate sand traps. I wonder if they tested it in soft ground. Good point. Of coarse they wouldn't test the flight model, but I hope they have tested it with an engineering model to see how it does in soft soil. The wider wheels on MSL should help quite abit. |
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Jul 2 2010, 12:20 AM
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#28
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Dublin Correspondent Group: Admin Posts: 1799 Joined: 28-March 05 From: Celbridge, Ireland Member No.: 220 |
Doug commented on this some time ago - MSL should be better able to deal with soft terrain than the MER's. It may be bigger but its weight is distributed over a proportionally larger contact area.
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Jul 2 2010, 11:46 AM
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#29
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Forum Contributor Group: Members Posts: 1372 Joined: 8-February 04 From: North East Florida, USA. Member No.: 11 |
I doubt there can ever be a wheeled vehicle that cannot be trapped in some hellish sand trap. No doubt the drivers though will be very carefull.
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Jul 2 2010, 06:31 PM
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#30
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Dublin Correspondent Group: Admin Posts: 1799 Joined: 28-March 05 From: Celbridge, Ireland Member No.: 220 |
That's very true but MSL has the benefit of the incredible expertise that has been acquired through the MER's - being careful goes without saying but that expertise is also invaluable. I'm not worried about sand or any other obstacles on the ground - EDL is what I'm saving all my worries for.
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