Spirit - 2010 Winter@Troy, The first stationary science campaign |
Spirit - 2010 Winter@Troy, The first stationary science campaign |
Feb 1 2010, 12:48 AM
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 3108 Joined: 21-December 05 From: Canberra, Australia Member No.: 615 |
Well, with perhaps a few more weeks of tilt-enhancing drives to go and then settling in for the winter, I thought it might be a good time to have a thread dedicated to ideas and observations that will come. It's likely that we won't hear much from Spirit during the coldest part of winter (April-June) possibly longer. There'll hopefully be beeps to tell us that she's still alive.
Already there are plans for radio science and determining the fluidity or otherwise of the Martian core, plus weather observations, surface changes etc. What else could you think of that Spirit could do? Remember that she's not going anywhere (vonBraun is out) In the meantime, have you sent your postcard to Spirit yet?! It's a great idea from the Mars outreach team. http://beamartian.jpl.nasa.gov/spiritpostcards What would you say to Spirit? |
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Feb 12 2010, 12:36 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 214 Joined: 30-December 05 Member No.: 628 |
With regard to the liquid/solid core question, that seems like something really fundamental and important that Spirit can accomplish in her remaining days. I'm not clear on all the details, but I understand that if the rover remains absolutely stationary for a long enough period, very precise measurements can be taken of the planet's rate of spin and precession of the spin axis, and from these conclusions can be drawn about what's going on inside. For a better understanding, I'd be interested to hear informed opinions on the following issues:
A. How long is "long enough"? Do I recall having seen an estimate of "six months" somewhere on the web? B. Within that time period, does the experiment require a series of observations at regular intervals, or just one "before" and one "after" with no rover movement in between? C. How will the rover's precise position be determined? Optically, with the use of Hi-Rise, or by some triangulation procedure involving the three working orbiters? Or is there some way to do it from Earth? D. Just how much precision can be obtained with whatever method is to be used? It sounds like probably a resolution of centimeters is required, but even earth-based military grade GPS is not that accurate, is it? E. Does the rover have to cease all other activities and remain perfectly motionless during the entire observation period for fear of introducing spurious motions into the experiment? F. If the rover doesn't make it through the winter, can the experiment be concluded passively by a "dead" rover? (Sorry about that last one everybody, but really, what more could any of us wish for than to be able to continue doing worthwhile work in the afterlife...) |
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