MSL EDL Hardware, Its state & fate |
MSL EDL Hardware, Its state & fate |
Aug 7 2012, 06:17 PM
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 46 Joined: 14-January 06 Member No.: 645 |
Looking at the HiRISE imagery of the descent stage, does the distribution of the debris field represent the disintegration of the stage from impact only, or is it possible that some or all of the 140+/- kilos of Hydrozine exploded and expanded the debris field? [I understand the darker albedo material is from below the surface]
Does the thin martian atmosphere contain enough oxygen to support combustion/explosion? [guessing No, but my chem is insufficient] Were the hydrazine cells sufficiently designed to survive impact intact? I couldn't find anything on the net or in the specs, any ideas? |
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Aug 8 2012, 04:09 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
Well, even if we steer wide and clear of the descent stage crash site, I imagine Curiosity will eventually gain enough altitude along the flank of Mt. Sharp to be able to look back and get a nice view of the crash site. That ought to clear up any mysteries as to what we might be seeing in that first clean hazcam.
So -- someone estimated that the hazcam images were taken 22 seconds after touchdown? I guess that means we couldn't have caught the descent stage in flight, so the RHA must be a post-crash cloud. Although I guess it depends on how long the thing would have stayed up in the air after its translation turn followed by six seconds of thrust. -the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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