InSight Surface Operations, 26 Nov 2018- 21 Dec 2022 |
InSight Surface Operations, 26 Nov 2018- 21 Dec 2022 |
Nov 26 2018, 08:20 PM
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8785 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Congratulations to the InSight team on a successful landing! We'll discuss the remainder of the mission here.
-------------------- 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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Nov 30 2018, 12:50 AM
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8785 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Per the Science article I posted earlier, the team does not seem to be concerned about that; quite the opposite, in fact. I'd guess that level, stable placement is much more critical, and that they are able to compensate for any attenuation that might be induced by a few meters of sand (if there's that much.)
Also provides good digging for the mole, which could help refine their understanding of the sand's properties to further refine their seismic compensation model. -------------------- 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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Nov 30 2018, 01:36 AM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 684 Joined: 24-July 15 Member No.: 7619 |
Per the Science article I posted earlier, the team does not seem to be concerned about that; quite the opposite, in fact. I'd guess that level, stable placement is much more critical, and that they are able to compensate for any attenuation that might be induced by a few meters of sand (if there's that much.) Also provides good digging for the mole, which could help refine their understanding of the sand's properties to further refine their seismic compensation model. Agreed on the mole, guesstimate is about 3 meters of sand, probe has around 5 meters of tether, so they're good for getting to bedrock. https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/spacecraft/instruments/seis/ QUOTE Just a quick thought about the Insight payload. If the spacecraft did indeed land on a sand sheet or filled crater, it might be a problem for the seismometer. Any thickness of sand would, if I understand seismometers correctly, cause seismic signals to be dissipated before they reach the instrument. Sand, being much less compacted than rock, would not conduct a seismic signal nearly as well. Even soil should conduct better. I would love to be proven wrong. Alternate opinions welcomed. If the sand were recent uncompacted dunes like you get on Earth seashore, that might be a problem. Most dunes on Mars are suspected to be ancient, so the sand is likely filled in with fine dust. The landing area is on the slope between the highlands and the lowlands, Check out Figure #9 about possible sediment transport at the Highlands/Lowlands border http://oro.open.ac.uk/56400/1/The%20Hypani...rly%20Mars_.pdf if the lowlands were oceans, then mudflats, there ought to be a range of sediment paricle sizes, which bodes well for seismic transmission. |
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