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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#1001
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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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Dec 19 2020, 11:31 PM
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#1002
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2346 Joined: 7-December 12 Member No.: 6780 |
I mostly agree with what you say. But if the addressed science is considered relevant and required to be done, then we have to compare those time and expenses with the time and expenses needed for designing, proposing, building, testing, landing and operating a backup mission.
I'd presume that DSN will communicate with the orbiters, and a few commands more each week or so to inSight won't make a big difference for the total traffic with Mars. All I can do is sketching some options. Making the decisions is someone else's job. |
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Dec 20 2020, 05:39 PM
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#1003
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
I don't know how close Insight is to end-of-life threats, but with power in short supply, and with other Mars missions having failed critically when power ran out, efforts with the mole draw from another important budget – the diminishing power on the lander – as well as human labor and operations expense. The seismometer is working well and it would be a shame to have that part of the mission terminate earlier than it had to because of failed efforts to get the mole going.
I hope that we'll get a clearing event and maybe the lander could work for another entire martian year, but this is northern winter now, and winter is the killer of solar-powered surface elements. |
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Dec 20 2020, 11:35 PM
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#1004
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14434 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
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