Mars Science Laboratory Website, Now online... Options

[Redstone]

Back from a non-internet-connected holiday, I was surfing around and found JPL has launched the MSL website.

Here it is:http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/index.html

This is a big improvement over the one page we have had for some time. Naturally, some parts need fleshing out, but there is a page for every instrument, along with summaries of the mission goals and objectives. I have not read through all of it yet, but look forward to discussion of what we can uncover here.

And I love this picture. MSL is gonna be BIG

[lyford]

Perhaps this has been explained elsewhere, but I am having difficulty understanding the optimistic "scaling up" of the mission timeline comparing MER's 90 days = 2 years to MSL's 2 years = 10 years.

IIRC, the biggest constraint on MER was power, with the reprieve coming from unexpected dust behavior cleaning events - baring any mechanical failure or catastrophic weather, the solar powered rovers could now conceivably run until they hit their battery charge cycle limits.

But MSL is designed with a finite power source with a known rate of discharge - there won't be any free lunch boost of energy during it's mission. Or do the RTGs have some sort of "throttle" of which I am unaware? I didn't think you could power manage the same way as with MER, once it's depleted, there won't be another sunrise tomorrow to power the Mossbauer integration that you put off today.

My point is that power is no longer a wild card and since that seems to have been the factor that has contributed the most to MERs life extension, in order for the MSL engineers to be making optimistic estimates based upon primary mission requirements, there surely must be some realistic estimates on RTG life backing those statements.

Or are they saying that the RTG will last for 10 years, and hoping the mechanics last as long as well?

[djellison]

Or are they saying that the RTG will last for 10 years, and hoping the mechanics last as long as well?

Just the first. They will have the power for many years, and it's predictable, unlike solar arrays ( i.e. so much power they had to have afternoon sleeps with Spirit 100 sols ago, and now down to amost half that power makes long term planning hard ) Being 'around' and being 'mobile' are not one and the same But - given lessons learnt with MER, I'm sure that they could build MSL to be certain of lasting at least 2 earth years

It's the Mossbauer that has the short halflife material and MSL has an APXS, but no Mossbauer. APXS's sample half life is, ermm, it's in the Steve Q'n'A - can't remember, but it's years and year - 20something

Doug