Wheel Trouble, ...down to 5 good wheels? |
Wheel Trouble, ...down to 5 good wheels? |
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#1
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Junior Member ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 90 Joined: 13-January 05 Member No.: 143 ![]() |
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I just heard that there is a serious problem with Spirit's right front drive actuator after yestersol's drive. (This is the actuator that had high currents in the past and led to the backward-driving strategy.) It will take awhile to evaluate the situation, but early speculation is grim.
In a worst-case scenario, they can still drag the bum wheel along, but don't expect another summit view. Best-case scenario would be a rock or debris jammed in the wheel. This is a heads-up, sorry I can't really give more info at this time. I still thought you all would like to know. |
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#2
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![]() Administrator ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Admin Posts: 5172 Joined: 4-August 05 From: Pasadena, CA, USA, Earth Member No.: 454 ![]() |
Squyres did not mention the wheel trouble in his talk today about Spirit. In fact he said at the end "Spirit has just completed a drive in the direction of Oberth and Korolev, we hope in a week or so to be on one of those nice toasty slopes that will allow us to survive another winter at Mars."
For what that's worth. --Emily -------------------- My website - My Patreon - @elakdawalla on Twitter - Please support unmannedspaceflight.com by donating here.
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#3
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 1229 Joined: 24-December 05 From: The blue one in between the yellow and red ones. Member No.: 618 ![]() |
Squyres did not mention the wheel trouble in his talk today about Spirit. In fact he said at the end "Spirit has just completed a drive in the direction of Oberth and Korolev, we hope in a week or so to be on one of those nice toasty slopes that will allow us to survive another winter at Mars." For what that's worth. --Emily It's not exactly the kind of note a scientific 'knight in armor' wants to conclude his latest progress report with, Emily. He would say it's too soon to evaluate the problem, so 'not worth mentioning' today. Fair enough, I suppose, but I'll bet he's wishing he'd made an update last week at his Mission to Mars site. Then it could have been entirely upbeat, now... Obviously, those static detents, Mars_Armer described are doing their job too well, the bad wheel has not budged despite that long drag. ![]() Don't know about those pyrotechnic charges, boys. One short-circuit or static discharge might instantly convert us into a stationary 'rover'. Better to equip MSL with a powerful rock-biting sampler that could be programmed to gnaw the leg off. ![]() P.S. Emily, do you mind if I ask a personal question? What is your avatar a picture of? I've guessed 'dented daisy', 'tattered tutu', 'mutant ephyra', but I'm still unsure. Hope the weather's fine in Houston. -------------------- My Grandpa goes to Mars every day and all I get are these lousy T-shirts!
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Guest_AlexBlackwell_* |
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#4
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#5
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 1229 Joined: 24-December 05 From: The blue one in between the yellow and red ones. Member No.: 618 ![]() |
It's a radar image of the venusian surface from Magellan. Awesome, AB. I see the obvious link with Venus,(Men are from Mars...), but what is the actual structure? A volcano or something? Anywhere I can see a blowup of the pic? -------------------- My Grandpa goes to Mars every day and all I get are these lousy T-shirts!
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#6
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 510 Joined: 17-March 05 From: Southeast Michigan Member No.: 209 ![]() |
I see the obvious link with Venus,(Men are from Mars...) See a previous post from Emily. Is she busy or something this week? ![]() -------------------- --O'Dave
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#7
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 1229 Joined: 24-December 05 From: The blue one in between the yellow and red ones. Member No.: 618 ![]() |
OH, Maannnnn. ![]() OK I've never even dropped in at one of the other planets in UMSF. Until it went orbital, I'd never even seen the MRO section! My toolbar button goes straight to MER. The truth is I'm spending too much of my remaining 'fourscore and ten' already on the MER pages! But this is planetary science I can touch. This is almost as good as biology. (I can pay no higher compliment.) When I was an astronomer (age 7 - 10), I would have been able to quote chapter and verse of UMSF from A to Z. Time marches on. ![]() Lavinia? Is that the ravishing name of that diaphanous 'flower' at upper left? Are they volcanoes? (I am as a newborn babe on this planet, but, PC be damned, I know a blessedly feminine place when I see it.) ![]() Edit note: Now that I've studied the blowup, I assume they're impact craters. The radar makes the proximal ejecta look like flower petals! Cool. -------------------- My Grandpa goes to Mars every day and all I get are these lousy T-shirts!
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