MSL FAQ - The pool of questions |
MSL FAQ - The pool of questions |
Jun 1 2007, 03:11 PM
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#1
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14434 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
Rob Manning and I swopped emails last night - and we think it might make sense to pool all the questions people have about MSL (and specifically MSL's EDL ) into one thread - and then answer as many as make sense either via a Q'n'A in the style of the previous ones I've done with Steve and Jim - or via Rob's typing fingers.
It'll be a few weeks till we sort this out - but submit-away until then Doug |
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Jun 20 2007, 08:32 AM
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#2
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14434 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
Well - when I spoke to Squyres back in the autumn of '05 - I asked if a MER vehicle could be built for a Mars Scout budget - and he said probably not. That would put it at at least >$400m
Because it's been nearly 4 years since ATLO started for MER - there would be not a lot of saving to be had from the heritage - perhaps the orig. single vehicle budget of $440m could be matched (which was initially exceeded because of the 'chute, airbag and other changes from pathfinder 'heritage' ) I would imagine there are a few things they would want to change. More efficient solar cells being one I would guess. I'm sure there are flight ready systems that could be used as metaphorical upgrades. Given you would be building from scratch, there's no point in sticking to exactly the same design for everything because you're going to have to test the new hardware just as much as the old stuff was tested 4 or 5 years before. It would make sense, where the changes are modest, to make any changes that could improve reliability or performance. Reuse of the MER deisgn in some form has been touted as a potential mission for the future - 2013/15 sort of time frame - but it's only one of multiple options out at that distance. Doug |
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