The Storm, Dust storm of 2007 Options

[OWW]

Oh no...This is getting bad:

The new and potentially bleak outlook is a stark shift from the prognosis earlier this week.

The dusty squall has reduced direct sunlight to Mars' surface by nearly 99 percent, an unprecedented threat for the solar-powered robotic explorers. If the storm keeps up and thickens with even more dust, officials fear the rovers' batteries may empty and silence the robotic explorers forever.

Opportunity's energy-gathering ability has been slashed to a dangerous 280 watt-hours-enough power to light only three 90-watt light bulbs.

"The worst-case scenario is that enough dust in the sky decreases solar energy to the point that we have to shut down too many things to save power," Lemmon said. "The rovers keep their battery alive by keeping their electronics alive."

"The reality of the situation is that we're limited as to what we can do from the ground by cutting power use," Callas said. "If it continues to worsen and stay that way, it's a survivability issue for Opportunity. If Mars wants to kill the rovers, it can."

http://www.space.com/news/070705_dusty_rovers.html

[dvandorn]

I still think a small compressor, a thin-walled tank (since it doesn't have to hold that much pressure) and a series of lightweight tubes arrayed at crucial spots around the solar panels makes the most sense. A couple of kg mass investment lets you create your own cleaning events.

You could even re-use a tank used during coast for other purposes. All you need is a vessel that can be pumped up to three to four times the ambient atmospheric pressure and then released through the blower pipes. You can use a very small, very light pump, since you won't have to clean your panels but every few hundred sols, so you don't need to spend an awful lot of time or power at any one given time pumping it up.

I still believe such a system could be designed and implemented that only weighs a kg or two, and considering how much of an impact such a system could have on a solar-powered vehicle, it would be well worth the investment.

-the other Doug

[Juramike]

I still think a small compressor, a thin-walled tank (since it doesn't have to hold that much pressure) and a series of lightweight tubes arrayed at crucial spots around the solar panels makes the most sense. A couple of kg mass investment lets you create your own cleaning events.

-the other Doug

GREAT IDEA!!

BONUS: Mount it on a robot arm, and you could also use it to gently blow away dust from RAT'd rocks, blow away dust in bad places (or wheels or vehicle cams), or even blow down into sand layers (digging down), and also check out how crusted the surfaces are, or even the mobility of surface gravels, berries, sand grains, and dust grains.

-Mike