MSL Approach Phase Options

[nprev]

We're now 45 days from landing, so as of 23 Jun please post all comments related to the end of the transit to Mars here.

Go Curiosity!!!!

[climber]

Since curiosity in italian is LA curiosita' (femminine), MSL is definitely a she.

Works the same way in French...

[pospa]

Works the same way in French...

As well as in Czech & Slovak.
But in Russian its "it", I gues .

[CryptoEngineer]

As well as in Czech & Slovak.
But in Russian its "it", I gues .

We're invading Mars with a one-ton atomic robot, armed with a laser capable of vaporizing solid rock. Phobos-Grunt was a misdirection ploy.

Sounds like a male to me

pt

[SteveM]

Since English has almost no gendered nouns and Curiosity's drivers are in the county of Los Angeles, it seems that the Spanish gender of la curiosidad (feminine) should govern here.

Steve M

[ElkGroveDan]

Scott insists that the rover is a "he" and affectionately calls him "George." I'm not sure of the origin of that name

It may be a bit arcane, but in one of the Looney Tunes Marvin Martian cartoons, Marvin takes Bugs Bunny to Mars as a pet for "Hugo" the Abominable Snowman (from a previous Bugs Bunny episode) that Marvin has captured and brought to Mars. Hugo grabs Bugs and declares, "I will hug him, and stroke him, and sing to him, and cuddle him, and call him George," Bugs then tells Hugo he doesn't want a rabbit, he wants a robot and tells him, " 'George' is a perfect name for a robot."

So there you have it. According to Bugs Bunny the perfect name for a robot on Mars is "George."

The clip begins at about 6:20

[brellis]

The third chapter of Emily's excellent series of blog entries about EDL mentions "landing gear", with an image of Curiosity prior to "landing gear" release. Does ~he~ have shock absorbers? I know, I'm worrying too much! hehee

I'm going to the Planetfest thingie in Pasadena, bringing a BIG bag of pistachios!

[Guest_Oersted_*]

Just the suspension inherent in the rocker-bogie wheel configuration. It deploys from a folded-up state, but I am actually at a miss as to how it deploys. Just gravity drop? My guess is that there are some springs that are released with pyro firngs on deploy and which then serve as suspension afterwards.

[RoverDriver]

Yep, the suspension system is released with springs/pyros. The "spokes" on MSL wheels also can take quite a beating. The tread also is compliant.

Paolo

[brellis]

Reading this article about MSL and "fresh craters", I wonder if consideration was given to aiming the descent stage and creating a brand new crater nearby?

[nprev]

I think that the overriding concern is still residual hazmat for the descent stage; Curiosity's almost certainly never gonna go anywhere near the wreckage for that reason. Plus, I very much doubt that it'll hit hard enough to make a crater deep enough to excavate anything interesting from an orbital view.

Heck, come to that wouldn't be too surprised if it survives the crash in fairly good condition. The big variable is probably how much residual fuel (and therefore added velocity) it can burn off before it hits the dirt.

[RoverDriver]

I haven't heard anything about observing the descent stage. I think you are probably right, the lesson from Oppy observing the heat shield will be influencing decisions in that regard. It wouldn't surprise me if they would use the mastcam to take a few pictures tho.

Paolo

[charborob]

The big variable is probably how much residual fuel (and therefore added velocity) it can burn off before it hits the dirt.

According to Emily's blog post about MSL's landing, the original plan was to burn off all the remaining fuel in the descent stage, but she says it will now burn for a fixed time (she doesn't say how long) and crash at least 150 m away.

[Explorer1]

Spirit's trenches were that deep at least.
Speaking of which, can MSL do the same thing with its wheels?

[centsworth_II]

There was a reason to examine MER's heat shield that does not apply to the MSL descent stage. To see how well the materials weathered atmospheric entry. I wonder how far MSL's heat shield is likely to be from the rover after it lands.

[djellison]

I wonder if consideration was given to aiming the descent stage and creating a brand new crater nearby?

There will already be craters made by the heatshield, and the ballast masses ejected just before parachute deployment - they'll all be worth looking at and would, I'd have thought, be downrange ( east ) of the landing site by a km or 2.

The descent stage can't be aimed specifcially. It takes 4 engines to 100% and flies away at 45 degrees for 4 seconds of thrust and then falls ballistically, probably landing a very long way away. This was discussed, in length, in another MSL thread. Because it contains much organic chemistry and could potentially be and explosion risk - they will not be driving towards it for close study.