Solar-Powered Mars Rover Issues, Lessons From MER And Future Ideas |
Solar-Powered Mars Rover Issues, Lessons From MER And Future Ideas |
 Aug 21 2014, 07:17 PM
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 Member  Group: Members Posts: 334 Joined: 11-December 12 From: The home of Corby Crater (Corby-England) Member No.: 6783  |
QUOTE (serpens @ Aug 21 2014, 01:06 AM)  All in all the MSL wheels have done pretty well. IMHO, that's a pretty low expectation. Personally I wouldn't bolt on a nuclear generator just to enable a rover to last the lifetime of a wheel, especially if that wheel did 'pretty well' to last two years. 
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Aug 22 2014, 01:28 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2511 Joined: 13-September 05 Member No.: 497 |
QUOTE (algorithm @ Aug 21 2014, 12:17 PM) Personally I wouldn't bolt on a nuclear generator just to enable a rover to last the lifetime of a wheel... Without some kind of active solar panel cleaning, which we don't know how to do in a practical and flight-qualified way, there is simply no way to guarantee even two years of mission life on Mars without an RTG. The MERs got lucky with cleaning events. MSL was designed to last two years, which means in general that it was life-tested for four years. Anything past that is gravy. That said, it's been stated that the degree of wheel damage was unexpected. Hindsight is 20/20. -------------------- Disclaimer: This post is based on public information only. Any opinions are my own.
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Feb 1 2020, 10:10 PM
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 610 Joined: 23-February 07 From: Occasionally in Columbia, MD Member No.: 1764 |
QUOTE (mcaplinger @ Aug 21 2014, 08:28 PM) MSL was designed to last two years, which means in general that it was life-tested for four years. Anything past that is gravy. That said, it's been stated that the degree of wheel damage was unexpected. Hindsight is 20/20. Somewhat related to this topic is a paper I just published on the derivation of distance requirements for planetary rovers. (free pdf link until 22 March) https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1aVIs%7E6Oif2fu |
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Feb 2 2020, 05:23 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 706 Joined: 22-April 05 Member No.: 351 |
QUOTE (rlorenz @ Feb 1 2020, 02:10 PM) Somewhat related to this topic is a paper I just published on the derivation of distance requirements for planetary rovers. (free pdf link until 22 March) https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1aVIs%7E6Oif2fu Ralph, that link brings up a blank Elsevier page. Here's a direct link to the journal page; don't know if there's a free download through this link (I can't test because my university affiliation allows me to access this journal). How far is far enough? Requirements derivation for planetary mobility systems -------------------- |
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