MSL EDL Hardware, Its state & fate |
MSL EDL Hardware, Its state & fate |
Aug 7 2012, 07:15 PM
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#16
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Forum Contributor Group: Members Posts: 1372 Joined: 8-February 04 From: North East Florida, USA. Member No.: 11 |
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Aug 7 2012, 08:15 PM
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#17
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Member Group: Members Posts: 121 Joined: 26-June 04 From: Austria Member No.: 89 |
As for searching the ballast impacts sites I suggest to subtract an HIRISE image of Gale which was taken before landing with the new one. Some geometrical correction (because of the incline of the new one) and hopefully equal lightning in both do the trick. Searching for changing parts must be much easier then...
just my 2 cents.. Rob |
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Aug 7 2012, 10:17 PM
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#18
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Member Group: Members Posts: 166 Joined: 20-September 05 From: North Texas Member No.: 503 |
The dust cloud could have drifted somewhat since the crash. Looking at the crests of those black dunes, it appears that the prevailing winds are roughly north to south. If we're looking at west-northwest with the rear hazcam, I find it plausible that some drifting toward the left may have occurred due to wind. Since we now have the direction roughly correct, it all depends on the exact timing of the images to really nail it down. Since the parachute landed generally south of the line of the other impactors, we can safely assume that the wind was from north to south, which might support that hypothesis of a drifting cloud of dust. But of course, the parachute was drifting with the winds above the ground. We don't know for certain that the wind at the surface was also from north to south. David |
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Aug 7 2012, 10:43 PM
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#19
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 4246 Joined: 17-January 05 Member No.: 152 |
The pointing direction of the landed rover was chosen as part of the EDL, with the front hazcams pointing at the mound. The DS could only fly away in one of two directions, so as to minimize plume impact on the rover, one was southerly, the other northerly. Right! I only meant that it was possible that we landed SE of an interesting area, like for example where the three terrain types meet. Then we might've had to worry about the DS debris if we wanted to check out that area. Of course the odds of that were slim, and the primary goal is southwards. |
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Aug 7 2012, 10:48 PM
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#20
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 4246 Joined: 17-January 05 Member No.: 152 |
Since the parachute landed generally south of the line of the other impactors, we can safely assume that the wind was from north to south, which might support that hypothesis of a drifting cloud of dust. Wow, nicely deduced! So if we still have an offset in the cloud position relative to the DS azimuth after all the proper numbers are in, we could estimate the drift from the rhaz timing (assuming we have a reasonable idea of the DS impact time?) and an estimate (guess?!) of wind speed. Or we could turn it around and turn the measured drift into a wind speed measurement.
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Aug 7 2012, 10:59 PM
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#21
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Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 5172 Joined: 4-August 05 From: Pasadena, CA, USA, Earth Member No.: 454 |
Wow, nicely deduced! Note: dfinfrock is a TV meteorologist in my hometown, Fort Worth, TX. He knows whereof he speaks when he talks about wind -------------------- My website - My Patreon - @elakdawalla on Twitter - Please support unmannedspaceflight.com by donating here.
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Aug 7 2012, 11:07 PM
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#22
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Member Group: Members Posts: 866 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Santa Cruz, CA Member No.: 196 |
MRO really got a good clear shot of everything in frame this time.
..looks like the skycrane fragmented into a splatter the heatshield still in free-fall!! anyone know if there are plans to do any interplanetery rubbernecking? Oppy's heatshield I recall gave up some useful data. click me: |
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Aug 7 2012, 11:11 PM
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#23
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 46 Joined: 14-January 06 Member No.: 645 |
...We don't know for certain that the wind at the surface was also from north to south. Does the parachute act as a windsock and give us the surface wind direction at time of backshell/parachute impact? The backshell comes to rest before the parachute which then settles on the ground downwind (S) indicating wind from the north at the surface at time of impact. |
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Aug 7 2012, 11:12 PM
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#24
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Forum Contributor Group: Members Posts: 1372 Joined: 8-February 04 From: North East Florida, USA. Member No.: 11 |
Since the parachute landed generally south of the line of the other impactors, we can safely assume that the wind was from north to south, which might support that hypothesis of a drifting cloud of dust. But of course, the parachute was drifting with the winds above the ground. We don't know for certain that the wind at the surface was also from north to south. David Don't forget the DS does a rather large avoidance maneuver to prevent the back shell/parachute from impacting the DS as it slows down. |
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Aug 7 2012, 11:24 PM
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#25
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Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 5172 Joined: 4-August 05 From: Pasadena, CA, USA, Earth Member No.: 454 |
Ah, good point. Still, one can deduce wind direction from the direction in which the parachute settled.
-------------------- My website - My Patreon - @elakdawalla on Twitter - Please support unmannedspaceflight.com by donating here.
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Aug 7 2012, 11:29 PM
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#26
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Member Group: Members Posts: 180 Joined: 31-January 05 From: Brittany (France) Member No.: 164 |
Ah, good point. Still, one can deduce wind direction from the direction in which the parachute settled. Direction from backshell to parachute ; from NNE to SSW... -------------------- Erwann |
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Aug 7 2012, 11:33 PM
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#27
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Member Group: Members Posts: 540 Joined: 17-November 05 From: Oklahoma Member No.: 557 |
Were the hydrazine cells sufficiently designed to survive impact intact? Not knowing anything about the specific design, I'm wondering if the tanks needed to be breached in order for there to be a hydrazine release. Depending on the location of the valves, might it have been sufficient to rip off part of the plumbing to empty the tanks? |
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Aug 7 2012, 11:37 PM
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#28
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 4246 Joined: 17-January 05 Member No.: 152 |
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Aug 7 2012, 11:39 PM
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#29
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 96 Joined: 11-February 04 Member No.: 24 |
..looks like the skycrane fragmented into a splatter There was some hallway gossip that the Skycrane would be carrying too much fuel when the tether was cut and could possibly be a threat to the rover due to exploding like a bomb after impact. Apparently it did blow up like a bomb but was far enough away to be a non-issue. It would be cool to take a close look at the wreckage. However no one in their right mind would risk the rover by moving it close to the wreckage. I'm hoping they will give the aeroshell a look. They gave the aeroshell wreckage a close look with MER-B. |
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Aug 7 2012, 11:54 PM
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#30
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2082 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
By aeroshell do you mean the heat shield or the backshell? The latter was only given a distant glance across the horizon: see this thread:
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=9 And yes, that's actually topic 9! MSL's heat shield is huge, I sincerely hope it's given at least a quick once-over see to see its overall condition, and what was excavated (it is in Mt. Sharp's direction, so they might well pass it on the traverse. |
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