InSight Surface Operations, 26 Nov 2018- 21 Dec 2022 |
InSight Surface Operations, 26 Nov 2018- 21 Dec 2022 |
Aug 1 2019, 10:13 PM
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#646
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Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10128 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
They are, quite rightly, very cautious. All the pre-positioning and now this first touch may only be to ensure their spatial model is correct before trying the real process.
Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
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Aug 2 2019, 04:10 AM
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#647
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Forum Contributor Group: Members Posts: 1372 Joined: 8-February 04 From: North East Florida, USA. Member No.: 11 |
They are, quite rightly, very cautious. All the pre-positioning and now this first touch may only be to ensure their spatial model is correct before trying the real process. Phil The update they did said they were pretty short on time and wanted to (forgive the pun) press ahead and try something before conjunction. |
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Aug 3 2019, 05:25 PM
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#648
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
Solar conjunction is September 2, which reminds me of how, in software engineering, you never want someone to push a release right before the weekend or vacation. I'm sure they will want to do something soon enough that they can see if it's working before the blackout. Given that it's been months without a solution, a mere couple of weeks seems like a very small amount of time.
FWIW, Mars will pass 1° north of the Sun at conjunction, so the blackout should be a bit shorter than if the two bodies happened to have the same declination. |
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Aug 4 2019, 04:05 AM
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#649
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14431 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
FWIW - You typically need to stand down for 2 weeks centered on conjunction.
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Aug 4 2019, 04:08 AM
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#650
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Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10128 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
-------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
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Aug 4 2019, 08:31 AM
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#651
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2425 Joined: 30-January 13 From: Penang, Malaysia. Member No.: 6853 |
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Aug 4 2019, 07:27 PM
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#652
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 83 Joined: 19-April 05 Member No.: 251 |
Has there been any discussion of scooping soil from an adjacent area and using it to fill the hole?
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Aug 4 2019, 09:58 PM
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#653
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2073 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
Any soil that went into the hole would be loose, and since the the mole needs friction to dig it might defeat the purpose. They would need to push down directly on it with the bottom edge, which would be extremely close to the mole's body. Plus that would require time to plan and set up, which they don't really have at this point.
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Aug 6 2019, 02:50 AM
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#654
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Member Group: Members Posts: 214 Joined: 30-December 05 Member No.: 628 |
I think the main reason they are not trying to scrape up soil and fill it in is that they have no suitable tool with which to do that.
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Aug 6 2019, 03:32 AM
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#655
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Forum Contributor Group: Members Posts: 1372 Joined: 8-February 04 From: North East Florida, USA. Member No.: 11 |
I think the main reason they are not trying to scrape up soil and fill it in is that they have no suitable tool with which to do that. Yes they do, they have a scoop, with a sharp edge for leveling the ground for SEIS, but they did not need it for SEIS as the ground was flat enough. |
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Aug 7 2019, 02:23 AM
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#656
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
Can we get Curiosity to drive over, drill a hole, and drop the mole in?
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Aug 7 2019, 04:53 AM
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#657
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2504 Joined: 13-September 05 Member No.: 497 |
Can we get Curiosity to drive over, drill a hole, and drop the mole in? I know this was a joke, but since I'm an engineer I have to point out that an MSL drill hole is about 17mm in diameter and 4 cm deep, and the HP3 mole is 27mm in diameter, so this wouldn't work even if the sites weren't 600 km apart. -------------------- Disclaimer: This post is based on public information only. Any opinions are my own.
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Aug 7 2019, 05:17 AM
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#658
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14431 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
At our rate of progress to date - it would only take....210 years.
Gonna need a bigger RTG. |
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Aug 8 2019, 05:48 PM
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#659
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Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10128 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
Sol 246 - looks like the scoop was placed very near the surface at the location of the most recent contact, but not a grain of surface material seems to have moved, so probably no actual contact. Testing positioning again?
Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
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Aug 8 2019, 07:22 PM
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#660
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Member Group: Members Posts: 214 Joined: 30-December 05 Member No.: 628 |
Assuming that it is possible to do some compacting and/or filling-in of the surrounding regolith, do they then have to replace the superstructure before they can try to hammer in further? If not, then (hopefully in something less than 210 years), I suggest building a conical mound around the portion of the mole that is still above ground.
Like the other recent contributors, I'm grasping at straws here... |
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