MSL Post Landing - Commissioning Period & Early Observations, Commissioning Activity Period 1B - Sols 9 through 16 Options

[MahFL]

Anyone know how fast they will have the recording of today's telconference online (I was on the road and couldn't listen in real time)?

It's up now.

Tele

[RonJones]

It's up now.

Tele

Thanks I listened to the replay. I did notice that tomorrow (Wednesday) there will be a MSL news conference carried on NASA TV starting at 2:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time. They might have the results of the short first drive to report by then.

[Drkskywxlt]

The air pressure curves that show distinct repeatable notches in the cooling phase each day are apparently 'similar to predicated models'. Anyone have a source for those?

Those model predictions are here:
http://marsweather.com/covering-our-bets-o...sure-prediction

[charleski]

Those model predictions are here:
http://marsweather.com/covering-our-bets-o...sure-prediction

Thanks - overall the pressure fluctuations agree extremely well with their global model (almost bang-on at 690-780Pa), but it's interesting to note that the static high-pressure component predicted in the mesoscale model doesn't seem to be present and the waveform seems heavily phase-distorted. Their model shows the plateau as the air cools, but I'm looking forward to what they say about those extra three inflections - I'll keep an eye on that blog.


Here's a quickie composite showing the model (in green), actual pressure readings in blue and the temperature in red.

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[Astro0]

There are so many fascinating things to look at around the landing site, it'll almost be a shame to leave.

Intrigued by the light-coloured material in this rock taken by ChemCam on Sol 15.

[Guest_dougr_*]

The max air temperatures are significantly higher (>20F) than anything recorded by the Viking or Pathfinder landers. That surprises me a little since we are still quite a ways from perihelion. If I recall Pathfinder and Viking 1 landed at about 20N. Viking 2 at 48N. Curiosity sits at 4S. I wonder if this latitude difference suffices to explain this. What do the models say?
Edit: I just took a look at the above link to the mars weather page. The observations are maybe 5-10c higher than the models

[mcaplinger]

By the way, if anyone hasn't read Dan Limonadi's guest blog on the Planetary Society website, he gives a very clear and detailed description of how the sampling system works on MSL. Definitely worth a read, Dan did an outstanding job. http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs...rs-1-tools.html is the first part.

[djellison]

Agreed - SA-SPaH is breathtakingly complex and a beautiful piece of engineering - Dan does a great job of explaining it.

[JRehling]

dougr, Viking lasted more than 1 martian year and it was in the tropics, so it was at some time at the subsolar latitude.

We've seen that temperatures on Mars can vary extremely sharply as a function of distance from the surface, with centimeters a relevant scale. So unlike on Earth, we have to take the comparison between two different systems with a grain of salt. Temperatures derived from IR reflectance as detected from orbit have shown temperatures far higher than any lander has detected, in part due to sampling the very hottest locations on the planet, in part due to measuring the surface and not the air a few decimeters above.

[chris]

In relation to the wind sensors, extensive details of the REMS instruments are available here

Edit: typo

[Stellingwerff]

The top of MtSharp in full detail:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/pr...NCAM00504M_.JPG

(actually: the top of the local part of the upper mount, the real top lies far back)

[Edit] Ah, too busy with the website to notice that there was already another round of similar pictures yestersol..... Sorry for spamming...

grz,
Ludo.

[Drkskywxlt]

Here's a quickie composite showing the model (in green), actual pressure readings in blue and the temperature in red.

I think you misinterpreted the times or something. There's no (significant) phase distortion. Here's the REMS team's comparison:

http://marsweather.com/models-come-up-against-data

[ollopa]

Anyone know the times of to-Sol's comms passes? Around now, I'm guessing.

[charleski]

I think you misinterpreted the times or something. There's no (significant) phase distortion. Here's the REMS team's comparison:

http://marsweather.com/models-come-up-against-data

The phase distortion is present in the model as well, but more pronounced in the actual data. Basically the peaks are broader and flatter than the troughs.
Here's an image showing air pressure changes in the Caribbean Sea as a weather pattern moves over - the diurnal changes are far closer to a sinusoid with amplitude modulation from the weather-front (Source, image down the page in a comment).

Pathfinder found even more complex variations in pressure. Maybe the result of Curiosity being on a crater floor rather than an exposed plain.

I did get the scale of the model a bit wrong in the composite I posted. The graph on their page is correct.

[jmknapp]

Anyone know the times of to-Sol's comms passes? Around now, I'm guessing.

Check http://mslfan.com/2012/08/08/msl-almanac/

times UTC

Wednesday, August 22
3:21am ODY pass
3:37am MRO pass
3:44am earthrise
5:18am ODY pass
5:59am sunrise sol 16
6:23am MEX pass
9:47am earth zenith
12:06pm noon sol 16
12:17pm MEX pass
3:43pm MRO pass
3:49pm earthset
4:13pm ODY pass
6:13pm sunset sol 16
6:15pm ODY pass

The MRO pass coming up in about an hour (3:43pm UTC) is a very good one (times LMST):

rise azimuth 175°, 03:31:08 P.M.
zenith azimuth 269°, 03:37:37 P.M.
set azimuth 351°, 03:44:25 P.M.
min range 274 km
max elevation 79°

The calendar lists some marginal passes (i.e., even if the satellite only barely peeks above the horizon), so click through to get all the details.

I wonder if MEX has been used for downlinking at all yet. It's above the horizon for hours sometimes, so seems like there's a lot of potential.