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Unmanned Spaceflight.com > Mars & Missions > Past and Future > MER > Tech, General and Imagery

Solar-Powered Mars Rover Issues, Lessons From MER And Future Ideas

mcaplinger View Member Profile	Aug 22 2014, 01:28 AM Post #1
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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