Perseverance Launch & Cruise Options

[Explorer1]

At the press conference, they said it seems to have been solved and they have good telemetry!
Presumably it is not worth the trouble to use another Earth-based array for such a brief period, in terms of complexity?

[Tom Tamlyn]

Emily Lakdawalla has noted that she has not yet been able to get detailed information about Perseverance’s additional EDL cameras.

https://twitter.com/elakdawalla/status/1288650896495144960

Matt Wallace just said that the new EDL cameras are ruggedized versions of standard 1080p cameras, and that they will capture, among other things, images of the parachute filling and of the descent engines blasting. He also mentioned that JPL was goaded into increasing the number of EDL cameras from watching beautiful videos of boosters separating from launch vehicles.

[mcaplinger]

Emily Lakdawalla has noted that she has not yet been able to get detailed information about Perseverance’s additional EDL cameras.

There's a paper about them all for the upcoming M2020 Space Science Reviews issue. I've seen some stuff in the media about them: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/nasa-mar...ng-video-2020-7

[mcaplinger]

At the press conference, they said it seems to have been solved and they have good telemetry!

At 39 bits/sec. DSN Now shows uplink from Canberra DSS-34, they are probably trying to get the rate up to some normal value.

I have no source of information better than anyone else's.

[Steve G]

That's a big stress gone. Launches always terrify me. I'll never forget checking the papers to see how Mariner 8 fared, and the Montreal Gazette wrote: MARTIANS SAFE AS ROCKET GOES ASTRAY. That totally ruined my day!

[vjkane]

Emily Lakdawalla has noted that she has not yet been able to get detailed information about Perseverance’s additional EDL cameras.

https://twitter.com/elakdawalla/status/1288650896495144960

Matt Wallace just said that the new EDL cameras are ruggedized versions of standard 1080p cameras, and that they will capture, among other things, images of the parachute filling and of the descent engines blasting. He also mentioned that JPL was goaded into increasing the number of EDL cameras from watching beautiful videos of boosters separating from launch vehicles.

Been wondering when that issue was going to come out. Those special issues for missions have been my go to place for instrument descriptions for, I think, decades now.

[mcaplinger]

Been wondering when [the M2020 special issue of SSR] was going to come out.

The MSL special issue didn't come out until a month or so after MSL landed, and I wouldn't expect anything faster with this one.

[Explorer1]

A thorough explanation of everything that happened: https://blogs.nasa.gov/mars2020/2020/07/30/...and-on-its-way/

Tl;dr: Conservative safe mode parameters and an excessively strong signal; all is well now. (DSN shows 10 kb/s download rate!)

[dlilb200]

Can anyone point me to a solar system simulator that shows the relative positions of Tianwen, Hope and Perserverance? I found Perserverance on NASA’s Eyes not the other two. Tried googling around but no luck. Would be much appreciated!

[pioneer]

I'm not sure if this is the right thread to bring this up, but one question I have is what is the maximum weight that Perseverance can store in its sample return containers?

[nprev]

Per this page, each sample is max 15g & there are a max of 30 samples, so 450g...just shy of 1 pound in imperial units (454g).

As far as Eyes, been some time since I been on there. Likely that it just tracks US spacecraft. If I recall correctly setting up & maintaining the models is not a trivial effort, plus it relies on near-real time state data which is probably not readily available to NASA for most non-US planetary missions.

[vjkane]

Per this page, each sample is max 15g & there are a max of 30 samples, so 450g...just shy of 1 pound in imperial units (454g).

As far as Eyes, been some time since I been on there. Likely that it just tracks US spacecraft. If I recall correctly setting up & maintaining the models is not a trivial effort, plus it relies on near-real time state data which is probably not readily available to NASA for most non-US planetary missions.

Per the Perseverance press kit, the rover carries 43 sample tubes, 5 of which are reserved as witness tubes.

I've read that the team designing the Mars assent vehicle (MAV) is finding it challenging to close a design that could return all the tubes. If memory serves me right (that's less and less reliable these days :<), the number returned might be as low as low 20s to 30ish. (Published presentations are vague on this as the MAV design matures.)

[mcaplinger]

Can anyone point me to a solar system simulator that shows the relative positions of Tianwen, Hope and Perserverance?

JPL Horizons had some early optically-derived elements for Tianwen-1 but I expect those will rapidly become inaccurate. Hope is being tracked by the DSN but I don't know who is doing their navigation [edit: KinetX is doing it] or if any information is being publicly shared. So any simulation would be fairly schematic.

[Oops, spoke too soon, Hope is on Horizons at EMM (spacecraft ID -62)]

[dlilb200]

JPL Horizons had some early optically-derived elements for Tianwen-1 but I expect those will rapidly become inaccurate. Hope is being tracked by the DSN but I don't know who is doing their navigation [edit: KinetX is doing it] or if any information is being publicly shared. So any simulation would be fairly schematic.

[Oops, spoke too soon, Hope is on Horizons at EMM (spacecraft ID -62)]

Thanks very much - I did not know about Horizons - unfortunately I don’t know enough about orbital mechanics to use the data, but provides good motivation to learn!

[pioneer]

An update from NASA's website:

Ingenuity recharges its batteries while in flight

Does anyone know how Ingenuity will avoid having its landing legs land on a large rock and tilting it over? From what I understand, it doesn't have a hazard detection system. I'm guessing it will somehow know where it lifted off from and return there after the flight?