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Unmanned Spaceflight.com _ MSL _ MSL "scarecrow" mobility model
Posted by: elakdawalla Jun 20 2007, 04:17 PM
I went to JPL yesterday to see them put the mobility model for MSL through its paces. It is HUGE!
Lots of pictures and video posted at http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001010/
I have the pictures (but not the video) at twice the resolution if anyone needs them for artistic purposes.
--Emily
Posted by: centsworth_II Jun 20 2007, 04:21 PM
QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Jun 20 2007, 12:17 PM)
Lots of pictures and video posted at http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001010/
Yeow! Watch your toes!
Posted by: Ian R Jun 20 2007, 04:35 PM
Holy moly - it's a MONSTER!
Excellent report Emily (and great new portrait, if I may say so ).
The Pluto rover looks interesting too - are there any tentative plans to send smaller vehicles of this sort to Mars en masse? They would be great for scouting missions; looking for suitable locations for a MSL class rover to explore in more detail.
Ian.
Posted by: djellison Jun 20 2007, 04:38 PM
LOVE the way they got JPL _|qL (that's supposed to be jpl backwards ) into the wheel tread
I think expletives were justified and frankly - required.
Doug
Posted by: Ian R Jun 20 2007, 04:43 PM
Are we allowed to say 'smeg' on this board, Doug?
Posted by: AlexBlackwell Jun 20 2007, 04:47 PM
I think I have some new suggestions for your prospective UMSF title, Emily
Posted by: Sunspot Jun 20 2007, 04:58 PM
Those Wheels !!!!!
Would any of the dunes encountered by Opportunity during the drive to Victoria been a problem for MSL?
Posted by: Stu Jun 20 2007, 06:24 PM
Couple of 3Ds, hope you don't mind Emily...
And I agree, that's a great new pic of you up at TPS, if you don't mind me saying so.
Posted by: ElkGroveDan Jun 20 2007, 07:33 PM
Nice to get a glimpse of the "new Mars Yard." I see they are set up to deal with every eventuality, including MSL encountering a steel shed.
Posted by: AlexBlackwell Jun 20 2007, 07:41 PM
And if one is in the sweet spot of Mars' diurnal temperature cycle, one can even wear sandals. I have another question: was the toenail polish space qualified for martian surface operations or is it an engineering model, too?
Posted by: dvandorn Jun 20 2007, 07:57 PM
Oh, I imagine the nail polish would work fine on Mars. The toes themselves, of course, would puff up and start bleeding from underneath the nails... but the polish would survive just fine.
-the other Doug
Posted by: Stu Jun 20 2007, 08:31 PM
Of course, different nails could be painted with different coloured nail polishes and then used as colour calibration references... make a change from that *&&^%^%&^&*&&^^ sundial!!!!
Posted by: djellison Jun 20 2007, 08:58 PM
I remember watching videos of little FIDO - that's quite noisy as well. FIDO was used for a lot of field tests to learn how to 'do' MER style ops - the little PLuto rover - just out the door to the right - is what I think FIDO has now turned into.
http://planetary.org/image/marsyard_20070619_img_1835.jpg
The varnish would have to go through thermal-vac testing along with the toes...and that's probably not recommended.
Doug
Posted by: lyford Jun 20 2007, 10:27 PM
QUOTE (centsworth_II @ Jun 20 2007, 09:21 AM)
From the way the shadows in the thumbnail look, I thought Emily got to ride on the MSL and dangle her feet overboard
Not that JPL is getting into the hay ride business anytime soon.
And full chutzpah points for those "custom treads." If only it were flight hardware....
Posted by: elakdawalla Jun 20 2007, 10:49 PM
Wouldn't be much of a ride -- she may be big but she's slow!
Wonder whether the toenail polish would look different under martian lighting? Perhaps not, they're not far off from the color of the sky -- a bit bolder tho
--Emily
Posted by: AlexBlackwell Jun 20 2007, 10:55 PM
QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Jun 20 2007, 12:49 PM)
Wonder whether the toenail polish would look different under martian lighting? Perhaps not, they're not far off from the color of the sky -- a bit bolder tho
Maybe Don Davis can update his http://www.donaldedavis.com/PARTS/MARSCLRS.html with your bipod shot.
Posted by: nprev Jun 21 2007, 12:14 AM
Man, MSL is indeed a big beast... good thing there are no critters on Mars after all, because they'd run like hell in any case as soon as they saw it! Thanks for the sneak peek, Emily!
Posted by: dvandorn Jun 21 2007, 01:10 AM
Well, think of it this way -- a MER is about the size of a golf cart. MSL will be about the size of a Jeep. No wonder they want to find a way to just gently drop the thing onto its wheels and not have to worry about a platform big enough for it to roll off of...
-the other Doug
Posted by: Chmee Jun 21 2007, 01:57 AM
QUOTE (dvandorn @ Jun 20 2007, 09:10 PM)
Well, think of it this way -- a MER is about the size of a golf cart. MSL will be about the size of a Jeep. No wonder they want to find a way to just gently drop the thing onto its wheels and not have to worry about a platform big enough for it to roll off of...
-the other Doug
So if they keep scaling up like that with each rover program, when do they start landing
this on Mars
Posted by: Jeff7 Jun 21 2007, 02:10 AM
And of course, after that scale up, the landing date would have to be on a SUNDAY!!!
Good pictures, thank you. That sure is a big critter. Send it to the Columbia Hills with a winch, in case any more of Sprit's wheels seize up.
Posted by: nprev Jun 21 2007, 02:28 AM
I'm fixin' to put on my MSL baseball cap & sleeveless spacesuit...gotta fill the suit tank with Bud first, though <grunt><clink>...
Posted by: elakdawalla Jun 21 2007, 03:18 AM
Sunday, SUNDAY, SUNDAY! We're gonna turn the entire valley floor of Melas Chasma into a 10-foot deep MUUUD PIT!
--Emily
Posted by: mchan Jun 21 2007, 04:15 AM
QUOTE (nprev @ Jun 20 2007, 05:14 PM)
Man, MSL is indeed a big beast... good thing there are no critters on Mars after all, because they'd run like hell in any case as soon as they saw it!
As I noted in another thread, if Marvin were around, he'd develop sudden urinary incontinence syndrome when he sees MSL come rolling over the top of a dune, the camera mast head swinging around, the laser spectrometer firing. Speeded up of course, not at glacial speed.
Posted by: CosmicRocker Jun 21 2007, 05:01 AM
The first picture to grab my attention, and probably the attention of many people, was the top one. The door begins to open, and there are the wheels of the beast. I think pictures depicting its rock climbing abilities were a close second. All of the pictures were amazing.
QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Jun 20 2007, 10:18 PM)
Sunday, SUNDAY, SUNDAY! We're gonna turn the entire valley floor of Melas Chasma into a 10-foot deep MUUUD PIT!
I was kind of thinking along those lines, but I'm really dreaming about the trenches they should be able to dig.
Posted by: punkboi Jun 21 2007, 06:20 AM
I saw the "Scarecrow" at JPL's Open House on May 19... I'd post up the pictures I took of it, but my digicam is in my room upstairs. A mock-up of the rover's Multi-Mission RTG was also on display.
Not to state the obvious, but the Skycrane system is gonna have to produce a (bleep)-load of thrust to get that behemeth on the ground safely...
Posted by: Geographer Jun 21 2007, 10:04 AM
How many meters per day will the MSL be able to travel without doing any science?
And for all the rovers, are the motors in the wheel hubs?
Posted by: centsworth_II Jun 21 2007, 02:26 PM
QUOTE (punkboi @ Jun 21 2007, 02:20 AM)
...the Skycrane system is gonna have to produce a (bleep)-load of thrust...
Is this a sneaky way to call the descent module "Skycrane"?
The skycrane maneuver does not produce thrust. It uses the
thrust produced by the descent module.
Posted by: punkboi Jun 21 2007, 05:53 PM
QUOTE (centsworth_II @ Jun 21 2007, 07:26 AM)
Is this a sneaky way to call the descent module "Skycrane"?
The skycrane maneuver does not produce thrust. It uses the
thrust produced by the descent module.
REVISED: Not to state the obvious, but the Skycrane DESCENT MODULE is gonna have to produce a (bleep)-load of thrust to get that behemeth on the ground safely...
There you go.
Posted by: centsworth_II Jun 21 2007, 06:33 PM
QUOTE (punkboi @ Jun 21 2007, 01:53 PM)
...Skycrane DESCENT MODULE...
That should be MSL Descent Module. Skycrane is the name of
a maneuver, not a piece of equipment. I hate to be a pill about
this, but I see this type of error being made by the thousands in
the general press when the time comes. Are we going to ignore
it or will we gripe about "inaccuracies in the press"? If it's the latter,
we better get our act cleaned up first.
When I first brought this up, I suggested that NASA/JPL take the
path of least resistace -- and best PR -- and actually call the
decent module the "Skycrane". I was told this was not an option.
(To the management: in a thread that has discussed the flightworthiness
of toenail polish, I don't think this should be deleted as being OT.
)
Posted by: nprev Jun 21 2007, 11:09 PM
QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Jun 20 2007, 08:18 PM)
Sunday, SUNDAY, SUNDAY! We're gonna turn the entire valley floor of Melas Chasma into a 10-foot deep MUUUD PIT!
--Emily
Man, I GOT to see that, but i hear that admission is $60 billion at the door, or $300 billion for groups of six. Gotta bust open the swear jar, and find five other foul-mouthed friends willing to do likewise...
Posted by: Jim from NSF.com Jun 22 2007, 02:29 AM
QUOTE (dvandorn @ Jun 20 2007, 09:10 PM)
Well, think of it this way -- a MER is about the size of a golf cart. MSL will be about the size of a Jeep. No wonder they want to find a way to just gently drop the thing onto its wheels and not have to worry about a platform big enough for it to roll off of...
-the other Doug
Actually it is the size of a Mini Cooper and JPL has the premission to use it for comparisons
Posted by: MarsEngineer Jun 22 2007, 05:44 AM
QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Jun 20 2007, 09:17 AM)
I went to JPL yesterday to see them put the mobility model for MSL through its paces. It is HUGE!
--Emily
Hi Emily,
I am sorry I missed you yesterday.
Your reaction is the same reaction we all have when we first see scarecrow. It is big. But it is not just big ... it has a presence .. it is there .. you can almost see it alone on Mars scratching its metalic way over boulders and vanquishing ventifacts. Little Sojourner and even MER did not project itself into our space like MSL does.
Ironically when engineers "see" objects via textual requirements (e.g. mass & volume of science instruments, rover mass estimates) or even schematics and drawings we miss the reality of what we are attempting. I suspect that those who have seen it for the first time without hearing much about it in advance will wonder about the audacity of it all. Is this a sign of our arrogence? One could easily conclude that it is. But to the engineers, ironically it is not. To our eyes it is all numeric. Margined mass estimates, volumes, structural loads, power profiles ... if the units are mm or m, mg or kg, the problems are the same. It is only when we see it with our own eyes and through the fresh eyes of others does the reality set in.
But only for a moment. There are dynamics simulations, functional design documents, modal analyses, design reviews, schematics, procurements, test plans, test equipment & tests to complete. There is but a moment for awe.
-Rob Manning
PS I first got wacked by the reality of Mars exploration way back on Mars Pathfinder in th fall of 1994 when a gaggle of engineers, scientists and teachers drove up to the "scablands" of eastern Washington State (my home state) to visit the terrestial "analog" to Pathfinder's eventual landing site called Ares Vallis (massive catastrophic water outflow - Mars floods about 3x10^9 years ago and Earth's about 13,000 years ago). We swung by Spokane and visited a Jr HS on a Thur night in the pouring rain to talk to the general public figuring there might be some who would be interested in Mars. We expected maybe a few dozen folks - maybe some high school science teachers. It looked as if a thousand people showed up. Suddenly I no longer felt I was just another engineer working on a little project that nobody cared about. My job became far more intense after that, but also far more exciting.
Posted by: punkboi Aug 31 2007, 04:02 PM
I'm more than 3 months late, but here's a pic I took of the MSL model at the JPL Open House... I took more, but I'll just post this one.
Posted by: nprev Aug 31 2007, 05:38 PM
As Rob said, it definitely has presence!
Not that I'm big into Futurama references or anything, but "The Crushinator" just seems perfect as a nickname, here...
BTW, does anybody know what sort of launch vehicle has been selected for MSL? This beast seems to require more than a Delta II...
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