MSL FAQ - The pool of questions Options

[DEChengst]

Looking at it from an artistic point of view:

Is there any chance of MastCam tracking and making a movie as the Skycrane flies away, although the mast probably will still be stowed on the rover's deck ?

[ElkGroveDan]

Once science is well on the way, are there any plans for examination and study of the EDL hardware?

[djellison]

Is there any chance of MastCam tracking and making a movie as the Skycrane flies away, although the mast probably will still be stowed on the rover's deck ?

I would hope that the optics would be orientated so that they would be well out of the way of any rocket exhaust at fly-away.

Doug

[nprev]

Is there any chance of MastCam tracking and making a movie as the Skycrane flies away, although the mast probably will still be stowed on the rover's deck ?

In addition to Doug's observation about protecting the optics, from a risk mitigation standpoint it would be unwise to burden the flight software with a non-essential requirement so quickly after one of the most critical events of the entire mission. MSL's got to get its act together afterwards, we don't need to take a chance on incurring the equivalent of a 'blue screen of death' . (Don't get me wrong, though, DE; I'd really love to see that myself! )

[djellison]

This skycrane/decent stage debate is ending. Now. We've had it before. We're going in circles. Stop. Now. This is a thread for questions about MSL's EDL - not the semantics of naming.

Multiple posts deleted.

Doug

[mcaplinger]

Will we be getting "video clips" from MSL?

That's a downlinked data volume question; the hardware can certainly do it at up to 10 fps. Of course, nothing much is moving at rates that would justify a frame rate that high; the team is still considering this. (And no, we can't see the descent stage fly away; Mastcam and MAHLI are still turned off and stowed, and MARDI is pointed down.)

Maybe dedicated imagery of Earth-in-the-sky scenes?

I'm certain we'll try this, but we only have 100 mm focal length, so I'm not sure the disk will even be resolved; it'll still just be a blue dot.

How much more advanced will MSL's imaging instruments be than MER's?

I'm not sure how to quantify "more advanced." They're about 100x faster with about the same noise performance. The MER cameras were all fixed-focus. Mastcam has a 10:1 zoom lens with autofocus. MAHLI (the MI equivalent) has adjustable focus with autofocus. All the instruments are capable of realtime image compression and other internal image processing and have 8 GB flash buffers for data storage. They can all take Bayer-pattern color images with one frame (some might call that less advanced than multiple exposures through color filters, but Mastcam can do that too.) On the other hand, they weigh more and are a lot more mechanically complex, which I can assure you is a development challenge.

[Guest_Sunspot_*]

Malin Space Science Systems has information on some of the cameras they are building:

http://www.msss.com/msl/mastcam/index.html
http://www.msss.com/msl/mahli/index.html
http://www.msss.com/msl/mardi/index.html

# Each Mast Camera has a 10x telephoto/zoom capability; the field of view (FOV) can be from 6°(zoomed) to 60° (not zoomed).

# Near the rover, Mastcam images have a spatial resolution of about 150 micrometers per pixel. With the telephoto system, objects at 1 kilometer distance can be resolved at 10 centimeters per pixel.

[djellison]

Here's one for you Mike - I get bayer filters - and I get the normal way of doing filtered obs. How do you set up a CCD to do single shot colour but ALSO do filtered obs as well? Is it like a hybrid bayer filter that has an R, a B but only one G with what would be the 'other' G as a clear for use with filters? (That's a complete and utter guess)

Doug

[nprev]

Nice, you guys; sounds like some exciting pics are pending!

Truly off-the-wall Skycrane question here: How much hydrazine is expected to remain in its propellant tanks after a nominal descent? Reason I ask is that if (a big if, admittedly) the tank(s) rupture after impact, it might be interesting for MSL to cautiously approach the wreckage at a safe distance a few sols later in order to take a few spectra of any obviously NH4-'splashed' soil to see what sort of reaction compounds may have formed... a unique opportunity for understanding local minerology if it presents itself and is safe to pursue.

[Jim from NSF.com]

The amount of fuel in the DESCENT STAGE should be only vapors if the fly away manuver is "successful"

[nprev]

Ah. So, then, the descent stage is expected to stay airborne until it runs out of fuel, Jim? That seems to place some topographical constraints on the landing site; maybe the landing site slope question is moot.

[Jim from NSF.com]

Not really, the flyout is independent of landing site slope. Anyways the slope is going to be minor, if any

[nprev]

I see; thanks! I was wondering about some of the candidate clay-bearing sites in canyons, which apparently have fallen off the target list; wouldn't do for the descent stage to bash into a canyon wall & blow up too close to MSL...

[mcaplinger]

Here's one for you Mike - I get bayer filters - and I get the normal way of doing filtered obs. How do you set up a CCD to do single shot colour but ALSO do filtered obs as well? Is it like a hybrid bayer filter that has an R, a B but only one G with what would be the 'other' G as a clear for use with filters? (That's a complete and utter guess)

That might work well, but we use an off-the-shelf sensor so we can't have a custom filter. No, the narrowband filters work because the Bayer filters are transparent in the near-IR, where the narrowband color can be used to look for iron-bearing minerals. In the visible, there is always some overlap between the narrowband filter and at least one of the three Bayer filters, often two. In those cases we just adjust the interpolation appropriately to use only the pixels that have usable signal after light has passed through both the Bayer and narrowband filters.

[djellison]

Ahh - suddenly it all becomes clear(er) - cheers Mike

Doug