MSL development & assembly, Until it's shipped to the Cape |
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MSL development & assembly, Until it's shipped to the Cape |
 Jul 23 2010, 10:12 PM
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#61
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Junior Member  Group: Members Posts: 79 Joined: 11-September 09 Member No.: 4937  |
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Jul 23 2010, 11:10 PM
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#62
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 Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8783 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
All good till she tried to turn-in-place; no-go.
 Doubtless a minor problem, and that's exactly what testing's for!
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Jul 23 2010, 11:15 PM
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#63
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1619 Joined: 12-February 06 From: Bergerac - FR Member No.: 678 |
Anyway, that was a very nice live coverage of this event, like the very first steps of a baby
 Pretty incredible to see Curiosity moving. Hope there will more coverage like this in future. -------------------- |
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Jul 24 2010, 12:56 AM
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#64
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 540 Joined: 25-October 05 From: California Member No.: 535 |
Props to Emily for capturing Curiosity's baby steps and turning 'em into an animated GIF
http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00002597/ -------------------- 2011 JPL Tweetup photos: http://www.rich-parno.com/aa_jpltweetup.html
http://human-spaceflight.blogspot.com |
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Jul 24 2010, 12:37 PM
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#65
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 The Poet Dude Group: Moderator Posts: 5551 Joined: 15-March 04 From: Kendal, Cumbria, UK Member No.: 60 |
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Jul 24 2010, 03:03 PM
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#66
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 593 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 279 |
^ Nice piece, Stu.
Dumb question I can't find an answer for: is the RTG currently on the back of MSL a correct-weight mock-up for these experiments, given there's a substantial cable connected to Curiosity, and - if so - when does the real one get fitted? Andy Edited for typo |
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Jul 24 2010, 03:39 PM
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#67
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 Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
QUOTE (AndyG @ Jul 24 2010, 07:03 AM)  is the RTG currently on the back of MSL a correct-weight mock-up for these experiments, given there's a substantial cable connected to Curiosity, Everything is so out of whack with respect to the weight when you consider that they are testing in 1.0g something meant to operate in 0.37g, what equipment is on or not on the vehicle is mostly irrelevant. I'm sure there's a whole lot of equipment either dummied-up or missing entirely. Ultimately they know the total wight of the vehicle during the testing and if it's a load-critical test they make certain that the weight is 0.37 of the fully assembled vehicle. Stripping off components is one way to do that (attaching helium balloons might be another ) so removing the RTG or its mock-up twin would make a lot of sense. The cable is probably a minor consideration but could be easily taken into account.
-------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Jul 24 2010, 04:12 PM
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#68
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14431 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
QUOTE (AndyG @ Jul 24 2010, 08:03 AM) Dumb question I can't find an answer for: is the RTG currently on the back of MSL a correct-weight mock-up for these experiments, given there's a substantial cable connected to Curiosity, and - if so - when does the real one get fitted? There isn't an RTG of any sort fitted on the back right now. Weight corrected or otherwise. What you're seing is the radiator fins. The gap between them is where the RTG goes. And these tests are only an experiment in so far as making sure everything works. There is the scarecrow MSL that is literally just suspension and an electronics box for the purpose of mobility testing with an equiv 1/3rd mass. There will be a model of the RTG fitted for thermal-vac testing I would guess, but the real one will not get fitted - as with Cassini and New Horizons - until it's on the rocket read for launch. There will be a door on the rockets fairing and there's a door on the back of the backshell to let them insert it into the back of the rover whilst in the fairing on the Atlas V in Florida. |
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Jul 25 2010, 12:46 AM
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#69
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8783 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
QUOTE (djellison @ Jul 24 2010, 08:12 AM) There will be a door on the rockets fairing and there's a door on the back of the backshell to let them insert it into the back of the rover whilst in the fairing on the Atlas V in Florida. Huh. Is that standard procedure for RTGs? Seems like a fair amount of added complexity; that's a tight space for all the inspections, close-outs, etc. to happen, besides the fact that they'll be doing it high off the ground. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Jul 25 2010, 01:15 AM
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#70
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14431 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
Well - Cassini did it, NH did it, MSL will do it - I'd called it standard procedure to be honest.
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Jul 25 2010, 03:28 AM
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#71
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8783 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Yeah, that would meet the definition.
Never knew that; cool.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Jul 25 2010, 03:50 AM
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#72
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 754 Joined: 9-February 07 Member No.: 1700 |
Just to consider that they've kept all that stuff 'clean' is amazing, let alone transportation issues.
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Jul 25 2010, 04:22 AM
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#73
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Member Group: Members Posts: 540 Joined: 25-October 05 From: California Member No.: 535 |
QUOTE (nprev @ Jul 24 2010, 08:28 PM) Yeah, that would meet the definition. Never knew that; cool.http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/detail.cfm?mediaid=27823 http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/detail.cfm?mediaid=27824 http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/detail.cfm?mediaid=27825 http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/detail.cfm?mediaid=27826 http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/detail.cfm?mediaid=27827 Photos of the RTG being installed onto New Horizons inside Atlas V's payload shroud -------------------- 2011 JPL Tweetup photos: http://www.rich-parno.com/aa_jpltweetup.html
http://human-spaceflight.blogspot.com |
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Jul 25 2010, 06:18 AM
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#74
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Member Group: Members Posts: 184 Joined: 2-March 06 Member No.: 692 |
I would think an RTG would release quite a bit of heat.
The wikipedia entry for RTG's quite interesting. They are not very efficient so to generate 300 watts I'm thinking WARM! They say in the USSR they had some remote lighthouses powered by RTG's. One winter night some people found one of these and gathered around it for warmth. They also say the radiation degrades the materials that convert heat to electricity so maybe they keep them separate until shortly before launch. Brian |
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Jul 25 2010, 07:38 AM
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#75
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 Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 39 Joined: 19-August 09 From: Dallas Member No.: 4905 |
Funny video of one of the engineers doing Robot Dance in front of MSL:
Link to YouTube P.S. It was me who asked him to do that. 
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