[X] My Assistant

[Redstone]

According to the NASA TV schedule, there is an MER news conference set for September 1, at 1 pm EDT (5 pm GMT). Take it with a pinch of salt, because these schedules change a lot. Whenever it happens it will be shown on NASA TV.

This is the first press conference since when? I can't remember when we saw the last one...

I'm guessing this is when we'll see the "Mother of all Panoramas". Hopefully some news on the science too, and future route plans.

[Marcel]

Online batteries could act as a current sink even when fully charged.

Don't think i agree on that. When a battery is fully charged it's internal resistance is high, so no (or neglible) current is flowing. Also if the battery is "online" all the time: it is in parallel configuration with the bus it provides power to AND with the arrays. The amount of power it gives to the bus fully depends on the amount of current "asked" by the bus on the on hand, and the amount of sunlight on the arrays on the other hand. Once the sun is down, the batteries are used completely, once the sun's up, a part of the drawn current is taken over by the arrays. As soon as they put the rover to sleep IN THE DAYTIME, there almost no current flowing to the instuments or WEB, and all the energy that is provided by the arrays flows to the battery, EXCEPT when it's fully charged. Then no current is flowing at all.

Except for Oppy, that drains at least half an amp on the still stuck arm heater continually, unless put into deep sleep mode.

I think Steve mend to say, that there's plenty of energy in the rover (batterie) and on the arrays in the same time, and the intense use of transmitters, camera, driving, memory, and so on that can be fed with this wealth of energy, might make the WEB a bit of a HEB. So shutting down might be needed then.

Just like we want to cool down with a beer in the backyard after a hard day of work !

[djellison]

It's fairly simple.

With only 600 whrs, there's not much you can do really - basic function, couple of naps during the day, a uhf pass - jobs-a-goodun.

But if you've got 950 whrs - you can do a couple of UHF passes, loads of imaging, loads of Minites work, lots for the rover to do - you can expend all that energy

But so well insulated is the WEB, that doing all the work generates a lot of heat (anything except mobility and IDD work involves heat being generated in the WEB ) - 300 Whrs of it Thats like putting a really REALLY bright lightbulb in there for the afternoon. No wonder it can get so hot in there! So - to stop it overheating - you throttle back on what you want to do in the day.

Doug

[Marcel]

Exactly, it took me some more words to say the same.....(English is not my mother tongue....sometimes i wish it was, participating between you all....).

Who the .... would have ever thought by the way, that after 590 sols of operation, we could need a FAN and RADIATOR to pump martian air through the web to cool it !! It's fantastic news !! I suddenly get the feeling that this missions (or at least one of them) could be supported by MRO passes

[djellison]

That's something I've thought in the past - use MRo during aerobraking for relay - but it's not something they're going to do - the post launch press conf mentioned that.

Doug

[Decepticon]

I would love to see more of these press conferences or monthly solar system news reports.

With all the missions lately it could be done.

[Jeff7]

Exactly, it took me some more words to say the same.....(English is not my mother tongue....sometimes i wish it was, participating between you all....).

Who the .... would have ever thought by the way, that after 590 sols of operation, we could need a FAN and RADIATOR to pump martian air through the web to cool it !! It's fantastic news !! I suddenly get the feeling that this missions (or at least one of them) could be supported by MRO passes 

Your punctuation and grammar are better than plenty of people on other forums.


I wonder if a mission extension at 1000 sols is going to be an issue?

[jaredGalen]

It's fairly simple.

With only 600 whrs, there's not much you can do really - basic function, couple of naps during the day, a uhf pass - jobs-a-goodun.
......

But so well insulated is the WEB, that doing all the work generates a lot of heat  (anything except mobility and IDD work involves heat being generated in the WEB ) - 300 Whrs of it   ....

So - to stop it overheating - you throttle back on what you want to do in the day.
Doug

It seems the poor rovers are damned if they do and damned if they don't (in terms of having energy that is, more or less)
With too much they have to slow down so as not to overheat, with too little they have to slow down to conserve it.
Tricky business this 'oul martian exploration lark.

[David]

According to the NASA TV schedule, there is an MER news conference set for September 1, at 1 pm EDT (5 pm GMT). Take it with a pinch of salt [...]

The conference did start on time. But that last sentence is now slightly ironic, for other reasons.

[Redstone]

Table salt, to be precise.

Amazing, Spirit is now at 950 WHr per day!

No news on what route Spirit will take down from the summit, or how soon the descent will begin.

I was a little disappointed that Arvidson was unable to really give much of a story of the Hills. They seem to have a lot of varied and interesting pieces of the puzzle, but can't put them together yet. Hopefully the descent will help put it together.

[jamescanvin]

Why didnt someone tell me he was coming to OZ. I could have gone to listen to one of his lectures.

Sorry, I didn't think I should advertise the one I went to as it wasn't a public event. His talk at the Sydney Obervatory however was mentioned on this site, see here although easy to miss!

James

[SigurRosFan]

Additional new press images ...

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/targetFamily/Mars?start=0

... and a new Spirit 3d route map:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/pre...-A591R1_br2.jpg (78 KB)

[SigurRosFan]

"Greeley has calculated that if the number and frequency of dust devils Spirit has encountered are similarly spaced throughout Gusev Crater, the crater probably experiences about 90,000 dust devils per martian day, or sol. Collectively, the whirlwinds lift and redeposit an estimated 4.5 million kilograms of sediment per sol."

[abalone]

Sorry, I didn't think I should advertise the one I went to as it wasn't a public event. His talk at the Sydney Obervatory however was mentioned on this site, see here although easy to miss!

James

Thanks James, it was not meant as a criticism, I was just kicking myself. Do you work at U.N.S.W., my son has just started his 1st year Chem/Physics Deg there ?

[Marcel]

Your punctuation and grammar are better than plenty of people on other forums.
I wonder if a mission extension at 1000 sols is going to be an issue?

Thanks for that one...

I am wondering myself too. No, stronger than that: i am almost convinced that at least one of them is going to make i through sol 1000. Spirit makes a good candidate, because she's almost back to the sol 0 power condition and there's no reason to believe that these cleaning events will stop.
Seems that one of the greatest fears of the EDL guys (winds at Gusev) became one of the biggest advantages for the power situation nowadays.

[algorimancer]

Good conference, but I really wanted someone to ask for speculation about Homeplate's geology. This strikes me as a real anomaly, as if part of the evaporites from Meridiani were transplanted to Gusev. Probably one of those things they're saving up for a separate conference, after they explore it directly.