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A thought on MER longevity |
 Apr 27 2006, 10:06 PM
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#1
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 Member  Group: Members Posts: 813 Joined: 8-February 04 From: Arabia Terra Member No.: 12  |
It's not completely impossible that one or both MERs could be in a semi-functional state by the time MSL lands in 2010.
If this happens, 3rd Jan 2004 might just go down in history as the last date on which humanity didn't have a working asset on the surface of Mars... |
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Apr 27 2006, 10:49 PM
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#2
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Member Group: Members Posts: 178 Joined: 13-September 05 Member No.: 498 |
Interesting thought... and worrying comparison with the Moon, where we haven't had any active hardware on the surface for ages and orbiters come and go.
What is the corresponding date for Mars orbiters? Did MGS start the current continuous coverage, or did she overlap with an earlier working bird? |
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Apr 27 2006, 11:01 PM
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#3
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 Interplanetary Dumpster Diver Group: Admin Posts: 4408 Joined: 17-February 04 From: Powell, TN Member No.: 33 |
QUOTE (Joffan @ Apr 27 2006, 10:49 PM)  Interesting thought... and worrying comparison with the Moon, where we haven't had any active hardware on the surface for ages and orbiters come and go. What is the corresponding date for Mars orbiters? Did MGS start the current continuous coverage, or did she overlap with an earlier working bird? Yes, it seems like a distant nightmare, but after the Viking 1 Orbiter mission ended on August 17, 1980, there was a gap until MGS arrived on September 11, 1997, with the exception of January 30 - March 27 1989, when Phobos 2 was operating in Mars orbit. As for landers, after the November 1982 loss of the Viking 1 lander due to a command error, there was the gap until July 2004. So between the early 80s and mid-to-late 1990s, there was a real drought, and I see no reason it couldn't happen again. -------------------- |
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Apr 27 2006, 11:15 PM
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#4
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 IMG to PNG GOD Group: Moderator Posts: 2257 Joined: 19-February 04 From: Near fire and ice Member No.: 38 |
I'm convined that sooner or later there will again be no functional spacecraft at Mars for some time, i.e. neither an orbiter nor a lander. Possibly within 15 years.
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Apr 28 2006, 05:48 PM
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#5
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Member Group: Members Posts: 242 Joined: 21-December 04 Member No.: 127 |
QUOTE (Bjorn Jonsson @ Apr 27 2006, 11:15 PM) I'm convined that sooner or later there will again be no functional spacecraft at Mars for some time, i.e. neither an orbiter nor a lander. Possibly within 15 years. I don't know about this. There is so much active hardware up there now (two MERs, MGS, Odyssey, MRO, and Mars Express with MSL and baby-MTO to come) that you would have to go a couple of decades before it ALL failed. I just don't see that happening. We may not have hit the point of permanent landed monitoring of Mars, but I don't think we will ever see a time without at least one functioning orbiter. |
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SFJCody A thought on MER longevity Apr 27 2006, 10:06 PM
JRehling QUOTE (SFJCody @ Apr 27 2006, 03:06 PM) I... Apr 27 2006, 10:37 PM
djellison QUOTE (tedstryk @ Apr 27 2006, 11:01 PM) ... Apr 27 2006, 11:12 PM
tedstryk QUOTE (djellison @ Apr 27 2006, 11:12 PM)... Apr 27 2006, 11:19 PM djellison There was a gap post-Viking-orbiter and pre-MGS - ... Apr 27 2006, 10:52 PM edstrick Note that while VL-1 was apparently lost due to a ... Apr 28 2006, 11:04 AM ljk4-1 QUOTE (edstrick @ Apr 28 2006, 07:04 AM) ... Apr 28 2006, 01:23 PM Stephen QUOTE (SFJCody @ Apr 27 2006, 10:06 PM) I... May 5 2006, 01:36 AM RNeuhaus QUOTE (Stephen @ May 4 2006, 08:36 PM) Th... May 5 2006, 02:34 AM climber As we're talking about MER longevity, note tha... May 22 2006, 11:49 AM climber Interesting statistics from Jim Bell on a space.co... May 22 2006, 08:17 PM |
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