MSL Approach Phase |
MSL Approach Phase |
Jul 2 2012, 07:40 PM
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#31
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2922 Joined: 14-February 06 From: Very close to the Pyrénées Mountains (France) Member No.: 682 |
Since curiosity in italian is LA curiosita' (femminine), MSL is definitely a she. Works the same way in French... -------------------- |
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Jul 3 2012, 07:06 AM
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#32
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Member Group: Members Posts: 153 Joined: 4-May 11 From: Pardubice, CZ Member No.: 5979 |
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Jul 6 2012, 04:50 AM
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#33
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 39 Joined: 5-June 06 Member No.: 803 |
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Jul 6 2012, 05:06 PM
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#34
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Member Group: Members Posts: 267 Joined: 5-February 06 Member No.: 675 |
Since English has almost no gendered nouns and Curiosity's drivers are in the county of Los Angeles, it seems that the Spanish gender of la curiosidad (feminine) should govern here.
Steve M |
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Jul 6 2012, 10:00 PM
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#35
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
Scott insists that the rover is a "he" and affectionately calls him "George." I'm not sure of the origin of that name It may be a bit arcane, but in one of the Looney Tunes Marvin Martian cartoons, Marvin takes Bugs Bunny to Mars as a pet for "Hugo" the Abominable Snowman (from a previous Bugs Bunny episode) that Marvin has captured and brought to Mars. Hugo grabs Bugs and declares, "I will hug him, and stroke him, and sing to him, and cuddle him, and call him George," Bugs then tells Hugo he doesn't want a rabbit, he wants a robot and tells him, " 'George' is a perfect name for a robot." So there you have it. According to Bugs Bunny the perfect name for a robot on Mars is "George." The clip begins at about 6:20 -------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Jul 7 2012, 12:01 AM
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#36
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Member Group: Members Posts: 754 Joined: 9-February 07 Member No.: 1700 |
The third chapter of Emily's excellent series of blog entries about EDL mentions "landing gear", with an image of Curiosity prior to "landing gear" release. Does ~he~ have shock absorbers? I know, I'm worrying too much! hehee
I'm going to the Planetfest thingie in Pasadena, bringing a BIG bag of pistachios! |
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Guest_Oersted_* |
Jul 8 2012, 05:14 AM
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#37
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Guests |
Just the suspension inherent in the rocker-bogie wheel configuration. It deploys from a folded-up state, but I am actually at a miss as to how it deploys. Just gravity drop? My guess is that there are some springs that are released with pyro firngs on deploy and which then serve as suspension afterwards.
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Jul 8 2012, 05:25 AM
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#38
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Member Group: Admin Posts: 976 Joined: 29-September 06 From: Pasadena, CA - USA Member No.: 1200 |
Yep, the suspension system is released with springs/pyros. The "spokes" on MSL wheels also can take quite a beating. The tread also is compliant.
Paolo -------------------- Disclaimer: all opinions, ideas and information included here are my own,and should not be intended to represent opinion or policy of my employer.
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Jul 8 2012, 08:47 PM
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#39
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Member Group: Members Posts: 754 Joined: 9-February 07 Member No.: 1700 |
Reading this article about MSL and "fresh craters", I wonder if consideration was given to aiming the descent stage and creating a brand new crater nearby?
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Jul 8 2012, 09:13 PM
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#40
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8784 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
I think that the overriding concern is still residual hazmat for the descent stage; Curiosity's almost certainly never gonna go anywhere near the wreckage for that reason. Plus, I very much doubt that it'll hit hard enough to make a crater deep enough to excavate anything interesting from an orbital view.
Heck, come to that wouldn't be too surprised if it survives the crash in fairly good condition. The big variable is probably how much residual fuel (and therefore added velocity) it can burn off before it hits the dirt. -------------------- 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 8 2012, 10:26 PM
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#41
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Member Group: Admin Posts: 976 Joined: 29-September 06 From: Pasadena, CA - USA Member No.: 1200 |
I haven't heard anything about observing the descent stage. I think you are probably right, the lesson from Oppy observing the heat shield will be influencing decisions in that regard. It wouldn't surprise me if they would use the mastcam to take a few pictures tho.
Paolo -------------------- Disclaimer: all opinions, ideas and information included here are my own,and should not be intended to represent opinion or policy of my employer.
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Jul 9 2012, 01:38 AM
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#42
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1074 Joined: 21-September 07 From: Québec, Canada Member No.: 3908 |
The big variable is probably how much residual fuel (and therefore added velocity) it can burn off before it hits the dirt. According to Emily's blog post about MSL's landing, the original plan was to burn off all the remaining fuel in the descent stage, but she says it will now burn for a fixed time (she doesn't say how long) and crash at least 150 m away. |
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Jul 9 2012, 06:21 AM
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#43
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2088 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
Spirit's trenches were that deep at least.
Speaking of which, can MSL do the same thing with its wheels? |
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Jul 9 2012, 06:56 AM
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#44
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2173 Joined: 28-December 04 From: Florida, USA Member No.: 132 |
There was a reason to examine MER's heat shield that does not apply to the MSL descent stage. To see how well the materials weathered atmospheric entry. I wonder how far MSL's heat shield is likely to be from the rover after it lands.
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Jul 9 2012, 03:27 PM
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#45
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14432 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
I wonder if consideration was given to aiming the descent stage and creating a brand new crater nearby? There will already be craters made by the heatshield, and the ballast masses ejected just before parachute deployment - they'll all be worth looking at and would, I'd have thought, be downrange ( east ) of the landing site by a km or 2. The descent stage can't be aimed specifcially. It takes 4 engines to 100% and flies away at 45 degrees for 4 seconds of thrust and then falls ballistically, probably landing a very long way away. This was discussed, in length, in another MSL thread. Because it contains much organic chemistry and could potentially be and explosion risk - they will not be driving towards it for close study. |
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