'Curiosity' - NASA Mars Rover - Due to land 5th Aug 2012
Discussion
davepoth said:
Off to one side, and then plummets to the ground. NASA reckon that the dust in the ground photos is from the sky-crane. I hope they'll get a chance to go look at the wreckage at some point.
Since when do they reckon that? At the 5pm press conference they said they didn't know what it was. Have they confirmed that's what it was now?Bedazzled said:
While waiting for the panoramic shots, I've been building my own moon rover in Kerbal. They don't have a skycrane yet, so I'm using a vertical landing, transitioning to horizontal, then surfing about on skids...
It's a lot faster than Curiosity!
How many times have you pressed "reset" It's a lot faster than Curiosity!
Bedazzled said:
I'm a bit puzzled by the amount of fuel remaining, (a) it sounds like a lot, and (b) why didn't they use it ALL up boosting the skycrane as far away as possible? Why crash with all that fuel on board?
I wonder how many secconds of burn time that fuel would have provided? Rockets get through it faster than an M5!
Bedazzled said:
The latest HazCam pics are great, but it looks like some dust got through the lens covers, or perhaps they popped them open a bit too soon? They weren't worried about it in the briefing anyhow. Shame it's going to be a week before we get the high-res panorama...
p.s. low-res descent video here
Thanks for the descent video link.p.s. low-res descent video here
Regards the dust covers - in yesterday afternoon's press conference they said that they had noticed some dust had gotten in past the covers whilst they were in place, rather than having opening them too soon. They also said that they expect to get more dust when the winds pick up and a dust storm or dust devil comes by, BUT they are designed so that the dust can be blown off them just as easy as it can be blown on. So it's expected that the wind will be able to clear most of the dust off.
Eric Mc said:
MTBF?
Please don't use in-house jargon.
It's great that someone involved in the mission is posting on here. But using tecchie jargon is a bit unfair on those who are keen to find out stuff but are not party to the lingo you guys use amongst yourself.
Indeed, it can be seen as being a bit rude.
http://www.acronymfinder.com/MTBF.htmlPlease don't use in-house jargon.
It's great that someone involved in the mission is posting on here. But using tecchie jargon is a bit unfair on those who are keen to find out stuff but are not party to the lingo you guys use amongst yourself.
Indeed, it can be seen as being a bit rude.
Gwagon111 said:
It's not a Big Trak. I've busted my nuts for the last 12 years to ensure the guidance system is the best it can be. It's very complex, and hopefully robust (we expect a MTBF of c 20 years).
You have? Can I ask what's been your involvement? (This could become interesting 
)MartG said:
New pic of Curiosity and its components
Sadly, after the great achievemnt of landing on Mars, some people just moan about how we're littering another planet - as if a few small pieces of hardware scattered on a planet with the same surface area as earth's continents is going to have much of an impact FFS
Is it a fluke that Curiosity landed in the middle of that dark patch of ground?Sadly, after the great achievemnt of landing on Mars, some people just moan about how we're littering another planet - as if a few small pieces of hardware scattered on a planet with the same surface area as earth's continents is going to have much of an impact FFS
Eric Mc said:
The Curiosity Wiki page linked from there is pretty good too:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_rover
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