Mars Rover Gone Quiet

[Eric Mc]

It looks like the rover "Spirit" has put itself into "sleep" mode in an effort to weather a massive dust storm which is affecting its location. At the moment, NASA cannot contact it due to the fact that it has powered itself down.

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/06/13/huge-dust-st...

[Eric Mc]

I don't think scientists really understand why these storms brew up.

[Eric Mc]

What is largely unknown is what provides the additional energy the atmosphere needs to kick up these storms.

[Eric Mc]

Simpo Two said:

Eric Mc said:

What is largely unknown is what provides the additional energy the atmosphere needs to kick up these storms.

But the atmosphere is so thin it wouldn't take nearly as much energy for the same windspeed as it does on Earth.

Why does the Rover need to shut down when it's a bit windy?

The solar panels are covered in dust - and so is the sky.

With light levels plummeting, power drops - so the rover goes into safe mode.

NASA is hopeful that it will wake up once the sky clears and the dust on the panels gets blown off.

Curiosity shouldn't have any issues like this because it is not a solar powered rover. Dust can cause other problems, however, like getting into equipment or causing joints and bearings to seize.

[Eric Mc]

Maybe they should have put a windmill on it too.

[Eric Mc]

Martian Sand Yacht - as envisioned by Ray Bradbury.

[Eric Mc]

Not heard any news for a while. Has the dust storm abated yet?

[Eric Mc]

Just been looking at Mars a few minutes ago. It is VERY red. However, I think some of that redness is due to the fact that it is quite low in the sky and our own atmosphere that is making it look unusually red - as it makes a setting sun look red sometimes.

[Eric Mc]

B17NNS said:

Looks like they've found some water.

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/scientists-found-water-m...

Perhaps. There's a bit more work to be done before it can be confirmed.

We have known there is water on Mars for over 30 years. However, what is interesting here is that the water may be in liquid form rather than water ice.

[Eric Mc]

Beati Dogu said:

It's probably not liquid for very long and only in certain areas.

The air pressure on Mars is so low (about 0.6% of Earth's at sea level) that water boils at only 10 °C

Although it's usually very cold on Mars, it can get up to a balmy 20°C at the equator in summer.

It's under 1 mile of water ice.

I think we should use the other thread to discuss this and keep this one for Mars Rovers.

[Eric Mc]

Flat battery - probably.

[Eric Mc]

Well over 40 years. The Voyager designs were essentially frozen around 1973 or so. They were built in 1975/76 and launched in 1977.

The good thing is that the onboard computers were capable of being reprogrammed over the life of the spacecraft - so that means it is still possible to communicate with them and extract data from their transmissions.

[Eric Mc]

NASA also has reservations about launching plutonium isotope (RTG - Radio Thermal Generator) powered space craft and will only use that technology if they think it is the only correct one for the mission.

The very first successful Mars landers, Vikings 1 and 2, both used plutonium as their power source but that was because back at the time they were being designed and developed (1970 to 1975) solar panels were not yet deemed efficient enough for use on the surface of Mars. Most of the later Mars landing probes were solar powered, apart from the two large rovers, as stated above, which do indeed use RTGs.

Solar power has come on a lot in the intervening decades and even the Juno probe and JUICE probes (both to Jupiter) are solar powered.

I think some sort of automatic panel cleaning system might be worthwhile installing on future solar powered Mars landers - such as a type of windscreen wiper or air blower. Often, the Martian winds are enough on their own to clear dusty panels.