Machine maintenance - Ha ha, I'm posting about machines!

Palomar · 2002-11-13 10:30:22

*Clark started a thread somewhere along the lines I'm going to post about, but I cannot find his thread and being pressed for time prevents me from searching further for it.

Okay, here goes: A few months ago I saw a documentary about a British man who, with a team of persons, wanted to cross the Bering Straight during the winter. He and his entourage started in Moscow, and drove through parts of Siberia. They didn't make it across the Bering Straight, btw; too many obstacles and then the ice which created the temporary adjoining of Russia and Alaska began breaking up and the vehicle intending to cross it almost sunk.

During the trek across Siberia, every nook and cranny of the vehicles became impacted with snow during blizzards -- I mean absolutely impacted. Also, the machines had to be kept running 24 hours a day to prevent freezing of the oil, etc.

Won't machines on Mars initially have to be kept running all the time as well? And what about sand impacting the machines as snow does? How often is Mars subjected to those global-wide sandstorms, and won't we have to constantly be cleaning the machines...and how much time will that chore in itself involve?

--Cindy

Byron · 2002-11-13 11:15:56

Yes, I imagine the vehicles and whatnot would get sand-blasted from time to time, but I would think that the rovers and other moveable equipment would be garaged when not in use to mitigate that problem.

As for keeping them running all the time...I think that would only apply to gasoline engines, which we wouldn't have on Mars. You'd probably have hydrazine or the equivilent as your power source, and that should work fine in Martian temps. Besides, if the machines are warehoused when not in use, they can be kept from getting too cold.

My concern anything that's made of rubber..as you couldn't have traditional rubber tires or anything..they'd shatter in the extreme cold. I guess they would have to use mesh-wire wheels or the like instead. As for cleaning the vehicles, I guess there would be airjets positioned next to any windows to keep the dust off..other than that, they would stay rather dirty most of the time..lol.

B

Phobos · 2002-11-17 02:28:54

Did that program divulge any information on whether the vehicle used by the explorers was specially designed for the task or did they just grab a model off the shelf and cross their fingers? I've heard horror stories of early twentieth century explorations in Antartica where people met disaster using liquid cooled gasoline engines. Naturally, your going to be up a creek when all that coolant freezes while it's sitting out unused or in one tragic case even when in use! It shouldn't be a problem designing machinery that can withstand conditions on Mars. After all they already have if you consider the rovers and landers they've already sent there.

AltToWar · 2002-11-17 04:12:33

I imagine most of the vehicles would be electric/combustion hybrid motors similar to those we currently have now.

Electric engines are much more capable of taking the starting and stopping needed from a vehicle, and are more effecient when various speeds and torque are needed. A cumbustion engine waistes a lot of fuel when it sits idle and while it accelerates.

When you remove the combustion engine from the drive train and require it to produce only electricty, you take a lot of the strain off of it.

Palomar · 2002-11-18 11:32:52

Did that program divulge any information on whether the vehicle used by the explorers was specially designed for the task or did they just grab a model off the shelf and cross their fingers?

*It was a vehicle already in use, and renowned for its toughness and dependability; I don't remember what it was called, but it was built rather high, with a spacious cab and huge tracks [like a tank] with lots of *big* spikes on them -- this was the machine that was intended to take them over the Bering Straight. The other vehicles were already built by the Russians to withstand the weather and coldness of Siberia; tall, huge bus-like vehicles; these had been proved to be durable and dependable as well, but the Siberian winter during the trek was so brutal and harsh that they began to break down. Yipes.

--Cindy

"Don't know much about machinery..."

dicktice · 2002-11-27 19:44:23

How about Stirling engine power?
I'm struck by tha absence of suggestions for the use of Stirling Engines (of the appropriate sort) for propulsion of surface vehicles on Mars--or even the Moon.
The existence of adjacent "hot" (solar exposure) and "cold" (shadow exposure) on Mars should make it a natural, I would think.
There's loads of internet background material about the history and principles involved, but nothing on the internet I can find about extraterrestrial applications. Why not...?

Echus_Chasma · 2003-01-11 14:08:16

About the Stirling, I saw a doco that was on machines and cars and stuff. They got onto a Mars rover, the rover design that was being covered in the programme had a Stirling engine.

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#1 2002-11-13 10:30:22

Re: Machine maintenance - Ha ha, I'm posting about machines!

#2 2002-11-13 11:15:56

Re: Machine maintenance - Ha ha, I'm posting about machines!

#3 2002-11-17 02:28:54

Re: Machine maintenance - Ha ha, I'm posting about machines!

#4 2002-11-17 04:12:33

Re: Machine maintenance - Ha ha, I'm posting about machines!

#5 2002-11-18 11:32:52

Re: Machine maintenance - Ha ha, I'm posting about machines!

#6 2002-11-27 19:44:23

Re: Machine maintenance - Ha ha, I'm posting about machines!

#7 2003-01-11 14:08:16

Re: Machine maintenance - Ha ha, I'm posting about machines!

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