Mars Exploration Rovers (MER)

Rxke · 2005-08-11 13:28:41

...And then, at the outpost's dining table:

-"Spacenut, have you washed up, prior to dinner, you smel, ugh!"

-"Aaw, mom, I just got me a nice dustdevil-cleansing, like the ole' rovers used to get, waaay back in 2005, and they came out spiffy clean, remember?"

Palomar · 2005-08-11 16:13:05

Yup great looking but I would rather feel the pelting of those grains of sand against a thickly armored Mars suit and to feel the force of the wind as it washes over me trying to push me along with it.

*Oh come on. Where's your sense of fun? Besides, you couldn't -feel- the stinging sand with a suit on. I've allowed a dust devil to run over me. Squeezed my eyes shut and ow ow ow ow!, like being lashed by zillions of tiny furious whips...but no lacerations nor scratches afterwards. And what a way to get your hair mussed up, LOL. Quite a rough tugging at the clothing, too; every-which-way and crazy.

I highly recommend allowing one's self to be run over by a dust devil. 'Taint no big deal. And on Mars? With its low atmospheric pressure? Bah, nothing to it.

--Cindy

Rxke · 2005-08-12 01:02:32

Cindy, the crazed-out, wild-haired, self-flagellating desert hermit!

Palomar · 2005-08-12 05:36:28

*Good morning, Rik.

Dust]http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-base-05f.html]"Dust devils help to

...crack the whip on many a day, all across Mars."

Rik mentioned self-flagellation in response to my previous post...now this. We've got a bit of S & M going on with regards to Mars, eh? LOL!

Article is accompanied by an animation. Look at those devils zipping along.

For many months we received no images of dust devils from either S or O. Remember my bemoaning that more than once? Now it's dust devils galore.

This article deals with static electricity and the like.

"On Mars, we think the soil is so dry and insulating that if an astronaut were out walking, once he or she returned to the habitat and reached out to open the airlock, a little lightning bolt might zap critical electronics," explains Geoffrey A. Landis, a physicist

Mentions triboelectric charging. Hmmm...tribbles causing trouble again?

"On Mars," he continues, "discharges can happen at no more than a few hundred volts. It's likely that these will take the form of coronal glows rather than lightning bolts. As such, they may not be life threatening for the astronauts, but they could be harmful to electronic equipment."

Suggestion:

On Mars, the best ground might be, ironically, the air. A tiny radioactive source "such as that used in smoke detectors," could be attached to each spacesuit and to the habitat, suggests Landis

--Cindy

Rxke · 2005-08-12 07:12:15

That alu mesh solution to static buildup seems a bit... unwieldy, no?

Midnight Mars Browser... Heh.

I'd like to call this: 'you can have it all.' Michael Howard, the writer of the browser, posted this screenshot: a dust devil AND sunset!

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=33329866&size=l

8)

Palomar · 2005-08-12 07:21:18

I'd like to call this: 'you can have it all.' Michael Howard, the writer of the browser, posted this screenshot: a dust devil AND sunset!
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=33329866&size=l
8)

*That's terrific. Sol a tiny ball of light near the Martian horizon, so unlike the vastly bloated Solset via optical illusion on Earth. I have a feeling future Martians will sort of envy Earth on that count. (Unless of course the M atmosphere will be artificially replenished at some point...but this isn't a thread for terraforming discussion anyway).

It's so cool to be able to realize and say "I've seen dust devils moving about on Mars. I've seen a Martian sunset." Thanks to the MERs' "eyes," we have.

Can't take it for granted.

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2005-08-12 08:44:37

...And then, at the outpost's dining table:
-"Spacenut, have you washed up, prior to dinner, you smel, ugh!"
-"Aaw, mom, I just got me a nice dustdevil-cleansing, like the ole' rovers used to get, waaay back in 2005, and they came out spiffy clean, remember?"

But I washed on the way in with the Co2 bath.... gee I just got washed by a dust devil...

marscat · 2005-08-14 21:41:34

Midnight Mars Browser... Heh.

Hi all... I am the author of Midnight Mars Browser, Michael Howard in real life. Found out about this forum from Rxke and via MMB's website stats, just checking it out and saying "hi" (I'm jumping in here without getting a "feel" for the place, hope I'm not violating any 'net etiquette.)

Shaun Barrett · 2005-08-15 05:56:35

Rik:-

:shock: :shock: :shock:
Biggest tornado-twister-whatever!.... Ever!

Only just caught up with this thread again.
That 'widescreen' movie of all those dust devils is fantastic! I felt just like I was there watching those things swirl by. As Cindy said later:-

It's so cool to be able to realize and say "I've seen dust devils moving about on Mars. I've seen a Martian sunset." Thanks to the MERs' "eyes," we have.

... those MERs have taken us as close to visiting Mars personally as we're ever likely to get, I suppose. Unless or until the Mars Science Laboratory arrives in about 5 years.

Palomar · 2005-08-15 13:00:49

Great update on Oppy

*Lots of news. Oppy's currently "several kilometers" south of Eagle and Endurance. More blueberries discovered, and unlike the blueberries previously seen: Some are smaller than previously seen, some don't appear to be quite round and there's many more of them.

Article mentions that hematite is distributed a bit differently here than at any other rocks at Meridani.

Another mystery: "Cobbles." Are they impact crater ejecta? Possibly meteorites?
Oppy's currently parked in front of a field of cobbles.

Yet another mystery: "Rinds."

Update on Spirit too.

--Cindy

Rxke · 2005-08-16 04:44:30

I've been looking hard at the latest imagery (thanks to the MMR software) and it is indeed very interesting.

The blueberries esp. Some closeup pictures seem to tell me, as a total amateur, they are close to the AHA-Rosetta stone point. Some rocks seem very 'telling' about their origin, lots of 'evolutionary' layering, embedding, etc...

And the landscape is just....

like driving on a frozen, wavy sea.

Then the cobblestones. The look like they're waiting to tell a story, all by themself.

Must be truly heady times for geologists and rockhounds!

And it looks like Spirit is mere meters from the summit!!! boyohboyohboy!!!
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=34274152&size=l (MMR screenshot by marscat / Michael Howard)

Shaun Barrett · 2005-08-16 06:08:51

Palomar · 2005-08-18 06:29:12

*Spirit Update:

Nearly at the summit of Husband Hill

Yay! Predictions are Spirit will complete the climb later this week.

Mentions "Assemblee," which Squyres says has a "crazy composition." Also possesses the highest levels of chromium yet detected on Mars by the MER team.

Once the summit of HH is reached, they're hoping to have Spirit inspect a basin to the south. Everyone's looking forward to the view from the summit...including me.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-08-19 05:40:27

Oppy entering field of cobbles

*It's been using RAT and all spectrometers, imaging instruments, etc. They mention a cobble target which has been named "Arkansas."

Oppy had a backlog of data difficulty; the backlog was offloaded via Odyssey, as it made overnight passes. It's cool how the probes and MERs are interacting. They're trying to avoid too much new data accumulation.

Seems Oppy will be taking an easterly route to the Erebus Highway. Lots of other info in the article too. Total current odometry is 3.56 miles.

--Cindy

REB · 2005-08-19 06:28:58

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … 5L0M1.HTML Check out this one

SpaceNut · 2005-08-19 06:35:41

Looking at the horizon you can just make out a dust devil.

Rxke · 2005-08-19 16:21:43

(jumps up and dow)

First pictures of homeplate and SE basin are in!!!!

YAAAAYYYYYY Spirit made it!!!

ho-hahookey-ha yeaaaaah!

And maaaaan... Looks like *very* interesting stuff ahead.

The view isn't that great, now, but another short run and we're bound to see a super-jawdropping panorama! Already some interesting features to make out, hmmmmm... Interesting days ahead.

Oh, and some good 'rind' pics in, too, at Oppy's side.

Rxke · 2005-08-19 16:57:37

Strange, eh? Steve says Home Plate is about a mile away, but from the pictures, thats's really hard to tell, looks a lot closer.

Nothing to compare with makes for a very hard job to judge distances. Imagien there were no orbiters, providing overhead imagery, to judge distances, driving would become a lot harder.

Aaaah, what amazing technology...

And... Homeplate being 'hundreds ofdays of driving away'... They say that so casually... Over at Djellison's site, someone is taking extrapolations of the solarcell output, to guesstimate the lifetime (if nothing else breaks)

Make a guess?

(it's quite stunning, and sobering at the same time... to read the prediction I found out, no matter how long before the 'end date' ...it comes as some kind of shock. In the back of my head, these rovers are there for eternity, in a way....)

Palomar · 2005-08-22 19:26:08

New dust devils movie

During early spring on Mars, dust devils typically wind their way from southwest to northeast across streaks that can be seen from orbit.

I think I've read that before. If so, will note again that that is the direction tornadoes usually (9.5 times out of 10) travel in the Midwest of the U.S. Very interesting.

But then:

As the season moves forward, the windy objects move from northwest to southeast in the same direction of the streaks

Whoa.

"My hope is to be able to take what we know now at Gusev and then apply it to the rest of the planet,” Whelley said.

I wonder.

Researchers condensed the windy devils’ 12-minute, 17-second passing into a short black and white movie clip. [Click here to see the movie.]

-also-

Spirit first observed dust devils on Mars near the beginning of the region’s spring season. While they increased in frequency as the season wore on, they dropped off for about two weeks during a dust storm only to return in force once it had passed

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-08-24 05:41:11

Spirit has arrived

*Includes update and photo. Spirit has as much power as the day it landed; very healthy. Great.

--Cindy

Rxke · 2005-08-24 05:53:08

Maybe you noticed the article was written by someone we know, hmmm?

Palomar · 2005-08-24 06:12:15

Maybe you noticed the article was written by someone we know, hmmm?

*Actually I didn't look at the author's name (I seldom do). :oops: Usually just jump right into the article itself. :oops:

Congratulations, Doug. He got to break the news about this milestone at spacedaily.com.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-08-25 06:44:17

And... Homeplate being 'hundreds ofdays of driving away'... They say that so casually... Over at Djellison's site, someone is taking extrapolations of the solarcell output, to guesstimate the lifetime (if nothing else breaks)
Make a guess?
(it's quite stunning, and sobering at the same time... to read the prediction I found out, no matter how long before the 'end date' ...it comes as some kind of shock. In the back of my head, these rovers are there for eternity, in a way....)

*Yeah, I know what you mean. We've gotten spoiled by how fabulously the MERs continue doing. Is it even necessary to mention how far beyond the 3-month warranty they've gone?? Somehow I too have this notion in the back of my mind that they'll go on and on for years more. The view from Husband Hill is "tempting"...more hill/mountain ranges in the distance, beckoning. It's a definite "want to see what's around the bend/over the next hill" thing.

It's never enough. And shouldn't be.

At least Spirit made it to HH's summit. Shortly after its mission began, remember it was having data accumulation troubles causing all sorts of nightmare glitches, and mission controllers nearly pronounced Spirit dead? And that bum leg hasn't stopped it yet either.

Really don't want to think about...the inevitable.

--Cindy

P.S.: And Rik, wasn't it Spirit which landed on Mars on your birthday?? Or was that Oppy? Maybe I'm confusing it with another event, but I'm certain it was Spirit's landing which coincided with your birthday.

Oh--and it's a pity Stu isn't around to see your current avatar, LOL! He always "loved" those photos.

SpaceNut · 2005-08-25 07:21:49

We've gotten spoiled by how fabulously the MERs continue doing. Is it even necessary to mention how far beyond the 3-month warranty they've gone?? Somehow I too have this notion in the back of my mind that they'll go on and on for years more.

Yup and Nasa funding will be the issue for when we will no longer be getting these great images from Mars. Who knows what we will see or discover with the rovers.

Palomar · 2005-08-25 07:43:26

We've gotten spoiled by how fabulously the MERs continue doing. Is it even necessary to mention how far beyond the 3-month warranty they've gone?? Somehow I too have this notion in the back of my mind that they'll go on and on for years more.
Yup and Nasa funding will be the issue for when we will no longer be getting these great images from Mars. Who knows what we will see or discover with the rovers.

*SpaceNut, this isn't a funding issue. The MERs will, like other vehicles, eventually wear out, break down and die. Unfortunately, as we know, there's no one on Mars to mechanically maintain them.

--Cindy

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