Updates Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity)

[deadshot462]

Great launch, good luck MSL.

When will NASA add MSL/Curiosity to its "Eyes on the Solar System" program?

Is there another way to track of its current location?

 

[Dive]

Godspeed Curiosity :thumbup:
How far is MSL currently from Earth ? Is there any information avaible about where it is in solar system ?

 

[Urwumpe]

Godspeed Curiosity :thumbup:
How far is MSL currently from Earth ? Is there any information avaible about where it is in solar system ?

No exactly data yet, but since it is just 2 days on route to Mars, it is about 300,000 km away from Earth now.

 

[Messierhunter]

Great launch, good luck MSL.

When will NASA add MSL/Curiosity to its "Eyes on the Solar System" program?

Is there another way to track of its current location?

JPL's HORIZONS system can provide you with the data on its predicted position based on the pre-launch planning trajectory.
http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi
That's how I acquired it about 9 hours after the second MECO. I also generated an orbital solution based on observational data of its position, and it agrees pretty well with the pre-launch planning trajectory.

 

[Arrowstar]

Assuming no early electrical/mechanical failures on MSL during the science phase of the mission, how long can the rover run on its RTG?

 

[Urwumpe]

Assuming no early electrical/mechanical failures on MSL during the science phase of the mission, how long can the rover run on its RTG?

Wrong question - a RTG does not fail instantly. It will slowly degrade and produce less power. In the best case, it can run for 60 years before its power output is half of what it was in the beginning, including the inevitable that the materials to convert the decay into electricity will slowly degrade.

50% of the initial power might still be enough to power many experiments, maybe even drive if the drive system will survive that long.

 

[Arrowstar]

So in other words, there's plenty of room for mission extensions.

 

[Urwumpe]

So in other words, there's plenty of room for mission extensions.

The only limit is General Dust.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Wrong question - a RTG does not fail instantly. It will slowly degrade and produce less power. In the best case, it can run for 60 years before its power output is half of what it was in the beginning, including the inevitable that the materials to convert the decay into electricity will slowly degrade.

50% of the initial power might still be enough to power many experiments, maybe even drive if the drive system will survive that long.

Will it be able to drive around and do science with its arm in the cold season / during dust storms, by the way?

 

[Urwumpe]

Will it be able to drive around and do science with its arm in the cold season / during dust storms, by the way?

Not sure there. My stomach says yes, since martian dust storms are bad for solar arrays, but not like a terrestrial sand storm at all.

 

[orb]

Universe Today: Comet Curiosity? MSL Looks Like a Comet as it Heads Toward Mars

Visible at the bottom of the image is the venting of gases, probably from the Mars Science Laboratory Centaur rocket stage, as seen from the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium in Australia. The Orion Nebula is at the top.

Photo by Duncan Waldron​

 

[RisingFury]

Wrong question - a RTG does not fail instantly. It will slowly degrade and produce less power. In the best case, it can run for 60 years before its power output is half of what it was in the beginning, including the inevitable that the materials to convert the decay into electricity will slowly degrade.

50% of the initial power might still be enough to power many experiments, maybe even drive if the drive system will survive that long.

From what I understand, the RTG charges batteries, so if they included some long lived high pressure NiH batteries, you could have the rover running for decades. Of course you'd have to wait for the RTG to charge the batteries before it could move, but it could work.

The cool thing about NiH batteries is that their life time is very long, they can be recharged tens of thousands of times without losing their power output and don't mind being short-circuited.

 

[T.Neo]

Visible at the bottom of the image is the venting of gases, probably from the Mars Science Laboratory Centaur rocket stage

Centaur Nebula.

 

[orb]

Spaceflight Now: Cruising to Mars, Curiosity awaits final software load

Aviation Week: Mars Science Lab Healthy As Transit Begins

The Planetary Society Blog: Bye-bye, Curiosity

Spaceflight Now:

• Gallery: Atlas 5 rocket heads for Mars (PHOTO GALLERY #1)
• Gallery: Atlas 5 rocket heads for Mars (PHOTO GALLERY #2)
• Gallery: Atlas 5 rocket heads for Mars (PHOTO GALLERY #3)

 

[orb]

Universe Today:

• Could Curiosity Determine if Viking Found Life on Mars?
• Empowering Curiosity, Numerous Systems Required to Land Martian Rover

SPACE.com: NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity Had Planetary Protection Slip-Up

 

[Unstung]

SPACE.com: NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity Had Planetary Protection Slip-Up

I wonder, could this negatively affect gathered scientific data?

 

[statickid]

I wonder, could this negatively affect gathered scientific data?

In the article they specify that this is mostly a "process error" and that the science to be gathered by the rover is thematically different.

They also said that even with this event, the rover is still cleaner than other spacecraft sent to Mars (i.e. the other rovers).

Basically somebody touched the drill bits without permission, then called up and said "oh yeah is it okay to touch the drillbits cuz I ALREADY DID!!!"

=no impact, not a big deal.

 

[orb]

NASA / NASA JPL:
Course Excellent, Adjustment Postponed

December 01, 2011

MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY MISSION STATUS REPORT

PASADENA, Calif. - Excellent launch precision for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission has forestalled the need for an early trajectory correction maneuver, now not required for a month or more.

That first of six planned course adjustments during the 254-day journey from Earth to Mars had originally been scheduled for 15 days after the mission's Nov. 26 launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Now, the correction maneuver will not be performed until later in December or possibly January.

"This was among the most accurate interplanetary injections ever," said Louis D'Amario of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. He is the mission design and navigation manager for the Mars Science Laboratory.

Engineers deliberately planned the spacecraft's initial trajectory to miss Mars by about 35,000 miles (56,400 kilometers). This precaution protects Mars from Earth's microbes, because the Centaur upper stage of the launch vehicle, which is not thoroughly cleaned the way the spacecraft is, leaves Earth on the same trajectory as the spacecraft. The planned trajectory ensures that the Centaur will not hit Mars.

The launch put the spacecraft on an actual trajectory missing Mars by about 38,000 miles (61,200 kilometers). Planned trajectory correction maneuvers will put the spacecraft on course and on timing to land at Mars' Gale Crater on Aug. 6, 2012, Universal Time (evening of Aug. 5, Pacific Daylight Time).

The spacecraft experienced a computer reset on Tuesday apparently related to star-identifying software in the attitude control system. The reset put the spacecraft briefly into a precautionary safe mode. Engineers restored it to normal operational status for functions other than attitude control while planning resumption of star-guided attitude control.

Also on Tuesday, thrusters were used as planned to slow the spacecraft's rotation rate from 2.5 rotations per minute to 2.05 rotations per minute. Telecommunications are active at a downlink rate of 25 kilobits per second. Electrical output from the cruise stage solar array is 800 watts. Thrusters warmed by catalytic bed heaters were originally warmer than expected, but use of the heaters has been reduced to keep the thrusters at intended temperatures.

As of 9 a.m. PST (noon EST) on Friday, Dec. 2, the spacecraft will have traveled 10.8 million miles (17.3 million kilometers) of its 352-million-mile (567-million-kilometer) flight to Mars, and will be moving at 7,500 mph (12,000 kilometers per hour) relative to Earth and at 73,800 mph (118,700 kilometers per hour) relative to the sun.

{...}



Discovery News: Could Mars Rover Curiosity Infect Mars?

SPACE.com: No Need to Tweak New Mars Rover's Course, NASA Says

Universe Today: Flawlessly On Course Curiosity Cruising to Mars – No Burn Needed Now

 

[orb]

The Planetary Society Blog: Guest Post by Jason Davis: Curiosity, from a 1935 perspective:

The dynamic Martian surface
This scan of page 268 from Astronomy shows the clearest visual data available on Mars in 1935. Top: drawings of the Martian "canali" by Percival Lowell (more on this later). Middle: seasonal changes on the planet's surface observed from May 10 to July 19, highlighting the alleged vegetation patches. Bottom: spectrograph comparisons of Mars and the Moon, used to make measurements of Mars' atmospheric composition.

Credit: Astronomy, John Charles Duncan. Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York/London, 1935​

 

[orb]

SPACE.com: How NASA's Curiosity Rover Will Study Building Blocks of Life

Aviation Week: Mars Probe Heads Toward Gale Crater