https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/nasa-rover-mars-landing/2021/02/14/id/1009947/?oRef=vuukle I hope to find a live feed!
Such an incredible feat considering the distances and hazards involved. I can't wait to see its findings and hi res photos.
Better scientific eqipment & cameras on the new one. I hope Curiosity keeps running for a long time too. They need to rendezvous and race each other.
RE: NASA Rover Faces 'Seven Minutes of Terror' Before Landing on Mars SUBTOPIC: Rover Operations ⁜→ Sarxas, et al, BLUF: I have to agree with our friend "Sarxas," we need to extend the base for operations on Mars. (COMMENT) I always wondered, why NASA, has NOT sent a stationary Package (about the size of the Lunar Mission Command And Service Modules) to Mars. It would not have to return to Earth, and it would not have to be burdened with all the life support equipment or cockpit and associated equipment. But instead, it would carry a very sturdy support station with a small reactor. It would be equipped with a heavy-duty radio repeater station. It would carry several larger rovers. But they would communicate with the Support Station, which would report to the Earth Station. The Support Station would have the ability to do minor maintenance. It would also have a maintenance port inside a bay area to protect rovers and service them etc etc etc. Just one man's thoughts. Most Respectfully, R
I like the Support Station idea. Wouldn't be surprised if there are plans for one eventually. It could have a massive solar panel to charge rovers, a place to shield them from dust storms (if they're close by), and even replace damaged components. Right now it's still a major challenge to land even 1 rover on Mars, so I like how they're doing it. Also it's better to research various places on Mars, rather than having 5 in the same general area examining the same rocks/conditions.
Only seven minutes? Great ... the missions which lived the Earth in the 70's lived months of terror ...
The problem is the speed, which creates such great heat. The larger the vehicle the larger the heat shield. Even on Mars with its thin atmosphere over 1200F are reached. There are limits. First you have to get it out of the earth well, blast it to Mars and than land it. Its a planet with a atmosphere, not a moon. Big difference. This was a 1 ton vehicle. But it needs more than a 1 ton to do all the other stuff. Why do they use a sky crane, you have no landing pad and without it, you have huge rocks flying around, not just dust and pebbles, if you land directly. Lets not forget, it all has to be fully automated, 11 light minutes difference. But the next mission is planed. Land, pick up the samples and fly them back to earth.
Independent missions have the advantage that they can be independently targeted. Having a single station that rovers depend on for soemthing would mean the rovers using those services would all have to be within range reachable by the rovers, which is a serious limitation when one considers the size of Mars. With Mars, it may be that the next most interesting landing site would be at one of the poles. I strongly doubt that any rover could travel from a pole to a current rover landing site. Perseverence is designed to travel something like 15 miles, while the circumference of Mars is 13,000 miles. China's communication strategy is to have an orbiting communications repeater. That way surface vehicles aren't limited to times when the surface vehicle can "see" Earth. Also, rovers can broadcast direct to Earth without much power, but it can mean that the communication rate is slower, which would not be as big an issue for an orbiting repeater. This may not be an issue for Mars - i don't know. But, it is an issue for missions to more distant planets.
