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‘My power’s low’: NASA’s Insight Mars lander prepares to sign off

theguardian.com

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Re: ‘My power’s low’: NASA’s Insight Mars lander prepares to sign off

#11

Post by piva00 »

jacquesm wrote: post #4
prettyStandard wrote: post #2

I'm confused on why the end state for all these rovers is to loose power because of dust on the solar cells. They did such a good job engineering these things to survive the trip and the conditions in general, but they can't give them "windshield wipers for dust"? Seems like with that minor upgrade they could have much longer lifespan. Can someone enlighten me?

(1) they were intended to last for three months and (2) dust is extremely static and there is no really good way there to get rid of this static charge, (3) dust is pretty sharp ('abrasive') and will scratch the surface of the cells if removed mechanically.

I assume that a system such as the self-cleaning of camera sensors by vibration wouldn't work either due to the static charges then, correct?

Re: ‘My power’s low’: NASA’s Insight Mars lander prepares to sign off

#12

Post by thathndude »

I know these are inanimate objects and we shouldn’t humanize them. Blame XKCD, I suppose. But I feel a connection to these robots, and I pray that one day we can go to Mars and erect them a place of honor or bring them “home” to a Smithsonian.

They are a testament to the best of our space programs and the men and women who work in them. It’s amazing how well some of these machines overperformed.

Re: ‘My power’s low’: NASA’s Insight Mars lander prepares to sign off

#13

Post by [deleted] »

prettyStandard wrote: post #2

I'm confused on why the end state for all these rovers is to loose power because of dust on the solar cells. They did such a good job engineering these things to survive the trip and the conditions in general, but they can't give them "windshield wipers for dust"? Seems like with that minor upgrade they could have much longer lifespan. Can someone enlighten me?

[deleted]

Re: ‘My power’s low’: NASA’s Insight Mars lander prepares to sign off

#14

Post by ape4 »

thathndude wrote: post #12

I know these are inanimate objects and we shouldn’t humanize them. Blame XKCD, I suppose. But I feel a connection to these robots, and I pray that one day we can go to Mars and erect them a place of honor or bring them “home” to a Smithsonian. They are a testament to the best of our space programs and the men and women who work in them. It’s amazing how well some of these machines overperformed.

And Wall-E https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910970/

Re: ‘My power’s low’: NASA’s Insight Mars lander prepares to sign off

#15

Post by phpnode »

danw1979 wrote: post #10
hawski wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am sure it comes down to economics really, but I do wonder now about a mission in far future, that would clean solar panels of all those older missions to make them work again. For shits and giggles I guess.

Like a long range Ingenuity helicopter that cruised the planet using its downwash to revive old rovers ?

This idea gets brought up in every thread about Insight's dust issues - there is not enough air pressure on Mars for the downwash to clean the panels. For Ingenuity specifically the problem is that it is also far too far away - it would take over ten years for the chopper to reach Insight.

Re: ‘My power’s low’: NASA’s Insight Mars lander prepares to sign off

#16

Post by jcims »

thathndude wrote: post #12

I know these are inanimate objects and we shouldn’t humanize them. Blame XKCD, I suppose. But I feel a connection to these robots, and I pray that one day we can go to Mars and erect them a place of honor or bring them “home” to a Smithsonian. They are a testament to the best of our space programs and the men and women who work in them. It’s amazing how well some of these machines overperformed.

I fully expect to see one of the rovers to be at the Smithsonian before I die, and I’m almost 50 sooo chop chop!

Re: ‘My power’s low’: NASA’s Insight Mars lander prepares to sign off

#17

Post by user3939382 »

As a programmer my first thought reading this was:

If I was designing a program to send me back a message and it was super critical I received it, I wouldn't put any quotes or non-alphanumerics in the message. Even if my string handling checks out, if the stakes are sufficiently high, I don't trust em!

Re: ‘My power’s low’: NASA’s Insight Mars lander prepares to sign off

#18

Post by ackbar03 »

user3939382 wrote: post #17

As a programmer my first thought reading this was: If I was designing a program to send me back a message and it was super critical I received it, I wouldn't put any quotes or non-alphanumerics in the message. Even if my string handling checks out, if the stakes are sufficiently high, I don't trust em!

"Say again? You're dropping out, my battery is low Just so you know, we're going to a place nearby Gotta go!"

- Mars rover

Re: ‘My power’s low’: NASA’s Insight Mars lander prepares to sign off

#20

Post by dwringer »

danw1979 wrote: post #10
hawski wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am sure it comes down to economics really, but I do wonder now about a mission in far future, that would clean solar panels of all those older missions to make them work again. For shits and giggles I guess.

Like a long range Ingenuity helicopter that cruised the planet using its downwash to revive old rovers ?

After a few months I can't even blow all the dust off surfaces in my apartment. I can only imagine years outside on Mars.
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