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Mars 360-degree panoramic view from Curiosity

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Re: Mars 360-degree panoramic view from Curiosity

#21

Post by hnriot »

bertako wrote: post #11
EternalFury wrote: post #5

Can someone explain how/why a $2.6 billion piece of equipment appears to have cameras that can't match a $100 digital camera? I know it takes a long time for data to travel from there to here, but I am sure a lot of people wouldn't mind waiting for 1080p, full-color video footage of the red planet. Instead, we get these 1-megapixel, black-and-white shots that need to be stitched together to create a half decent panor…

It's so plebian to complain about the image quality, especially when we haven't seen any full images from the rover's main camera yet.

Well, we already know that the main camera has only twice the megapixel density, so we are back to stitching images to increase the quality. Fortunately nothing moves much on mars over the timescales that the camera operates, so its perfectly reasonable to get the quality up that way, just as we have seen with Spirit and (the still working) Opportunity.

But as much as we all want to accept that it's not Curiosity's main mission (taking pretty pictures,) it is a very important part of the mission because it's pictures, not data that gets the public's attention, and more importantly, makes future missions to mars a priority for politicians who see a voting public willing to support them.

Re: Mars 360-degree panoramic view from Curiosity

#22

Post by kyberias »

EternalFury wrote: post #5

Can someone explain how/why a $2.6 billion piece of equipment appears to have cameras that can't match a $100 digital camera? I know it takes a long time for data to travel from there to here, but I am sure a lot of people wouldn't mind waiting for 1080p, full-color video footage of the red planet. Instead, we get these 1-megapixel, black-and-white shots that need to be stitched together to create a half decent panor…

I believe the reason NASA sent the probe was not to take "1080p, full-color video footage", but rather prove something scientifically about life on Mars with other more suitable instruments. They couldn't care less about video footage. A shame really, but that is the main reason.

Re: Mars 360-degree panoramic view from Curiosity

#24

Post by [deleted] »

EternalFury wrote: post #19
opminion wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When the $100 camera fails in Mars you can't just replace it with another one. You can't take it to the repair shop either. You can't try to "shake it a bit". Hell, you can't even bang it on your knee: http://www.pechorin.com/m/2006/06/13/SONY_Cybershot_E6100_ER...

You know, I didn't claim to understand the reasons behind the technical limitations, but the reactions of some of you are puzzling to me. We can go on and on about familiarity considerations, and planning considerations, and instrumentation considerations, and scientific concerns, etc. It all sounds like excuses after a bit. Let's reformulate the question: Why not keep the same enclosure, the same lens assembly, the…

[deleted]

Re: Mars 360-degree panoramic view from Curiosity

#27

Post by rhizome »

EternalFury wrote: post #8
sunsu wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See this discussion and article from earlier today: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4360502

Thanks! The reason seems to be: It's the way it was planned 10 years ago and we don't go back on planning on a project like this one.

It's not like they have extra batteries and they just add a power strip for the better camera. The change you suggest would involve re-engineering, which would increase your lamented cost of this mission.

Re: Mars 360-degree panoramic view from Curiosity

#29

Post by elithrar »

jser wrote: post #17
EternalFury wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! The reason seems to be: It's the way it was planned 10 years ago and we don't go back on planning on a project like this one.

Several articles have mentioned bandwidth limitations of about 250 megabits per day, which also has to be used to send instrument data. But I haven't seen an explanation why bandwidth is so low -- is it lack of spectrum? Interference issues?

> But I haven't seen an explanation why bandwidth is so low -- is it lack of spectrum? Interference issues?

Transmit power.

Re: Mars 360-degree panoramic view from Curiosity

#30

Post by elithrar »

EternalFury wrote: post #19
opminion wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When the $100 camera fails in Mars you can't just replace it with another one. You can't take it to the repair shop either. You can't try to "shake it a bit". Hell, you can't even bang it on your knee: http://www.pechorin.com/m/2006/06/13/SONY_Cybershot_E6100_ER...

You know, I didn't claim to understand the reasons behind the technical limitations, but the reactions of some of you are puzzling to me. We can go on and on about familiarity considerations, and planning considerations, and instrumentation considerations, and scientific concerns, etc. It all sounds like excuses after a bit. Let's reformulate the question: Why not keep the same enclosure, the same lens assembly, the…

> Let's reformulate the question: Why not keep the same enclosure, the same lens assembly, the same mechanical parts and simply swap the 2MP sensor for a 20MP sensor?

You can't "simply" swap the sensor. What about the processor behind it, that interpolates the sensor data and produces a viewable image? Then you need more power for both of those units, and if you're moving to a 20MP sensor, probably size too.

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