Mission to Mars

[Gumby]

I heard nothing about a broken spring. What is that about?

 

[REWahoo]

I heard nothing about a broken spring. What is that about?

During the press conference when NASA/JPL released the landing videos, they did a freeze frame on an image of the heat shield as it fell away. They pointed out a broken spring at the 4 o'clock position and said it was interesting to note but had no impact on the mission. I couldn't see it either.

 

[JoeWras]

During the press conference when NASA/JPL released the landing videos, they did a freeze frame on an image of the heat shield as it fell away. They pointed out a broken spring at the 4 o'clock position and said it was interesting to note but had no impact on the mission. I couldn't see it either.

Thank you! I've searched high and low for this random comment and was worried it was something in the suspension.

Glad to hear it is a no-op.

 

[Go-NoGo]

During the press conference when NASA/JPL released the landing videos, they did a freeze frame on an image of the heat shield as it fell away. They pointed out a broken spring at the 4 o'clock position and said it was interesting to note but had no impact on the mission. I couldn't see it either.

You can see it at the 0:31 second mark, at the 4 o'clock position on the heat shield, the spring floats away towards the center:

https://youtu.be/4czjS9h4Fpg?t=31

You may have to go full screen and go frame by frame see it.

 

[Gumby]

Okay, I saw some small debris. Wouldn't have been able to tell it was a spring.

 

[Go-NoGo]

Grabbed a screenshot:

 

[Koogie]

I think I read that one when I was a kid:

John Carter and the Springs of Mars.

 

[Alan]

On the morning radio news today they played a sound recording from the surface of Mars with the suggestion to listen beyond the noises of the rover, and you can clearly hear the Martian wind blowing.

 

[Amethyst]

Mars Breaks Wind!

I didn't think Mars had enough atmosphere these days to create strong enough wind to make a wind-gust noise.

On the morning radio news today they played a sound recording from the surface of Mars with the suggestion to listen beyond the noises of the rover, and you can clearly hear the Martian wind blowing.

 

[DayDreaming]

One thing I found interesting in one of the press conferences, they said that the microphones could be used for diagnostics. Like recording the sound of the robot arm moving now and comparing the sound at some point later in time. Like a good mechanic, they might be able to tell how things are working by the sound of squeaks or clicks that weren't there before.

 

[Alan]

Mars Breaks Wind!

I didn't think Mars had enough atmosphere these days to create strong enough wind to make a wind-gust noise.

It has strong and relentless winds.

https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/exploring-the-planets/online/solar-system/mars/wind/

Many factors influence how Martian winds develop, including seasonal temperature variations, global atmospheric circulation patterns, and topography. Because the atmosphere is so thin, high wind velocities are needed to move sand and dust. Surface winds typically move about 16 to 32 kilometers (10 to 20 miles) per hour. The Viking Landers measured speeds of up to 113 kilometers (70 miles) per hour during dust storms.

 

[ls99]

............. another spacecraft pluck it from orbit and bring it back to earth. I'm just wondering with what the last 12 months have been like on earth, if bringing stuff back from other planets is a good idea.


I did see most of the "Alien" movies.

If that stuff won't kill us hopefuly it will cure us. So far humanity seems like a failed experiment.

 

[Markola]

^^^^^^Wow! I’m glad to be here, so I can’t agree it’s a failure. I’m somewhat bearish on society as we know it surviving climate disruptions over the next few centuries, but I think the human species will be around for a while. As long as there is bacteria in hot springs at the bottom of the ocean, I’m completely bullish on life on planet earth thriving in the face of anything humans can throw at it and continuing to evolve until something planetary gets out of whack at the Solar System scale. YMMV ?

 

[ncbill]

I saw in another NASA video/presentation today that P will take martian soil samples, cache them on the planet, NASA will launch a "fetch" rover in 2026, it will collect them, put them into Mars orbit, to then have yet another spacecraft pluck it from orbit and bring it back to earth. I'm just wondering with what the last 12 months have been like on earth, if bringing stuff back from other planets is a good idea.


I did see most of the "Alien" movies.

Ever see "The Andromeda Strain" or read the book?

 

[JoeWras]

Ever see "The Andromeda Strain" or read the book?

Sure. No problem. Acid rain will wipe out any stuff we bring back from Mars. We're safe.

 

[Gumby]

There was a message from JPL hidden in the supersonic parachute. Pretty clever.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/dare-mighty-things-nasa-hid-160939346.html

 

[JoeWras]

Grabbed a screenshot:

So I didn't even think of that as a problem. I think all those shots from various space programs of booster separation have me thinking that debris is normal. This is different.

 

[JoeWras]

There was a message from JPL hidden in the supersonic parachute. Pretty clever.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/dare-mighty-things-nasa-hid-160939346.html

Cool, a message, and also JPL's coordinates on earth. The martians will know exactly where to go when they complain about this littering.

 

[MichaelB]

It has strong and relentless winds.

https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/exploring-the-planets/online/solar-system/mars/wind/

So, lots of potential for wind farm? All we’d need is a really long cable to get it back to earth.

 

[Gumby]

When I was a senior at the Naval Academy in 1980, I took Meteorology, which came to be my very favorite class. At the end of the semester, we each had to write and present a paper on a meteorological topic of our choice. Most students picked something like "Our Friend the Hurricane" or "Famous Tornadoes," but that didn't quite satisfy me.

I presented a paper on "Frontal Systems on Mars". I got primary data from the Viking landers which had landed in 1976. By comparing wind speed, wind direction, atmospheric pressure, temperature, and atmospheric clarity/opacity over time, I demonstrated that Mars has frontal systems just like the Earth and that, with the notable exception of clouds and (mostly) precipitation, all parameters on Mars change just as they do on Earth when a warm or cold front passes a specific location.

 

[Alan]

So, lots of potential for wind farm? All we’d need is a really long cable to get it back to earth.

In the trilogy of fictional books by Kim Stanley Robinson on the settlement and terraforming of Mars wind power was a major feature.

 

[yakers]

One nice thing about the wind is that after a lander gets buried in sand a while later the wind blows off the sand the solar cells recharge and the lander phones home

 

[Gumby]

One nice thing about the wind is that after a lander gets buried in sand a while later the wind blows off the sand the solar cells recharge and the lander phones home

Perseverance and its cousin Curiosity are powered by RTG's (radioisotope thermoelectric generators), not by solar panels. The now-defunct Opportunity and Spirit were solar powered.

 

[ls99]

If rovers on Mars meet up, which end do they sniff?

 

[Boho]

The green stuff on these two rocks is only on the top, where there's the most sunlight and least wear from sand blowing into it. If it were part of the rock then you'd also see it on the sides where the rock wears faster. What element would turn green in the presence of light? It could be plant matter. If it's life, they should name it after me.

I increased the color saturation in the image on the bottom right.