Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity

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Po udanym wierceniu w skale Duluth Curiosity dalej pojechał by wiercić w wybranych skałach Hematite Ridge w obrębie tzw. Pettegrove Point. Dwie kolejno wybrane skały nie udało się nawiercić gdyż okazały się twarde. Dopiero trzecia w ostatnim tygodniu poddała się działaniu wiertła i najprawdopodobniej udało się pobrać jej próbki do wiertła 





https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/

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W najbliższym czasie Curiosity będzie łykać  próbkę z wierconej ostatnio skały ,,Stoer":

In today's plan, Curiosity begins analysis of the long-awaited Pettegrove Point drill sample at the "Stoer" target, which was successfully collected last week (and I had the pleasure of helping to sequence as a Rover Planner). Our main activity is the drop-off of sample to CheMin, based on the characterization of the drop-off portion size done in the weekend plan. There is still a good bit of wind, so the drop-off is around noon, during the calmest time. Overnight, CheMin will be busy analyzing the sample; we'll have the results down late Wednesday, which can then inform decisions about dropping off sample to SAM as early as this weekend's plan for analysis early next week.


https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sols-2141-2142-taking-a-closer-look-at-the-stoer-sample

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Nieco czasu minęło od medialnego ogłoszenia nowych odkryć związków organicznych w marsjańskich skałach, jednak polecam świetny artykuł podsumowujący ten temat na blogu Pani Emilii Lakdawalla z Planetary Society:

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2018/0730-curiositys-organics-on-mars.html

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Nie wiedziałem, ze Hematite Ridge jest tak wysokie:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/seandoran/43425802914/

Chyba, że ten obrazek ma przeskalowane wysokości? 

A tutaj piękne panoramki Seana Dorana z fotek wykonanych przez Curiosity i MERy

https://www.flickr.com/photos/seandoran/albums/72157680949268632

 

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Hmm nie ma ani słowa o przeskalowaniu, więc raczej nie?

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Sympatyczny obrazek MSL 



https://martianchronicles.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/msl_pride_rock.jpg

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Panoramka z sol 2156

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=43416

i sol 2157

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=43417

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=43420

 

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Nowa panoramka Curiosity



https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7230

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Kolejny świetny artykuł o działalności Curiosity na blogu Emilki Lakdawalla 

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2018/0906-curiosity-update-sols-2093-2162.html

Z informacji podanych przez Emilię wynika, że podczas lądowania In-Sight łączność z łazikiem MSL będzie ograniczona. MRO będący przekaźnikiem dla łazika obejmie pośrednictwo w komunikacji z In-Sight. Łączność z Curiosity będzie utrzymywana poprzez inne orbitery, jednak nie będzie do kontakt tak regularny jak obecnie z MRO 

There have been lots and lots of images landing on Earth in the last several weeks, as Curiosity is ramping up data relay through MAVEN and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Once InSight lands, Curiosity will have to give up most of its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter data relay to the lander -- InSight’s landing site is just a couple hundred kilometers north of Curiosity, so both missions want the same data relay passes as the polar-orbiting spacecraft passes overhead. For Curiosity, switching to MAVEN and ExoMars relay can replace the volume, but not the rhythmic repeatability, of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s twice-a-day-like-clockwork relay sessions. Until InSight lands, though, Curiosity gets to hog all the data volume -- so the team is taking advantage of the bounty while it lasts.

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W latach 90-tych NASA rozważała wysłanie w 1979 łazika na Marsa. Tak sobie wyobrażała jego tryb pracy na powierzchni planety:

Typically, the rover would move from 50 to 100 meters at a time, then halt, image its surroundings, perform one of its science experiments, transmit its data to Earth, and then await new commands. JPL assumed that high-interest science sites would occur on average about 14 kilometers apart along its traverse route, and estimated that early in its mission the rover would travel about 300 meters per day, enabling it to traverse the distance between two science sites in 47 days. Distance traversed would, JPL optimistically assumed, rapidly increase as controllers gained confidence in their remote driving ability: the team estimated that in one Earth year its rover might traverse up to 500 kilometers.


https://spaceflighthistory.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-russians-are-roving-1970-jpl-plan.html

Hmm przy takim planowanym tempie 300 metrów na dzień, to Curiosity i Opportunity to żółwie nad żółwie, powolniaki jakich mało na Marsie 

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Kolejne wiercenie w kraterze Gale przed nami! Na sol 2170 planowane jest wiercenie w skale ,,Iverness" 

In our previous plan, we assessed the suitability of the Inverness target for drilling. We used APXS to determine if it fell within the required geochemical parameters, first brushing to remove excess dust and then using curium to irradiate the target and acquire whole-rock geochemical data. Curiosity also did a series of "stress tests" to test the integrity of the target, and check whether it would be strong enough to withstand our percussive drill technique without shattering. At the beginning of today's planning, we received data which confirmed that Inverness had passed our tests. Drilling begins tomorrow (sol 2170) on what will hopefully be our 18thsuccessful drill hole in Gale crater!

If successful, the resulting sample will be processed internally by CheMin (to assess mineralogical composition) and possibly SAM (to look for chemical signatures). The remaining collected drill sample will be dumped at a later date, so MAHLI will take imagery of potential dump locations on sol 2170 to help with later analysis. A pile of "tailings" will also be generated around the drill hole by the drilling activity. These tailings will be analyzed by ChemCam, APXS and MAHLI in the coming weeks - Mastcam will acquire images of the drill-hole and multispectral images on the tailings on sol 2171.

Today's 2-sol plan included three ChemCam LIBS targets on sol 2171 on an interesting network of veins and diagenetic features, revealed in the MAHLI image of the brushed Inverness target (shown above). "Pentland" (to the left of the image) consists of large veins. "Black Isle" is a grey, raised, nodular feature, in the right of the image, whilst "Grange" is a white patch, just below the brushed area. These targets will also help us look for variations across the Inverness block. All three targets will be imaged using Mastcam.



https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sols-2170-2171-go-for-drill-at-inverness

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Skała ,,Iverness" okazała się za twarda dla wiertła Curiosity! Wracamy do skały ,,Orcadie'!

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/

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Oprócz milczenia Opportunity teraz NASA ma kłopot z Curiosity 

To wiadomość z 19 września:

Over the past few days, engineers here at JPL have been working to address an issue on Curiosity that is preventing it from sending much of the science and engineering data stored in its memory. The rover remains in its normal mode and is otherwise healthy and responsive.

The issue first appeared Saturday night while Curiosity was running through the weekend plan. Besides transmitting data recorded in its memory, the rover can transmit "real-time" data when it links to a relay orbiter or Deep Space Network antenna. These real-time data are transmitting normally, and include various details about the rover's status. Engineers are expanding the details the rover transmits in these real-time data to better diagnose the issue. Because the amount of data coming down is limited, it might take some time for the engineering team to diagnose the problem.

On Monday and Tuesday, engineers discussed which real-time details would be the most useful to have. They also commanded the rover to turn off science instruments that were still on, since their data are not being stored. They're also preparing to use the rover's backup computer in case they need to use it to diagnose the primary computer. That backup computer was the rover's primary one until Sol 200, when it experienced both a hardware failure and software issue that have since been addressed.

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/

A zdjęcia nadal nie są aktualizowane od 15 września

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=#/?slide=2172

Czyli kłopot wydaje się poważniejszy, skoro od dwóch tygodni nie potrafią go naprawić 

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Pytanie - czy jest kontakt z Curiosity? Rozumiem, że kontakt mają tylko robot ma poważne problemy z pamięcią operacyjną.

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Pytanie - czy jest kontakt z Curiosity? Rozumiem, że kontakt mają tylko robot ma poważne problemy z pamięcią operacyjną.

Tak ja interpretuję powyższe wiadomości.