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Dust storm on Mars is threatening the Opportunity rover.

Scotius

By Scotius
in Science & Spaceflight

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YNM

YNM

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Posted
On 8/4/2018 at 6:44 AM, KG3 said:

Would it be possible for a rover to use an air compressor to blow dust off the solar panels instead of waiting for a random wind?

What would you power it from ? The cold, dead battery ? The dusted over PV panel ?

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YNM

YNM

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27 minutes ago, tater said:

It could keep the tank topped off when it does have power.

If you mean it'll have to continually clean the PV during the storms (which last for months and blocks 99% of the irradiation at peak), then there's still a limitation before it could work. (I'm fairly sure the numbers can be calculated but I'm just too lazy). Not sure whether NASA had considered them for InSight (as it's stationary), but the new rovers (Mars 2020, if it still named so and can still fly) is going to be powered by RTG anyway.

But yeah, the only thing that will save MER-B is if we send something there to make it run again.

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  • 2 months later...
James Kerman

James Kerman

Posted
Posted (edited)

JPL has released an update on Opportunity.
 

Quote

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have begun transmitting a new set of commands to the Opportunity rover in an attempt to compel the 15-year-old Martian explorer to contact Earth. The new commands, which will be beamed to the rover during the next several weeks, address low-likelihood events that could have occurred aboard Opportunity, preventing it from transmitting.

The rover's last communication with Earth was received June 10, 2018, as a planet-wide dust storm blanketed the solar-powered rover's location on Mars.

"We have and will continue to use multiple techniques in our attempts to contact the rover," said John Callas, project manager for Opportunity at JPL. "These new command strategies are in addition to the 'sweep and beep' commands we have been transmitting up to the rover since September." With "sweep and beep," instead of just listening for Opportunity, the project sends commands to the rover to respond back with a beep.

The new transmission strategies are expected to go on for several weeks. They address three possible scenarios: that the rover's primary X-band radio - which Opportunity uses to communicate with Earth - has failed; that both its primary and secondary X-band radios have failed; or that the rover's internal clock, which provides a timeframe for its computer brain, is offset. A series of unlikely events would need to have transpired for any one of these faults to occur. The potential remedies being beamed up to address these unlikely events include a command for the rover to switch to its backup X-band radio and commands directed to reset the clock and respond via UHF.

"Over the past seven months we have attempted to contact Opportunity over 600 times," said Callas. "While we have not heard back from the rover and the probability that we ever will is decreasing each day, we plan to continue to pursue every logical solution that could put us back in touch."

Time is of the essence for the Opportunity team. The "dust-clearing season" - the time of year on Mars when increased winds could clear the rover's solar panels of dust that might be preventing it from charging its batteries - is drawing to a close. Meanwhile, Mars is heading into southern winter, which brings with it extremely low temperatures that are likely to cause irreparable harm to an unpowered rover's batteries, internal wiring and/or computer systems.

If either these additional transmission strategies or "sweep and beep" generates a response from the rover, engineers could attempt a recovery. If Opportunity does not respond, the project team would again consult with the Mars Program Office at JPL and NASA Headquarters to determine the path forward.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7318

 

Edited by James Kerman
Wrong rover!
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Kerbart

Kerbart

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Posted
5 minutes ago, tater said:
I think they are giving up on Oppy. It was a great run for that rover, well in excess of what anyone could ever have hoped for.

They've given up on Opportunity a long time ago. This is just due diligence to make sure no opportunity is passed (no pun intended) to restore contact, however unlikely it may be.

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tater

tater

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4 minutes ago, Kerbart said:

They've given up on Opportunity a long time ago. This is just due diligence to make sure no opportunity is passed (no pun intended) to restore contact, however unlikely it may be.

True. I just meant that they are officially shutting down attempts.

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Kerbart

Kerbart

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1 minute ago, tater said:

True. I just meant that they are officially shutting down attempts.

Agree. Sad, but at the same time, we've gotten a tremendous mileage out of it.

Also, if we keep them roaming around it's going to be that much harder for future stranded astronauts to contact earth. We have to be considerate to them as well.

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Starman4308

Starman4308

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Posted

Well, I can't say this was unexpected. Every dollar spent on trying to communicate with Opportunity is a dollar not spent on many other worthwhile NASA projects, and it's been becoming increasingly clear that we're not likely to get Opportunity back.

It's been a good run for a rover whose design goal was a mere 90 sols of operation. Beyond the mere science, the "rover that wouldn't quit" has become something of a cultural icon, a legend in the history of space exploration.

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MinimumSky5

MinimumSky5

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Posted

I'm going to shed tears over an overacheiving camera on wheels tonight, and I will not apologise for that. This rover has been around for two thirds of my life, and with the demise of Opportunity, all of the probes that inspired my love of astronomy (MER, Cassini, Kepler, and Dawn) are now dead.

We will continue to explore space, and I will get to see Opportunity displayed in a museum on Mars, even if I don't get to return. 

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StrandedonEarth

StrandedonEarth

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6 minutes ago, MinimumSky5 said:

I'm going to shed tears over an overacheiving camera on wheels tonight, and I will not apologise for that. This rover has been around for two thirds of my life, and with the demise of Opportunity, all of the probes that inspired my love of astronomy (MER, Cassini, Kepler, and Dawn) are now dead.

Yes, it is sad that Oppy and those others have gone silent. But remember, the Voyagers are still ticking out in the fringe, and are older than you are! Those are the ones that inspired me, and are roughly 6/7 of my age!

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Kerbart

Kerbart

Posted
Posted
23 hours ago, tater said:

There's also a cost to keeping the terrestrial side of such a program open for business.

The cynic in me believes that this is the true reason these robots last so much longer than planned. Not because of their exceptional build quality (don’t get me wrong, it is exceptional), but because a rover with an expected life span of, say, 5 years, would burn a gigantic hole in the budget.

so the “official” mission duration is 6 months and now the money for the remaining 4.5 years comes from some other “unexpected mission extensions” budget which allows the official budget to remain passable.

I don’t have proof but I do have suspicions.

 

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