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Mars 2020 Rover Completes Its First Drive


Waspie_Dwarf

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NASA's Mars 2020 Rover Completes Its First Drive

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NASA's next Mars rover has passed its first driving test. A preliminary assessment of its activities on Dec. 17, 2019, found that the rover checked all the necessary boxes as it rolled forward and backward and pirouetted in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The next time the Mars 2020 rover drives, it will be rolling over Martian soil.

arrow3.gif Read More: NASA/JPL

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
 

"Members of the media were given rare access on Friday to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory “clean room,” where the Mars 2020 rover is undergoing finishing touches. (Dec. 27) "

From the AP:

 

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It will be interesting to see results from the ground penetrating radar system, a first for the exploration of Mars.

"The expectation is for RIMFAX signals to achieve penetrations of 10 m, but it may well exceed that for subsurface conditions that are friendly to the propagation of radar waves." 

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/instruments/rimfax/for-scientists/

 

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"the still-unnamed Mars 2020 rover"

Petition for naming it Rovey McRoverface!

In all seriousness, this is cool and the aerial drone is super cool. I like it when we spend money on science. Too bad the average idiot doesn't GAF. They care more about militaries, police forces, taxes, immigrants, and what their national leaders tweet*.

 

*This is a global stupidity thing, not a dig at Trump per se.

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1 hour ago, Mike Fox said:

Helicopter Drone? In that thin atmosphere? Something doesn't add up here...

I am excited about the helicopter drone. Wondering what pareidolia we will see from the drones perspective x

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Hopefully they update their camera. Some zooming and good brakes to actually stop and take photos of mysterious landscape is needed too.
Oh yes fire the ops manager and bring in a civilian

Edited by qxcontinuum
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True, Curiosity's mast cam resolution leaves much to be desired, and JPL staff's CC CS skills!

B)

Edited by tmcom
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On 12/30/2019 at 4:48 PM, Mike Fox said:

Helicopter Drone? In that thin atmosphere? Something doesn't add up here...

epN6fzt.jpg

Yeah!

^_^

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  • 2 weeks later...

I went to https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/rover/cameras/#PIXL and the only specs I found for Rover cameras was for the "Driving around Camera". 20 mega pixels with image size 5120 x 3840 pixels.  At local popular "big box" stores you can get a 20 mp camera for about $150.

 

Edited by Twin
Incomplete post first try
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9 hours ago, Twin said:

I went to https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/rover/cameras/#PIXL and the only specs I found for Rover cameras was for the "Driving around Camera". 20 mega pixels with image size 5120 x 3840 pixels.  At local popular "big box" stores you can get a 20 mp camera for about $150.

Yes, over a billion and they put a p....weak camera up top. The drone on the next one is supposed to be 10 times better, time will tell.

<_<

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9 hours ago, Twin said:

I went to https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/rover/cameras/#PIXL and the only specs I found for Rover cameras was for the "Driving around Camera". 20 mega pixels with image size 5120 x 3840 pixels.  At local popular "big box" stores you can get a 20 mp camera for about $150.

 

I am disappointed that it's just a 20MP camera but I feel this is due to bandwidth limitations. 

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On 12/30/2019 at 6:48 AM, Mike Fox said:

Helicopter Drone? In that thin atmosphere? Something doesn't add up here...

It add up very well because dynamic/lifting forces are variables which get influenced by rotor blade shape/design, the size of the blade`s surface and the RPM of the rotor. Simply just that.

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9 hours ago, Twin said:

  At local popular "big box" stores you can get a 20 mp camera for about $150.

Thats correct but whats your point?

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On 12/30/2019 at 4:48 PM, Mike Fox said:

Helicopter Drone? In that thin atmosphere? Something doesn't add up here...

Sounds dodgy especially from them, but unfortunately they have covered their a......es so well, there is no conflicting evidence at the moment!

Quote

Mars has a very thin atmosphere – the pressure is only 1⁄160 of earth atmospheric pressure – so a huge balloon would be needed even for a tiny lifting effect. Overcoming the weight of such a balloon would be difficult, but several proposals to explore Mars with balloons have been made.[12]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting_gas

The drone is light with a huge conterotating blade set, and only goes up for a very short time, compared with times on Earth drones, so if the atmosphere is at Earth levels, we cant tell from this!

We will have to wait for a physicist to do the math, or wait.

Why they couldn't do a nuclear powered one, (they are planning one for a future mission) is a mystery, probably take too many JPL CS resources?

^_^

Edited by tmcom
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15 hours ago, toast said:

Thats correct but whats your point?

My point is that maybe we could afford a much better camera.

 

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1 hour ago, Twin said:

My point is that maybe we could afford a much better camera.

 

Mastcam-Z

The Mastcam-Z is the name of the mast-mounted camera system that is equipped with a zoom function on the Mars 2020 rover. Mastcam-Z has cameras that can zoom in, focus, and take 3D pictures and video at high speed to allow detailed examination of distant objects.

Tech Specs

Main JobTo take high-definition video, panoramic color and 3D images of the Martian surface and features in the atmosphere with a zoom lens to magnify distant targets

LocationMounted on the rover mast at the eye level of a 6 ½-foot-tall person (2 meters tall). The cameras are separated by 9.5 inches (24.2 centimeters) to provide stereo vision.

MassApproximately 8.8 pounds (about 4 kilograms)

PowerApproximately 17.4 watts

Volume

Camera head, per unit:
4.3 by 4.7 by 10.2 inches
(11 by 12 by 26 centimeters)

Digital electronics assembly:
8.6 by 4.7 by 1.9 inches
(22 by 12 by 5 centimeters)

Calibration target:
3.9 by 3.9 by 2.7 inches
(10 by 10 by 7 centimeters)

Data ReturnApproximately 148 megabits per sol, average

Color QualitySimilar to that of a consumer digital camera (2-megapixel)

Image Size1600 by 1200 pixels maximum

Image ResolutionAble to resolve between about 150 microns per pixel (0.15 millimeter or 0.0059 inch) to 7.4 millimeters (0.3 inches) per pixel depending on distance

Edited by joc
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6 hours ago, Twin said:

My point is that maybe we could afford a much better camera.

For its purpose the rover`s cam is, compared to your $150 potato, a much better cam for various reasons. Keep in mind the rover cams must operate well and permanently (!) under circumstances and in an environment the $150 potato wouldnt survive for minutes. Rover cams have to undergo and to confess, .e.g., hazardous vibration tests at 5-2000Hz, radiation impact tests, resonance tests, vibroacoustic test with levels up to 165dB and a wide range temperature tests. And not to forget, the images get taken at a distance between 35+250M miles and the data of the images, besides other data, must be transmitted to Earth but the stream is only at approx 32MB a day.

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