What should MER II be like?

[centsworth_II]

<font color="yellow">"I think we'd eventually run into diminishing returns with more MERs." -- Thalion</font><br /><br />It is a sad fact that no matter how easy it may seem to make a bunch of these miraculous machines and sent them to Mars, the money is not there to build them and support their missions. There is already a pitched fight for which other missions should get priority: Eurpoa, Titan, Uranus ...etc. The Mars people are doing well to have the attention they already do. There simply is NO MORE MONEY. Now if the thought is to scrap the MLS and use that money for more MERs.... But noone supports that, do they? In any case all the "improvements" being suggested for a future MER start to make it look like the MSL, so why not just make the MSL?<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[centsworth_II]

<font color="yellow">"...seems you have been made into a Universe too."</font><br /><br />Damn! What the..? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[nacnud]

<font color="yellow">It appears to be greatly inflatory for everyone lately.<br /><br /><font color="white">Perhaps it's SDCs expansion pack?</font></font>

 

[thermionic]

Just hoping to become the universe...

 

[kane007]

Last I heard the skycrane was still a goer.

 

[nacnud]

Maybe it is, I've fogotten where it was posted, otherwize I'd look it up.

 

[baktothemoon]

"RTGs would be required to land anywhere very far from the equator and still live through the winter."<br /><br />What about using wind power to supplement the solar panels? I heard that mars has some pretty strong winds, so why not put that to use. Just add two small turbines that would come out of the sides of the rover. With wind power, like solar power, you can't run out of it, and the wind still occurs in the winter so you would still have enough power to run. Other than that, I would add wheels with better lubricant that doesn't congeal in cold so that the wheels keep working fine along with any other necessary modifications to the wheels. And, how about a shoveling like tool so that we can scoop away the soil to study the material underneath better?<br /><br />"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." John F. Kennedy

 

[centsworth_II]

<font color="yellow">"What about using wind power to supplement the solar panels?"</font><br /><br />Now you're talking totally experimental. Far removed from the premise of this thread -- using a tried and proven design to mass produce exploratory rovers. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[nacnud]

The atmosphere is only at 6 -10mb I doubt that it will work.

 

[centsworth_II]

On the bright side, any high school class could do experiments on turbine design -- in a vacuum jar! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[kane007]

MER II

 

[JonClarke]

"RTGs would be required to land anywhere very far from the equator and still live through the winter"<br /><br />With current technology (ExoMars) that means 40 degrees N & S. On the other hand a prproerly designed solar powered rover could give ~200 days of operation near the poles and, with appropriate design, might survive the winter for another session of exploration the following summer.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[rocketman5000]

beat me to the punch. I was going to say about the high speed cyclones (tornados) that mars has, one of the MER was even hit by one cleaning its solar panels if I remember right. (too lazy to look it up). The winds create very little for due to the thin atmosphere.

 

[willpittenger]

Dust devil wind speed is also rather low compared to a tornado. However, it was enough to clear the solar panels off. <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" />. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[willpittenger]

You must be one of those comedians. Two thumbs down. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[baktothemoon]

Another major improvement would be to make it more autonomous. With a team finally winning DARPA's robot race in the desert it seems to me that we already have the capability to design the rover so that we don't need to plan it's exact route, just the destination. Another advantage of it being more autonomous is that it would have the capability to travel faster since it would be able to handle some of the obstacles on it's own without human direction.<br /><br />"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." John F. Kennedy

 

[rocketman5000]

Those Darpa machines relied on something not yet available on Mars and the was GPS. If another way of navigating could be come up with it might be plausible

 

[n_kitson]

Well, while the DARPA entrants did use GPS at times, there was also a forced GPS blackout over part of the course to ensure the vehicles can be autonomous. So, while they're not yet ready for prime time on Mars, the concept of autonomous navigation has been proven.<br /><br />With all the work the military is conducted on robotic ground vehicles and UAVs, I think we are on the verge of a significant leap forward in robotics. We're also seeing this in passenger vehicles, where more and more systems are being installed giving a vehicle a degree of autonomy.

 

[willpittenger]

I should also note that the Darpa vehicles were given a route they had to stay within. An autonomous Mars vehicle would need to be completely on its own. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>