Mars is cooperating
Posted 08.04.2012 at 2:48 pm
4 Comments
Dry and Cold at Gale Crater
This composite image of the global surface of Mars shows the puffy remnant of a dust storm near the area where the Mars rover Curiosity is scheduled to land tomorrow night. The landing is at Gale Crater, highlighted in the circle. NASA managers were concerned the storm could worsen and complicate matters for Curiosity's landing, but the planet's weather is apparently cooperating.
NASA/JPL
PASADENA, Calif. -- About 34 hours from the Mars rover Curiosity's landing (scheduled for 01:31 am Eastern time on Monday), NASA brought us the latest weather forecast from the surface -- dry and cold, with a slight chance of dust. Slight is good.
Earlier this week, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted a dust storm south of Gale Crater, the rover's targeted landing site. While dust storms have posed problems for previous generations of rovers, the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft and Curiosity rover is designed to handle dust and winds, so a light storm wouldn't have been a huge problem. But it could have caused added turbulence, interfering with the spacecraft's guided entry and landing. Curiosity could still land safely, though it may set its wheels down with a little less accuracy than managers want.
But the latest imagery from the Mars orbiters shows the dust storm clearing, said Ashwin Vasavada, deputy project scientist for the mission.
"Fortunately, Mars is playing nice, and we're going to have good conditions for Sunday," Vasavada said.
Imagine a flattened Earth map, with North America on the left. Gale Crater would be in Indonesia, if that map were showing Mars. This region experiences some dust storms during this time of year, but conditions right now are pretty calm. Two Mars years ago, back in October 2008, it wasn't calm — spring came early to this hemisphere of Mars, and conditions were ripe for stormy weather. NASA engineers used climate observations from that era to gauge what Curiosity could be up against.
The rover has been flying in autonomous mode since Monday, and it's on its own for landing. If any dust storms should appear, the spacecraft will have to deal with them as best it can. Stay tuned for more about just how Curiosity will do that.
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We have been waiting a long time for this, through several years of delays and Curiosity becoming over weight, over budget, and late for arrival. All that anguish will go away if it lands safely. There was a proposal to land Curiosity a different way called the Skyclimber at the 2007 Mars Society conference this is where you can see the presentationhere:
http://shineinnovations.com/5512.html
Ron Bennett
Here are some up in front news updates about
Nasa Curiosity.
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/features_top_rd_archive_1.html
GO! Curiosity!
How will curiosity handle storms while on the ground? Will it sort of drill into the ground in an effort to anchor itself or is it designed in such a way that the storm would just blow around it?
My understanding is that although hurricane speed winds occur on Mars, they are not as destructive because the atmosphere is very thin so the wind does not pack as much force. NASA has had success with 20 lb and 400 lb rovers. This 2,000 lb rover should be fine.