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Spirit Mars Rover May Be Dead Too Now

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russdanger
11/12/08

In reply to Spirit Mars Rover May Be Dead Too Now
Perhaps the simplest solution might be to cover the panel with layers of transparent material that would degrade and slough-off in the wind over time, exposing pristine clear material as it "molts" like a lizard shedding the dead skin clouding it's vision.
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Kaiser-Machead
11/12/08

@russdanger: It seems to me that as the disposable panels degrade, the wear inflicted on it before its replaced by a clean sheet would seriously lower the output of the solar cells, as the scoring and debris gathered on it would block more light. Simply having a cover might work a lot better, or just a simple dust-off system that keeps away the excess.
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Kaiser-Machead
11/12/08

In reply to Spirit Mars Rover May Be Dead Too Now
I have a question. I looked around but am not sure of the costs or viability as of late, but how good are solar sheets? Instead of having solid panels with hinges that can get blocked with debris, what about a sheet that rolls out on an extending rail from the body of the rover? Would that be possible?
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strider_mt2k
11/12/08

In reply to Spirit Mars Rover May Be Dead Too Now
How long has thing gone past it's rated mission time?

A long, long time.

I love all the rovers, they ALL did extraordinarily well!
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N@tedog
11/12/08

In reply to Spirit Mars Rover May Be Dead Too Now
Why are they not building brushes or fans on these guys to clear the dust?
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imjustabill
11/12/08

In reply to Spirit Mars Rover May Be Dead Too Now
I met one of the engineers who worked on the solar panels (he graduated from my high school), and he said the reason they can't simply blow or wipe the dust off is because the particles are extremely small and have a static charge that makes them very hard to remove.
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Kaiser-Machead
11/12/08

@imjustabill: Kill it with fire
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Nutchromeo
11/12/08

In reply to Spirit Mars Rover May Be Dead Too Now
When asked for further comments, Bruce Banerdt had this to say:

"SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!!"

Bruce Banerdt then has a light snack of several nuns, before laying down for a nap.
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Kaiser-Machead
11/12/08

In reply to Spirit Mars Rover May Be Dead Too Now
Have you learnt nothing of forum etiquette?
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
11/12/08

In reply to Spirit Mars Rover May Be Dead Too Now
I think we should all recognize what is happening on Mars. These sudden un-expected dust storms never happened before. But the more we send solar powered probes there, the more the climate is affected. The only possible reason for this is solar panels. Solar panels cause climate change. I must now go break my pocket calculator to save the planet for my (possible) children.
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Dreadfish
11/12/08

In reply to Spirit Mars Rover May Be Dead Too Now
Comming next summer: The action epic of the century: Saving Spirit: The Movie.

Staring Ben Aflek, Bruce Willis, and some other people you've never heard of; The heart wrenching tale of a small robot on Mars, that has gotten into some trouble. Flash back to NASA HQ, where they are despretly preparing the worlds most expensive rescue mission for our brave little friend. Up goes the daring explorers off to whisk our robo-companion off to safer grounds, and give it a nice scrub with a 4 billion dollar bottle of windex (gov't price).
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Kaiser-Machead
11/12/08

@Dreadfish: Ugh, speaking of that movie, check this out.

[www.intuitor.com]
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Kaiser-Machead
11/12/08

In reply to Spirit Mars Rover May Be Dead Too Now
I wonder if a simple windshield wiper-like device would help. When in doubt, just rig it with dozens of those little cans used to clean crud out of keyboards.
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
11/12/08

@Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine: I was thinking the same thing. Why didn't those eggheads plan for something like that when they were designing these robotic explorers?
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
11/12/08

@Jrsy is the dude, playin' the dude, disguised as another du...: Winshield wipers would be bad b/c they could drag the dust and scratch the glass. For Phoenix, there is going to be a few meters of dry ice snow on top of it, which I think no wiper could combat.

My suggestion would be a way to droop the panels and add some vibe motors to it. It would shake away the dust.
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ripfire
11/12/08

@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: My suggestion was to close/cover the solar panels and open/uncover it only when it needs to recharge.
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
11/12/08

@ripfire: WINNER!
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
11/12/08

@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: Well of course you don't dry wipe. You'd have to squirt some cleaner on them first just like the squeegee guys do...
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Kaiser-Machead
11/12/08

@ripfire: So pretty much what WALL-E has.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
11/12/08

@ripfire: That's bad as it could get stuck closed. You want to minimize risk, so tilting the panels down would still leave them exposed to collect sunlight should the motors fail.
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ripfire
11/12/08

@Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine: Yes!!
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ripfire
11/12/08

@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: Risk of getting panels stuck vs Risk of dust collection. Hmm. I guess we now know who lost the coin toss.
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GenericKen
11/12/08

@Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine: The rover was only designed for 5 months.

Every ounce of complexity added is increased risk, increased cost, and lost congressional budget votes when it explodes on the launchpad, or burns up in the atmosphere, or smashes into the Martian surface. Disposability is the virtue they're playing to, and it's given us three rovers instead of one.
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Kaiser-Machead
11/12/08

@GenericKen: Good point and thanks for clarifying.
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