Mars Rover Takes a Licking but Keeps on Ticking

Terry Olaes

Terry Olaes

I Used to be the [H] News Guy
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Nov 27, 2006
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This slideshow shows how rough the environment has been on the Mars rover Curiosity in just 2 years. I wonder if Marvin the Martian has a body shop? :D

Its wheel damage is the main concern and is more than expected, said Guy Webster, spokesman for the rover project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

"It's a type of terrain that wasn't anticipated, with sharp embedded rocks that don't push out of the way when you roll past them," Webster said Friday. "There have been various corrective and avoidance strategies in the past six to eight months, to still have the full life of the mission."
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A tip of the hat to geologists. ;)
It's on the same plaque as the calibration targets.
 
I wonder where the nearest Alien Wheel Service Shop is? :)
 
And its one of the reasons why we haven't sent humans yet. That corrosive atmosphere is really tough to deal with. Being that space suits are going to be issued on a per person basis and unlikely to have more than 2 back ups its a really big concern. I can only imagine the damage a space suit would have after only 6 months consider humans would require many , many more times the freedom of movement Curiosity does.
 
We need to send in a Special Purpose "LoRiderbot" to jack their wheels, and replace them with new ones. :)

We could probably get Dayton to sponsor them; Spinners, FTW!
 
Godmachine said:
And its one of the reasons why we haven't sent humans yet. That corrosive atmosphere is really tough to deal with. Being that space suits are going to be issued on a per person basis and unlikely to have more than 2 back ups its a really big concern. I can only imagine the damage a space suit would have after only 6 months consider humans would require many , many more times the freedom of movement Curiosity does.
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The atmosphere has nothing to do with the damage the Rover has sustained. The dust there isn't having much of a damaging effect (if any) on the rover. You are confusing it with moon dust, which is much more damaging to moving components since it is electrically charged and more "jagged" since there is no wind to erode the sharper edges. Geological features on mars still erode due to the fact that mars actually has weather patterns.
 
Grahamkracka said:
The atmosphere has nothing to do with the damage the Rover has sustained. The dust there isn't having much of a damaging effect (if any) on the rover. You are confusing it with moon dust, which is much more damaging to moving components since it is electrically charged and more "jagged" since there is no wind to erode the sharper edges. Geological features on mars still erode due to the fact that mars actually has weather patterns.
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The dust on Mars is literally coated intensely with Iron Oxide couple. Even under a minimal atmosphere its extremely corrosive to all of the rovers. Technology for the rovers has gotten better in terms of coping with this but the wheels take the most abuse due to jagged rocks. But NASA also leads the rovers through paths of least resistance and yet the surface is almost entirely littered with all kinds of rocks that make doing so limiting to their potential journey's.

I was also talking about space suits and not rovers as well. Space suits barely withstood the abuse they took on the Moon and that was only for very short periods. After 6 months a single space suit expose to the iron dust and radiation its going to be starting to develop lots of micro tears from the mix of iron oxide dust in the martian air. Its also an issue with dealing with having astronauts actually store and maintain their suits and keep that irradiated dust outside of the living quarters. The Apollo astronauts , once they walked on the surface of the Moon , couldn't do anything about the dust as it simply got everywhere and began to break down other gear they brought along. You can't take that kind of risk with a year plus mission on Mars.
 
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