Mars science laboratory Curiosity set for lift off

[popeyespappy]

The last of NASA’s planned large interplanetary probes is scheduled for launch today at 10:02 EST. The nuclear powered, Mini Cooper sized rover in scheduled to arrive on Mars in August of 2012 and explore the surface of the Red Planet for at least 686 Earth days.

The MSL mission has four goals: To determine if life could have ever arisen on Mars, to characterize the climate of Mars, to characterize the geology of Mars, and to prepare for human exploration. To contribute to the four science goals, Mars Science Laboratory has eight scientific objectives:[17][18]

1. Determine the nature and inventory of organic compounds. If no organic compounds are found, that is useful information, as evidence about life on Mars may not be near the surface. It would also aid understanding of the environmental conditions that remove organics.[19]
2. Inventory the chemical building blocks of life as we know it: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur.
3. Identify features that may represent the effects of metabolism or biosignatures.
4. Investigate the chemical, isotopic, and mineralogical composition of the Martian surface and near-surface geological materials.
5. Interpret the processes that have formed and modified rocks and soils.
6. Assess long-timescale (i.e., 4-billion-year) Martian atmospheric evolution processes.
7. Determine present state, distribution, and cycling of water and carbon dioxide.
8. Characterize the broad spectrum of surface radiation, including galactic radiation, cosmic radiation, solar proton events and secondary neutrons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Science_Laboratory

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/

[Anomalocaris]

The last of NASA’s planned large interplanetary probes is scheduled for launch today at 10:02 EST. The nuclear powered, Mini Cooper sized rover in scheduled to arrive on Mars in August of 2012 and explore the surface of the Red Planet for at least 686 Earth days.

The MSL mission has four goals: To determine if life could have ever arisen on Mars, to characterize the climate of Mars, to characterize the geology of Mars, and to prepare for human exploration. To contribute to the four science goals, Mars Science Laboratory has eight scientific objectives:[17][18]

1. Determine the nature and inventory of organic compounds. If no organic compounds are found, that is useful information, as evidence about life on Mars may not be near the surface. It would also aid understanding of the environmental conditions that remove organics.[19]
2. Inventory the chemical building blocks of life as we know it: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur.
3. Identify features that may represent the effects of metabolism or biosignatures.
4. Investigate the chemical, isotopic, and mineralogical composition of the Martian surface and near-surface geological materials.
5. Interpret the processes that have formed and modified rocks and soils.
6. Assess long-timescale (i.e., 4-billion-year) Martian atmospheric evolution processes.
7. Determine present state, distribution, and cycling of water and carbon dioxide.
8. Characterize the broad spectrum of surface radiation, including galactic radiation, cosmic radiation, solar proton events and secondary neutrons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Science_Laboratory

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/

I have grave misgivings about the sky crane concept. I think it is a high probability of failure method in which multiple modes of catastrophic failure are present.

[popeyespappy]

I have grave misgivings about the sky crane concept. I think it is a high probability of failure method in which multiple modes of catastrophic failure are present.

Yes it’s a complex system and failure is a possibility. However they aren’t planning on doing it that way just for the hell of it. It was selected by committee after a great deal of study of the available options. This is a large payload. Other methods of landing it on the surface of Mars that have been successfully used in the past were considered and rejected as unsuitable for this mission due to the size and weight. Even if it fails it doesn’t mean it wasn’t the best available option available at the time.

[Anomalocaris]

It may or may not be the best available option within technical and budgetary constraints, but I still believe the failure probability of this option is fairly high in comparison to traditional solid touchdown landers. I think much of the technical constraints can be attributed to the lack of a proven launch system with sufficient payload margin.

[popeyespappy]

I doubt if launch weight was an issue. The Atlas V that launched the MSL this morning was configured with 4 SRB’s. It’s capable of using 5 so they could have added an additional 300,000 lbs of thrust if needed. The problem isn’t getting more weight off earth and to Mars. It’s landing something that heavy where you want it soft enough for it to survive.

There’s an interesting article here that discusses some of the issues with landing larger payloads on Mars.

[Anomalocaris]

The Soviet Lunokhad lunar rovers from the 1970s were in the same weight class as curiosity, and they landed and deployed successfully on top of a traditional soft lander with legs and folding disembarking ramp. This suggests at least the final stages of landing with a rover this size could be accomplished on a large traditional style cushioned solid lander.

In any case, were there ever to be a manned landing on mars, it seems that such a landing must be accomplished using a even larger traditional lander with cushioned legs.

[popeyespappy]

I understand what you’re saying Chuck but….

“There’s too much atmosphere on Mars to land heavy vehicles like we do on the moon, using propulsive technology completely,” said Manning, “and there’s too little atmosphere to land like we do on Earth. So, it’s in this ugly, grey zone.”

What works on the moon or on Earth doesn’t necessarily work on Mars. Thus the complicated Sky Crane solution. It may not be the best solution possible, but I’ll bet it was the solution with the best chance of success a bunch of very smart people with expertise in the field could come up with at the time this probe was being designed.

[Autumnlicious]

And, of course, built with the price of a proverbial shoe box in mind.

I wonder what might happen if those engineers will do if we were to give them adequate funding instead of minimal funding...