..and if it could it would only work until the limb was reached in 6 days.
Presumably they will still have low gain comm, and don't they also have small navigation cameras on the base of the rover?It is possible that Yutu could be crippled, but still operational.
"..and if it could, it would only work until the limb was reached in 6 days.""What d'you mean?"If you are racing to the west to keep ahead of the advancing sunset terminator, you eventually reach the limb of the Moon. You know, the edge of the disk as seen from Earth. Then you lose contact with Earth. Mission over.The maximum distance ever driven in an Earth working day by an extraterrestrial remote controlled vehicle is 3 km (Lunokhod 2 on 18 March 1973). 250 km per day is a bit unreasonable.Phil
Not to mention what happens when inconvenient terrain (mountains, crevasses, etc) gets in the way.The lunar surface isn't quite up to the standards of the Interstate highway system - or even a pleasant country lane.
Quote from: jumpjack on 01/23/2014 07:13 pmQuote from: Apollo-phill on 01/23/2014 02:13 pmOf course, they are under no obligation to release information but I think they are missing a PR opportunity here . And, if no further information forthcoming we might start to construe its failed ?I think MRO would soon inform us about it....MRO is at Mars. How would it inform us about it?
Quote from: Apollo-phill on 01/23/2014 02:13 pmOf course, they are under no obligation to release information but I think they are missing a PR opportunity here . And, if no further information forthcoming we might start to construe its failed ?I think MRO would soon inform us about it....
Of course, they are under no obligation to release information but I think they are missing a PR opportunity here . And, if no further information forthcoming we might start to construe its failed ?
If Yutu survives the next fortnight of lunar night but emerges in a "non roving" mode, they may still be able to use any kit still working eg cameras,robo-arm,etc.if mast and solar panels work. If mast out then depends how they make comms to Change'3 lander.If through mast then a no-go. If solar panels useless then power will be the issue even if other kit working.If Yutu is no-go in a fortnight's time, they still have Change'3 lander and its cameras - we hope :-))A-P
The color camera on a stalk died. The scientific payload should last a while yet, hopefully.Either the rover freezes in its sleep or it doesn't. This certainly makes Mars seem balmy!