Author Topic: NASA - MSL Updates  (Read 103249 times)

Online MP99

Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #60 on: 12/10/2011 03:25 pm »
"........As planned, MSL does not have a direct means of sensing Rover touchdown; a software logic is employed instead. ... the DS...is forced to follow this constant velocity vertical trajectory.

(After the rover has landed...) A continuation of the DS motion requires less force.  It is this change in the force command which is monitored (with a persistence check) to declare touchdown.  Upon receiving this indication,  a bridle cut is performed to sever the DS – Rover connection. 

No, the sensors detect the weight on the bridle which determines landing

Can both of these be correct in some way I'm not seeing?

No. Jim says there's a sensor on the bridle. Apollo-Phill says there isn't, just monitoring of the drop in thrust from the feedback loop which maintains a constant rate of descent of the DS.

However, both seem clear that the DS will continue to descend after the rover has landed, and that the DS makes it's own determination of touchdown without any "I'm safely down" signal from the rover itself.

cheers, Martin

Online dsmillman

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #61 on: 12/12/2011 11:57 am »
I did some searching yesterday and came up with the following documents/papers that might be interesting:

MSL Scientists package - has lots of info

http://matthewwturner.com/uah/IPT2008_summer/baselines/Cyclops/Structures/Rover/pip-drft_031121secure31.pdf

Paper on the MSL arm

http://www.esmats.eu/esmatspapers/pastpapers/pdfs/2011/billing.pdf

Old document on MSL Payload but has lots of interesting information

ftp://ftp.seti.org/bvance/public_html/ROSES%202011/Mars%20Science%20Lab%20Part.%20Sci.%20Program/MSL%20PSP%20PIP.pdf

Paper on MLE's

http://matthewwturner.com/uah/IPT2008_summer/baselines/LOW%20Files/Payload/Downloads/AIAA-2007-5481-979.pdf

 Paper on Contamination of MSL

http://gest.umbc.edu/faculty_publications/2008/tenkate_Organic_Measurements_from_the_MSL.pdf

Presentation on the Sky Crane

http://www.planetaryprobe.eu/IPPW7/proceedings/IPPW7%20Proceedings/Presentations/Session5/pr478.pdf

 


Online Chris Bergin

Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #62 on: 12/13/2011 07:35 pm »
RELEASE: 11-414

NASA MARS-BOUND ROVER BEGINS RESEARCH IN SPACE

WASHINGTON -- NASA's car-sized Curiosity rover has begun monitoring
space radiation during its 8-month trip from Earth to Mars. The
research will aid in planning for future human missions to the Red
Planet.

Curiosity launched on Nov. 26 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., aboard the
Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). The rover carries an instrument called
the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) that monitors high-energy
atomic and subatomic particles from the sun, distant supernovas and
other sources.

These particles constitute radiation that could be harmful to any
microbes or astronauts in space or on Mars. The rover also will
monitor radiation on the surface of Mars after its August 2012
landing.

"RAD is serving as a proxy for an astronaut inside a spacecraft on the
way to Mars," said Don Hassler, RAD's principal investigator from the
Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo."The instrument is deep
inside the spacecraft, the way an astronaut would be. Understanding
the effects of the spacecraft on the radiation field will be valuable
in designing craft for astronauts to travel to Mars."

Previous monitoring of energetic-particle radiation in space has used
instruments at or near the surface of various spacecraft. The RAD
instrument is on the rover inside the spacecraft and shielded by
other components of MSL, including the aeroshell that will protect
the rover during descent through the upper atmosphere of Mars.

Spacecraft structures, while providing shielding, also can contribute
to secondary particles generated when high-energy particles strike
the spacecraft. In some circumstances, secondary particles could be
more hazardous than primary ones.

These first measurements mark the start of the science return from a
mission that will use 10 instruments on Curiosity to assess whether
Mars' Gale Crater could be or has been favorable for microbial life.

"While Curiosity will not look for signs of life on Mars, what it
might find could be a game- changer about the origin and evolution of
life on Earth and elsewhere in the universe," said Doug McCuistion,
director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in
Washington. "One thing is certain: the rover's discoveries will
provide critical data that will impact human and robotic planning and
research for decades."

As of noon EST on Dec. 14, the spacecraft will have traveled 31.9
million miles (51.3 million kilometers) of its 352-million-mile
(567-million-kilometer) flight to Mars. The first trajectory
correction maneuver during the trip is being planned for mid-January.

Southwest Research Institute, together with Christian Albrechts
University in Kiel, Germany, built RAD with funding from the Human
Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters,
Washington, and Germany's national aerospace research center,
Deutsches Zentrum fĂ¼r Luft- und Raumfahrt.

The mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for
the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The mission's
rover was designed, developed and assembled at JPL.

Information about the mission is available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/msl
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Offline mikegro

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #63 on: 12/13/2011 09:57 pm »
I'll be very interested to see the results of the RAD experiment over the coming months during the cruise to Mars...and then on the surface.

It's almost surprising to me that we haven't measured radiation levels inside of a spacecraft yet.   :-\
Part time F-16 and KC-135 Crew Chief, full-time spaceflight enthusiast!

Offline Robotbeat

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #64 on: 12/14/2011 12:19 am »
I should point out that Mars Odyssey had a radiation sensor on it (radiation levels in Mars orbit were about twice ISS... really not that bad... levels on the surface or with some minimal shielding will be less).
Chris  Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

To the maximum extent practicable, the Federal Government shall plan missions to accommodate the space transportation services capabilities of United States commercial providers. US law http://goo.gl/YZYNt0

Offline TheFallen

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #65 on: 12/14/2011 09:25 pm »
Where is Curiosity now? There's now a dedicated page on its mission website

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

Offline Lee Jay

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #66 on: 12/14/2011 09:40 pm »
When is the landing?  I heard on the NASA Tweetup that it is at 10:00pm or so PDT, but they didn't say a date (maybe August 6th)?  But the update says it's the 5th, but not the 5th where.  Anyone have the truth?

It appears to be around 10:00pm PDT on the 5th / 1:00am EDT on the 6th.  Don't know the minutes, but I'm sure we will as we get closer.

Offline Bogeyman

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #67 on: 12/15/2011 08:46 pm »
What's the story about that star tracker issue? Still having problems with it or will it work?
The next course correction burn is in mid January, as I've learned, so I guess MSL will need that star tracker for proper alignment, right?

Greets, Bogey

Offline Nomadd

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #68 on: 12/16/2011 01:47 am »
 From page 16 of http://www.planetaryprobe.eu/IPPW7/proceedings/IPPW7%20Proceedings/Presentations/Session5/pr478.pdf
 It looks like touchdown causes throttle to go from 60% to 20% and release is 1 second later. It seems to be determined by vertical velocity. I don't see any reference to bridle weight sensing.
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.

Offline Bogeyman

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #69 on: 12/18/2011 05:33 pm »
Still curious about it...  ??? (See two posts above)

Offline TheFallen

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #70 on: 12/18/2011 11:40 pm »
Still curious about it...  ??? (See two posts above)

Follow this Twitter account to see if there are any updates on the star tracker issue

https://twitter.com/#!/MarsCuriosity

Offline rdale

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #71 on: 12/19/2011 02:40 am »
When is the landing?  I heard on the NASA Tweetup that it is at 10:00pm or so PDT, but they didn't say a date (maybe August 6th)?  But the update says it's the 5th, but not the 5th where.  Anyone have the truth?

It appears to be around 10:00pm PDT on the 5th / 1:00am EDT on the 6th.  Don't know the minutes, but I'm sure we will as we get closer.

The last tweet with a date on MSL's page says 5Z which is midnight EDT on the 6th / 9pm PDT on the 5th.

Online dsmillman

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #72 on: 01/06/2012 06:59 pm »
January 06, 2012

Mars Science Laboratory Mission Status Report

PASADENA, Calif. -- An engine firing on Jan. 11 will be the biggest maneuver that NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft will perform on its flight between Earth and Mars.

The action will use a choreographed sequence of firings of eight thruster engines during a period of about 175 minutes beginning at 3 p.m. PST (6 p.m. EST or 2300 Universal Time). It will redirect the spacecraft more precisely toward Mars to land at Gale Crater. The trajectory resulting from the mission's Nov. 26, 2011, launch intentionally misses Mars to prevent the upper stage of the launch vehicle from hitting the planet. That upper stage was not cleaned the way the spacecraft itself was to protect Mars from Earth's microbes.

The maneuver is designed to impart a velocity change of about 12.3 miles per hour (5.5 meters per second).

"We are well into cruise operations, with a well-behaved spacecraft safely on its way to Mars," said Mars Science Laboratory Cruise Mission Manager Arthur Amador, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "After this trajectory correction maneuver, we expect to be very close to where we ultimately need to be for our entry point at the top of the Martian atmosphere." 

The mission's schedule before arrival at Mars on Aug. 5 in PDT (Aug. 6 in Universal Time and EDT) includes opportunities for five more flight path correction maneuvers, as needed, for fine tuning.

The Jan. 11 maneuver has been planned to use the spacecraft's inertial measurement unit to measure the spacecraft's orientation and acceleration during the maneuver. A calibration maneuver using the gyroscope-containing inertial measurement unit was completed successfully on Dec. 21. The inertial measurement unit is used as an alternative to the spacecraft's onboard celestial navigation system due to an earlier computer reset.

Diagnostic work continues in response to the reset triggered by use of star-identifying software on the spacecraft on Nov. 29.  In tests at JPL, that behavior has been reproduced a few times out of thousands of test runs on a duplicate of the spacecraft's computer, but no resets were triggered during similar testing on another duplicate. The spacecraft itself has redundant main computers. While the spacecraft is operating on the "A side" computer, engineers are beginning test runs of the star-identifying software on the redundant "B side" computer to check whether it is susceptible to the same reset behavior.

The Mars Science Laboratory mission will use its car-size rover, Curiosity, to investigate whether the selected region on Mars inside Gale Crater has offered environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and favorable for preserving clues about whether life existed.

On Jan. 15, the spacecraft operations team will begin a set of engineering checkouts. The testing will last about a week and include tests of several components of the system for landing the rover on Mars and for the rover's communication with Mars orbiters.

The spacecraft's cruise-stage solar array is producing 780 watts. The telecommunications rate is 2 kilobits per second for uplink and downlink. The spacecraft is spinning at 2.04 rotations per minute. The Radiation Assessment Detector, one of 10 science instruments on the rover, is collecting science data about the interplanetary radiation environment.

As of 9 a.m. PST (noon EST, or 1700 Universal Time) on Saturday, Jan. 7, the spacecraft will have traveled 72.9 million miles (117.3 million kilometers) of its 352-million-mile (567-million-kilometer) flight to Mars. It will be moving at about 9,500 mph (15,200 kilometers per hour) relative to Earth and at about 69,500 mph (111,800 kilometers per hour) relative to the sun.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory mission for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

More information about Curiosity is online at: http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ . You can follow the mission on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity

Offline robertross

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #73 on: 01/11/2012 03:35 pm »
Time for a bump for today's planned maneuver  :)

Go Curiosity!

Offline pechisbeque

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #74 on: 01/11/2012 09:06 pm »
The Jan. 11 maneuver has been planned to use the spacecraft's inertial measurement unit to measure the spacecraft's orientation and acceleration during the maneuver. A calibration maneuver using the gyroscope-containing inertial measurement unit was completed successfully on Dec. 21. The inertial measurement unit is used as an alternative to the spacecraft's onboard celestial navigation system due to an earlier computer reset.

Does anyone here know how they can calibrate the gyro without using the star trackers?
Or are they just excluded during the maneuver but not during cruise?

Offline TheFallen

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #75 on: 01/11/2012 10:26 pm »
"VROOM! I've begun firing thruster engines for my 1st & largest flight-path adjustment of the trip to Mars: http://bitly.com/yOLtEZ"

https://twitter.com/#!/MarsCuriosity/status/157240197828984832
« Last Edit: 01/11/2012 10:27 pm by TheFallen »

Offline olasek

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #76 on: 01/12/2012 01:33 am »
When is the landing?  I heard on the NASA Tweetup that it is at 10:00pm or so PDT, but they didn't say a date (maybe August 6th)?  But the update says it's the 5th, but not the 5th where.  Anyone have the truth?

It appears to be around 10:00pm PDT on the 5th / 1:00am EDT on the 6th.  Don't know the minutes, but I'm sure we will as we get closer.

The last tweet with a date on MSL's page says 5Z which is midnight EDT on the 6th / 9pm PDT on the 5th.

And today's firing advanced the time of landing by 14 hours, hurah!!!

Offline robertross

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #77 on: 01/12/2012 02:24 am »
Spacecraft Completes Biggest Maneuver

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft successfully refined its flight path Wednesday with the biggest maneuver planned for the mission's journey between Earth and Mars.
 
"We've completed a big step toward our encounter with Mars," said Brian Portock of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., deputy mission manager for the cruise phase of the mission. "The telemetry from the spacecraft and the Doppler data show that the maneuver was completed as planned."
 
The Mars Science Laboratory mission will use its car-size rover, Curiosity, to investigate whether the selected region on Mars inside Gale Crater has offered environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and favorable for preserving clues about whether life existed.
 
Engineers had planned today’s three-hour series of thruster-engine firings to accomplish two aims: to put the spacecraft's trajectory about 25,000 miles (about 40,000 kilometers) closer to encountering Mars and to advance the time of the encounter by about 14 hours, compared with the trajectory following the mission's Nov. 26, 2011, launch.
 
"The timing of the encounter is important for arriving at Mars just when the planet's rotation puts Gale Crater in the right place," said JPL's Tomas Martin-Mur, chief navigator for the mission.
 
The mission's second trajectory correction maneuver, expected to be about one-sixth the magnitude of this first one, is scheduled for March 26. Up to four additional opportunities for fine-tuning, as needed, are scheduled before the arrival at Mars on Aug. 5, 2012, PDT (Aug. 6, EDT and Universal Time).
 
The spacecraft's initial trajectory resulting from the launch included an intentional offset to prevent the upper stage of the launch vehicle from hitting Mars. That upper stage was not cleaned the way the spacecraft itself was to protect Mars from Earth's microbes.
 
The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft rotates in flight at about two revolutions per minute. Today’s maneuver included two different components: one that changed velocity in the direction of the axis of the spacecraft's rotation, and one that changed velocity in a direction perpendicular to that.
 
The maneuver used the eight thruster engines on the cruise stage of the spacecraft, grouped into two sets of four. It began with a thrust lasting about 19 minutes, using just one thruster in each set and affecting velocity along the direction of the axis of rotation. Then, to affect velocity perpendicular to that line, each set of thrusters was fired for 5 seconds when the rotation put that set facing the proper direction. These 5-second bursts were repeated more than 200 times during a period of about two hours for a total of about 40 minutes.
 
The maneuver was calculated to produce a net change in velocity of about 12.3 miles per hour (5.5 meters per second), combining a slight increase in speed with a small change in direction of travel.
 
As of 9 a.m. PST (noon EST) on Thursday, Jan. 12, the spacecraft will have traveled 81.2 million miles (130.6 million kilometers) of its 352-million-mile (567-million-kilometer) flight to Mars. It will be moving at about 10,300 mph (16,600 kilometers per hour) relative to Earth, and at about 68,700 mph (110,500 kilometers per hour) relative to the sun.
 
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory mission for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

More information about Curiosity is online at: http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ . You can follow the mission on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

2012-011

Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
[email protected]

« Last Edit: 01/12/2012 02:24 am by robertross »

Offline YesRushGen

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #78 on: 01/13/2012 12:29 pm »
Will MSL employee the "beep codes" during EDL as MER did?

Offline Jim

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Re: NASA - MSL Updates
« Reply #79 on: 01/13/2012 05:57 pm »
Will MSL employee the "beep codes" during EDL as MER did?

Yes, and they are called semaphores

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