After an amazing run on Mars, NASA’s helicopter faces a long, dark winter

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After an amazing run on Mars, NASA’s helicopter faces a long, dark winter

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Post by smp »


From Ars Technica:
"... But recently the small, automated helicopter has had problems with dust accumulating on its solar panels, NASA says. This dust reduces the ability of the vehicle to recharge its six lithium-ion batteries. And just as the helicopter needs all of the solar energy it can get, the northern hemisphere of Mars is approaching the dead of winter, which comes in a little more than two months. ..."

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/05 ... rk-winter/

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Re: After an amazing run on Mars, NASA’s helicopter faces a long, dark winter

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Post by helicon »


Too bad no one is around with a cloth to clean up the panels!
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Re: After an amazing run on Mars, NASA’s helicopter faces a long, dark winter

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Post by seigell »


Ingenuity has surely surpassed all expectations, AND provided some significant Science Data otherwise unavailable to Perseverance and NASA. Surely, because the helicopter was initially viewed as an add-on technology demonstration with a limited original schedule of Flight Activities, NASA failed to include most any accommodation for the well-known all-pervasive Mars Dust on Solar Cells problem.
Such a Shame...
The problems of Dust Accumulation on Solar Panels of Mars Landers and Rovers has been a long known concern. NASA has watched as Mission after Mission has come to an end (acknowledged usually long after the initial scheduled mission-end) due to loss of Battery Recharge Capabilities. Mars Insight was just the latest, with a several weeks forced hibernation mode in Feb 2021 after Battery Capacity went Critically Low due to Dust Accumulation on its Solar Panels. Luckily, JPL was able to bring Insight out of hibernation later in the month, and a few months later even performed the audacious act of pouring sand onto the upwind edge of Insight's panels in an effort to scour-away some of the coating of fine dust that deteriorated panel efficiency.
This Study of the Lander and rover histories of dust accumulation on and removal from solar arrays on Mars shows that reliance on Martian Wind Gusts alone isn't likely to be enough for maintaining long-term Solar Cell Productivity.
Larger Rovers are being equipped with Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) units - including Perseverance. But smaller Rovers such as Spirit and Opportunity and the little Sojourner, and now the Ingenuity Helicopter, have all been dependent on Solar Cells for Power Generation. And all of them have /are succumbing to the Dust of Mars.
Perhaps the next Mars Mission that has component(s) dependent on Solar Power will have some built-in tools for mitigation of the problem - a rotary dusting attachment for the Articulating Arm/Probe would seem a plausible suggestion.
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Re: After an amazing run on Mars, NASA’s helicopter faces a long, dark winter

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Post by Johnny Carter »


This little copter has sure come a long ways. I still remember watching it’s first flight, just amazing.
I’ve learned a lot since I knew it all.
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Re: After an amazing run on Mars, NASA’s helicopter faces a long, dark winter

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Post by seigell »


And, it could have gone on for a much longer time...
If only NASA had thought to stash a little Drill-mounted Buffing Wheel next to the Coring Drills in its "tool case"...
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Re: After an amazing run on Mars, NASA’s helicopter faces a long, dark winter

#6

Post by smp »


The latest from SpaceNews.com:
"NASA confirms impending end for InSight"

"WASHINGTON — NASA’s InSight Mars lander mission will likely conclude by the end of the year as power levels for the spacecraft continue to decline, project officials confirmed May 17.

At a briefing about the mission, which has been on the surface of Mars since November 2018, project leaders said science operations will likely end in July as the output of the spacecraft’s two solar panels, coated with dust, drops below critical levels. Increasing dust levels in the atmosphere from seasonal changes are exacerbating the power decline."

https://spacenews.com/nasa-confirms-imp ... r-insight/

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Re: After an amazing run on Mars, NASA’s helicopter faces a long, dark winter

#7

Post by helicon »


Frustrating but not much we can do about it...
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
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