by iamlucky13 » Thu Dec 13, 2007 6:25 pm
Geoff Gaherty wrote:so surely you should have said _southern_ winter?
Yeah, looks like a typo.
jimmysnyder wrote:I would really like to get weekly updates.
The official mission site has updates at irregular intervals, usually around every two weeks.
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status.html
For help understanding a few things, with a fully charged battery on good terrain the rovers are capable of driving 100-150 meters in a day, although that uses more than a days worth of solar power. The rovers need about 150 Watt-hours per day to keep the electronics box warm. Rated power, IIRC, is 700 Watt-hours per day with a decent sun angle, clean panels, and clear skies. Spirit is currently getting about 310 Watt-hours per day, which doesn't leave a lot to spare for communication with earth and driving.
Opportunity, that ever-lucky robot, recently had a good stiff wind blow some of the dust off its panels and is sitting at a great angle on inside rim of Victoria Crater. It's getting over 630 Watt-hours per day.
[quote="Geoff Gaherty"]so surely you should have said _southern_ winter?[/quote]
Yeah, looks like a typo.
[quote="jimmysnyder"]I would really like to get weekly updates.[/quote]
The official mission site has updates at irregular intervals, usually around every two weeks.
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status.html
For help understanding a few things, with a fully charged battery on good terrain the rovers are capable of driving 100-150 meters in a day, although that uses more than a days worth of solar power. The rovers need about 150 Watt-hours per day to keep the electronics box warm. Rated power, IIRC, is 700 Watt-hours per day with a decent sun angle, clean panels, and clear skies. Spirit is currently getting about 310 Watt-hours per day, which doesn't leave a lot to spare for communication with earth and driving.
Opportunity, that ever-lucky robot, recently had a good stiff wind blow some of the dust off its panels and is sitting at a great angle on inside rim of Victoria Crater. It's getting over 630 Watt-hours per day.