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Spirit Rover Mission in 6 Minutes — Parallax Forums

Spirit Rover Mission in 6 Minutes

ercoerco Posts: 20,260
edited 2012-09-04 13:54 in General Discussion
http://www.youtube.com/embed/XRCIzZHpFtY?rel=0 OK, 6-1/2 minutes. :)

Nice HD animation from launch to bounce landing & first photos. Some of the same JPL faces as Curiosity, but looks like the average controller age was ~15 years older with Spririt.

Does that mean that younger people have more Curiousity?

Comments

  • skylightskylight Posts: 1,915
    edited 2012-09-04 12:07
    erco wrote: »
    http://www.youtube.com/embed/XRCIzZHpFtY?rel=0 OK, 6-1/2 minutes. :)

    Nice HD animation from launch to bounce landing & first photos. Some of the same JPL faces as Curiosity, but looks like the average controller age was ~15 years older with Spririt.

    Does that mean that younger people have more Curiousity?
    Or old'uns have more spirit?
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-09-04 12:34
    'Looks like once the package escapes earth's atmosphere, they just aim and fire, after which no further thrust needed for coasting to Mars. 'Must be some interesting reverse orbital computations going on there! I wonder how much fuel they carry for course corrections along the way. And how do they know exactly where it is in transit? It's too far away for accurate triangulation. Direction (dish antenna maximum) and range (transponder response time), maybe.

    -Phil
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2012-09-04 12:39
    Wow, that's the exact same video that was emailed to me by my mother-in-law yesterday. She didn't realize it wasn't the most recent landing. Maybe erco is on her list too?

    @ Phil, I believe the spacecraft has onboard navigation instruments.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-09-04 12:43
    W9GFO wrote:
    I believe the spacecraft has onboard navigation instruments.
    Okay, but how do they work? Celestial nav, triangulating known stars versus the sun and visible planets?

    -Phil
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2012-09-04 12:50
    I remember reading about it years ago. They use the Sun and bright stars. I would guess that they use the planets too.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2012-09-04 13:43
    Wasn't there a Black Monolith that they had direct coordinates to?
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2012-09-04 13:54
    I think it mysteriously vanished.
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