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posted by mrpg on Wednesday August 15 2018, @03:33AM   Printer-friendly
from the nemure-akira dept.

Submitted via IRC for cmn32480

NASA's Opportunity rover has had an incredible career already, spending years upon years studying the Martian surface and proving to be an incredibly reliable and hardy piece of hardware. Unfortunately, a NASA dust storm that began kicking up in May may have abruptly ended its historic run.

In mid-June, the solar-powered Opportunity ran out of juice and was forced to go into its dormant standby mode. The dust storm which swallowed the entirety of Mars had blocked out the Sun, cutting the rover off of its only available source of power. NASA engineers had remained optimistic that the rover would wake back up when the skies began to clear, but things aren't looking good thus far.

[...] That's...not great news. NASA knew that the rover would be forced to sit dormant for a while because of the intensity of the storm, but that was several weeks ago. The dust has since began to settle, and enough light should be pushing its way down to the surface to begin recharging Opportunity's batteries once again.

Source: NASA's Opportunity rover still hasn't woken up from a Mars dust storm, and engineers are getting nervous


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Six Things About Opportunity's Recovery Efforts 31 comments

NASA's Opportunity rover has been silent since June 10, when a planet-encircling dust storm cut off solar power for the nearly-15-year-old rover. Now that scientists think the global dust storm is "decaying"—meaning more dust is falling out of the atmosphere than is being raised back into it—skies might soon clear enough for the solar-powered rover to recharge and attempt to "phone home."

No one will know how the rover is doing until it speaks. But the team notes there's reason to be optimistic: They've performed several studies on the state of its batteries before the storm, and temperatures at its location. Because the batteries were in relatively good health before the storm, there's not likely to be too much degradation. And because dust storms tend to warm the environment—and the 2018 storm happened as Opportunity's location on Mars entered summer—the rover should have stayed warm enough to survive.

[...] When Opportunity experiences a problem, it can go into so-called "fault modes" where it automatically takes action to maintain its health. Engineers are preparing for three key fault modes if they do hear back from Opportunity.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by CZB on Wednesday August 15 2018, @03:38AM (17 children)

    by CZB (6457) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @03:38AM (#721667)

    Maybe the next rover can have a spring loaded wiper it sets before power runs out that brushes the dust off when the sun returns.

    • (Score: 5, Funny) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday August 15 2018, @03:51AM (3 children)

      by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @03:51AM (#721672)

      I'm trying to picture that, and I can't decide if it's absolute genius, or completely stupid.

      Maybe it's both.

      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by zocalo on Wednesday August 15 2018, @06:58AM (2 children)

        by zocalo (302) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @06:58AM (#721700)
        It seems like it could work to me, and probably wouldn't weight all that much either - a battery, a bit of electronics, a small motors, carbon fibre supports etc., and the brush/wiper. Keeping some power back in a rechargeable battery for quick brush over the panels once the storm passes might be able to clear enough dust to restore at least some of the solar power capacity, which you could then use that power to drive several more brushing cycles and enable a full-reboot. You also need a means to trigger that first pass of the brush, given that power might be completely out and the entire rover coated in a thin layer of dust - including any sensors. The simplest approach - assuming the forecasting of Martian dust storm duration is good enough - would be to just pre-set a timer from Earth before the storm hits and run that from the wiper battery, but as a backup maybe you could also have a light level sensor on the end of a whip antenna, then hope the Martian breeze dislodges enough dust to trigger the reboot cycle once the storm passes.

        Practically though, the two Rovers managed to get a *lot* more done than was expected, even without such a rig, and we're talking NASA here - something a kid could knock up with a Raspberry Pi and some bits and pieces would likely end up having a seven digit price tag, once all the over-engineering, pre-launch testing, getting it to Mars, and - of course - the RoI assessment of whether it's worth doing in the first place is factored in. Besides, we need these things stashed away for any potential future Mark Watney [imdb.com], don't we? :)
        --
        UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @08:39AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @08:39AM (#721708)

          That's not Mark Watney, that's Matt Damon, you bastard.

        • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Wednesday August 15 2018, @01:47PM

          by mhajicek (51) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @01:47PM (#721768)

          How about a small copv and compressor to blow them off? In either case the hard part is reliably activating the device without power and when cold, and after the proper amount of time.

          --
          The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
    • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday August 15 2018, @06:43AM

      by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Wednesday August 15 2018, @06:43AM (#721696) Homepage
      Or it should detect low-visibility dist storms, where the PVs won't harvest much, and just prop the PV panel up vertical, pop out a wind vane on one side, and disconnect drive to it, so it collects no dust. Of course, it relies on a bit of luck to catch the sun again. Maybe it should have a super-low-power mode where all it does is find the sun and start harvesting whilst asleep again?
      --
      Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @08:42AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @08:42AM (#721709)

      I'm sure they considered a "windshield wiper" type of approach, but the original plans were for Opportunity to last 90 Martian sols. Since they didn't expect either Opportunity or Spirit to last long enough to become victims of dust storms they probably decided not to add the extra weight.

      • (Score: 5, Informative) by Muad'Dave on Wednesday August 15 2018, @11:38AM

        by Muad'Dave (1413) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @11:38AM (#721741)

        Plus, the dust is extremely fine and sticks to the panels via electrostatic attraction - a wiper will not remove that dust; it will only grind the glass as it swipes larger particles around.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @08:58AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @08:58AM (#721712)

      Maybe the next rover will have a "repair rovers tool kit". It makes sense to, if you are serially sending rovers to same celestial body, also send along one to do the maintenance of all of the other ones. A rover brought back on line is like a new rover sent, only less expensive (and with no risk of botching the landing phase).

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @05:16PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @05:16PM (#721848)

        Now, now ... this sounds like a job for Space Force!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @10:07PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @10:07PM (#721934)

        "repair rovers tool kit" - aka an astronaut. That'll be a bit more costly. (You can't conceivably prepare a robot to do any conceivable repair without running into scaling expenses that wouldn't make it worthwhile. You could make a robot that can handle certain "popular" repairs.)

        But seriously, a rover back online wouldn't be new. It would be worn out and running like an old car that was patched up enough to work. Unless you bring spares enough to build an entirely new rover, and then why didn't you just launch a new rover? That, coupled with most rovers now seem to be exceeding their primary mission lives, make this a hard one to swallow. But cool to think about.

    • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday August 15 2018, @12:03PM (3 children)

      by Thexalon (636) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @12:03PM (#721744)

      Or maybe at least one of the engineers at NASA already thought of that, but it had to be rejected for a fairly good reason, like weight concerns, or (as mentioned in a sibling post) the problem that it was tested here on Earth and turned out not to solve the problem.

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
      • (Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday August 15 2018, @09:30PM (2 children)

        by nitehawk214 (1304) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @09:30PM (#721927)

        Someone told me another problem is that the wiper would rub the dust across the panels, scratching them up, which would lead to even more light loss than if the wind just blew them clean.

        --
        "Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
        • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday August 15 2018, @10:48PM (1 child)

          by Thexalon (636) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @10:48PM (#721947)

          Point being that whatever the reason, I'm pretty sure it's not "Those dumbasses at NASA never considered it, but I, the Soylentil with no training or experience whatsoever in the kinds of engineering being done on these things, know precisely the solution to their problem!"

          --
          The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
          • (Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday August 16 2018, @06:41PM

            by nitehawk214 (1304) on Thursday August 16 2018, @06:41PM (#722416)

            This place can be Dunning-Kruger personified.

            --
            "Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
    • (Score: 2) by pvanhoof on Wednesday August 15 2018, @02:50PM (1 child)

      by pvanhoof (4638) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @02:50PM (#721797) Homepage

      Air jets would probably be a better idea. Mechanical wipers would accumulate Mars dust. Plus would wiping the dust off cause crashes on the glass of the solar panels, making them increasingly less efficient.

      • (Score: 1) by CZB on Thursday August 16 2018, @04:42AM

        by CZB (6457) on Thursday August 16 2018, @04:42AM (#722054)

        Wiping definitely does wear out the glass, I drive a tractor farming volcanic dust and have a big windshield wiper mark from using it to clear dust. But blowing it off with compressed air doesn't work very well, a film of dust sticks on, only wiping works. Even blasting it with a pressure washer doesn't clear it. I'm sure Nasa can come up with something better than an old t-shirt though.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @08:19AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @08:19AM (#722089)

      I heard Steve Squyres, team leader, say a long time ago in an interview they had considered it. Weight considerations prevailed. They put other stuff onto Mars Exploration Rovers, MERs. Also, lower in the thread is a mention of what could go wrong - if the heaters don't get enough current to keep vital electronics warm, it's game over. That's what killed Spirit MER, got in a sand trap, couldn't get enough power on a slope, electronics died of night cold. If not now, it'll happen to Opportunity sooner or later, unfortunately. Yeah, NASA's ability to kick up powerful planetary storms impresses me more with every passing Martian year.

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by noirmaru on Wednesday August 15 2018, @03:45AM (2 children)

    by noirmaru (6701) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @03:45AM (#721669)

    those NASA dust storms are the worst

    • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Wednesday August 15 2018, @04:03AM

      by RS3 (6367) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @04:03AM (#721675)

      our tax dollars at work!

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by Thexalon on Wednesday August 15 2018, @12:05PM

      by Thexalon (636) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @12:05PM (#721746)

      Yeah, everyone knows that Mars didn't have dust storm problems until government got involved. They screw up everything!

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @04:37AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @04:37AM (#721679)

    Very reliable, always work, guaranteed to fix all routers...

  • (Score: 2) by julian on Wednesday August 15 2018, @05:05AM (5 children)

    by julian (6003) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 15 2018, @05:05AM (#721683)

    I wonder if another season of winds could bring it back online. If there wasn't enough wind or, it was blowing too much dust this year, would next year possibly bring it back? Or would it be offline for too long and never be able to come back? I don't know very much about the engineering of the electrical system. I imagine the batteries would get very cold for very long, would that permanently disable them even if the PVCs started feeding them juice in the future when they get cleaned off?

    That's assuming the panels being too dirty is what's gone wrong. I wish we could know exactly what failed, but probably never will.

    • (Score: 2) by coolgopher on Wednesday August 15 2018, @06:46AM

      by coolgopher (1157) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @06:46AM (#721697)

      Don't worry. Musk will probably go pick it up himself so he can keep Oppy as a trophy ;)

    • (Score: 4, Funny) by c0lo on Wednesday August 15 2018, @08:50AM (1 child)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 15 2018, @08:50AM (#721710) Journal

      I wonder if another season of winds could bring it back online.

      A good rain will do, no?

      (grin)

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Gaaark on Wednesday August 15 2018, @01:19PM

        by Gaaark (41) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @01:19PM (#721760) Journal

        Just need a drunk Martian to come along and piss on it.

        .....AAANY day now.....

        --
        --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @02:31PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @02:31PM (#721785)

      I don't know very much about the engineering of the electrical system. I imagine the batteries would get very cold for very long, would that permanently disable them even if the PVCs started feeding them juice in the future when they get cleaned off?

      Probably. Mars is cold. According to wikipedia [wikipedia.org], the MER rovers have an operating temperature between −40°C and +40°C. Mars is colder than that, so the rovers have heating elements. They apparently have a radioisotope heater and an electric heater to boost that when things get really cold. But if the heaters fail to work for long enough, then the rest of the electronics (like, say, the charging circuitry) can fail with it.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @04:00PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @04:00PM (#721831)

      It's an old rover, many things could have gone wrong.

  • (Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Wednesday August 15 2018, @02:58PM (1 child)

    by Aiwendil (531) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @02:58PM (#721803) Journal

    Time to deploy a laser-equipped satellite in orbit around Mars it seems.
    I'm half serious here. But wouldn't it be possible to set up a satellite with a decent enough laser to either power through or knock off the dust?
    Would if nothing else be a cool addon (and test the thing about weapons in space when not near earth) for the next survey satellite we send to mars.

    (Btw, do anyone know what battery tech the rover use?)

    • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday August 15 2018, @03:06PM

      by Freeman (732) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @03:06PM (#721806) Journal

      Frying Rovers since 2020.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @08:51PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @08:51PM (#721914)

    Send a robot maid

  • (Score: 1) by unhandyandy on Thursday August 16 2018, @03:20PM

    by unhandyandy (4405) on Thursday August 16 2018, @03:20PM (#722234)

    Presidente Francisco Franco remains dead. Doctors say if his condition fails to improve soon, it could become serious.

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