Mars rovers

Mark F.

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Jan 31, 2010, 8:57:10 PM1/31/10

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Ok so I was looking at the stuck rover today. And I was thinking, what can
you put on a rover to get it unstuck.
So here is armature WACKED out idea.
Mars has a Co2 atmosphere. you put a small compressor and tank on the
unit.(fill it when you get there) Now you put a small lifting air bag and
screw to the bottom. When it gets stuck open a small valve, air up the bag
and, it lifts the rover out of the sand. deflate the bag and drive like hell
for hard ground.

Here I am brain the size of a planet stuck here in Los Angeles.

Mark
--
Hike high mountains fish for wild trout!

Chris L Peterson

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Jan 31, 2010, 9:26:34 PM1/31/10

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On Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:57:10 -0800, "Mark F." <m....@gte.net> wrote:

>Ok so I was looking at the stuck rover today. And I was thinking, what can
>you put on a rover to get it unstuck.
>So here is armature WACKED out idea.
>Mars has a Co2 atmosphere. you put a small compressor and tank on the
>unit.(fill it when you get there) Now you put a small lifting air bag and
>screw to the bottom. When it gets stuck open a small valve, air up the bag
>and, it lifts the rover out of the sand. deflate the bag and drive like hell
>for hard ground.

Yes. And which scientific instruments do you leave off the rover to
accommodate this compressor and airbag? These kinds of things are
studied very closely during the mission design phase. In this case, I
expect that the investigators considered the value of using more of the
available payload for instruments outweighed the benefits of attaching
more fail-safe devices. And considering how very much longer the rover
operated than its design life, it looks like they made the right
decision!
_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

OG

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Feb 1, 2010, 2:11:40 PM2/1/10

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"Mark F." <m....@gte.net> wrote in message
news:hk5cdm$1v4$1...@news.eternal-september.org...

What do you fill the air bag with ? The same CO2 as in the atmosphere? Where
does the lift come from?

Mark F.

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Feb 1, 2010, 8:43:12 PM2/1/10

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Have you seen the lift bags. It is like a thick balloon that inflates
underneath a object.
and you could use Co2 in inflate it.

Mark

"OG" <ow...@gwynnefamily.org.uk> wrote in message
news:7sonbf...@mid.individual.net...

OG

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Feb 2, 2010, 2:12:43 PM2/2/10

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"Mark F." <m....@gte.net> wrote in message

news:hk7vvi$vcm$1...@news.eternal-september.org...

> "OG" <ow...@gwynnefamily.org.uk> wrote in message
> news:7sonbf...@mid.individual.net...
>>
>> "Mark F." <m....@gte.net> wrote in message
>> news:hk5cdm$1v4$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>>> Ok so I was looking at the stuck rover today. And I was thinking, what
>>> can you put on a rover to get it unstuck.
>>> So here is armature WACKED out idea.
>>> Mars has a Co2 atmosphere. you put a small compressor and tank on the
>>> unit.(fill it when you get there) Now you put a small lifting air bag
>>> and screw to the bottom. When it gets stuck open a small valve, air up
>>> the bag and, it lifts the rover out of the sand. deflate the bag and
>>> drive like hell for hard ground.
>>>
>>> Here I am brain the size of a planet stuck here in Los Angeles.
>>
>> What do you fill the air bag with ? The same CO2 as in the atmosphere?
>> Where does the lift come from?
>>

> Have you seen the lift bags. It is like a thick balloon that inflates
> underneath a object.
> and you could use Co2 in inflate it.
>

Ah yes, my mistake - I thought you were talking of a lighter than air
balloon.