Spirit Rover, what it missing?

Does anyone know why or if the Spirit rover or lander on Mars has no windspeed or air pressure gauges. A mate and I were discussing this and couldn't figure a good reason not to have these?

Or even simple ridiculously simple equipment like a windsock, or temperature/pressure gauge?

[Edited on 7-1-2004 by Kano]

No idea Kano, but you would think it would be pretty standard gear to take there(?)

As far as i knew...they put a piece of tech into it and they never even tested it out on earth???

I cant remember where i saw this..?

Makes u wonder though!

the better question is Y have them. we already know the average temp, pressure, and wind speed. wtf would those be used for? to find out stuff we already know?

How do you know they DON'T have them? Has there been some official release from NASA about it or something?

Originally posted by Kano
Does anyone know why or if the Spirit rover or lander on Mars has no windspeed or air pressure gauges. A mate and I were discussing this and couldn't figure a good reason not to have these?

Or even simple ridiculously simple equipment like a windsock, or temperature/pressure gauge?

[Edited on 7-1-2004 by Kano]

More stuff = more weight
More instruments = more electical connections = more that can fail
More Data = more transmission time used
More Measurments = more power used

Its not like sticking a wind sock on your back deck. Every little thing added signifigantly effects the capabilities of of the lander/rover. In all the Mars missions since NASA started the "cheaper, faster, better" thing you'll see missions more focused on what they are there for and without any extras. Its, well, cheaper, faster, and better (safer).

Originally posted by SevenZeroOne
How do you know they DON'T have them? Has there been some official release from NASA about it or something?

I don't know whether or not there is or isn't. Windsock was a bit of an extreme example. But if they are sending a lander all the way to Mars it couldn't hurt to bung on a temperature/pressure gauge. Even to confirm what we are already pretty sure we know about the atmosphere plus this is a different region from where we've been before. Was just curious about this.

(This may also explain why I always end up taking a pile of crap I don't use when I go camping.)

Originally posted by Kano
Does anyone know why or if the Spirit rover or lander on Mars has no windspeed or air pressure gauges. A mate and I were discussing this and couldn't figure a good reason not to have these?

Or even simple ridiculously simple equipment like a windsock, or temperature/pressure gauge?

[Edited on 7-1-2004 by Kano]

its mission dont call for it.

Ok, so we're not even sure that it DOESN'T have it after all.

I'm sure it probably has something like that in it's equipment, it has practically anything else.
But something as mundane as a thermometer or air pressure gauge is probably not going to be mentioned in world news headlines or even by NASA themselves outside of technical specs for the Rovers.

I'd bet they have something like that on there, it's just not exactly something that too many people would care about aside from NASA scientists, especially not while these super sharp color images are flooding the internet.

Oh I'm not proposing any sort of conspiracy here, just curious if anyone knew for sure whether or not it had them. Or if it would strike anyone as strange for it to not have them. Apparently the answer is no to both

Wasn't all that stuff on the last rover? I'm pretty sure that it was.

[Edited on 1/8/04 by NotTooHappy]

I was watching C-Span a few nights ago and they were televising a press conference with the directors for the mission and someone asked if the temperature was what they expected and they said it was around 30 degrees C warmer than they expected. I can't remember what the real figures were.