How to get to Mars- In HD

This is a very cool video of how we have arrived on Mars with the rover. I have never seen anything like it. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.



The first thing that came to mind for me is, how much more can we do with space exploration while using Fossil Fuels?

Great video man!

In regards to your question, I don't think much longer. I think more and more we're going to see alternative forms of power. Hopefully it would reduce cost in the long run and spurn job growth in creating these new forms of space travel.

Originally posted by princeguy
The first thing that came to mind for me is, how much more can we do with space exploration while using Fossil Fuels?

Excellent video. Unfortunately, we're at the limit of our fossil fuel usage for space travel. We need better means of propulsion in space. We also need to develop shield emitters for those spacecraft, just like they have in Star Trek and Stargate.

Even the tiniest piece of dust can cause extreme damage to a spacecraft at those speeds. So, we've got a long way to go as far as space travel is concerned until we develop better means of propulsion and shield emitters to protect the spacecraft from damage from space debris.

Very cool video.S & F for you.As to your question regarding fossil fuels.I am certainly no expert,but I was unaware that we used fossil fuels in rockets.I thought rocket fuel was hydrogen based.Could someone please enlighten me?

Thats an awesome video, thanx for the share.

reply to post by mardukiscoming


As far as I'm aware, you're right. They burn a mixture or oxygen and hydrogen.

Cryogenic propellants are liquefied gases stored at very low temperatures, most frequently liquid hydrogen (LH2) as the fuel and liquid oxygen (LO2 or LOX) as the oxidizer. Hydrogen remains liquid at temperatures of -253 oC (-423 oF) and oxygen remains in a liquid state at temperatures of -183 oC (-297 oF).

Source

Kaidan

reply to post by kai22


Ha, and that's why they tell you not to make assumptions! Thanks for informing us all.

reply to post by princeguy


No problem

I remember seeing an episode of 'Speed' by Jeremy Clarkson in which he said that the only exhaust the space rockets produce is a cloud of water vapour - a huge one at that.

If I remember correctly, this cloud usually makes it rain not long after take off, which I think is pretty cool

On topic: I haven't watched the video yet but will be doing soon. Does it show the journey from take-off to landing on Mars? Obviously not real footage all the way but CGI as well?

Kaidan

Originally posted by princeguy
...The first thing that came to mind for me is, how much more can we do with space exploration while using Fossil Fuels?

OP --

I believe you probably meant "chemical fueled" rockets. Hydrogen and oxygen are not fossil fuels.

And you are right. Chemical fueled spacecraft are not an efficient method of space travel. A rocket such as the one that sent curiosity to Mars, burns almost all of its fuel in the first 20 minutes of flight, leaving only a little left over for course corrections during the next 9 months. In the mean time, the spacecraft basically coasts through space, under no thrusting power at all.

We need a fuel source that would allow us to stop, turn around, and go a different direction of our choosing in space. Right now we can't do that. We basically can only keep going in the general direction we were originally launched at.

Wait a minute.......so was nasa crossing their fingers hoping that this "ball of balloons" landed on mars in the exact position so when it deflated the rover was upright?? Am I the only one to find this strange or did I miss something??

Originally posted by Mickles
Wait a minute.......so was nasa crossing their fingers hoping that this "ball of balloons" landed on mars in the exact position so when it deflated the rover was upright?? Am I the only one to find this strange or did I miss something??

The landing ellipse (the name for the target area for landing) was far from "exact" for Opportunity and Spirit (the rover depicted in the video). That landing target was 119 km long by 17 km wide. Actually, the amount that the airbag-ball rolled was just a small portion of the landing ellipse margin-of-error. Other reasons for the large landing ellipse was course changes caused by the craft bumping its way through Mars' atmosphere, and the parachute.

The new rover (Curiosity) used a more precise method of landing which allowed it to have a much smaller landing ellipse -- 20 km long by 7 km wide. Besides not using air bags, this latest Mars spacecraft carrying Curiosity actually had a way to steer itself as it jostled through the atmosphere on entry. For both of these reasons, the landing was much more precise. Opportunity and Spirit did not have this ability to steer.

Originally posted by Soylent Green Is People

Originally posted by Mickles
Wait a minute.......so was nasa crossing their fingers hoping that this "ball of balloons" landed on mars in the exact position so when it deflated the rover was upright?? Am I the only one to find this strange or did I miss something??

the landing ellipse (the name for the target area for landing) was far from "exact" for Opportunity and Spirit (the rover depicted in the video). That landing target was 119 km long by 17 km wide.

The new rover (Curiosity) used a more precise method of landing which allowed it to have a much smaller landing ellipse -- 20 km long by 7 km wide.

I didn't mean the area on mars in which it landed, I meant inside the "ball of balloons." Wasn't there a chance that when this deflated that the rover was lying on its side or upside down for instance?

Originally posted by Mickles

I didn't mean the area on mars in which it landed, I meant inside the "ball of balloons." Wasn't there a chance that when this deflated that the rover was lying on its side or upside down for instance?

Ahhh....My bad

I think the tri-fold of the lander somehow allowed for this. I need to look this up, but I wanted to respond now because I misunderstood you the first time.

Originally posted by Soylent Green Is People

Originally posted by Mickles

I didn't mean the area on mars in which it landed, I meant inside the "ball of balloons." Wasn't there a chance that when this deflated that the rover was lying on its side or upside down for instance?

Ahhh....My bad

I think the tri-fold of the lander somehow allowed for this. I need to look this up, but I wanted to respond now because I misunderstood you the first time.

Cool bro, I'm not denying that we have a rover on Mars or anything, just honestly didn't know how the landing took place.

reply to post by Mickles


Here you go. It seems the "petals" that opened to expose the rover each had a motor capable of lifting the rover, allowing it to be "uprighted":

Uprighting

After the lander stopped bouncing and rolling on the ground, it came to rest on the base of the tetrahedron or one of its sides. The sides then opened to make the base horizontal and the rover upright. The sides are connected to the base by hinges, each of which has a motor strong enough to lift the lander. The rover plus lander has a mass of about 533 kilograms (1,175 pounds). The rover alone weighs about 185 kg (408 lb). The gravity on Mars is about 38% of Earth's, so the motor does not need to be as powerful as it would on Earth.

The rover contains accelerometers to detect which way is down (toward the surface of Mars) by measuring the pull of gravity. The rover computer then commanded the correct lander petal to open to place the rover upright. Once the base petal was down and the rover was upright, the other two petals were opened.

The petals initially opened to an equally flat position, so all sides of the lander were straight and level. The petal motors are strong enough so that if two of the petals come to rest on rocks, the base with the rover would be held in place like a bridge above the ground. The base will hold at a level even with the height of the petals resting on rocks, making a straight flat surface throughout the length of the open, flattened lander. The flight team on Earth could then send commands to the rover to adjust the petals and create a safe path for the rover to drive off the lander and onto the Martian surface without dropping off a steep rock.

Source:
www.enotes.com...

Very cool 'video'.

I did find it odd that while it was bouncing along, no dust was stirred up.

Still, an awesome achievement.

Originally posted by aorAki
I did find it odd that while it was bouncing along, no dust was stirred up.

It probably did in reality, but this is just a CG representation.

Originally posted by princeguy
This is a very cool video of how we have arrived on Mars with the rover. I have never seen anything like it. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.

It kind of made me wonder what they do for 7 months while it's coasting?

It was pretty good but I think the airbags were retracted better than what's shown in the animation. Here's an actual picture of the retracted air bag:

marsrover.nasa.gov...


The animation showed more than that sticking out. But it was a pretty nice animation overall.