40
votes
Is it possible that Curiosity Rover measured its own methane or failed doing the spectrometry?
I am Jose Juan Lopez Moreno, co-I (co-investigator) of TGO-NOMAD and I feel obliged to respond to PearsonArtPhoto's answer.
There is something real: TGO carries 2 independent instruments with a ...
37
votes
Accepted
Is it possible that Curiosity Rover measured its own methane or failed doing the spectrometry?
There's a lot to unpack here, so let's look at the various discoveries of methane on Mars.
The first discovery came from multiple groups in 2003-2004 using first Mars Express, followed by Earth ...
22
votes
Accepted
Current maximum bandwidth between Mars and Earth?
There are 8 active Mars missions at the time of writing (11/14/17)
Mars Odyssey
Design Downlink Requirement: 3.6 kb/s minium
On-Orbit Downlink Performance: up to 110,600 b/s for 34-m DSN passes
...
16
votes
Accepted
Curiosity is still dirty! How will the ExoMARS Rover keep its solar panels dust-free and collecting sufficient power?
They will likely be relying on two things:
Since the rate at which dust will accumulate on the solar panels is pretty well known, they can estimate a lifespan of the rover. All space probes have ...
11
votes
Accepted
If the ESA has its own deep space network, why does it use NASA's?
The DSN is used alongside ESTRACK. For Rosetta, for example:
NASA’s DSN network has provided continuing, routine support to the Rosetta mission since the start of the mission (see “Tracking the ...
10
votes
Is the ESA Roscosmos ExoMars Orbiter capable of detecting the NASA landers and rovers on the surface of Mars?
Unfortunately not (really).
The CaSSIS imager on board ExoMars's Trace Gas Orbiter has a resolution from its ~400km orbit of around 4.6m/pixel. This means that it might be possible to identify a ...
9
votes
Accepted
Is it justified that ESA is pushing to launch Rosalind Franklin even after Schiaparelli landing failed?
Schiaparelli was a test mission. During its descent, it recorded and sent lots of data which was analyzed and gave ESA the information it needed to proceed with the Rosalind Franklin mission.
9
votes
What is the current status of ESA/Roscosmos cooperation with regard to the ExoMars Orbiter?
A March 17, 2022 statement by ESA, has declared the suspension of ExoMars.
ExoMars
ESA’s ruling Council, meeting in Paris on 16-17 March, assessed the situation arising from the war in Ukraine ...
8
votes
Accepted
Was the time of Schiaparelli's landing chosen specifically so the Giant Meter Wave Radiotelescope could listen?
No.
The landing time is determined by the interplanetary trajectory, largely fixed by launch energy constraints, and then by the landing site location, mainly the longitude. This paper identifies the ...
8
votes
Is the ESA Roscosmos ExoMars Orbiter capable of detecting the NASA landers and rovers on the surface of Mars?
tl;dr: Yes it's possible, but it would be a challenge.
I am pretty sure that in time, 4.6 meter/pixel imaging (from @simplex1's answer) could find InSight. It might take a while and a lot of work ...
8
votes
Accepted
Why does ExoMars need stereo ground-penetrating radar "eyes"?
A single basic radar antenna can't tell you much. The most basic radar setup involves a fixed sending and receiving antenna and some software and drivers. Modern radar then uses a frequency ramp up or ...
7
votes
Accepted
Will the ExoMars rover offer some unique science capability?
The rover will be the first that can drill to a depth of 2 m (compared to a few cm for Curiosity). Its instruments for analyzing the drill samples will be more advanced than those on Curiosity. And it ...
7
votes
Fancy locomotion for rovers
The question is exploratory in nature and seems to allow for some degree of flexibility, so I will pick and choose words and address:
fancy locomotion for rovers
and
How close do already launched ...
6
votes
Is the ESA Roscosmos ExoMars Orbiter capable of detecting the NASA landers and rovers on the surface of Mars?
Yes! Just barely.
On Feb 23th ExoMars spotted Perseverance, its parachute, descent stage, and heat shield with its 4.5 m per pixel color stereo surface imaging camera (CaSSIS). Of course, it helped ...
6
votes
Schiaparelli 2?
Schiaparelli was a demonstration mission, not a science mission, and as far as I know there are no plans to repeat it.
There are however plans for a joint ESA-Russia Mars lander, currently planned to ...
6
votes
Accepted
Is this a first Mars aerobraking for ESA, or for anyone?
ESA has done aerobraking with Venus Express. NASA has done aerobraking at Mars several times, as well as at Venus. This will be the first time that ESA has done aerobraking at Mars.
5
votes
Accepted
What launch vehicle will be used for Exomars rover Rosalind Franklin?
A Proton rocket will be used to launch the mission, which will arrive
to Mars after a nine-month journey.
The Proton rocket is from Roscosmos.
From this ESA page
5
votes
Will the Rosalind Franklin (ExoMars) rover solar panels be able to clear themselves of dust by tilting?
Theoretically, yes the Rosalind Franklin rover can tilt its solar panels to get martian dust off of it. But I think that once the solar panels are deployed, it's not able to tilt it individually, ...
5
votes
Curiosity is still dirty! How will the ExoMARS Rover keep its solar panels dust-free and collecting sufficient power?
This is from 2005, not sure if still exactly the same but the plan is variable inclination solar panels can be tilted anywhere from horizontal to vertical (folded up like a butterfly). So it can tilt ...
5
votes
Accepted
Insight on EDM Schiaparelli's IMU error and subsequent failed landing
Apparently the lander was moving around too much. Shaking, swinging under the parachute or something like that. The IMU went out of its measurement range and reported incorrect values for 1 second.
...
5
votes
Schiaparelli 2?
Space scientists always work on two prototypes just in case something
goes wrong"
Well, this assumption is partially wrong.
Not really.
First, it is already very expensive to create one mission, ...
5
votes
Accepted
Will Exo Mars serve as a relay for non ESA/Roscosmos missions?
Yes, Electra radio package is provided by NASA/JPL, and NASA fully expects to utilize it's capabilities for it's own future missions.
Plans call for the TGO to use its Electra radios for ...
4
votes
Accepted
How will the Exomars rover communicate back to Earth?
Yes, it always needs an orbiter to communicate with Earth.
The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, part of the 2016 ExoMars mission, will support communications. The Rover Operations Control Centre (ROCC) ...
4
votes
Will the Rosalind Franklin (ExoMars) rover solar panels be able to clear themselves of dust by tilting?
Um, in 2009, it did have tilting solar array ability. But not for dust removal.
OP's question: Will the Rosalind Franklin (ExoMars) rover solar panels be able to clear themselves of dust by tilting?
...
4
votes
China, UAE and US all sending missions to Mars in 2020 (Summer of L̶o̶v̶e Mars); how far apart are their frequencies?
There is an international standard for space communications https://ccsds.org/ Therefore it is no more difficult than WiFI
Today, leading space communications experts from 27 nations collaborate in ...
3
votes
Is it possible that Curiosity Rover measured its own methane or failed doing the spectrometry?
July 2021 update: It's a daily variation, not an instrument problem
A NASA article explains that the difference between the methane measurements of Curiosity and the Trace Gas Orbiter is due to the ...
3
votes
Accepted
What are transonic oscillations (wrist mode) and would Schiaparelli have been transonic at 2 to 4 km altitude?
Wrist mode:
These large changes in parachute loading can couple with the “wrist mode” of the (MSL) entry body where, as the two bodies descend, the entry body rotates about its center of mass.
...
3
votes
Why does ExoMars have more landing ellipse flexibility in 2020 than in 2018?
My answer is based on the article: "Selecting a Landing Site for the ExoMars 2018 Mission".
Vago, J.L., Lorenzoni, L., Calantropio, F. et al. Sol Syst Res (2015) 49: 538. https://doi.org/10.1134/...
3
votes
Accepted
For the three spacecraft now on their way to Mars plus ExoMars, how many have any solar power capability during transit?
I would guess all four spacecrafts use solar power during transit.
Tianwen-1 seems to have solar power during cruise:
Power: Solar cells, batteries (cruise stage) Solar cells, batteries (rover)
...
2
votes
How will the Exomars rover communicate back to Earth?
The answer by @Hobbes covers the first question well - there always needs to be an orbiter to act as a relay. (If you are only working with solar power, direct-to-earth comms is a bit of a stretch.)
...
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