New answers tagged

15 votes

What is a Mars 5-sol orbit?

tl;dr it's an orbit around Mars with a period 5-sols long, but in the literature they're typically parking orbits so don't assume they're circular. Check the last two paragraphs for a potential trap. ...
  • 6,940
3 votes
Accepted

Were the distances traversed by Perseverance on Sol 718 and 719 each exactly 415.27 m or were they added together 415.27 m and if so, why?

Partial answer: I don't believe this was a continuous drive, because NavCam images are provided for the end of the Sol 718 drive. Paul Hammond, one of the community contributors on r/...
  • 6,940
22 votes
Accepted

Google maps for Space exploration

[...] Distance, Route, Space points, Shortest distance available to reach the destination from Planet Earth. For this purpose, space maps tend to be more abstract. If they weren't, solar system maps ...
18 votes

Google maps for Space exploration

Google Earth Pro already includes the Moon and Mars. I don't think it covers traveling there though.
0 votes

Can Martian regolith be easily melted with microwaves?

It should be possible to melt Martian regolith by applying enough energy, however is this really the best use of limited electrical resources? It would take a good deal of experimentation to refine, ...
  • 7,796
1 vote

Can Martian regolith be easily melted with microwaves?

Leapfrogging from the comment by Erin Anne and the answer by Woody. Using raw, unprocessed Martian regolith will most likely not be successful as Woody states in his answer. However, with ...
  • 12k
7 votes

Can Martian regolith be easily melted with microwaves?

Answer: Not really. Martian regolith may be heated with microwaves. Considering this “easy” is a stretch. The two most common components of regolith are certainly not “easily” heated with microwaves. ...
  • 14.1k
4 votes

Mars transfer window frequency

It turns out you have a lot more flexibility in terms of transit times and surface stays than you'd think. I really like this plot by Casey Handmer. Above the X-axis, it shows the transfer windows ...
  • 41
8 votes
Accepted

Mirror size and pixel resolution on planetary surfaces

The question does not make optical sense (as currently asked) and does not have a numerical answer. Aperture size affects the diffraction limit, but pixel size is an independent choice, and you need ...
  • 149k

Top 50 recent answers are included