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We have proven designs for Mars rovers, and a proven delivery system. The R&D has been done, the infrastructure is in place - why don't we send some more? We

We have proven designs for Mars rovers, and a proven delivery system. The R&D has been done, the infrastructure is in place - why don't we send some more? We should be able to make incremental updates and constantly improve the rovers capabilities.

mturmon 10y ago
That's pretty much what we have done: http://imgur.com/3Hg9O http://imgur.com/3Hg9O (Pathfinder, Spirit/Opportunity, Curiosity). Mars2020 isn't designed yet, but it will be based on Curiosity.
- mastazi 10y ago
  Thank you, that is actually a great picture! Most pictures of the rovers fail to depict the difference in size between Sojourner (the Pathfinder rover), Spirit/Opportunity and Curiosity which is the largest to date. Besides rovers, on the surface there are also several landers, sent by USA, USSR, UK and ESA. A complete list of human made objects landed on extra terrestrial bodies is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_landings_on_extraterrestrial_bodies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_landings_on_extraterre... I suspect the above link just made someone's week end ;-) UPDATE On a separate note, it would be very interesting if future (manned or unmanned) missions could visit artifacts sent by previous missions and assess their state / decay over time. The only example that I know of is Surveyor 3 (moon unmanned lander) which was visited by the Apollo 12 mission a couple of years later. For some reason, my dream is one day to be able to travel to Mars and visit Spirit in its final resting place at Troy[1]. [1] http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA12205 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA12205
- photogrammetry 10y ago
  Mars 2020 is designed yet, you can view its design and experiments here: http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ Sure, it may not be fully officially built, but it has been designed almost to completion.
  - mastazi 10y ago
    Since the vehicle design is based on Opportunity, I would say the biggest news is the array of sensor/instruments on board: http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/instruments/ http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/instruments/
trose 10y ago
The rovers we sent cost us about $400 million each. And one failed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Exploration_Rover https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Exploration_Rover
- dogma1138 10y ago
  Considering that both rovers were planned to last for 90 days each both of them outlasted their mission like a boss you can't say any of them failed, yes Spirit has failed but after 2269 days in operation. Opportunity by this time must be fueled by some dark magic since the darn thing out lasted it's planned mission by freaking 12 years.
  - mey 10y ago
    https://xkcd.com/1504/ https://xkcd.com/1504/
    - mxvzr 10y ago
      https://xkcd.com/695/ https://xkcd.com/695/
- mastazi 10y ago
  Are you Ken M? https://www.reddit.com/r/KenM/comments/4944og/ken_m_on_the_curiosity_rover/ https://www.reddit.com/r/KenM/comments/4944og/ken_m_on_the_c...
wott 10y ago
It's like software. Once you finally manage to get something kinda reliably working, you ditch it and start a new one.
fla 10y ago
different hardware for different types of mission / cost
amelius 10y ago
Speaking of which, why didn't the Schiaparelli use a proven design for the landing system?
- zardo 10y ago
  NASA was going to provide the landing technology, but the funding was cut.
lmm 10y ago
The teams rarely stay together - there's often no stable funding source, and much of the grunt work is done by grad students. And the technology is advancing all the time - we're sending heavier and heavier landers, with better and better instruments. Even on Earth, if you were on a team investigating animal migration (say), you probably wouldn't be thrilled to use the same hardware that the last team used 8 years ago.

mturmon 10y ago

That's pretty much what we have done: http://imgur.com/3Hg9O http://imgur.com/3Hg9O (Pathfinder, Spirit/Opportunity, Curiosity). Mars2020 isn't designed yet, but it will be based on Curiosity.

mastazi 10y ago
Thank you, that is actually a great picture! Most pictures of the rovers fail to depict the difference in size between Sojourner (the Pathfinder rover), Spirit/Opportunity and Curiosity which is the largest to date. Besides rovers, on the surface there are also several landers, sent by USA, USSR, UK and ESA. A complete list of human made objects landed on extra terrestrial bodies is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_landings_on_extraterrestrial_bodies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_landings_on_extraterre... I suspect the above link just made someone's week end ;-) UPDATE On a separate note, it would be very interesting if future (manned or unmanned) missions could visit artifacts sent by previous missions and assess their state / decay over time. The only example that I know of is Surveyor 3 (moon unmanned lander) which was visited by the Apollo 12 mission a couple of years later. For some reason, my dream is one day to be able to travel to Mars and visit Spirit in its final resting place at Troy[1]. [1] http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA12205 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA12205
photogrammetry 10y ago
Mars 2020 is designed yet, you can view its design and experiments here: http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ Sure, it may not be fully officially built, but it has been designed almost to completion.
- mastazi 10y ago
  Since the vehicle design is based on Opportunity, I would say the biggest news is the array of sensor/instruments on board: http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/instruments/ http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/instruments/

trose 10y ago

The rovers we sent cost us about $400 million each. And one failed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Exploration_Rover https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Exploration_Rover

dogma1138 10y ago
Considering that both rovers were planned to last for 90 days each both of them outlasted their mission like a boss you can't say any of them failed, yes Spirit has failed but after 2269 days in operation. Opportunity by this time must be fueled by some dark magic since the darn thing out lasted it's planned mission by freaking 12 years.
- mey 10y ago
  https://xkcd.com/1504/ https://xkcd.com/1504/
  - mxvzr 10y ago
    https://xkcd.com/695/ https://xkcd.com/695/
mastazi 10y ago
Are you Ken M? https://www.reddit.com/r/KenM/comments/4944og/ken_m_on_the_curiosity_rover/ https://www.reddit.com/r/KenM/comments/4944og/ken_m_on_the_c...

wott 10y ago

It's like software. Once you finally manage to get something kinda reliably working, you ditch it and start a new one.

fla 10y ago

different hardware for different types of mission / cost

amelius 10y ago

Speaking of which, why didn't the Schiaparelli use a proven design for the landing system?

zardo 10y ago
NASA was going to provide the landing technology, but the funding was cut.

lmm 10y ago

The teams rarely stay together - there's often no stable funding source, and much of the grunt work is done by grad students. And the technology is advancing all the time - we're sending heavier and heavier landers, with better and better instruments. Even on Earth, if you were on a team investigating animal migration (say), you probably wouldn't be thrilled to use the same hardware that the last team used 8 years ago.