4 ms·
That's 3000 martian sols. So ~3090 earth days. 90 days more impressive than the headline suggests.
by shadowfaxRodeo 6y ago
That's 3000 martian sols. So ~3090 earth days. 90 days more impressive than the headline suggests.
- dmurray 6y ago3000 day/night cycles, which are possibly more wearing on the equipment than the sheer passage of time.
- messe 6y agoProbably less so for Curiosity than the other Martian rovers. It's powered by an RTG rather than solar panels, so the only difference between day and night is the temperature fluctuations, which is still significant.
- anoncake 6y agoDo light fluctuations cause wear on solar panels?
- madaxe_again 6y agoPanels wear slowly, but just from being hit by photons, blasted by dust, etc. - but that’s not the problem - batteries are. They don’t last forever, and every cycle takes a little out of their lifetime.
- jccooper 6y agoNot really, but battery cycles and powering things on and off constantly does take a toll.