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When reading up on this, the commonly discussed point is that they expected other parts to fail a lot before the panels are covered in dust. Although I've never
by Rastonbury 4y ago
When reading up on this, the commonly discussed point is that they expected other parts to fail a lot before the panels are covered in dust. Although I've never found an "official" rationale
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- rtkwe 4y agoModern rovers just use RTGs and avoid the problem all together. Ingenuity couldn't and had to use solar panels but was mostly planned as a test craft so the accumulation problem would happen long after it achieved it's mission goals so it wouldn't cause a mission failure. All of the rovers start with a fairly small mission and it gets extended as it provides good science and congress/NASA finds money to continue to staff the support teams and get time on the Deep Space Network.