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>Balance mass should perform some type of scientific or technological function So that's 661 lbs. I wonder how far we are from a solar powered 3D printer. Can

>Balance mass should perform some type of scientific or technological function So that's 661 lbs. I wonder how far we are from a solar powered 3D printer. Can we build a self-replicating robot of any kind that would work on Mars? What practical raw materials could a machine tap, if any? Imagine this platform being used to test off-planet manufacturing. Even on a small scale it would be pretty impressive. Didn't the Mars society have a proposal for a low cost Mars mission with automated missions flown before-hand performing some kind of fuel extraction from Mars (hydrogen?) So that when humans landed, they'd tap these reservoirs of fuel instead of paying all this money to fly fuel with them. Even a small scale test of that would be a game-changer. If that's too lofty, get 50 colleges to make mini robots/sensor/whatever with a 6lbs limit, kind of like we do with CubeSats today. That leaves NASA ~350lbs for a lander to safely drop these things. Having just one single winner seems a little short-sighted. I'd rather see lots of people given the chance to drop something on Mars than just one group.

lisper 12y ago
The mass is in a number of non-connected pieces, and it gets ejected during EDL (entry, descent, and landing). Very unlikely that anything would survive once it hit the surface.
yasth 12y ago
No you can't create self replicating anything in that space. The big issue is the chip fabrication. You might be able to test making rocket fuel, but the practical point of that is probably not great (we already know it will work) as you couldn't store a useful amount, and at the moment there is nothing in the pipeline that would use it. Also only 150kg is dumped during entry. The other 150kg have a much rougher task to survive descent. (As the doc says "material surviving atmospheric reentry would impact the Mars surface approximately 10 minutes after separation at nearly 9,000 mph (4,000 m/s)." The 150kg that is dumped during the entry phase is still going to have a real rough time of it mind, but it is an easier task. Small cube-style sensor dispersal would be unlikely to survive, could pose substantial risk of main craft damage, and would be unlikely to have enough radio power. Also these things have to be dense there is not a lot of volume to work with. It is a challenge, because it is actually fairly challenging.
- voxic11 12y ago
  Even if its not fully self replicating being able to create the bulk of the structural mass and maybe even basic batteries would save a huge amount of fuel costs. Then you only need to bring control systems, motors, and radioisotope generators to mars rather then a bunch of multi ton robots.
  - yasth 12y ago
    Can't be done in that space or that mass. The hard part isn't the 3D printing (and that isn't easy, as anyone can tell you 3D printing in a controlled temperature environment with precision manufactured feed stock is still a bit touchy, using on site crafted feed in an environment that shifts 100 degrees Celsius day to night is going to be very challenging) it is the materials extraction and processing. You basically have to mine, refine, and mold Martian soil into whatever end product you have, and you have no fossil fuels to get things up to temp. To do so at all would be a massive undertaking, to do so at any kind of scale in 300 kg (assuming that magically you ended up recalculating the trajectory or something to get all 300kg in one group on the surface) is, I'm pretty sure, beyond our technology at present.

lisper 12y ago

The mass is in a number of non-connected pieces, and it gets ejected during EDL (entry, descent, and landing). Very unlikely that anything would survive once it hit the surface.

yasth 12y ago

No you can't create self replicating anything in that space. The big issue is the chip fabrication. You might be able to test making rocket fuel, but the practical point of that is probably not great (we already know it will work) as you couldn't store a useful amount, and at the moment there is nothing in the pipeline that would use it. Also only 150kg is dumped during entry. The other 150kg have a much rougher task to survive descent. (As the doc says "material surviving atmospheric reentry would impact the Mars surface approximately 10 minutes after separation at nearly 9,000 mph (4,000 m/s)." The 150kg that is dumped during the entry phase is still going to have a real rough time of it mind, but it is an easier task. Small cube-style sensor dispersal would be unlikely to survive, could pose substantial risk of main craft damage, and would be unlikely to have enough radio power. Also these things have to be dense there is not a lot of volume to work with. It is a challenge, because it is actually fairly challenging.

voxic11 12y ago
Even if its not fully self replicating being able to create the bulk of the structural mass and maybe even basic batteries would save a huge amount of fuel costs. Then you only need to bring control systems, motors, and radioisotope generators to mars rather then a bunch of multi ton robots.
- yasth 12y ago
  Can't be done in that space or that mass. The hard part isn't the 3D printing (and that isn't easy, as anyone can tell you 3D printing in a controlled temperature environment with precision manufactured feed stock is still a bit touchy, using on site crafted feed in an environment that shifts 100 degrees Celsius day to night is going to be very challenging) it is the materials extraction and processing. You basically have to mine, refine, and mold Martian soil into whatever end product you have, and you have no fossil fuels to get things up to temp. To do so at all would be a massive undertaking, to do so at any kind of scale in 300 kg (assuming that magically you ended up recalculating the trajectory or something to get all 300kg in one group on the surface) is, I'm pretty sure, beyond our technology at present.