Will Mars Rover Curiosity Become a Dune Buggy?

[jakeXT]

NASA’s one-ton rover Curiosity has been feeling the wrath of the Martian landscape in recent months and now mission managers are seeking out a smoother path to the robot’s ultimate goal.

In a new panorama photographed by Curiosity’s Mastcam, a smooth dune bridges two craggy scarps, beyond which rover drivers hope to find a landscape that may be a little more forgiving on the rover’s aluminum wheels.

In December, mission managers revealed their growing concern for the “accelerated” wheel damage Curiosity was sustaining. In short, the rough terrain inside Gale Crater is taking its toll on the rover’s six wheels, causing dings, scratches and punctures. In high-resolution photographs captured by the rover’s robotic arm-mounted MAHLI camera, the full extent of Curiosity’s wheel damage was revealed; long rips in the thin material are forming.

As the rover has 4.89 kilometers (3.04 miles) of driving under its belt, and many more miles until it reaches its ultimate destination of the slopes of Mount Sharp, mission managers want to preserve the wheels’ condition for as long as possible, so searching for smoother landscape to traverse would be “prudent,” said project manager Jim Erickson of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
http://news.discovery.com/space/will-mars-rover-curiosity-become-a-dune-buggy-140130.htm

[Travis_0004]

1. Is it too late to sign up for AAA?

In all seriousness, I wonder what went wrong. With the success of Opportunity, there was experience designing rovers for mars.

I find it a bit ironic that the record for longest distance from a rover was set in the 70's by the Russians (Lunokhod 2). Its likely that Opportunity will soon break that, but you would think technology would have improved enough that this wouldn't be an issue.

[Warren DeMontague]

2. This thing is the size of a small SUV.

Plus, it was lowered onto the Martian surface by a skycrane, and landed on its wheels. The MER Rovers landed via airbag folded up in a tetrahedron, with their wheels tucked away.

It's entirely possible that there have been wear and tear factors which didn't come into play previously, starting with a lot more weight.

[Paulie]

3. Here's a link showing the size difference

http://wordpress.mrreid.org/2011/12/14/curiosity-rover-nuclear-batter/

MSL is pretty big.

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Lunar gravity is only 40% of Martian, so that helps.

Because a trip to Mars is more difficult than one to Luna, O's launch weight was more critical, and the margin of safety in all design criteria had to be shaved pretty thin. Sure, they could have made everything heavy-gauge, but then they couldn't launch it with the available boosters.

There are LOTS of trade-offs in trying to get a functioning vehicle on the surface of a planet tens of millions of miles away (versus a quarter million).