6 replies on “Interesting engineering article about the weakest part of the Curiosity Rover on Mars”
Someone clearly messed up here on testing. These wheels started showing wear almost immediately after the Rover started to traverse the surface of Mars. It would be a shame if they fail before the goals are accomplished.
Bryan Brennan I’m not sure if I agree or disagree. The article delves into the engineering tradeoffs of heavier wheels: the extra weight may have harmed the mission by making the landing too difficult. But agreed that it would be a bummer if they failed completely before reaching Mt Sharp’s summit
Tyson Prepper Parts would have to be stored aboard the rover. It travels too slowly to go back for repairs. Weight then becomes an issue.
Tyson Prepper no, it’s physics. Search for the phrase “tyranny of the rocket equation”. Fuel goes up exponentially with weight. Every gram counts.
They send it all that way and didn’t check it out first idiots
Josser K did you even read the article? If you had you would know that, yes, they did test the wheels extensively. But they needed to make a trade-off between weight and strength. To thoroughly “check it out first” would require a trip to Mars!
Someone clearly messed up here on testing. These wheels started showing wear almost immediately after the Rover started to traverse the surface of Mars. It would be a shame if they fail before the goals are accomplished.
Bryan Brennan I’m not sure if I agree or disagree. The article delves into the engineering tradeoffs of heavier wheels: the extra weight may have harmed the mission by making the landing too difficult. But agreed that it would be a bummer if they failed completely before reaching Mt Sharp’s summit
Tyson Prepper Parts would have to be stored aboard the rover. It travels too slowly to go back for repairs. Weight then becomes an issue.
Tyson Prepper no, it’s physics. Search for the phrase “tyranny of the rocket equation”. Fuel goes up exponentially with weight. Every gram counts.
They send it all that way and didn’t check it out first idiots
Josser K did you even read the article? If you had you would know that, yes, they did test the wheels extensively. But they needed to make a trade-off between weight and strength. To thoroughly “check it out first” would require a trip to Mars!