Curiosity Rover Stalled By Sandy Trap On Mars' 'Hidden Valley'

designntrend.com ^ | Aug, 19, 2014, 02:53 PM | Mary Nichols ,

[BenLurkin]

The 1-ton Curiosity rover had been heading for Mount Sharp - a 3.4-mile-high (5.5 kilometers) mountain in the center of Mars' Gale Crater - via 'Hidden Valley' - a low-lying sandy landscape about the length of a football field.

However, Curiosity turned back shortly after entering the valley's northeastern end earlier this month after finding that the sand surprisingly slippery, NASA officials said.

'We need to gain a better understanding of the interaction between the wheels and Martian sand ripples, and Hidden Valley is not a good location for experimenting,' Curiosity project manager Jim Erickson, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, said in a statement.

The mission team is now assessing possible alternative routes that would take Curiosity north of the valley.

...

[rovenstinez]

Call Eric Holder, he knows about slippery sand.

[House Atreides]

They should have included a Sand Wedge club to get out of the sand.

[cripplecreek]

When I saw the route the mapped out a while ago I thought I would avoid the sandy area if it were me. Turns out I was right.

[molson209]

NASA needs to hire the Michelin Man for next gen Tires/Wheels

[Celtic Conservative]

What a coincidence, the president has had his own problem with sand traps lately. Like Iraq, Syria, libya, afghanistan...

CC

[1rudeboy]

When I play golf, if there’s sand, I’ll find it.

[VRWC For Truth]

Time for more Mooselimb outreach.

[mabarker1]

No they should have strapped the zer0 to it prior to launch.

[bigbob]

See, this is why NASA should consult Obama before these things happen.

[Paladin2]

Just lower the tire pressures and go faster.

[fulltlt]

They don’t have 4 wheel drive and locking differentials????

[Neidermeyer]

I’m pretty sure each wheel has it’s own electric motor so there is no differential necessary... seems like as we know the moon is all soft dust it would’ve been prudent to send a tracked vehicle.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “seems like as we know the moon is all soft dust it would’ve been prudent to send a tracked vehicle.” <<

.
Soft dust was a popular theory for the moon, until the first landing demolished it. Your bathroom floor has as much dust as was found on the moon. Sand on Mars is a whole different question.
.

[editor-surveyor]

They don’t have low pressure, big wheel paddle tires.

Electric propulsion always sends the power to the most effective wheels.
.

[Steely Tom]

IMHO this headline is just a little misleading. The forward progress of Curiosity was halted by a patch of sandy soil, but the rover is not "stalled." It was able to back out of the problem region. It is not stuck. Here is a link to basically the same story, but without quite as many annoying ads.

[dr_lew]

NASA’S Dirty Secret: Moon Dust ... “The major issue the Apollo astronauts pointed out was dust, dust, dust,” says Professor Larry Taylor, Director of the Planetary Geosciences Institute at the University of Tennessee. Fine as flour and rough as sandpaper, Moon dust caused ‘lunar hay fever,’ problems with space suits, and dust storms in the crew cabin upon returning to space.

[Neidermeyer]

Just lower the tire pressures and go faster.

*******************************

Tires are solid , small diameter and have a fairly shallow tread depth ,, so they have a wide but short contact patch with absolutely no "give" to make decent contact with the surface... which is what you were alluding to with the tire pressure. Our gravity is much stronger here and you can see the tires contact patch is not flat on the bottom.. Maybe NASA should hire some car guys before they waste money on another of these..

[Flag_This]

"Your bathroom floor has as much dust as was found on the moon."

Sweep!

[editor-surveyor]

Characteristics, not quantity!

Deep dust had been predicted, and the first landing module’s feet had been unnecessarily wide and heavy to accommodate the expected depth that was not encountered.
.