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Wind-driven mars tumbleweed rover to roll through rocky terrain? by ferujkll sdff
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Wind-driven mars tumbleweed rover to roll through rocky terrain? |
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Business,Business News,Business Opportunities
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"There is quite a bit of interest within NASA to pursue thetumbleweed rover design, but one of the questions regarding theconcept is how it might perform on the rocky surface of Mars,"says Dr. Andre Mazzoleni, an associate professor of mechanical andaerospace engineering (MAE) at NC State and co-author of a paperdescribing the research. "We set out to address thatquestion." Mazzoleni and Dr. Alexander Hartl, an adjunct professor of MAE atNC State, developed a computer model to determine how varying thediameter and mass of a tumbleweed rover would affect its speed andability to avoid getting stuck in Martian rock fields.
Rock fieldsare common on the surface of Mars, which averages one rock persquare meter. "We found that, in general, the larger the diameter, and thelower the overall weight, the better the rover performs,"Mazzoleni says. In addition, the study found that a tumbleweedrover would need to have a diameter of at least six meters in orderto achieve an acceptable level of performance -- meaning the rovercould move through rock fields without getting stuck. Using the model, the researchers also found that tumbleweed roversare more likely to bounce than roll across the surface, due to thespacing of the rocks and the size of the rovers.
"Computer simulations are crucial for designing Mars roversbecause the only place where you find Martian conditions is onMars," says Mazzoleni. "Earth-based testing alone cannotestablish whether a particular design will work on Mars." Marshas approximately three-eighths of Earth's gravity. And theatmospheric density on the surface of Mars is only duplicatedaround 100,000 feet above Earth's surface. Tumbleweed rovers are attractive because they can cover much largerdistances, and handle rougher terrain, than the rovers that havealready been sent to Mars -- such as Spirit and Opportunity."This model is a tool NASA can use to assess the viability ofdifferent designs before devoting the time and expense necessary tobuild prototypes," Mazzoleni says. While tumbleweed rovers would lack the precise controls of thewheeled rovers, they would also not rely on a power supply formobility -- they would be literally blown across the Martianlandscape by the wind. I am an expert from Telecommunications, usually analyzes all kind of industries situation, such as crimp ethernet cable , electronic hearing protection.
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