Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

MordinSolusSTG t1_irix1fb wrote

Reply to comment by Gimblejay in Continent-Size Dust Storm on Mars Threatens to Shorten NASA InSight Lander's Last Days by Sariel007

engineers at nasa never heard of wiper blades, smh my head

24

Legacy-ZA t1_irixgp3 wrote

Or a rotary that can turn so the dust falls off, include that with a wiper... Your golden. But alas, we have šŸ¤” running the šŸŒ so what can you expect?

−62

jmiz5 t1_irj0wsr wrote

You're calling rocket scientists clowns, but you're posting on Reddit and you don't know the proper usage of "your"

45

savagebrar t1_irjhvak wrote

I didnā€™t even know where to start cause wtf lmaoooo

8

pssiraj t1_irizdbq wrote

Not quite fair. Science on another planet is tough and ridiculously expensive. They no doubt had to choose between adding more fail-safes and saving weight and cost.

29

poqpoq t1_irj1ecz wrote

Or Martian dust is like little razor blazes and a wiper would scratch up the panels badly. A rotary makes more sense but the dust is static and some would still stick. Also a rotary is a lot of weight if it can move all the panels with good speed.

There may be a lot of clowns but NASA is not among them unless itā€™s a case of congress mandating something to them.

11

almisami t1_irk7zth wrote

The dust clings because of electrostatic charge.

As for wipers, dragging the dust would abrade the panels like sandblasting.

2

JimiWanShinobi t1_irizacp wrote

Compressed air would work too, there's no moisture in the air like on Earth so it's literally just dust. An air compressor with built-in lines pointed at the solar arrays could just blow the dust off, super simple solution...

−4

poqpoq t1_irj10wj wrote

Made a top level comment with more detail, but Martian dust is static so compressed air wouldnā€™t work well. Also thatā€™s a pretty big and heavy system if you want any power.

12

Strykker2 t1_irj5vpb wrote

And where are you going to get all the power that compressor needs?

A compressor alone would draw more power than the entire probe uses currently.

7

JimiWanShinobi t1_irj8nra wrote

Not necessarily, a small weak one like I have in my trunk could be allowed to build up enough pressure in a storage tank over time until it's needed. Another option could be pre-loaded air cartridges, might mean a limited number of uses but it could extend the life of the system...

−8

Blackpaw8825 t1_irjdyet wrote

Does the one in your trunk work at 180,000 feet? We're talking under 0.1psi, your shitbox compressor isn't even going to hold a gradient at these pressures. Each bite the compressor takes contains so little air.

Couple that with lots of vibration, additional wear surfaces, a lot of extra weight, huge power demands, and the fact that same dust is going to clog the compressor or erode it away...

This simple fix just adds a lot of complexity and failure modes.

16