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Scientific Instrumentation- Communication with Mars (Robots and Landers: Reliability) Earth and Orbiters: • UHF (Ultra High Frequency) antenna on each rovers relays information to Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor orbiters – these orbiters must be in view of the rover that is trying to communicate • There are specific times in the Martian day when the rovers can send messages to the spacecraft • Information will be stored on each orbiter and then sent to Earth sometime within the next two days – orbiters have much more power and bigger antennas than rovers to relay information to Earth Earth and Mars Rovers: • There is a lag time when communicating between Earth and Mars this lag time grows as the mission progresses because Earth and Mars move away from each other in their orbits • Beginning of mission – radio signal takes 10 minutes to Mars • End of mission – one-way radio signal takes 20 minutes to Mars • Rovers communicate with each other and the NASA DSN through X-band waves (Radio waves at higher frequency) Earth and Astronauts on Mars Astronauts on Mars will be unable to have synchronous conversations with those on Earth mainly because of a 44 minute communication delay between the two planets. They will also not be able to have the ground-based psychological support sessions usually available to astronauts and cosmonauts in space to ensure that microgravity has not affected their minds. Astronauts will therefore face extreme isolation due to lack of contact and will have to deal with problems single-handedly. Astronauts on Mars Sound cannot travel through the vacuum of space, but visible light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation can. One of these forms is commonly called radio. The astronauts have devices in their helmets which transfer the sound waves from their voices into radio waves. Radio waves are a form of electromagnetic radiation analogous to visible light, and therefore can propagate through a vacuum. Things to Consider… Factors affecting the reliability of rovers and communication devices Example: Sand or dust Storms : Positioning of Orbiters Bibliography/ References: MARS TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM http://marstech.jpl.nasa.gov/mtp/ NASA http://nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/mmb/index.html GOOGLE SCHOLAR http://scholar.google.ca SCIRUS www.scirus.com http://athena.cornell.edu/kids/bn_special_report.html http://marsrover.nasa.gov/mission/communications.html http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/06/02/space.psych/index.html WEB GATHERING SESSION www.ascg.mcmaster.ca