Mars Rover Spirit / Opportunity

[2Kamser]

i need to get my butt of wherever it's been lately

saw on swedish tv a couple of weeks ago (and duly recorded as well) a documentary about the two Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity
both of them are really some piece of machinery they are (i want my next car to be built by NASA)
they apparently had a life expectancy of roughly 3 months and maybe one or two more - but 6 years...

read the other day on NASA homepages - NASA - Mars Exploration Rovers - that Spirit was hibernating as it is apparently Mars winter where it's at but Opportunity is on the move again

Albeit they are "old" now and as one of the NASA guys described them: "a little bit arthritic and bad eyesght" - the cameras are beginning to go unclear as the Mars dust is covering/abrasing the lenses and
Spirit has lost the both the right front and rear wheels but Opportunity though seems to be ok and is still rolling on

latest odometer readings:
on Spirit clocks in on 7,730.50 meters (4.80 miles)
and on Opportunity it clocks in on 21,760.61 meters (21.76 kilometers, or 13.52 miles). - how's that for a dollar?

have been tinkering with Ton Notebooms rover in 1/20 scale and did my usual enlargement to A3 format (did 140%) on the wheatered model

as the are exactly the same (haven't found anything that separates them)
i will call mine Spirit, as the drivers lovingly call "her"
"she" has had to fight for everything in "her life", from the landing site containing nothing but lava (Oppurtunity landed in a small crater and on the edge found signs that water or some fluid had existed ) - then after about a year or two loosing the right front wheel and have had to go on reverse since then being slowed down by the wheel which dragging also is making Spirit to go "sideways", hence the low odometer, and now also lost the right rear

funny thing with them is that there is no off switch on them as an off switch can accidentally be triggered, so as long as they can charge the batteries they will call home for all eternity if they don't experience hardware failures, or too much dust on the solar panels so the batteries can't recharge properly and die taking the last heatsource with it making them to freeze up beyond salvation

will post pics along the way

[Swampfox]

Build and post away.... I'll be waiting. I worked on the Viking project to Mars in 19 'ott 76 so I have a bit of a personal interest in models of machines that made it to the "Red Planet"

I'd really like to see how your build comes along, good luck.

Swampfox

[2Kamser]

i doesn't say so but at normal scale the two "centerpieces" are glued back to back, but at this scale i think a cardboard must go in between to stabilize it and keep it from sagging

[2Kamser]

well it feels good to get glue on my fingers again
so far no big deals, just the bit with the front cameras that was smaller than the square where it shall sit
there are lots of small fiddly bits which will be interesting as my hands don't always cooperate with me

[Paper Kosmonaut]

You're off to a good start, I see. Keep us posted!

[2Kamser]

haven't stopped, just taking it slow - kinda
started on the wheel assembly yesterday, will see how it goes
will post pics when i have got som parts to show for

[2Kamser]

anybody knows what page 5 is for on Ton's weathered model?
as it is just a big square i want is as backside of some parts

[Retired_for_now]

It's for cutting up and rolling the manipulator arm parts. See small picture on sheet 3.
Yogi

[2Kamser]

Originally Posted by Retired_for_now

It's for cutting up and rolling the manipulator arm parts. See small picture on sheet 3.
Yogi

well if i looked at the filname "__hr_sheet5onplainpaperforarm.jpg" i should have guessed it :o

sheet 5 on plain paper for arm :D:D

thanks Yogi - on the roll again

[Retired_for_now]

Welcome, as always. Looking forward to seeing the wheel suspension assemblies. Feel free to do a redesign/mod for the same on Sojourner if you like.
Yogi (just in too much of a hurry I guess...)