Don't know the details, but a robotic arm that drills and then lifts
maximum of approximately 1cm cores and injectes them into sample
analysis chambers as well as a return craft is a very complex piece of
machinery, similar to the Russian undertaking of Luna when 170 g were
last returned similarly and successfully. Since this is not a manned
mission, the scale is much smaller than would be required to go well
over 46 million miles to Mars' moon vs. a measly jaunt in the local
neighborhood to Earth's moon which is like 0.25 million miles away.
Now thinking out loud, if what sort of hydraulics or electric motor
requiring what power at Martian dstances to the Sun would be required
on those Solar cells. It reminds me of the case of my Pickup truck
battery which doubles as my power source in a strewn field. Hook up
the inverter and running a half inch drill is quite a lot of energy and
basically I can't do it. Now, how big did you want yours and what
piledriver power source would be available with the infrastructure to
support it? Just a rhetorical question really thinking aloud. ...And
then how would you inject and seal them successfully in a sample return
capsule which needs to successfully pass through Earht's atmosphere
after the hard trip is over.
Other benefits imaginable with their mechanical arm taking smaller
samples is that, depending on it's reach, it can sample a greater
variety of materials rather than trying to figure out how an ant-sized
set up can carry something 5 times its size and tucking into the
capsule which only could work once, perhaps.
The United States, by comparison, has never returned anything more than
dust except when using the monster brawny Apollo mission. And some of
those only returned 50 kg after taking two men. One could ask why the
astronauts were put on a more restricted diet to bring back a few more
pounds of rocks!
Anyway, that is how I would try to answer this
Kindest wishes
Doug
-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Deckert <[email protected]>
To: baalke <[email protected]>; meteorite-list
<[email protected]>; MexicoDoug <[email protected]>
Sent: Thu, Oct 13, 2011 10:19 pm
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Daring Russian Sample Return Mission to
Phobos Aims For November Liftoff
Hi All,
I have some questions about this. I realize that there are likely some
limitations to be considered, and that this is an incredible
undertaking,
but 200 grams is not much material to bring back. Why the small
payload?
Would a greater sample weight negatively influence of the survival of
this
capsule during reentry through Earth's atmosphere? And why would it
not be
provided with some kind of transmitter to help locate it after it lands?
Ed
----- Original Message -----
From: "MexicoDoug" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2011 8:46 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Daring Russian Sample Return Mission to
Phobos
Aims For November Liftoff
August 2014:
"capsule will enter Earth's atmosphere at a speed of 12 kilometers
per
second. The capsule has neither parachute nor radio communication and
will
break its speed thanks to its conical shape"
Sounds like a GREAT hunt, both for the ~ 200 g of Phobos to be
returned
and for the capsule itself in 2014.
Kudos to the ROSCOSMOS !!!
Kindest wishes
Doug
-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Baalke <[email protected]>
To: Meteorite Mailing List <[email protected]>
Sent: Thu, Oct 13, 2011 6:18 pm
Subject: [meteorite-list] Daring Russian Sample Return Mission to
Phobos
Aims For November Liftoff
http://www.universetoday.com/89845/daring-russian-sample-return-mission-to-martian-moon-phobos-aims-for-november-liftoff/
Daring Russian Sample Return mission to Martian Moon Phobos aims for
November Liftoff
by Ken Kremer
Universe Today
October 13, 2011
In just over 3 weeks time, Russia plans to launch a bold mission to
Mars
who's
objective, if successful, is to land on the Martian Moon Phobos and
return
a
cargo of precious soil samples back to Earth about three years later.
The purpose is to determine the origin and evolution of Phobos and how
that relates to Mars and the evolution of the solar system.
Liftoff of the Phobos-Grunt space probe will end a nearly two decade
long hiatus in Russia's exploration of the Red Planet following the
failed Mars 96 mission and is currently scheduled to head to space
just
weeks prior to this year's other Mars mission - namely NASA's next
Mars
rover, the Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory (MSL).
Blastoff of Phobos-Grunt may come as early as around Nov. 5 to Nov. 8
atop a Russian Zenit 3-F rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan. The launch window extends until about Nov. 25. Elements of
the spacecraft are undergoing final prelaunch testing at Baikonur.
Baikonur is the same location from which Russian manned Soyuz rockets
lift off for the International Space Station. Just like NASA's
Curiosity
Mars rover, the mission was originally intended for a 2009 launch but
was
prudently delayed to fix a number of technical problems.
"November will see the launch of the Phobos-Grunt interplanetary
automatic research station aimed at delivering samples of the Martian
natural satellite's soil to Earth", said Vladimir Popovkin, head of
the
Russian Federal Space Agency, speaking recently at a session of the
State Duma according to the Voice of Russia, a Russian government news
agency.
The spacecraft will reach the vicinity of Mars after an 11 month
interplanetary cruise around October 2012. Following several months of
orbital science investigations of Mars and its two moons and searching
for a safe landing site, Phobos-Grunt will attempt history's first
ever
touchdown on Phobos. It will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the
surface of the tiny moon and collect up to 200 grams of soil and rocks
with a robotic arm and drill.
After about a year of surface operations, the loaded return vehicle
will
blast off from Phobos and arrive back at Earth around August 2014.
These
would be the first macroscopic samples returned from another body in
the
solar system since Russia's Luna 24 in 1976.
"The way back will take between nine and 11 months, after which the
return capsule will enter Earth's atmosphere at a speed of 12
kilometers
per second. The capsule has neither parachute nor radio communication
and will break its speed thanks to its conical shape," said chief
spacecraft constructor Maksim Martynov according to a report from the
Russia Today news agency. He added that there are two soil collection
manipulators on the lander because of uncertainties in the
characteristics of Phobos soil.
Phobos-Grunt was built by NPO Lavochkin and consists of a cruise
stage,
orbiter/lander, ascent vehicle, and Earth return vehicle.
The spacecraft weighs nearly 12,000 kg and is equipped with a
sophisticated 50 kg international science payload, in particular from
France and CNES, the French Space Agency.
Also tucked aboard is the Yinghou-1 microsatellite supplied by China.
The 110 kg Yinghou-1 is China's first probe to launch to Mars and will
study the Red Planet's magnetic and gravity fields and surface
environment from orbit for about 1 year.
"It will be the first time such research [at Mars] will be done by two
spacecraft simultaneously. The research will help understand how the
erosion of Mars' atmosphere happens," said Professor Lev Zelyony from
the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Science,
according to Russia Today.
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