The MER rovers are much larger than the Pathfinder rover, yet they launched on the same Delta II rocket. How did you manage to launch Spirit and Opportunity with the same rocket as Pathfinder?
Unfortunately, I did not work on the launching system for the MER program so I don’t know all the details of the decisions that were made when chosing the launch vehicle for Spirit and Opportunity. I do know that every mission trajectory is carefully analyzed and evaluated so that just the right amount of force sends the rockets in the correct direction. Also, each launch rocket has a range of mass that it can lift. Many things influence what mass can be lifted by a rocket including, how much fuel is loaded into the rocket, exactly how the rocket needs to leave Earth’s gravity – what direction and how fast, and how well the spacecraft is balanced inside the rocket. I also know that Pathfinder went to Mars when Mars was farther away than it was for Spirit and Opportunity. So the same size rocket was probably a good choice, even though Pathfinder wasn’t as heavy as either of the MER rovers.
Related Questions
- The MER rovers are much larger than the Pathfinder rover, yet they launched on the same Delta II rocket. How did you manage to launch Spirit and Opportunity with the same rocket as Pathfinder?
- Once the Pathfinder has landed on the surface of Mars, how long does it take instructions from Earth to reach the probe? Whats to stop the Rover from driving off a cliff during the delay?
- Are plastics or other light-weight material used to make the MER Rovers?
