The Mars Science Laboratory team had been putting in effort to make a Training Venue to allow for parallel shadow tactical operations for trainees to actively work alongside the prime tactical ...operations personnel without affecting operations, since staffing constraints and shortened operations timelines were straining the tactical process in supporting operations trainees in the traditional way. The COVID- 19 Pandemic presented further challenges in continuing on-console training for MSL operations trainees. The MSL operations team switched to fully remote operations, thus hampering the direct mentorship a trainee would normally receive while on site at JPL. The Mars 2020 training team had developed a concept for rover operations training simulations based on Johnson Space Center's extensive simulations training program for astronauts and flight controllers. The MSL team borrowed this idea, and implemented these training simulations which are called Practical Operational Readiness Gambits (PORGs). The PORGs so far have focused on the Science Planner and Rover Planner roles, which are two crucial roles in tactical operations that engage in key interactions throughout a shift. PORGs are based on actual sol scenarios that have occurred on Mars and follow the tactical operations process and timeline as closely as possible. However, unlike an operations shift, PORGs can slow down or pause to allow for more mentoring time. PORGs can focus on particular skills to test the trainees on their understanding of a concept. PORGs increase in complexity with each scenario to ease the trainees into more typical tactical operations workloads. As more trainees join the MSL operations team, more roles are being incorporated into PORGs. There are plans to incorporate certified operations personnel into PORGs to practice anomaly response situations. PORGs have become an essential part of the MSL operations training program and will continue even after the return to on-site operations at JPL.
•Calculations indicate the air within Gale Crater is less dusty than expected.•Low dust within the crater reconciles column optical depths at MER-B and MSL.•REMS and Navcam comparison indicate ...vortices are unable to raise dust at Gale.•One optically thick dust devil is observed at 3-sigma level and described.•Dustless vortices, low in-crater dust consistent with modeled suppressed PBL modeled suppressed PBL.
The Navigation Cameras (Navcam) of the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, have been used to examine two aspects of the planetary boundary layer: vertical dust distribution and dust devil frequency. The vertical distribution of dust may be obtained by using observations of the distant crater rim to derive a line-of-sight optical depth within Gale Crater and comparing this optical depth to column optical depths obtained using Mastcam observations of the solar disc. The line of sight method consistently produces lower extinctions within the crater compared to the bulk atmosphere. This suggests a relatively stable atmosphere in which dust may settle out leaving the air within the crater clearer than air above and explains the correlation in observed column opacity between the floor of Gale Crater and the higher elevation Meridiani Planum. In the case of dust devils, despite an extensive campaign only one optically thick vortex (τ=1.5±0.5×10−3) was observed compared to 149 pressure events >0.5Pa observed in REMS pressure data. Correcting for temporal coverage by REMS and geographic coverage by Navcam still suggests 104 vortices should have been viewable, suggesting that most vortices are dustless. Additionally, the most intense pressure excursions observed on other landing sites (pressure drop >2.5Pa) are lacking from the observations by the REMS instrument. Taken together, these observations are consistent with pre-landing circulation modeling of the crater showing a suppressed, shallow boundary layer. They are further consistent with geological observations of dust that suggests the northern portion of the crater is a sink for dust in the current era.
•Variations in opacity at MSL are up to 0.047 and match best with high altitude cloud.•Where formed, clouds have regular spacing and estimated wavelengths of 2.0 to 3.3km.•Lack of clouds suggests ...Gale is relatively dry; MSL experience suggests an icier early Phoenix mission.
We report on the first 360 sols (LS 150° to 5°), representing just over half a Martian year, of atmospheric monitoring movies acquired using the NavCam imager from the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover Curiosity. Such movies reveal faint clouds that are difficult to discern in single images. The data set acquired was divided into two different classifications depending upon the orientation and intent of the observation. Up to sol 360, 73 Zenith movies and 79 Supra-Horizon movies have been acquired and time-variable features could be discerned in 25 of each. The data set from MSL is compared to similar observations made by the Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) onboard the Phoenix Lander and suggests a much drier environment at Gale Crater (4.6°S) during this season than was observed in Green Valley (68.2°N) as would be expected based on latitude and the global water cycle. The optical depth of the variable component of clouds seen in images with features are up to 0.047±0.009 with a granularity to the features observed which averages 3.8°. MCS also observes clouds during the same period of comparable optical depth at 30 and 50km that would suggest a cloud spacing of 2.0 to 3.3km. Multiple motions visible in atmospheric movies support the presence of two distinct layers of clouds. At Gale Crater, these clouds are likely caused by atmospheric waves given the regular spacing of features observed in many Zenith movies and decreased spacing towards the horizon in sunset movies consistent with clouds forming at a constant elevation. Reanalysis of Phoenix data in the light of the NavCam equatorial dataset suggests that clouds may have been more frequent in the earlier portion of the Phoenix mission than was previously thought.
In April 2021, the Ingenuity helicopter achieved the first powered flight on another planet. In its first flight, the helicopter rose to a 3-meter altitude, performed a hover, and softly landed back ...on the surface of Mars. The entire feat was filmed by its host mission: the Perseverance rover. In the month following this event, Ingenuity achieved four more flights, each more ambitious than the last. Each flight was carefully coordinated with the rover and included imaging, video, and even audio of the flights. The path to achieving this first flight was not only a set of groundbreaking technological advancements, but also involved highly complex operations that had to be coordinated across two different projects - something that is rarely done on surfaces of other planets. This paper provides a look into the operational challenges of coordinating the interface between the Ingenuity and Perseverance spacecrafts and the lessons learned along the way, with the hope of informing future missions attempting a similar type of interface. Notably, the importance of establishing clear sets of responsibilities, of testing both the system and the processes, and of building clear decision points as well as flexibility into operations plans are highlighted as key factors in ensuring the success of such coordinated missions.
Martian clouds and dust play an important part of the radiative transfer and energy balance budget. To assist in fully understanding the impact of clouds and dust, the complete diurnal cycle needs to ...be characterized. One of the best methods to track diurnal variations on Mars is by measuring optical depth. The spatial and temporal trends of optical depth give insight into the dust and water cycles of the Martian atmosphere.
Until now, spacecraft could only obtain optical depth during the day. In this thesis, nighttime images from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit are used to calculate nighttime optical depth using photometric methods to capture star flux. Bright stars in well-known constellations are used in this analysis. The observed flux was compared to the expected flux to give nighttime optical depth values. The observed nighttime optical depth was consistently similar to the daytime optical depth values on both an individual image and sol-averaged basis.
Recommendations are made going forward to use the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity for conducting an optimal nighttime optical depth campaign to fully characterize the diurnal dust and water cycles of Mars. The Curiosity rover is well suited for nighttime imaging and can potentially provide valuable insight into the nighttime dust and cloud trends.
Learner driver on Mars Cossins, Daniel
New scientist (1971),
09/2018, Volume:
239, Issue:
3193
Magazine Article
Keri Bean dreams of driving the solar system's slowest vehicle. She tells Daniel Cossins her fears that the stricken Opportunity rover won't wake up and why NASA has grief counsellors on speed-dial
Health Interpreters enable effective communication between health practitioners and patients with limited knowledge of the predominant language. This study developed and evaluated a training session ...introducing Health Interpreters to genetics. The online training was delivered multiple times as a single 2-h session comprising lectures and activities. Participants completed questionnaires (pre-, post-, and 6-months follow-up) to assess the impact of training on knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy, and self-reported practice behaviour. Questionnaires were analysed using descriptive statistics, Fisher's Exact, or independent
-test. In total, 118 interpreters participated in the training sessions. Respondent knowledge improved, with gains maintained at 6-months (
< 0.01). There were no changes in self-efficacy, and attitudes. Training did not change self-reported practice behaviour, but there was notable pre-existing variability in participants' methods of managing unknown genetic words. Most respondents agreed that training was useful (93%) and relevant (79%) to their work. More respondents reported learning more from the case study activity (86%) than the group activity (58%). Health Interpreters found the training acceptable and demonstrated sustained improvement in knowledge of genetic concepts. Increased delivery of this training and associated research is needed to assess findings in a larger cohort and to measure the impact on patients.
A U.S.-Japan expert workshop on mobile alert and warning was held online 8–10 September 2021. Funded by the Japan Foundation’s Center for Global Partnership (CGP) and responding to the Sendai ...Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the workshop compared U.S. and Japanese mobile alert and warning contexts, systems, policies, and messages to investigate possibilities for international harmonization of mobile device-based early warning. The workshop’s sessions revealed two interrelated issues that repeatedly surfaced among workshop participants: culture and policy. The workshop illuminated several possibilities and problems confronting U.S., Japanese, and global stakeholders as they develop, deploy, and seek to improve the effectiveness of mobile alert and warning systems and messages.
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