CitronBleu wrote:The participants in the review board are discussing the
believability of the project. This is the word they used.
This is from p. F-4, Appendix F: Final Round Table, Reviewer comments from round table after peer review
CitronBleu - this is really good work on your part to get this much information and to look at it closely. When I read this it confirmed my initial suspicion in that it was just NASA's "wishful" thinking that they covered all eventualities WITHOUT actually physically testing a similar setup on Earth. To just simulate and then fly off into space is simply NUTS.
If Mobius was giving them problems without anything dangling below it then I just find it very hard to take on faith that Curiousity would be less trouble.
So who did this miracle for JPL ? Well it was a computer program call "Adams" from this software company,
SANTA ANA, CA–(Business Wire – August 17th, 2012) – MSC Software Corporation today announced that its Adams multibody dynamics software played a crucial role in enabling the extraordinary descent and landing of the Curiosity Rover onto Mars on Sunday evening (August 5th). A team of engineers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) performed a series of critical computer simulations of the sky crane maneuver sequences. In graceful fashion, the JPL team successfully and precisely placed the rover onto the Red Planet, in what many are calling an “immense technical achievement.
http://www.mscsoftware.com/
Now you would think that it would be a company with YEARS of experience in working on complex machinery in the AEROSPACE Industry. Well one would think, but reality is different. Their customer list is extremely short and it is 2016 !!!
Car - Adams-Marc Co-Simulations Reduce Cost and Time Involved in Suspension Development
Tractor - Adams/Machinery Cuts Time to Test Driveline Design from Months to Two Weeks
So
At an altitude of 1.1 miles and a velocity of 220 mph, the Curiosity rover and its descent stage will literally drop out of the bottom of the aeroshell.
"Adams" allowed them to plan for all possibilities. I hope they programmed in the Martian Dust Devils
And this leads in nicely to this interesting aspect. So what is the Martian Atmosphere really like ?
http://davidaroffman.com/photo2_12.html
Some people are finding holes in the NASA data and the issue of Martian Dust Devils is a perfect example (besides the colors issue) of this. Wind means pressure changes. Are they measured by all the probes on the surface ? Apparently NASA data does not show conditions which would generate such funnels of fine dust !!!
Here is a radio program where the father of the young guy who did this work discusses the issues with the NASA data on Martian atmosphere.
*yawn*
: