FIDO fun

“Fetch, FIDO, Fetch”

By Steven Wong

 

        FIDO will be used as a Mars prototype rover in the desert.  Everything must be perfect for this next Mars Exploration.  The pressure is on for the team of over a hundred scientists and engineers on this project.  We (the L.A. team) met with six of them, Bob Anderson, Jeff Norris, Kevin Talley, Paul Herrera, Eric Baumgartner, and Hrand Aghazarian.  They explained to us that it would take every member of the team to work together in order for the Mars Exploration to be successful.

        FIDO is an extraordinary piece of technology.  FIDO must have a mind of it’s own because the controllers will be blind to where the Mars rover will be positioned.  Data may take over thirty minutes to travel from Earth to Mars and back.  FIDO must be aware of rocks in its path and steep inclines.  FIDO may go on a forty degree incline, but the maximum incline engineers are willing to try is thirty degrees.

        The most difficult subject for the workers on FIDO is what instruments it will have and what instruments to leave out.  This is due to the fact that there is a limit on the weight of FIDO and the actual Mars rover (Athena).  If the rover is even a couple of grams off weight, it can miss landing on Mars entirely.  We thought that a ten-gram brush would be useful on the rover, but the idea was rejected because it would be over weight.  Other instruments we had in mind, such as a microphone, a shovel, and double-sided solar panels would also be too heavy to be placed on the rover.  It’s also a matter of how the rover will be able to use these instruments; other parts such as an extra extension, retracting arm, or delivery system may be needed.  The weight would just be too overwhelming.  We were asked the question, “If it was up to you, what instruments would you put on the rover?” by Jeff Norris.  The answer to this relies upon the mission objectives, so now I ask you, “What instruments would you put on FIDO?” 

 

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