The LA Team went to the Jet Proportion Laboratory on March 8, 2001.  Here are questions and answers from our trip.

Are there any chance instruments on the rover to be damaged on mars? (I.e. mast, arm, etc)

• Yes, however the rover will not follow directions if it detects danger or the directions do not make sense.

Is there any way to get the rover back from Mars after it has been on the planet? 

• Currently there is no way to bring the rover back to Earth.  In this exploration the rover is on a one-way trip.

Why does the rover only take the core of an object? 

• The core has the history of rock.

Will the weather have any effect on the rover? 

• The weather is not a problem because of low air pressure on Mars.

What specific elements are you hoping to find in the rocks? 

• Evidence of water; they are trying to find out if any rocks have ever been wet.

Are there a maximum number of objects the rover can store?  

If there is and the storage is full what would be done if more rocks were found? 

• There is a cache box on FIDO, however it will not be used because the rover will not come back from Mars.

Why is the rover made of aluminum?  Wouldn’t steel be stronger? 

• Weight problem, steel would be too heavy.

Have you considered a shovel if it needs to dig? 

• Yes, but not every instrument can be added to the rover due to weight.

If dust gets onto the solar panels, how would you clean it? 

• There is no way of cleaning the panels.  They are currently experimenting with electro charge.

Have you considered flipping the solar panels over and have “double sided” solar panels. 

• It would be too heavy, also there is too much of a danger that the turning mechanism may malfunction.

Can the rover be made bigger to fit more instruments? And which ones? 

• A weight limit of the rover exists.  Also, there are limitations in the rocket’s (which takes the rover to Mars) size and there is no chance that the rocket is getting any bigger.

Why can’t you record noise on the planet? 

• Microphone would be heavy

Special Thanks to Bob Anderson, Jeff Norris, Kevin Talley, Paul Herrera, Eric Baumgartner, and Hrand Aghazarian for their time and insight.