leaf blower on mars probes

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dabolton@gmail.com - 12 Jun 2008 19:22 GMT

How come we dont have a blower attachement on the mars probes. As
evidenced by the recent lander, the engines blew away the surface dirt
unveiling presumably-ice. They should have a blower fan on the end of
the arm to manually blow away dirt. Is it too much of a power draw?

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Jochem Huhmann - 12 Jun 2008 22:21 GMT

> How come we dont have a blower attachement on the mars probes. As
> evidenced by the recent lander, the engines blew away the surface dirt
> unveiling presumably-ice. They should have a blower fan on the end of
> the arm to manually blow away dirt. Is it too much of a power draw?

A rocket engine is a different beast than a fan trying to move what's
essentially a dirty vacuum. In that thin atmosphere you'd need quite a
powerful blower to blow away soil better than you can scrape it away
with the arm...

Jochem

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"A designer knows he has arrived at perfection not when there is no
longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away."
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Space Forum / Shuttle / June 2008

leaf blower on mars probes