Exploring the Universe I The Solar System Homework Assignment 3

2. Roving Mars Scientists controlling the $700 million Mars Rover Spirit do not want to drive it off a cliff!
Every command must be confirmed before it is carried out, just in case the message is corrupted on the way
to Mars. With the current time-delay of 17 minutes, this makes controlling Spirit a slow process.
Imagine the following simple task. Spirit has identified an interesting rock 10 metres away. Your job is to
drive the rover over to the rock, activate the camera, take a picture and transmit the picture back to Earth.
Assume it takes 30 minutes for the rover to roll to the rock but all other activities take no time to complete.
Complete the following log entry, recording the commands you send (JPL), Spirit’s transmissions (S), the
time it takes (T) for the command to reach the recipient and the total elapsed time (TET) for the mission.
The beginning of the conversation is given. (Add another page if you need more space.)
# Communication T TET
(min) (H:M)
1. JPL: Drive forward 10 metres 17 0:17
2. S: Please confirm, “drive forward 10 metres” 17 0:34
3. JPL: Confirm: drive forward 10 metres 17 0:51
4. S: drives 10 metres 30 1:29
5.
Astronomy 310 (Newbury) Summer 2007