During its final descent, how will the InSight lander know cardinal directions in order to land with proper...











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As explained in @karthikeyan's answer the InSight lander will rely upon its landing system to orient the lander properly, so that once on the ground instruments such as the RISE antennas will be pointing in the proper direction, in this case roughly East and West, more specifically, towards Earth when InSight is near the edge of the planet's disk as seen from Earth.



From this short conference paper:




For RISE, Doppler measurements will be made at times when the Earth is at low elevation, when the Doppler signature due to the rotation of Mars is largest. Two fixed medium-gain antennas, one pointed to the east and one pointed to the west, will be used to provide adequate gain for RISE.




While InSight is still moving horizontally with high velocity during its entry, it has its velocity vector (from whence it comes) as a reference with respect to the terrain. But very near the end of its seven minutes of terror, in the final hover and drop, what reference will it use for lateral orientation (rotation about the vertical)?



There's no useful planetary magnetic field for direction-finding. Is it known what cues the landing system will actually use to orient InSight correctly?










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  • 1




    I am going to taste a guess before looking up for references. I feel that surface features might be compared with the database of images from MRO, which might help in identifying the cardinal direction. Usually, the remote landing employs a camera to look directly below the probe, right from a altitude of few kilometers
    – karthikeyan
    3 hours ago








  • 1




    @karthikeyan I have a hunch that you have good taste in guesses ;-) I think there are some other answers here about terrain-based navigation on Mars in general, that may have helpful resources.
    – uhoh
    3 hours ago










  • haha! It was a typo. I meant "I am going to TAKE a guess..". Anyways, thanks for the suggestions to look into. I'll start my hunt
    – karthikeyan
    3 hours ago






  • 1




    there seems to be a lack of attitude related information! And I consider my camera backed answer as the resolutions from MRO and lander might be different.
    – karthikeyan
    28 mins ago















up vote
2
down vote

favorite












As explained in @karthikeyan's answer the InSight lander will rely upon its landing system to orient the lander properly, so that once on the ground instruments such as the RISE antennas will be pointing in the proper direction, in this case roughly East and West, more specifically, towards Earth when InSight is near the edge of the planet's disk as seen from Earth.



From this short conference paper:




For RISE, Doppler measurements will be made at times when the Earth is at low elevation, when the Doppler signature due to the rotation of Mars is largest. Two fixed medium-gain antennas, one pointed to the east and one pointed to the west, will be used to provide adequate gain for RISE.




While InSight is still moving horizontally with high velocity during its entry, it has its velocity vector (from whence it comes) as a reference with respect to the terrain. But very near the end of its seven minutes of terror, in the final hover and drop, what reference will it use for lateral orientation (rotation about the vertical)?



There's no useful planetary magnetic field for direction-finding. Is it known what cues the landing system will actually use to orient InSight correctly?










share|improve this question




















  • 1




    I am going to taste a guess before looking up for references. I feel that surface features might be compared with the database of images from MRO, which might help in identifying the cardinal direction. Usually, the remote landing employs a camera to look directly below the probe, right from a altitude of few kilometers
    – karthikeyan
    3 hours ago








  • 1




    @karthikeyan I have a hunch that you have good taste in guesses ;-) I think there are some other answers here about terrain-based navigation on Mars in general, that may have helpful resources.
    – uhoh
    3 hours ago










  • haha! It was a typo. I meant "I am going to TAKE a guess..". Anyways, thanks for the suggestions to look into. I'll start my hunt
    – karthikeyan
    3 hours ago






  • 1




    there seems to be a lack of attitude related information! And I consider my camera backed answer as the resolutions from MRO and lander might be different.
    – karthikeyan
    28 mins ago













up vote
2
down vote

favorite









up vote
2
down vote

favorite











As explained in @karthikeyan's answer the InSight lander will rely upon its landing system to orient the lander properly, so that once on the ground instruments such as the RISE antennas will be pointing in the proper direction, in this case roughly East and West, more specifically, towards Earth when InSight is near the edge of the planet's disk as seen from Earth.



From this short conference paper:




For RISE, Doppler measurements will be made at times when the Earth is at low elevation, when the Doppler signature due to the rotation of Mars is largest. Two fixed medium-gain antennas, one pointed to the east and one pointed to the west, will be used to provide adequate gain for RISE.




While InSight is still moving horizontally with high velocity during its entry, it has its velocity vector (from whence it comes) as a reference with respect to the terrain. But very near the end of its seven minutes of terror, in the final hover and drop, what reference will it use for lateral orientation (rotation about the vertical)?



There's no useful planetary magnetic field for direction-finding. Is it known what cues the landing system will actually use to orient InSight correctly?










share|improve this question















As explained in @karthikeyan's answer the InSight lander will rely upon its landing system to orient the lander properly, so that once on the ground instruments such as the RISE antennas will be pointing in the proper direction, in this case roughly East and West, more specifically, towards Earth when InSight is near the edge of the planet's disk as seen from Earth.



From this short conference paper:




For RISE, Doppler measurements will be made at times when the Earth is at low elevation, when the Doppler signature due to the rotation of Mars is largest. Two fixed medium-gain antennas, one pointed to the east and one pointed to the west, will be used to provide adequate gain for RISE.




While InSight is still moving horizontally with high velocity during its entry, it has its velocity vector (from whence it comes) as a reference with respect to the terrain. But very near the end of its seven minutes of terror, in the final hover and drop, what reference will it use for lateral orientation (rotation about the vertical)?



There's no useful planetary magnetic field for direction-finding. Is it known what cues the landing system will actually use to orient InSight correctly?







mars lander adcs insight






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edited 1 hour ago









Mark Adler

47k3119196




47k3119196










asked 6 hours ago









uhoh

32.4k16112400




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  • 1




    I am going to taste a guess before looking up for references. I feel that surface features might be compared with the database of images from MRO, which might help in identifying the cardinal direction. Usually, the remote landing employs a camera to look directly below the probe, right from a altitude of few kilometers
    – karthikeyan
    3 hours ago








  • 1




    @karthikeyan I have a hunch that you have good taste in guesses ;-) I think there are some other answers here about terrain-based navigation on Mars in general, that may have helpful resources.
    – uhoh
    3 hours ago










  • haha! It was a typo. I meant "I am going to TAKE a guess..". Anyways, thanks for the suggestions to look into. I'll start my hunt
    – karthikeyan
    3 hours ago






  • 1




    there seems to be a lack of attitude related information! And I consider my camera backed answer as the resolutions from MRO and lander might be different.
    – karthikeyan
    28 mins ago














  • 1




    I am going to taste a guess before looking up for references. I feel that surface features might be compared with the database of images from MRO, which might help in identifying the cardinal direction. Usually, the remote landing employs a camera to look directly below the probe, right from a altitude of few kilometers
    – karthikeyan
    3 hours ago








  • 1




    @karthikeyan I have a hunch that you have good taste in guesses ;-) I think there are some other answers here about terrain-based navigation on Mars in general, that may have helpful resources.
    – uhoh
    3 hours ago










  • haha! It was a typo. I meant "I am going to TAKE a guess..". Anyways, thanks for the suggestions to look into. I'll start my hunt
    – karthikeyan
    3 hours ago






  • 1




    there seems to be a lack of attitude related information! And I consider my camera backed answer as the resolutions from MRO and lander might be different.
    – karthikeyan
    28 mins ago








1




1




I am going to taste a guess before looking up for references. I feel that surface features might be compared with the database of images from MRO, which might help in identifying the cardinal direction. Usually, the remote landing employs a camera to look directly below the probe, right from a altitude of few kilometers
– karthikeyan
3 hours ago






I am going to taste a guess before looking up for references. I feel that surface features might be compared with the database of images from MRO, which might help in identifying the cardinal direction. Usually, the remote landing employs a camera to look directly below the probe, right from a altitude of few kilometers
– karthikeyan
3 hours ago






1




1




@karthikeyan I have a hunch that you have good taste in guesses ;-) I think there are some other answers here about terrain-based navigation on Mars in general, that may have helpful resources.
– uhoh
3 hours ago




@karthikeyan I have a hunch that you have good taste in guesses ;-) I think there are some other answers here about terrain-based navigation on Mars in general, that may have helpful resources.
– uhoh
3 hours ago












haha! It was a typo. I meant "I am going to TAKE a guess..". Anyways, thanks for the suggestions to look into. I'll start my hunt
– karthikeyan
3 hours ago




haha! It was a typo. I meant "I am going to TAKE a guess..". Anyways, thanks for the suggestions to look into. I'll start my hunt
– karthikeyan
3 hours ago




1




1




there seems to be a lack of attitude related information! And I consider my camera backed answer as the resolutions from MRO and lander might be different.
– karthikeyan
28 mins ago




there seems to be a lack of attitude related information! And I consider my camera backed answer as the resolutions from MRO and lander might be different.
– karthikeyan
28 mins ago










1 Answer
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By integrating inertial measurements, initialized from the final star tracking about 20 or 30 minutes earlier.






share|improve this answer

















  • 1




    Life would be so much easier if we had two, dissimilar Suns.
    – uhoh
    1 hour ago










  • okay then: Why are InSight's two RISE horns pointed slightly south of east, and north of west?
    – uhoh
    1 hour ago












  • Wouldn’t the integrating method have significant error, if the period of integration is for 20-30mins?
    – karthikeyan
    30 mins ago











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up vote
3
down vote













By integrating inertial measurements, initialized from the final star tracking about 20 or 30 minutes earlier.






share|improve this answer

















  • 1




    Life would be so much easier if we had two, dissimilar Suns.
    – uhoh
    1 hour ago










  • okay then: Why are InSight's two RISE horns pointed slightly south of east, and north of west?
    – uhoh
    1 hour ago












  • Wouldn’t the integrating method have significant error, if the period of integration is for 20-30mins?
    – karthikeyan
    30 mins ago















up vote
3
down vote













By integrating inertial measurements, initialized from the final star tracking about 20 or 30 minutes earlier.






share|improve this answer

















  • 1




    Life would be so much easier if we had two, dissimilar Suns.
    – uhoh
    1 hour ago










  • okay then: Why are InSight's two RISE horns pointed slightly south of east, and north of west?
    – uhoh
    1 hour ago












  • Wouldn’t the integrating method have significant error, if the period of integration is for 20-30mins?
    – karthikeyan
    30 mins ago













up vote
3
down vote










up vote
3
down vote









By integrating inertial measurements, initialized from the final star tracking about 20 or 30 minutes earlier.






share|improve this answer












By integrating inertial measurements, initialized from the final star tracking about 20 or 30 minutes earlier.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 1 hour ago









Mark Adler

47k3119196




47k3119196








  • 1




    Life would be so much easier if we had two, dissimilar Suns.
    – uhoh
    1 hour ago










  • okay then: Why are InSight's two RISE horns pointed slightly south of east, and north of west?
    – uhoh
    1 hour ago












  • Wouldn’t the integrating method have significant error, if the period of integration is for 20-30mins?
    – karthikeyan
    30 mins ago














  • 1




    Life would be so much easier if we had two, dissimilar Suns.
    – uhoh
    1 hour ago










  • okay then: Why are InSight's two RISE horns pointed slightly south of east, and north of west?
    – uhoh
    1 hour ago












  • Wouldn’t the integrating method have significant error, if the period of integration is for 20-30mins?
    – karthikeyan
    30 mins ago








1




1




Life would be so much easier if we had two, dissimilar Suns.
– uhoh
1 hour ago




Life would be so much easier if we had two, dissimilar Suns.
– uhoh
1 hour ago












okay then: Why are InSight's two RISE horns pointed slightly south of east, and north of west?
– uhoh
1 hour ago






okay then: Why are InSight's two RISE horns pointed slightly south of east, and north of west?
– uhoh
1 hour ago














Wouldn’t the integrating method have significant error, if the period of integration is for 20-30mins?
– karthikeyan
30 mins ago




Wouldn’t the integrating method have significant error, if the period of integration is for 20-30mins?
– karthikeyan
30 mins ago


















 

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