More wheel damage detected on Curiosity
Click for the Sol 4518 original image.
In a set of new pictures taken of Curiosity’s wheels yesterday it appears that the damage to those wheels has increased significantly in the past year, with the most damaged wheel (which based on contradictory science team reports is either the middle left or middle right wheel), having more had more sections broken to the point where this wheel might even fail in the near future.
The pictures to the right show these changes. The treads, called growlers, have been numbered to make the comparisons easier. The bottom two pictures were taken in September 2024, and look at this wheel with the damage on the side to show how a whole section of the wheel had at that time collapsed to form a depression.
The top two pictures show the increase in the damage in this section between February 2024 and yesterday. Note especially the changes in growlers 4, 5, and 6. Not only have large sections broken off in the wheel’s central section, it appears that the wheel’s outside section is beginning to separate from that central section.
The increased damage in the past year illustrated starkly the roughness of the terrain that the rover is traversing. Moreover, there is no sign that roughness is going to ease anytime in the near future. This increased damage thus explains partly why the science team changed the rover’s route to get to the nearby boxwork geology as fast as possible. That unique geology is likely to provide some important scientific information unobtainable elsewhere, and it seems worthwhile to get to it before this particular wheel fails.
There is one silver lining to this cloud. This particular wheel is a middle wheel, which means it is less critical to maintaining the rover’s stability as it travels as well as sits. The photographs of the other wheels taken today do not show as much change. Even if this wheel fails, the rover will still have five working wheels, including the most essential four corner wheels.
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As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
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Click for the Sol 4518 original image.
In a set of new pictures taken of Curiosity’s wheels yesterday it appears that the damage to those wheels has increased significantly in the past year, with the most damaged wheel (which based on contradictory science team reports is either the middle left or middle right wheel), having more had more sections broken to the point where this wheel might even fail in the near future.
The pictures to the right show these changes. The treads, called growlers, have been numbered to make the comparisons easier. The bottom two pictures were taken in September 2024, and look at this wheel with the damage on the side to show how a whole section of the wheel had at that time collapsed to form a depression.
The top two pictures show the increase in the damage in this section between February 2024 and yesterday. Note especially the changes in growlers 4, 5, and 6. Not only have large sections broken off in the wheel’s central section, it appears that the wheel’s outside section is beginning to separate from that central section.
The increased damage in the past year illustrated starkly the roughness of the terrain that the rover is traversing. Moreover, there is no sign that roughness is going to ease anytime in the near future. This increased damage thus explains partly why the science team changed the rover’s route to get to the nearby boxwork geology as fast as possible. That unique geology is likely to provide some important scientific information unobtainable elsewhere, and it seems worthwhile to get to it before this particular wheel fails.
There is one silver lining to this cloud. This particular wheel is a middle wheel, which means it is less critical to maintaining the rover’s stability as it travels as well as sits. The photographs of the other wheels taken today do not show as much change. Even if this wheel fails, the rover will still have five working wheels, including the most essential four corner wheels.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
At some point, Curiosity will die.
We all just hope that it happens when its RTGs finally deplete, not when a mission-critical wheel breaks.
We spend a fair bit of time here criticizing the waste and inefficiency of NASA, even in its science directorate. But it is worth recognizing when they triumph, too. And the JPL team which have managed to keep Curiosity roving around Gale Crater a full thirteen years and going strong have surely scored a triumph. I hope they have a few more such triumphs left in their bag.
Growlers? In the tracked construction equipment industry we called the ribs on the track shoes “gousers.”