Resident pooning - scientist type here adding in some fun facts:
All of the space missions that gave the foundation of what the Mars missions use today were done with computers that had way less power than what you have in your phone. In fact the space shuttle still had an 8bit processor running its functions.
Today with basically super computing power available, the challenges of calculation, control and automation are being overcome but still, consider some of the physics and not just the Hamiltonian mechanics needed to calculate thrust, where to aim and how to handle pitch and yaw to get to an object that is akin to a piece of fly shit on top of a 100 foot pile of manure, but the fact that:
It takes about 2.5 seconds for light to get from Earth to Moon.
It takes an average depending on where Earth vs Mars is in orbit about 12 minutes for light to travel between them. I think the shortest time is less than 5 minutes, longest is about 25 min.
That means there is no 'real time' control for unmanned craft. In the case of a Mars rover being landed, and how Perseverance was landed is astounding. They lowered a one ton vehicle onto an extra terrestrial surface using cables while the landing module hovered above the surface. And now this marvel of machinery will start a many year mission of exploration. NASA can remotely fix things based on what the rover sends back but think of that process. Rover has problem, NASA sees it (that's 10 minutes). NASA thinks about it and sends a potential fix (another 10 min transmission time). Rover receives and responds - another 10 min and so on.
And. full on HD graphics being sent back from another planet. Geesus and we complain when Netflix flickers.
Anyway all amazing and wonderful stuff.
/roger Houston, mph over and out.
