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<blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 6851002" data-attributes="member: 8835">As Umbran says, the initial probe wouldn't go in the cave, due to solar recharge needs, etc.&nbsp; It would take exterior shots, get close, etc while the &quot;next&quot; probe is prepped.Odds are good, the current &quot;next&quot; probe that is under construction right now wouldn't be useful to cave exploration either, as it was designed for some more reasonable surface charter.&nbsp; So we're looking at the next, next probe being a rush to stop what you're planning and get us a new probe ready in 5, make that 3 years.this new probe, when it's finally ready would be modular/team worky.&nbsp; One probe (perhaps repurpose the original probe that found the cave) would be parked outside the cave and act as a relay from mars to earth and to the spelunker probe.The spelunker probe, now only needing to communicate with something within 100' is what goes into the cave to do the actual exploring.We might even send a cabled recharger probe in, with one part parked outside (docked next to the relay probe), and it unrolls a power cord as it enters the cave.&nbsp; This might get us into the structure say, 10-20 feet or soThe recharger probe is where our spelunker returns and docks (wireless charging?) frequently.&nbsp; It also might help with relaying video/data and remote control commands.&nbsp; Let's assume that without line of sight, radio distance from probes is limited (akin to wifi, say 30' or so).&nbsp; So just getting the recharger probe into the door gets us 20' in, and the spelunker can now move about another 30'.That's 50' better than the original probe that could never enter can do.Obviously, exploring the cave/structure goes much much faster with a human in a suit.&nbsp; The problem is getting a human in a suit on-site to do the job.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Janx, post: 6851002, member: 8835"] As Umbran says, the initial probe wouldn't go in the cave, due to solar recharge needs, etc. It would take exterior shots, get close, etc while the "next" probe is prepped. Odds are good, the current "next" probe that is under construction right now wouldn't be useful to cave exploration either, as it was designed for some more reasonable surface charter. So we're looking at the next, next probe being a rush to stop what you're planning and get us a new probe ready in 5, make that 3 years. this new probe, when it's finally ready would be modular/team worky. One probe (perhaps repurpose the original probe that found the cave) would be parked outside the cave and act as a relay from mars to earth and to the spelunker probe. The spelunker probe, now only needing to communicate with something within 100' is what goes into the cave to do the actual exploring. We might even send a cabled recharger probe in, with one part parked outside (docked next to the relay probe), and it unrolls a power cord as it enters the cave. This might get us into the structure say, 10-20 feet or so The recharger probe is where our spelunker returns and docks (wireless charging?) frequently. It also might help with relaying video/data and remote control commands. Let's assume that without line of sight, radio distance from probes is limited (akin to wifi, say 30' or so). So just getting the recharger probe into the door gets us 20' in, and the spelunker can now move about another 30'. That's 50' better than the original probe that could never enter can do. Obviously, exploring the cave/structure goes much much faster with a human in a suit. The problem is getting a human in a suit on-site to do the job. [/QUOTE]

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