Please contact the URC Director if you have any questions.

[1.Q]  Do we have to analyze the soil at each site? Or can we do a sample return and analyze it back at HQ?

[1.A]  All data collection must be performed in situ.  The team may only analyze the raw data returned by the rover, not the soil itself.

[2.Q] Is there a possibility that a competition could be scheduled at night/early evening?

[2.A] All of the competition events will be held in full daylight.

[3.Q] Is there a cap on how many people we can have on the team?

[3.A] No, as long as all other applicable rules regarding team members are followed.

[4.Q] There's no paper aside from the financial report due at the end of the competition, right?

[4.A]  Aside from the financial report due at the beginning of competition, there are various specifications due May 1, as noted through the rules.  There is no formal abstract or paper due, though, for the competition. All teams are highly encouraged to submit abstracts for and present at the 12th Annual Mars Society Convention in Washington, DC. Teams who present have the opportunity to submit full papers to be published by the Mars Society's MarsPapers.

[5.Q] Are overamplified communications devices permitted?

[5.A] All communications devices used must adhear to FCC standards.  Any modified devices must be documented and submitted for approval alongside a statement of applicable FCC regulations.  Team members are permitted to obtain and utilize any relavent licenses, but must document the license, applicable regulations, and devices as part of the communications documentation deadline.

[6.Q] For the Construction Task, should we expect the possibility that the plane of the panel will be tilted negatively from the horizon?

[6.A] As specified in the rules: "The bolts will be placed between 15cm and 75cm above the ground, and may lie at inclinations of no more than 45° in either direction from the horizontal plane."  So, the short answer is yes.

[7.Q] For those tasks requiring high-resolution images, would a 640x480 image be of high enough resolution, or are you looking for 800x600 and above?

[7.A] There is no specific minimum resolution requirement.  The most important requirement with cameras is to obtain usable and useful images (i.e. a 1280x1024 image that is washed out and has almost no color depth is not as good as a 640x480 image that is perfectly focused, has good white balance, and is clear).  It should go without saying that assuming all other aspects of the images are constant, higher resolution is better; however resolution is just one aspect of a quality image.

[8.Q] For the remote science report due at the end of the Extremophile Search Tasks, do those need to be printed or is a soft copy on a disk or flash drive sufficient?

[8.A] A written report is actually not due for the two science tasks.  Instead, teams will be giving a field briefing to the judges - 15 minutes to present data of interest in any format deemed appropriate, and also to field questions from the judges.  The data used in the presentation can be on a laptop or monitor, or can be printed if the team supplies its own printer.  Teams will be judged on the effectiveness at presenting meaningful analysis over the course of those 15 minutes, and are not required to submit any hard documentation.

[9.Q] In the remote science documentation definition, it asks for a panorama with cardinal directions on the picture and some indication of scale. Scaling a panorama is not really useful because in the stitching process of combining pictures, the ranges are often distorted so that the image can fit the entire horizon. This creates a tunnel vision like phenomenon and scale is not very useful. Panoramas are used to get an entire horizon shot with the most information in them. Scale is used for high resolution imaging to locate or analyze a single subject.  Should teams be prepared to present some form of scale in our panorama?

[9.A] The wide-angle panorama is not required to be a 360 degree horizon image, and thus does not require image stitching (that is not to say that stitched images aren't allowed, or aren't useful in their own right).  The intent of the wide-angle image is to provide perspective of the sample location with respect to the local geography and other features of interest.  The requested scale indication should be applicable to the sample region, and does not need to be perfectly precise.  While a highly accurate scale is always desirable, the main intent of the scale in a wide-angle shot is to provide an order-of-magnitude level of spacial awareness (in the desert, without a known size reference, 100 meter features can easily appear to be close up shots of 10 meter features).

[10.Q] In regards to the Surveying Task:
- Approximately how many markers will teams be required to survey?
- How will teams be scored in this task?
- Are teams required to survey from the specified location or is there no restriction on where teams can survey from? More specifically, can teams survey from multiple positions?
- Does this task involve 2-D surveying (where all known/unknown points are assumed to be in the horizontal plane) or 3-D surveying, where any marker could be at an arbitrary elevation, including the unknown markers?

[10.A] - Teams will be required to survey anywhere between 4 and 12 markers (exact number will be announced on-site), partially based on the actual task time frame (30-50 minutes, based on the number of teams and other scheduling details).
- Teams will be scored based on the number of targets identified and the accuracy for each of those localizations.
- The observation point provided will just be a recommended vantage point that will be both accessible, and provide a view of all markers. Teams may seek and drive to any/multiple vantage points at their own discretion (teams are not required to visit the specified point).
- This is intended to be a 3-D surveying task. Because landmarks with provided reference coordinates can include peaks of large hills that are above the horizon line, there will be sufficient opportunity to establish a vertical reference.

[11.Q] Regarding the map provided for the Surveying Task:
- What does "major visible landmarks" refer to? And will they be marked with flags as well?
- How many "precise coordinates of major visible landmarks" will teams be given?
- What kind of map will be provided? Will it contain elevations? A scale? Will it have the locations of the given points, as well as the markers (pipes) marked on it?

[11.A] - Major visible landmarks" refers to anything readily visible in the foreground, background, or anywhere in between. Examples would include the peak of a hill that appears above the horizon, extremely large boulders, or anything else that would lend itself to a precise, single coordinate being given for that feature (however these will not be marked with a flag).
- The number of such landmarks that will be given will largely be driven by the exact task site, and the terrain that is there - but there will be sufficient coordinates given to enable teams to localize the rover and the target markers.
- The map/coordinates provided will include elevations, and scale. Teams will be told the number of target markers that are in the field, and be given the general area that the markers are in, but not where within that area the specific markers lie.

[12.Q] For the extremophile search task, what exactly is meant by "minimally invasive?" Surface photography only? Or will teams be allowed to chip or drill pieces of the rock away?

[12.a] "Minimally invasive" means that teams are permitted to probe the ground, and take small samples, with discretion. Teams should keep in mind that many teams will be investigating the same sample sites, so rovers cannot cause major changes that will impact other competitors (including leaving excessively large holes, and causing significant disturbance to the soil). As a general rule of thumb, teams should design their systems to take only the amount of soil needed to perform a given test, and minimize visual disturbance. If there is still uncertainty regarding a particular science package design, teams are encouraged to discuss designs with the URC Director in advance.

[13.Q] Regarding the rule stating that tethered lighter-than-air devices cannot be used for direct observation or reconnaissance, however can be implemented for communications:
Does this rule also apply to the rover or just to the command and control tent?

[13.A] That specific rule only applies to the command and control tent. Hybrid vehicles that deploy lighter-than-air devices must conform to all other applicable rules (in particular, rules 1.b.i and 1.b.ii). While rule 1.b.ii (quoted below) refers specifically to traditional untethered unmanned aircraft, tethered aircraft (including tethered lighter-than-air devices) must also adhere to any applicable FAA requirements.

• 1.b.ii. Any airborne vehicles must meet any and all FAA (United States Federal Aviation Authority) guidelines that apply to operating unmanned aircraft in a remote area. It will be the responsibility of each team to research any such FAA requirements and provide documentation to the judges prior to May 1, 2009.