Curiosity Rover on Mars

[AndyDufresne]

Launch: 26 November 2011

Landing: 5-6 August 2012

• 10:31 pm Pacific, 5 August
• 11:31 pm Mountain, 5 August
• 12:31 am Central, 6 August
• 01:31 am Eastern, 6 August
• 05:31 am Universal, 6 August

154 Million miles away from Earth, in just a couple of days the Curiosity Rover will hit Mars' atmosphere traveling at near 13,000 mph. 7 minutes later, NASA hopes it'll decelerate to a safe and functional landing. When it gets there, it'll take around 10-15 minutes for the signal to travel back to Earth at light speed before we'll know how well the landing went.

If you plan on being up late---or early---check out some of the Live Coverage:

• NASA TV (via the web or satellite tv)
• UStream

And for the interactive bits:

show: Picture Describing EDL

show: Sci Show You Tube Video showing how EDL should go

show: Size Comparison to past Rovers

From NASA:
During the 23 months after landing, Curiosity will analyze dozens of samples drilled from rocks or scooped from the ground as it explores with greater range than any previous Mars rover. Curiosity will carry the most advanced payload of scientific gear ever used on Mars’ surface, a payload more than 10 times as massive as those of earlier Mars rovers. Its assignment: Investigate whether conditions have been favorable for microbial life and for preserving clues in the rocks about possible past life.

======================================================
For more, check out these:

• Mars Rover Curiosity Set to See Red Planet As Never Before (Scientific American Article)
• A Drop-In Looking for Signs of Company (NY Times Article)
• Boldly Opening a New Window Onto Mars (NY Times OP-ED)
• JPL-NASA's Curiosity Landing Homepage
• Possible News Briefings Schedule

======================================================


--Andy

[Haggis_McMutton]

Nice.

Was wondering if anyone had made a thread about this.

[Maugena]

will.i.am* is being talked to right now. Lol.

[Maugena]

Just walked back in time to see the moments right before it landed as well as the two pictures.
Yay!

[InkL0sed]

Anything NASA/Mars related, Andy's got it covered.

[AndyDufresne]

Anything NASA/Mars related, Andy's got it covered.

Curiosity lands safely, phewfta. EDL went as exactly as planned, and the coordination between Earth's Deep Space Network and NASA's 2 orbiters (Mars Odyssey Orbiter and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) passing over the landing site at exactly the same time as EDL allowed some initial landing photos to be instantly received:



A wheel of the rover.




The shadow of the rover.

===============

More images will downloaded by NASA in the coming hours, days, and weeks.

From NY Times article:

"NASA will spend the first weeks checking out Curiosity before embarking on the first drive. The rover will not scoop its first sample of Martian soil until mid-September at the earliest, and the first drilling into rock is not expected until October or November. "




--Andy

[AndyDufresne]

Here is an update from today's news conference:

The MRO managed to snap a picture of EDL as it passed over head. There was about a 40% chance that things wouldn't line up, but everything lined up pretty perfectly. The second image is pretty darn cool as well.

show: Curiosity Landing, as seen from Above

Here is a sense of where Curiosity landed:

show: Landing Location

Here is an update of one of the previous images. They were taken with what are called 'Hazard Cams'---essentially cameras point at the wheels and other areas to help with hazard avoidance. They have a fish-eye lens, and here is an updated version with the fish-eye fixed. The topographic materials you see on the horizon are some dunes at the base of the mountain that the Rover will eventually explore.

show: Photo update

During Sol 1 (think of Sol's like 'Martian days'), the science team will start to un-stow antennas for communication and one of the main cameras that will eventually provide panoramas and color photos.

Source


--Andy

[jonesthecurl]

Wow.

[isaiah40]

This just in from Curiousity!!!

[KoolBak]

Excellent thread....

[AndyDufresne]

Update from today's news conference:

Photo update of the previous hazard cam image showing the Rover's shadow. You can also more easily see a nice geographic feature on the horizon.

show: photo update

show: low resolution color photo of descent

You can also view a series of snapshots of the descent as seen by the Rover during entry, descent, and landing: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogal ... =149974611

show: Hardware Items, Scene of Martian Landing

show: Color Photo and Context of a Horizon Snapshot

--Andy

[BigBallinStalin]

IT"S A FAKE!! CONSPIRE!! CONSPIRE! CONSPIRE!!!!

[Nola_Lifer]

Only took about a year to get to mars. Pretty impressive.

[Baron Von PWN]

Only took about a year to get to mars. Pretty impressive.

I wonder how long it would take to send a manned crew. Obviously a larger rocket would be required. not to mention other problems.

[Army of GOD]

It would be infinitely astounding scientifically if we found evidence of possible life/past life but I think it would be cooler to send another man to the Moon with a live camera feed.

Or, you know, it would be cool to be the next man on the Moon. Luckily I'm tall enough but from what I read most of the original guys on the moon had experience in the Air Force which I can't be arsed to do, na'mean?

[2dimes]

We're on it bro.

[karel]

what a waste of money

[KoolBak]

OK....we should cancel all efforts!!

The Russians space system is a waste of money....they can't even get a simple booster rocket into orbit any more....poor ruskies

[Haggis_McMutton]

what a waste of money

yeah, we could have used that money for confetti for one of the presidential candidate's speeches.

[puppydog85]

Andy (or anyone else),

Pardon my ignorance but why black and white? How much did they spend on those things? What about an auto-focus? Or is there some reason that makes that really hard to get on mars (like costing 3B instead of 1B or whatever they spent)?

[AndyDufresne]

Andy (or anyone else),

Pardon my ignorance but why black and white? How much did they spend on those things? What about an auto-focus? Or is there some reason that makes that really hard to get on mars (like costing 3B instead of 1B or whatever they spent)?

The images you've been seeing initially aren't from the main color imaging camera and video. They are primarily from 'Hazard Cams' which are more geared for simply keeping the Rover safe and evaluating where it is in the environment. Think of them kind of like the rear view and side mirrors in a car, and not the windshield which gives you a bigger and more detailed view. The main camera I think is (or will be soon) up an running, and at the point color photos with high resolution will be made available by the Rover.

Additionally, the Rover first usually sends small thumbnails (since they are small in data size and can be sent more quickly), and then slightly better resolution, and then full resolution big photos.

I'll post some more photo and video updates perhaps later today after this afternoon's news conference!


--Andy

[puppydog85]

Ah! All is now clear. At least in my mind, not in the pictures.

[Haggis_McMutton]

[Baron Von PWN]

OK....we should cancel all efforts!!

The Russians space system is a waste of money....they can't even get a simple booster rocket into orbit any more....poor ruskies

lol wut?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/wor ... cmpid=rss1

yeah they are having some problems with some rockets failing, but the soyuz rockets have been the main method of ferrying supplies to the space station for the past while.

[jonesthecurl]

Anyway, at least all the cats on Mars are on the "endangered" list now.