Curiosity Begins Mars Exploration

[Ben D]

Well sooner or later, the Curiosity rover now on Mars is going to make some discoveries worthy of discussion here, and imo that will be about confirmation of biological life existence there, so here's a thread...

Curiosity Begins Mars Exploration



Curiosity Mars rover photo - on the bottom right is one of the rover's wheels, in the background is the sun. Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech


After a 36-week, 154-million-mile journey capped by a highly complex but flawlessly executed landing sequence, the rover Curiosity spent its first full day on Mars Monday at the dawn of a two-year $2.5 billion mission designed to determine if the Red Planet ever supported life and if it can do so in the future.

With excitement from Sunday night's successful landing still lingering in the air at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory , mission managers were getting down to the work of getting the rover ramped up for its long job ahead.

``We have ended one phase of the mission, much to our enjoyment and to the joy of a lot of folks here in the audience on our own team, but another part has just begun,'' one of the mission managers, Michael Watkins, told reporters at JPL in Pasadena. JPL scientists released a photo taken by another NASA Mars exploration vehicle -- the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter -- that captured Curiosity floating down to the Mars surface. The photo was taken from 211 miles away.

``Guess you could consider us the closest thing to paparazzi on Mars,'' said Sarah Milkovich, a JPL scientist who works with the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. ``We definitely caught NASA's newest celebrity in the act.''

Scientists at JPL, from where the mission is being run, cheered and hugged each other when it was announced that Curiosity landed at 10:32 p.m. Pacific time Sunday near the foot of a mountain three miles tall and 96 miles in diameter inside Mars' Gale Crater.

"Today, the wheels of Curiosity have begun to blaze the trail for human footprints on Mars,'' said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "Curiosity, the most sophisticated rover ever built, is now on the surface of the Red Planet, where it will seek to answer age-old questions about whether life ever existed on Mars -- or if the planet can sustain life in the future."

Curiosity soon sent back its first picture, a wide-angle scene of rocky ground, then a clearer version of the same, followed by an image from the other side of the rover -- a plutonium-powered laboratory on six wheels that weighs a ton and is the size of a small car.

The rover's primary mission Monday will be raising its high-gain antenna, which will enable better communication with JPL scientists. Mission managers will also be assessing the status of the rover's instruments. But the Rover's first foray from its landing site will not take place until next month; no soil examination is to take place until the middle of September at the earliest, and no rock drilling will occur before October.

Curiosity is billed as the most scientifically advanced rover ever sent to another planet. It carries 10 science instruments with a total mass 15 times as large as the science equipment on the previous Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. It is the first rover to carry a laser-firing instrument designed to check the composition of rocks. It is also equipped with a drill and scoop to pick up soil samples that can be analyzed on the spot inside the rover.
.

[Laodicean]

[Nordic]

Can I follow him on Instagram? And if not, why?

[tazmic]

about 1 minute prior to landing:



"NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute were spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as Curiosity descended to the surface on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT). The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera captured this image of Curiosity while the orbiter was listening to transmissions from Curiosity."

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/releases/msl-descent.php

It's hard to reconcile how much this cost with the fact that they could never properly test their equipment before chucking it all in the air.

Video of the 'drop' (and not much else)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y-FaU1RHw4

I'd love to see the post parachute stages, even on earth.

[hava007]

Couldnt help being somewhat carried away with the excitement, although recently had a reminder of my damages from "voyager" experiments, when I was exploited as cheap minor labor, to do the radioactive stuff. The experiments were conducted in Israel, to analyse the land from Mars. It feels probably like a slave from the time of Pharao who built the pyramids under whips and hunger, but eventually looks at the products and says "wow, how impressive".

[Project Willow]

Couldnt help being somewhat carried away with the excitement, although recently had a reminder of my damages from "voyager" experiments, when I was exploited as cheap minor labor, to do the radioactive stuff. The experiments were conducted in Israel, to analyse the land from Mars. It feels probably like a slave from the time of Pharao who built the pyramids under whips and hunger, but eventually looks at the products and says "wow, how impressive".

Yep, as a former NASA kid, I feel similarly. I tend to avoid space exploration imagery as a rule, unfortunately.

[hava007]

http://finden.nationallizenzen.de/Recor ... 0207086648

ooops, viking, not voyager, here's the link the research , in the original paper I am mentioned in footnote as "technical assistant" (not mentioning I was underage, of course).

PW, yes, with the "slight" national difference, which is why I used the biblical imagery. "Jews in space" and "israelis on the nuke" something like that. anyway, water under the bridge, and I forgive.

[swindled69]

This is really awesome. Big props to NASA for pulling something like this off. To have this thing go as well as it did and to pull of what they did, well, I think we just saw a brand new age in space come to life.


Deep Space, Sentient exploration by Robots.

I also really believe that Curiosity will prove life is/was on Mars and if it does that, well, there's gonna be a whole other space race.

[NaturalMystik]

As a bit of an aside, but still kinda related...

Any thoughts on the sudden fame of 'NASA Mohawk Guy' ? It's a curious spin off the main story. Any significance, or just modern pop culture looking for a little hero worship? ...

[Ben D]

Space junkies try to explain mysterious image in photo from Mars rover

By Ron Recinto | The Lookout – 3 hrs ago



This handout image from NASA, one of the first images from the Curiosity rover which landed on Mars the evening …

A mysterious blotch that appeared along the horizon in a photo from the surface of Mars stirred speculation about what it might be, as two hours later it was gone.

One image from the Curiosity rover as it landed on the fourth planet from the sun showed a "faint but distinctive" image on the horizon, the Los Angeles Times reported. However, a subsequent batch of images sent from the unmanned rover two hours later showed no trace of the blotch.

One theory put forth by space enthusiasts in the L.A. Times story is that Curiosity had somehow snapped a photo of part of the spacecraft that escorted the rover through the Martian atmosphere crash-landing a distance away.

[Slideshow: Latest images from Mars]

But to capture that image "would be an insane coincidence," one engineer told the newspaper.

Others say more feasible possibilities would be simply dirt on the lens, or maybe a dust devil twisting far in the distance.

But as more images start to pour into NASA, more is being learned about the rover's pinpoint landing.

In what some are dubbing the "crime scene" photo of the landing zone taken by another satellite, Curiosity is seen on the ground along with pieces of the spacecraft that broke apart as planned on the way to the surface. The photo reveals the heat shield that protected the rover as it entered the atmosphere and the parachute that helped ease the vehicle onto Mars. Also seen are parts of the "sky crane," the spacecraft that carried the rover to the planet, the article noted.

Could the sky crane crashing be the blotch? From another L.A. Times story:The crime scene photo showed that the sky crane had crash-landed, as designed, about 2,000 feet away—and in the same direction that Curiosity's camera was pointed when it snapped the first photo showing the blotch. The new satellite photo also showed that the sky crane, when it crash-landed, kicked up a violent wave of dirt that had scarred the surface of Mars.

Curiosity mission manager Michael Watkins told the Times if it were the case, "it would be incredibly cool. ... A crazy, serendipitous thing."

Images from Mars have always fueled curiosity. Remember what folks thought was a huge face on Mars? An image from Viking 1 in 1976 that appeared to show a rock formation with eyes, a nose and a mouth? Later high-resolution imaging and side-by-side analysis proved the "face" to be a mesa, like the flat-topped natural formations found in the southwestern U.S.

As the Curiosity rover readies to begin the scientific discovery part of the mission, maybe more interesting things will be revealed.

[justdrew]

As a bit of an aside, but still kinda related...

Any thoughts on the sudden fame of 'NASA Mohawk Guy' ? It's a curious spin off the main story. Any significance, or just modern pop culture looking for a little hero worship? ...

it's good that there's a diversity of folks involved and there's someone there people can identify with. It's nice to see "diversity" mean something beyond, "we've got some of each color so we're diverse!" (even though they all dress, talk, think and act the same)

so thumbs up to Bobak Ferdowsi

Bobak Ferdowsi, aka ‘Mohawk Guy’ and STEM education’s new dream come true
By Emi Kolawole

The Post’s Maura Judkis has summed up Ferdowsi’s landing in the Internet’s heart, if you will, chronicling the Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, video and blogger love he has received and, more important, why.

But, beyond the meme-ified photos and animated gif illustrations, Ferdowsi’s popularity has even greater, more innovation-relevant significance.

He makes science cool.

Astronauts have been doing it for years, but Ferdowsi serves as un-varnished proof that one can be a scientist with two feet firmly planted on the ground while simultaneously rocking a team-spirit mohawk.

And those promoting greater interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) — especially NASA — are desperate for ways to make science cool. For them, Ferdowsi is nitro to their engine.

In the lead-up to NASA’s live coverage, the agency brought Grammy winner Will.i.am to the studio for an interview about his work encouraging young people to STEM, including a star-studded ABC show he helped produce in 2011. But listening to a celebrity tell you to study hard rings more than a bit hollow.

Instead, it was Ferdowsi, sitting in mission control, who was the more accessible messenger, showing kids that being involved in science and math doesn’t mean giving up the trappings of cool. In fact, it can make the accouterments even more fun and significant.

”If my mohawk gets a few more people excited about science and this mission, then that’s awesome,” Ferdowsi said during an interview with the Web show “What’s Trending.” “That’s what it’s all about.”

The government agencies and corporations thirsty for more tech talent couldn’t agree more.

[Ben D]

For the space buffs...

Jonathan's Space Report - Latest Issue

Curiosity at Mars
------------------

The Mars Science Laboratory 'Curiosity' landed successfully on Mars on
Aug 6 at 0517:57 UTC. The rover landed in Cydonia's Gale Crater at
137.4402 deg longitude, -4.5918 deg latitude. Congratulations to the
MSL team! For the rest of us, I recommend the Martian Chronicles blog of
my friend Ryan Anderson, Earth's main expert on Gale Crater:
http://blogs.agu.org/martianchronicles/ and of course Emily at the PlanSoc
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/

Imaging by MRO has located the impact sites, of the Skycrane (1.2 km
away), heatshield, and parachute (0.6km away) and six EMBDs (10 km
away); I could probably calculate the lat/lon of these sites but I'm
hoping one of my readers has done it already (hint...). Impact location
of the CMBDs is not yet known.

MSL was launched on 2011 Nov 26 into a 0.98 x 1.54 AU solar orbit with
an ecliptic inclination of 1.7 deg. On Aug 4 it entered the Martian
gravitational sphere of influence on a hyperbola with an inclination of
5.1 deg and periares of -64 km; it entered the Martian atmosphere on Aug
6. The sequence of events, as best I have been able to determine them,
was: (updated Aug 8 based on the list by Patrick Blau at
spaceflight101.com and supplemented by my own research).

UTC (GMT)
0500 MSL spacecraft approaching Mars, total mass 3759 kg
0500:47 MSL Cruise Stage separates (460 kg)
0505:17 CBMD 1 and CBMD 2 balance weights (75 kg each) separate
0510:46 MSL entry vehicle, Cruise Stage and CMBD 1/2 all hit the nominal top of the
atmosphere 125 km up at an inertial velocity of 6.1 km/s
Entry vehicle mass is 3150 kg
Entry location is about 700 km west of the landing site
0512 Cruise Stage will be destroyed in the upper Martian atmosphere
over Cyclopia, Aeolis Quadrangle
0514:17 Six 25 kg EBMD balance weights jettisoned, reducing mass to 3000 kg, about 12 km up
0514? CMBD 1 and 2 weights impact Martian surface west of Robert Sharp Crater?
0514:35 Cruise stage separation signal received on Earth
0514:51? 21m diameter parachute deployed, height 10 km,
reduce Mars-relative speed from 0.5 to 0.1 km/s
Descent over Aeolis Palus, Gale Crater at 137E 4S
0515:20? Heatshield jettisoned (385 kg?)
0515? EBMD (Entry Balance Mass Device) weights impact surface
0516? Heatshield impacts surface
0516:31? Backshell jettisoned (about 450kg?) together with parachute (54 kg)
Skycrane begins powered descent with 8 MR-80B hydrazine rockets
Skycrane/Rover mass is now 2115 kg (1728 kg dry plus 387 kg propellant)

0517? Backshell impacts surface
0517:44? Skycrane hovers at 20m and lowers Rover on 7.5m long cable
0517:57 Rover touchdown (899 kg), cable release, 829 kg Skycrane scoots off to the side
0517:40? Skycrane impacts surface
0524:34 Atmosphere entry signals received on Earth
0531:45 Touchdown signal received on Earth
0534 First images received showing rover wheel on surface.

Previous Mars missions have typically dumped about 1 tonne each into the Martian atmosphere,
with about half that as intact landed mass; MSL sent almost 4 tonnes in with
almost 1 tonne landing intact.

Mars Atmospheric Entries - with mass breakdown in kg
------------------------


Date Spacecraft Mass (kg)
Entry = Burnt-up + Prop + Deliberate + Crashed + Landed
Impact (failed) intact

1971 Nov 27 Mars-2 SA 1210 0 0 565 645 0
1971 Dec 2 Mars-3 SA 1210 0 0 565 0 645 (sort of)
1974 Mar 12 Mars-6 SA 1210? 0 0 1210 645 0
1976 Jul 20 Viking Lander 1 983 0 103 290 0 590
(Mutch Station)
1976 Sep 3 Viking Lander 2 983 0 103 290 0 590
(Soffen Station)
1997 Jul 4 Mars Pathfinder 795 210 21 291 0 273
(Sagan Station)
1999 Sep 23 Mars Climate Orbiter 623 338 285 0 0 0
1999 Dec 3 Mars Polar Lander 558? 82 39 140 297 0
and Deep Space 2
2003 Dec 25 Beagle-2 68 0 0 35 34 0
2004 Jan 4 Spirit Lander 1010 183 37 363 0 427
(Columbia Station)
2004 Jan 25 Opportunity Lander 1015 188 37 363 0 427
(Challenger Station)
2008 May 25 Mars Phoenix Lander 655 82 58 172 0 343
2012 Aug 6 Curiosity 3759 459 387 2014 0 899

Note: Airbag mass counted as deliberate impact even though attached to intact lander.


Mars Artificial Orbiting Objects
--------------------------------

Date Spacecraft Dry Mass (kg) Last Known Mars Orbit
(km x km x deg, date )
1971 Nov 14 Mariner 9 555 1645 x 16838 x 64.4 (1972)
1971 Nov 27 Mars-2 2350? 1380 x 25000 x 48.9 (1971)
1971 Dec 2 Mars-3 2350? 1500 x205000 x 62.0 (1971)
1974 Feb 12 Mars-5 2350? 1760 x 32560 x 35.3 (1974)
1976 Jun 19 Viking Orbiter 1 883 411 x 56275 x 37.9 (1980)
1976 Jul 21? VO-1 Bioshield Base 74 1504 x 32574 x 37.8 (1976)
1976 Aug 7 Viking Orbiter 2 883 302 x 33080 x 80.3 (1978)
1978 Mar 3 VO-2 Bioshield Base 74 302 x 33080 x 80.3 (1978)
1989 Jan 29 Fobos-2 2300? 6145 x 6409 x 1.3 (1989)
1989 Feb 18 Fobos-2 ADU 570? 6145 x 6409 x 1.3 (1989)
1997 Sep 12 Mars Global Surveyor 674 356 x 419 x 93.0 (2006)
2001 Oct 24 Mars Odyssey 376 341 x 433 x 93.0 (2012)
2003 Dec 25 Mars Express 632 305 x 10536 x 86.9 (2012)
2006 Mar 10 Mars Recon. Orbiter 984 218 x 292 x 92.6 (2012)

[tazmic]

Heh. Curiosity coincidentally lands in 'area' 51

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20120810/NEWS07/308100064/Landing-place-for-Mars-rover-Area-51

[Allegro]

As a bit of an aside, but still kinda related...

Any thoughts on the sudden fame of 'NASA Mohawk Guy' ? It's a curious spin off the main story. Any significance, or just modern pop culture looking for a little hero worship? ...

it's good that there's a diversity of folks involved and there's someone there people can identify with. It's nice to see "diversity" mean something beyond, "we've got some of each color so we're diverse!" (even though they all dress, talk, think and act the same)

so thumbs up to Bobak Ferdowsi

Is this his first youtube appearance? See Universe Today.

^ 17AUG12 Rover update by Bobak Ferdowsi | JPL’s Bobak Ferdowsi — famous for the star-spangled Mohawk hairdo he sported on Curiosity’s landing night — provides an update on what the newest Mars rover has been up to (checking out instruments) and how next week should include big moments like the first test drive and firing up that laser.

In addition to great hair, Ferdowsi is a Flight Director for the Curiosity rover team.

[Allegro]

---

See Universe Today | 18AUG12

Image Caption: This self-portrait shows the deck of NASA’s Curiosity rover from the rover’s Navigation camera. The image is distorted because of the wide field of view. The back of the rover can be seen at the top left of the image, and two of the rover’s right side wheels can be seen on the left. The undulating rim of Gale Crater forms the lighter color strip in the background. Bits of gravel, about 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) in size, are visible on the deck of the rover. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech



The 1st firing of Curiosity’s rock zapping laser and 1st motion of her six wheels is imminent and likely to take place within the next 24 to 72 hours said mission scientists at Friday’s (Aug 17) media briefing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., home to mission control for the nuclear-powered, car-sized robot.

…Curiosity’s goal is to search for signs of Martian microbial habitats, past or present, with the most sophisticated suite of 10 state of the art science instruments ever sent to the surface of another planet.

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