Safe On Mars!

[maxd]

Curiosity, NASA's Mars mission, just completed entry, descend and and a very ballsy landing! Pictures of the afternoon sun are coming back. All good! Nice job guys!

See an infographic on the EDL sequence

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. It all took about 7 minutes, crazy fast!

FTR, these are the three major Mars vehicles to date compared side-by-side, the big one on the right -- the size of a compact car, weighs about a ton! -- is Curiosity. If you're wondering why there are no solar panels it's because it doesn't have any, instead it has its own little [strike]nuclear reactor[/strike] plutonium battery on board.



The first picture back from Curiosity, it's wheel on the surface just moments after touchdown:



And this is Curiosity's first high res picture, it's shadow on the surface:

 

[CakeKing]

You can watch it live on nasa's site

 

[maxd]

You can watch it live on nasa's site

Yes indeed!

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[jetset]

Space ventures like this always boggle my mind - what a splendid technological achievement:notworthy

Having monitored the "7 Minutes of Terror" landing, I listened to the post-landing technical checkout procedures, and as the Surface team taking over from the Landing Team said "In the spirit of the Olympics that was a perfect 10".

Well done NASA!

 

[Nifty29]

Space ventures like this always boggle my mind - what a splendid technological achievement:notworthy

Having monitored the "7 Minutes of Terror" landing, I listened to the post-landing technical checkout procedures, and as the Surface team taking over from the Landing Team said "In the spirit of the Olympics that was a perfect 10".

Well done NASA!

Pity it is all done in a film studio......

 

[Seventh777]

NASA do release some awesome stuff, no doubting that, pity that after releasing this one they closed up shop regarding comments about it, bar everything you see is none orbital space debris .......

 

[smcinoz]

Pity it is all done in a film studio......

A quote sponsored by Alfoil J/K

Reminds me i aint watched Capricorn One in a while, great movie.

 

[Casinomeister]

This is great news! I'm looking forward to its mission to check out a vast section of sedimentary rock. I wait with bated breath for some mind boggling finds.

 

[maxd]

Yeah, the science of this mission is pretty impressive.

(A) Curiosity will trundle around its landing site looking for interesting rock features to study. Its top speed is about 4cm/s
(B) This mission has 17 cameras. They will identify particular targets, and a laser will zap those rocks to probe their chemistry
(C) If the signal is significant, Curiosity will swing over instruments on its arm for close-up investigation. These include a microscope
(D) Samples drilled from rock, or scooped from the soil, can be delivered to two hi-tech analysis labs inside the rover body
(E) The results are sent to Earth through antennas on the rover deck. Return commands tell the rover where it should drive next

Thing has seven cameras, lasers, spectrometers, a rock drill, microscope, a chemistry lab to analyse the samples, etc etc. Guess that's why they call it MSL, Mars Science Laboratory.

 

[Casinomeister]

NASA do release some awesome stuff, no doubting that, pity that after releasing this one they closed up shop regarding comments about it, bar everything you see is none orbital space debris ...

It is space debris.

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Space journalist James Oberg wrote an analysis of the footage giving further detail.

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[Casinomeister]

Interesting it has a plutonium battery. I haven't looked, but do they have an idea how long this will last?

 

[P.V.]

Didn't this launch back in November 2011, landing now? Anyone know the launch date?

 

[jetset]

I read somewhere earlier today that the journey took about eight months.

 

[chayton]

I just watched this show called Death of a Mars Rover on NatGeo - it's really quite good, helps us laypeople understand a bit more about the science and the trials with working with equipment from so far away. This new one looks like the wheels are going to work much better - one of the other ones had a bad wheel and so it just dragged it along. It was actually a little sad, ever since I watched Wall-E I've had more compassion for machines.

Oh and it's online in case anyone is interested.

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[maxd]

Yup, launched November 26, 2011 (

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). Travelled half a _billion_ kilometers in 8 months.

Curiosity is "designed to explore for at least 687 Earth days (1 Martian year) over a range of 5 by 20 km (3.1 by 12 mi)". I've read several places that there's a good chance it will be functional considerably longer than that, partial functionality for possibly as long as five years. Batteries like the one on the rover apparently have a minimum function lifespan of 14 years:

Curiosity is powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG), like the successful Viking 1 and Viking 2 Mars landers in 1976.

Radioisotope power systems (RPSs) are generators that produce electricity from the natural decay of plutonium-238, which is a non-fissile isotope of plutonium. Heat given off by the natural decay of this isotope is converted into electricity, providing constant power during all seasons and through the day and night, and waste heat can be used via pipes to warm systems, freeing electrical power for the operation of the vehicle and instruments. Curiosity's RTG is fueled by 4.8 kg (11 lb) of plutonium-238 dioxide supplied by the U.S. Department of Energy, packed in 32 pellets each about the size of a marshmallow.

Curiosity's power generator is the latest RTG generation built by Boeing, called the "Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator" or MMRTG. Based on classical RTG technology, it represents a more flexible and compact development step, and is designed to produce 125 watts of electrical power from about 2000 watts of thermal power at the start of the mission. The MMRTG produces less power over time as its plutonium fuel decays: at its minimum lifetime of 14 years, electrical power output is down to 100 watts. The MSL will generate 2.5 kilowatt hours per day, much more than the Mars Exploration Rovers, which can generate about 0.6 kilowatt hours per day.

 

[Seventh777]

It is space debris.

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Space journalist James Oberg wrote an analysis of the footage giving further detail.

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Space debris that comes in from all angles and is basically identical in shape just different in size, it has always been my belief that debris orbits the Earth on a set route and doesn`t drift about in all directions.

What`s your take on this piece of space ice manoeuvring out of the way of an incoming missile...........

 

[shanetospin]

Curiosity, NASA's Mars mission, just completed entry, descend and and a very ballsy landing! Pictures of the afternoon sun are coming back. All good! Nice job guys!....

I watched it this morning on Nasa's website, it was awesome completely entertained me!

 

[Mousey]

I just watched this show called Death of a Mars Rover on NatGeo - it's really quite good, helps us laypeople understand a bit more about the science and the trials with working with equipment from so far away. This new one looks like the wheels are going to work much better - one of the other ones had a bad wheel and so it just dragged it along. It was actually a little sad, ever since I watched Wall-E I've had more compassion for machines.

Oh and it's online in case anyone is interested.

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

"No disassemble Johnny-5!"... can't even remember the name of the movie that's from.... wait... brain finding a gear.... Short Circuit? I think that was it.

It's a bit sad that the Curiosity landed during all the Olympic furor. The public, in general, just doesn't seem to get excited about interplanetary exploration even on a non-news day anymore. I do! I think it's so cool....

 

[jetset]

Yup, launched November 26, 2011 (

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). Travelled half a _billion_ kilometers in 8 months.

Curiosity is "designed to explore for at least 687 Earth days (1 Martian year) over a range of 5 by 20 km (3.1 by 12 mi)". I've read several places that there's a good chance it will be functional considerably longer than that, partial functionality for possibly as long as five years. Batteries like the one on the rover apparently have a minimum function lifespan of 14 years:

I recall reading or seeing somewhere that the Mars Rover lasted far longer than its intended life, so perhaps this one will do the same.

 

[The Viking]

oppss someone did beat USA to the moon

 

[Seventh777]

oppss someone did beat USA to the moon

Lol, is that Patrick Moore?.