Mars Rover Curiosity touches down tonight!

[kndrewa]

2.5 hours.

Incredible project, this is the largest robotic explorer ever sent to space. About the size of one of our XJs.

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/participate/

All you ever needed to know about Mars missions, past, present, and future!

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press_kits/MSLLanding.pdf

 

[kndrewa]

The descent takes 7 minutes. It takes 14 minutes for radio waves to transmit between Earth and Mars. That means by the time NASA receives confirmation that Curiosity's descent has started, it will have already been on the surface of Mars for 7 minutes!

 

[xcm]

thanks for posting this.

 

[urban yan]

They landed and they're sending pics.

 

[urban yan]

Oh God!!, Mars' swarming with red-colored apes!!!
It's like the set of Jersey Shore.

 

[kndrewa]

We just launched a robot 32 million miles to another planet and landed it using a hovering robot that we sent with it, that talks to another 11 year old robot orbiting the planet. Good job NASA, well played.


These are the screen captures I took from NASA's live video feed of the Curiosity landing on Mars, in the order that they appeared, as relayed on UHF from Curiosity on the surface to NASA's Odyssey satellite, in Mars orbit, and back to Earth!

Here are NASA's official first Curiosity images from Mars: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/images/first_images_mars.html

This is going to be an incredible expedition to follow on Mars! These are the best cameras to ever be equipped on a vehicle exploring another world. Check out the fidelity in this image from NASA's official Curiosity twitter feed: http://twitter.com/MarsCuriosity/status/232354875189628929/photo/1/large

 

[Frank Z]

Watched the live feed last night. Freakin' amazing and damn near flawless.

Dr. Tyson is right....NASA needs more funding and this country really needs to get back into manned exploration.

 

[Beezil]

all those 100's of millions of dollars....

and they duct-taped a walmart video camera to the thing so we could see exactly what?

 

[Frank Z]

Patience Beezil, it hasn't even been 24 hours.

 

[Frank Z]

What to expext. <---<< Click

 

[bigalpha]

There's also a bunch of scientific equipment; spectrographs and such.

 

[kndrewa]

all those 100's of millions of dollars....

and they duct-taped a walmart video camera to the thing so we could see exactly what?

This is the most advanced science man has ever achieved on another planet. The entire project cost 2 billion dollars over the course of 10 years. The USA spends 10 times that amount every year, or 20 billion dollars, on Air Conditioning in Iraq and Afgahnistan.

 

[jfxj67]

 

[XJLI]

This is the most advanced science man has ever achieved on another planet. The entire project cost 2 billion dollars over the course of 10 years. The USA spends 10 times that amount every year, or 20 billion dollars, on Air Conditioning in Iraq and Afgahnistan.

With a computer that runs with 1/4 of the processing power of an iphone 4S. That's probably more than it needs but it's still funny.

 

[XJEEPER]

OK, you....., yah, the guy there in the middle with the protractor......please breakdown the ROI of this mission for us.

 

[blubullett]

It has a 2mp camera. There isn't even a camera phone sold anymore with a camera that crappy.

 

[kndrewa]

It has a 2mp camera. There isn't even a camera phone sold anymore with a camera that crappy.

It's very easy to make fun of things you don't understand, isn't it? You've made a funny comparison! That's like saying "Your XJ only has a D44 rear axle? Mine has a d60!" We know they are both good - it depends on what they are used for. The 2 megapixel camera is used as a microscope to resolve images down to 15 microns. Not many cell phones around doing that!

In fact, there are 17 cameras on Curiosity, each with very specific purposes, such as stereo 3D or 720P video. Here is a good layman's overview: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/08/curiosity-mars-rover-cameras/

 

[bigalpha]

The 2 megapixel camera is used as a microscope to resolve images down to 15 microns. Not many cell phones around doing that!

SNAP!

 

[tbburg]

"Just looking for an Ilodium Q-38 explosive space modulator. Seen one laying around?"

 

[kndrewa]

The original images we've been seeing are from the lower fidelity hazard cameras near each corner of the rover. Now that the main scientific mast is up, some nicer images are coming in!

Browse them all for yourself, here:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/