Curiosity-- NASA Mars landing Monday

[Lady Cop]

i have a shuttle/NASA thread, here:

fabulous photos~
http://mockforums.net/thread-4719.html

but this is different...The NASA Mars Rover will land Monday 8/6. you can watch it live on

http://www.nasa.gov/
which is a great website!
----------------------------------------






AFP
Graphic showing NASA's Mars Science Laboratory landing site on August 6, as well as previous touchdowns for rovers and landers on the Red Planet.
Are we alone? Or was there life on another planet? NASA's $2.5 billion dream machine, the Mars Science Laboratory, aims to take the first steps toward finding out when it nears Mars's surface on Monday.

Scientists have found signs of water on Red Planet, which is Earth's neighbor, hinting that some form of life was once likely even though Mars is now a dry place with a thin atmosphere, extreme winters and dust storms.

NASA said it will find out whether its Mars Science Laboratory and rover, Curiosity -- designed to hunt for soil-based signatures of life and send back data to prepare for a future human mission -- landed safely at 1:31 am Eastern time (0531 GMT) on Monday.

That will be about 14 minutes after the touchdown actually happens due to the time it takes for spacecraft signals to travel from Mars to Earth.

As of late Saturday, the laboratory was approximately 261,000 miles (420,039 kilometers) from Mars, closing in at around 8,000 miles per hour.

"Curiosity remains in good health with all systems operating as expected," NASA said in a statement.

The nuclear-powered rover is the biggest ever built for planetary exploration -- weighing in at one ton, about the size of a small car -- and carries a complex chemistry kit to zap rocks, drill soil and test for radiation.

The landing is a daring and unprecedented maneuver that involves penetrating the atmosphere at a speed of 13,200 miles per hour, slowing down with the help of a supersonic parachute and dropping down gently with tethers from a rocket-powered sky crane.

"This is the most challenging landing we have ever attempted," said Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program.

Two NASA orbiters will be crossing overhead as the lander approaches the surface, and a third orbiter operated by the European Space Agency will also send data back to Earth.

The Mars Science Laboratory began its journey more than eight months ago when it launched from the Florida coast in late November 2011.

"It gets scarier every day," said McCuistion, noting that only about 40 percent of past attempts by global space agencies to send spacecraft to Mars have succeeded.

"Can we do this? Yeah, I think we can do this. I am confident the team has done an amazing job," he said.

"But that risk still exists. It is going to be tough."

NASA has detailed the final minutes of the complex landing in an Internet video called "Seven Minutes of Terror."

A live broadcast from mission control in Pasadena, California will be on www.nasa.gov beginning at 0330 GMT Monday. Final press briefings are scheduled for 1630 GMT and 2200 GMT on Sunday.

The landing site for the rover is a flat area known as Gale Crater, which lies near a mountain that scientists hope the rover will be able to climb in the search for sediment layers that could be up to a billion years old.

One potential factor of concern, the weather, appears to be cooperating after a nearby dust storm spotted days ago dissipated, deputy project scientist Ashwin Vasavada told reporters.

"Mars is playing nice and we are going to get good conditions for Sunday," he said.

If the landing goes according to plan, NASA hopes to have some low-resolution black and white images taken from cameras on the rear of the rover shortly afterward.

More images will follow in the coming days. Then, engineers on Earth will spend most of August remotely checking out systems on the vehicle, according to deputy program manager Richard Cook.

The rover is carrying a chemistry kit that contains a rock-zapping laser, 17 cameras, a drill, radiation detectors, water sensors, and tools to scoop soil and check for carbon-based compounds that are the building blocks for life.

Curiosity may start to roll for its first drive in September, with its first scoop samples expected late in the month and its first drilling attempt in October or November.

If the landing fails, McCuistion vowed that NASA would continue its efforts to explore Mars.

"We will pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off," he said.

"Human spirit gets driven by these kinds of challenges and these are the kinds of challenges that force us, drive us to explore. To explore our surroundings, to understand what is out there, and obviously look at 'Are we alone?'"

[OnBendedKnee]

Excellent!
Thanks for sharing. A nice break from the Olympics.

[Riotgear]

FUCK YEAH!

Go humans!

Remember those old school launches back in the day. Kids playing, dad bbq'in, mom getting pounded by the neighbor in a backroom.

GO HUMANS!

[Lady Cop]

CURIOSITY







it's inside this as it travels-




In this July 25, 2012 photo, Rob Manning, chief engineer, speaks to media at NASA Mars Yard at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena Wednesday, July 25, 2012. Beside Manning is a model of the Mars rover, Curiosity.


it really reminds me of this guy!

[Lady Cop]

i was watching at 0130 when the Curiousity landed, it was wonderful...like the old days at NASA, seeing all the ground control people cheering and hugging and laughing!

"Touchdown confirmed," said engineer Allen Chen. "We're safe on Mars."



One of the first images beamed back from NASA's Curiosity rover on August 6 is a photo of the shadow cast by the rover on the surface of Mars.

(CNN) -- NASA's rover Curiosity successfully carried out a highly challenging landing on Mars early Monday, transmitting images back to Earth after traveling hundreds of millions of miles through space in order to explore the Red Planet.

The $2.6 billion Curiosity made its dramatic arrival on Martian terrain in a spectacle popularly known as the "seven minutes of terror."

This jaw-dropping landing process, involving a sky crane and the world's largest supersonic parachute, allowed the spacecraft carrying Curiosity to target the landing area that scientists had meticulously chosen.

The mission control in NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California burst into cheers as the rover touched down. Team members hugged and high-fived one another as Curiosity beamed back the first pictures from the planet, some shed tears.




Curiosity later sent back the first high resolution picture of its landing site, showing one of its wheels on the martian surface

[Riotgear]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jimbone]

I stayed up and watched this too... my inner geek was so satisfied!

A truly amazing accomplishment for mankind, once again.

[HairOfTheDog]

Very very cool, indeed. NASA.

[Midwest Spy]

Sure, it's cool, but we've made other unmanned missions to Mars in the past. What's this one going to accomplish? Again, just trying to find out if life ever existed there? Big whoop. Without a human to do the research, it's hard to know exactly what's being looked at/identified.

Let's get daring, and send a manned mission to Mars. I'm sure there are many adventurous humans who'd love a shot at doing that.

[Donovan]

There's more than a few I'd like to send hahaha.

[HairOfTheDog]

Sure, it's cool, but we've made other unmanned missions to Mars in the past. What's this one going to accomplish? Again, just trying to find out if life ever existed there? Big whoop. Without a human to do the research, it's hard to know exactly what's being looked at/identified.

Let's get daring, and send a manned mission to Mars. I'm sure there are many adventurous humans who'd love a shot at doing that.

Geez, MS. Way to kill a good geek buzz.

Each time, the rover has collected from different areas of Mars and the samples and photos are indeed analyzed and researched by scientists. It's significant and would be a really big whoop if what's discovered from this exploration results in indicators that life existed on Mars, imo.

I'll volunteer to go with you if/when they send the manned expedition.

[Midwest Spy]

Sure, it's cool, but we've made other unmanned missions to Mars in the past. What's this one going to accomplish? Again, just trying to find out if life ever existed there? Big whoop. Without a human to do the research, it's hard to know exactly what's being looked at/identified.

Let's get daring, and send a manned mission to Mars. I'm sure there are many adventurous humans who'd love a shot at doing that.

Geez, MS. Way to kill a good geek buzz.

Each time, the rover has collected from different areas of Mars and the samples and photos are indeed analyzed and researched by scientists. It's significant and would be a really whoop if what's discovered from this exploration results in indicators that life existed on Mars, imo.

I'll volunteer to go with you if/when they send the manned expedition.

I suggest everyone just watch 'Red Planet' and we can save $2.5B.

[Duchess]

You're a wet blanket.

[Donovan]

MS will go if they put in casinos lol.

[Midwest Spy]

MS will go if they put in casinos lol.

I only bet on sports and play black-jack. Haven't done either since my last visit there in Jan 2010.

Now, if there were strippers/hookers on board the Mission-To-Mars, I'm sure you'd find some volunteers.

[HairOfTheDog]

I suggest everyone just watch 'Red Planet' and we can save $2.5B.

Or, maybe they'll build a MARS HOTEL & CASINO in Las Vegas based upon what little we know now; people from all over the world will visit and throw away way more than $2.5B on gambling, drinks, and hookers dressed as martians.

Why make science so scientific?

Edit: Sorry Donovan; posting similar concept at the same time...

[Midwest Spy]

I suggest everyone just watch 'Red Planet' and we can save $2.5B.

Or, maybe they'll build a MARS HOTEL & CASINO in Las Vegas based upon what little we know now; people from all over the world will visit and throw away way more than $2.5B on gambling, drinks, and hookers dressed as martians.

Why make science so scientific?

Someone should put you in charge.

[HairOfTheDog]

I suggest everyone just watch 'Red Planet' and we can save $2.5B.

Or, maybe they'll build a MARS HOTEL & CASINO in Las Vegas based upon what little we know now; people from all over the world will visit and throw away way more than $2.5B on gambling, drinks, and hookers dressed as martians.

Why make science so scientific?

Someone should put you in charge.

You're feisty today.

I might take that challenge, but I'd need consultation from someone who actually enjoys throwing money away, watered-down drinks, and sex-for-pay. Let me know when you're free and we can toss it around, Bill Nye the Science Guy.

[Midwest Spy]

I suggest everyone just watch 'Red Planet' and we can save $2.5B.

Or, maybe they'll build a MARS HOTEL & CASINO in Las Vegas based upon what little we know now; people from all over the world will visit and throw away way more than $2.5B on gambling, drinks, and hookers dressed as martians.

Why make science so scientific?

Someone should put you in charge.

You're feisty today.

I might take that challenge, but I'd need consultation from someone who actually enjoys throwing money away, watered-down drinks, and sex-for-pay. Let me know when you're free and we can toss it around, Bill Nye the Science Guy.

Funny, I don't think I've ever actually been drunk while in Vegas. Sure, a cocktail or two for a nice continuous buzz, but I don't like to get falling down drunk.

Never done the sex-for-pay either, or the strip clubs while there.

However, if you'd like some knowledge about sports wagering, I'd love to help.

[Midwest Spy]

You're a wet blanket.

I'd rather see all $2.5B go into cancer research to be honest.