Mars Rover project: Successful landing! May the science begin!

snickothemule · August 7th, 2012, 14:09

Jetpacks!

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html

What is this project?

The Curiosity Rover is a massive 3m long, 2000lb remote machine designed to be delivered to the surface of Mars (that's another planet!) with a fully functioning laboratory onboard. It's a very complex and kickin rad machine that has international interest and support. The project has four goals:

To discover if Mars has ever supported life
The role of water on the planet
Study the climate
Study the geology

In short, NASA be sending a car to Mars for science.

Why are these important goals?

*slap* Wake up stupid. By further expanding our understanding of our neighbouring planets we further our understanding of the universe itself. There are massive amounts of questions surrounding the history of Mars, was it like Earth at one point? Did it ever sustain life? Could it sustain life in the future? Are there any biosignatures? Studying the climate and geology of our own planet has greatly benefited us, Mars is the next step in our scientific endeavours and will make fascinating study.

OK I get it, you don't have to be so mean.

Yes I do! *slap*

That jetpack looks cool. Will it really work? It looks very complicated.

Yes! The mission was a success. Despite the engineering scope being enormous with a tremendous amount of things that could have gone wrong, the Rover has successfully landed where the team wanted it to land, a feat in itself a marvelous victory.

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci...807-23rji.html

Are there pictures?

You bet!

Curiosity's landing spot.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/20...to-of-the-day/

Descent!
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/category/space/

That's Mt. Sharp.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/20...rover-landing/

First colour image. It's beautiful.

This whole project is a waste of money, which should have gone to the needy or fixing the economy.

Get out. This project rules and for $3 billion it represents a great deal. In comparison the development of the F-35 was $400 billion.

Spoiler:

In short, please don't stink the thread up with this rhetoric, if you like please make another thread to discuss the political ramifications of this perspective. Let's keep this one for science yo!

__________________
My grass is the greenest.

Last edited by snickothemule; August 7th, 2012 at 14:25..

Radix865 · August 7th, 2012, 17:41

And when they're gonna lose connection due to a technical glitch, I'll be on the floor, rolling while I laugh... What, it happened last time.

I'm actually hoping they find actual water there, as I doubt there will be any life, but water would mean that sending people there would become much more easier... And possibly even a base eventually(though I doubt I'll live to see that, whatever happens).

__________________

**@ruantec** · August 7th, 2012, 18:03

I want to live there....

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**SCHUMI_4EVER** · August 8th, 2012, 00:17

Great, so now a real life Howard can get it stuck in a ditch whilst trying to impress some girl.

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snickothemule · August 8th, 2012, 04:43

Curiosity Press Kit

It looks like Curiosity is in good shape.

Quote:

Curiosity is healthy as it continues to familiarize itself with its new home in Gale Crater and check out its systems. The team's plans for Curiosity checkout today included raising the rover's mast and continued testing of its high-gain antenna, whose pointing toward Earth will be adjusted on Sol 2. Science data were collected from Curiosity's Radiation Assessment Detector, and activities were performed with the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station instrument. Curiosity transmitted its first color image from the surface of Mars, from the Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI, showing part of the north rim of Gale Crater. Additional calibration images were received from Curiosity's Navcam and Mastcam. All systems are go for deployment of the rover's remote sensing mast on Sol 2, followed by a 360-degree pan by the rover's Navcam. The Mastcam will also be calibrated against a target image on the rover. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter returned a spectacular image of Curiosity's landing site, depicting the rover, parachute, back shell, heat shield and descent stage. Data were received from both NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey.

I can't wait for them to start investigating the 5.5km high mountain and start zapping rocks with that badass lazer it has.

__________________
My grass is the greenest.

Last edited by snickothemule; August 8th, 2012 at 05:07..

**SCHUMI_4EVER** · August 11th, 2012, 17:33

https://twitter.com/SarcasticRover

__________________

Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83Ghz stock) | ASUS P5Q | 2x2GB Transcend JetRam DDR2-800 | ASUS ENGTX260\HDTP\896M | Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1

The Champ has retired but may his Legacy live on FOREVER !!!!

No$GBA DS FAQ 2.0

Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!!

!!! WARNING: Emulation requires a brain !!! WARNING: Emulation =/= Piracy !!!

snickothemule · August 12th, 2012, 02:37

The first high res mosaic from Curiosity has been released. By god it's beautiful.

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multime.../?ImageID=4421

The black bits are segments that have yet to be downloaded from the Rover.

__________________
My grass is the greenest.

August 7th, 2012, 14:09	#1
snickothemule Hello Cudie Pie! Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Coffs Harbour, Australia Posts: 4,875	Mars Rover project: Successful landing! May the science begin! Jetpacks! http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html What is this project? The Curiosity Rover is a massive 3m long, 2000lb remote machine designed to be delivered to the surface of Mars (that's another planet!) with a fully functioning laboratory onboard. It's a very complex and kickin rad machine that has international interest and support. The project has four goals: To discover if Mars has ever supported life The role of water on the planet Study the climate Study the geology In short, NASA be sending a car to Mars for science. Why are these important goals? slap Wake up stupid. By further expanding our understanding of our neighbouring planets we further our understanding of the universe itself. There are massive amounts of questions surrounding the history of Mars, was it like Earth at one point? Did it ever sustain life? Could it sustain life in the future? Are there any biosignatures? Studying the climate and geology of our own planet has greatly benefited us, Mars is the next step in our scientific endeavours and will make fascinating study. OK I get it, you don't have to be so mean. Yes I do! slap That jetpack looks cool. Will it really work? It looks very complicated. Yes! The mission was a success. Despite the engineering scope being enormous with a tremendous amount of things that could have gone wrong, the Rover has successfully landed where the team wanted it to land, a feat in itself a marvelous victory. http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci...807-23rji.html Are there pictures? You bet! Curiosity's landing spot. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/20...to-of-the-day/ Descent! http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/category/space/ That's Mt. Sharp. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/20...rover-landing/ First colour image. It's beautiful. This whole project is a waste of money, which should have gone to the needy or fixing the economy. Get out. This project rules and for $3 billion it represents a great deal. In comparison the development of the F-35 was $400 billion. Spoiler: What you want is a fundamental change in the order of the world which would require a phenomenal effort in the political sphere, economy and operation of the human race, something which at this time isn't feasible. Sacrificing the space program will ultimately accomplish nothing and will only serve to stagnate scientific progress and hurt us in the long run. Look at the cost of this project and way it up against the rest of the United States budget, realise how small it is and stop with this nonsense. You want to fix the world, be prepared to change everything. In short, please don't stink the thread up with this rhetoric, if you like please make another thread to discuss the political ramifications of this perspective. Let's keep this one for science yo! __________________ My grass is the greenest. Last edited by snickothemule; August 7th, 2012 at 14:25..

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August 7th, 2012, 17:41	#2
Radix865 ~sta~are~ Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Finland, now further below the arctic circle. Posts: 5,627	And when they're gonna lose connection due to a technical glitch, I'll be on the floor, rolling while I laugh... What, it happened last time. I'm actually hoping they find actual water there, as I doubt there will be any life, but water would mean that sending people there would become much more easier... And possibly even a base eventually(though I doubt I'll live to see that, whatever happens). __________________

August 7th, 2012, 18:03	#3
@ruantec Crazy GFX coder Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Dominican Republic/Austria Posts: 8,115	I want to live there.... __________________ Current development tools: Visual C++.net, Visual C#.net Visual VB.net, Visual Webdeveloper.net Bloodshed Dev C++, Borland C++ Visual Basic 6

August 8th, 2012, 00:17	#4
SCHUMI_4EVER Hackin 'n Slashin Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Most-expensive-Internet-on-the-Planet Land : South Africa Posts: 26,399	Great, so now a real life Howard can get it stuck in a ditch whilst trying to impress some girl. __________________ Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83Ghz stock) \| ASUS P5Q \| 2x2GB Transcend JetRam DDR2-800 \| ASUS ENGTX260\HDTP\896M \| Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1 The Champ has retired but may his Legacy live on FOREVER !!!! No$GBA DS FAQ 2.0 Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!! !!! WARNING: Emulation requires a brain !!! WARNING: Emulation =/= Piracy !!!

August 11th, 2012, 17:33	#6
SCHUMI_4EVER Hackin 'n Slashin Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Most-expensive-Internet-on-the-Planet Land : South Africa Posts: 26,399	https://twitter.com/SarcasticRover __________________ Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83Ghz stock) \| ASUS P5Q \| 2x2GB Transcend JetRam DDR2-800 \| ASUS ENGTX260\HDTP\896M \| Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1 The Champ has retired but may his Legacy live on FOREVER !!!! No$GBA DS FAQ 2.0 Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!! !!! WARNING: Emulation requires a brain !!! WARNING: Emulation =/= Piracy !!!

August 12th, 2012, 02:37	#7
snickothemule Hello Cudie Pie! Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Coffs Harbour, Australia Posts: 4,875	The first high res mosaic from Curiosity has been released. By god it's beautiful. http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multime.../?ImageID=4421 The black bits are segments that have yet to be downloaded from the Rover. __________________ My grass is the greenest.