NASA Curiosity site (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html)
Slightly over 10 hours from now a lot of NASA technicians, engineers and scientists will be crapping themselves!!!
There is a countdown clock on the site. The moment of landing will be a little before 6:30am UK time Monday 6th August.
Quote from: Tank on August 05, 2012, 08:05:20 PM
NASA Curiosity site (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html)
Slightly over 10 hours from now a lot of NASA technicians, engineers and scientists will be crapping themselves!!!
There is a countdown clock on the site. The moment of landing will be a little before 6:30am UK time Monday 6th August.
God did it. She doesn't want us to discover any evidence of extraterrestrial life. From crap we were born, and to crap we will return. ;D
Quote from: TheWalkingContradiction on August 05, 2012, 09:02:36 PM
Quote from: Tank on August 05, 2012, 08:05:20 PM
NASA Curiosity site (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html)
Slightly over 10 hours from now a lot of NASA technicians, engineers and scientists will be crapping themselves!!!
There is a countdown clock on the site. The moment of landing will be a little before 6:30am UK time Monday 6th August.
God did it. She doesn't want us to discover any evidence of extraterrestrial life. From crap we were born, and to crap we will return. ;D
I remember reading somewhere that the Bible considers taking a crap evil too, because it makes you feel good, and that's bad. I can't find the source now, but I remember it involved some historical figure or character dying while on the crapper. Maybe someone else here knows. So the scientists would in effect be making their own anti-science protest.
I can't believe I just wrote that. Anyway, wish this wasn't happening so late in the US, but I look forward to reading about it tomorrow.
It hasn't arrived yet!
Less than 30 minutes to go now!
Just watched it live. I love the internet.
SCIENCE!!!
It's down and safe and sending back pictures!!!!!
Curiosity is down safe! Now if the Martians don't disintegrate her We should be in for some mind blowing data.
Woo hoo! Science for the win!!! And thanks to an arthritis flare, I was home to see it. 8)
Great news, congrats Americans and other humanoids.
It's weird to feel a sense of accomplishment even though I had absolutely nothing to do with the successful landing or any other aspect of the mission. But I do.
Spirit and Opportunity were supposed to work for 90 Martian days, and they lasted 6 years and is still going, respectively. Curiosity is set for a two year mission. I wonder if they can squeeze a decade out of the ol' girl?
Quote from: hismikeness on August 06, 2012, 07:11:24 AM
It's weird to feel a sense of accomplishment even though I had absolutely nothing to do with the successful landing or any other aspect of the mission. But I do.
Congratulations hismikeness! You did it!
Quote from: Genericguy on August 06, 2012, 07:22:47 AM
Quote from: hismikeness on August 06, 2012, 07:11:24 AM
It's weird to feel a sense of accomplishment even though I had absolutely nothing to do with the successful landing or any other aspect of the mission. But I do.
Congratulations hismikeness! You did it!
Why do I feel they were able to do it despite hismikeness? Just think of what may have been accomplished if hismikeness wasn't not not involved. (Boom! - triple negative.)
Quote from: hismikeness on August 06, 2012, 07:11:24 AM
It's weird to feel a sense of accomplishment even though I had absolutely nothing to do with the successful landing or any other aspect of the mission. But I do.
Spirit and Opportunity were supposed to work for 90 Martian days, and they lasted 6 years and is still going, respectively. Curiosity is set for a two year mission. I wonder if they can squeeze a decade out of the ol' girl?
How is NASA funded?
Quote from: hismikeness on August 06, 2012, 07:11:24 AM
It's weird to feel a sense of accomplishment even though I had absolutely nothing to do with the successful landing or any other aspect of the mission. But I do.
Spirit and Opportunity were supposed to work for 90 Martian days, and they lasted 6 years and is still going, respectively. Curiosity is set for a two year mission. I wonder if they can squeeze a decade out of the ol' girl?
It's power plant should last at least 14 years.
Quote from: Tank on August 06, 2012, 07:32:48 AM
Quote from: hismikeness on August 06, 2012, 07:11:24 AM
It's weird to feel a sense of accomplishment even though I had absolutely nothing to do with the successful landing or any other aspect of the mission. But I do.
Spirit and Opportunity were supposed to work for 90 Martian days, and they lasted 6 years and is still going, respectively. Curiosity is set for a two year mission. I wonder if they can squeeze a decade out of the ol' girl?
How is NASA funded?
I believe itis funded from the general budget, I've heard only 1/2 a cent of every dollar. This particular mission is $2.5 billion or about 45 days worth of US war air conditioning bill. (http://www.npr.org/2011/06/25/137414737/among-the-costs-of-war-20b-in-air-conditioning) :o
Edit: bad math.
Quote from: Ihateyoumike on August 06, 2012, 07:30:02 AM
Quote from: Genericguy on August 06, 2012, 07:22:47 AM
Quote from: hismikeness on August 06, 2012, 07:11:24 AM
It's weird to feel a sense of accomplishment even though I had absolutely nothing to do with the successful landing or any other aspect of the mission. But I do.
Congratulations hismikeness! You did it!
Why do I feel they were able to do it despite hismikeness? Just think of what may have been accomplished if hismikeness wasn't not not involved. (Boom! - triple negative.)
Probably would've landed that bitch on Venus by accident.
First picture from mars...
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi206.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb115%2Fka0scr%2F1st_picture_from_mars_lander.jpg&hash=86f592696e87cf6d749cb49020f956f23159e3c3)
Quote from: zeroday on August 07, 2012, 08:11:51 PM
First picture from mars...
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi206.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb115%2Fka0scr%2F1st_picture_from_mars_lander.jpg&hash=86f592696e87cf6d749cb49020f956f23159e3c3)
The old ones are the best :)
Quote from: zeroday on August 07, 2012, 08:11:51 PM
First picture from mars...
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi206.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb115%2Fka0scr%2F1st_picture_from_mars_lander.jpg&hash=86f592696e87cf6d749cb49020f956f23159e3c3)
I hope that he left his Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator somewhere he can't find it.
2nd picture from Mars.
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fresources1.news.com.au%2Fimages%2F2012%2F08%2F07%2F1226444%2F607325-curiosity-landing.jpg&hash=015a0190ca3eb96637b434a73c004dfdb85b4653)
Nasa's Curiosity rover lifts its navigation cameras (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19186237)
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbcimg.co.uk%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F62140000%2Fjpg%2F_62140797_674897main_pia16013-43_1024-768.jpg&hash=cc828883c865aadc2014af8f16a6c784ec749251)
QuoteThe Curiosity Mars rover has lifted its mast and used its high navigation cameras for the first time.
The robot vehicle has returned black and white images that capture part of its own body, its shadow on the ground and views off to the horizon.
Spectacular relief - the rim cliffs of the crater in which the rover landed - can be seen in the distance.
Curiosity - also known as the Mars Science Laboratory, MSL - put down on the Red Planet on Monday (GMT).
The US space agency (Nasa) mission came to rest on the floor of a deep depression on Mars' equator known as Gale Crater, close to a 5.5km-high mountain.
The plan eventually is to take the robot to the base of this mountain where it is expected to find rocks that were laid down billions of years ago in the presence of liquid water.
Curiosity will probe these sediments for evidence that past environments on Mars could once have favoured microbial life...
The equipment seems to be operational. I starting to get really excited about the real start of the mission.
Quote from: Tank on August 08, 2012, 09:19:00 PM
Nasa's Curiosity rover lifts its navigation cameras (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19186237)
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbcimg.co.uk%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F62140000%2Fjpg%2F_62140797_674897main_pia16013-43_1024-768.jpg&hash=cc828883c865aadc2014af8f16a6c784ec749251)
QuoteThe Curiosity Mars rover has lifted its mast and used its high navigation cameras for the first time.
The robot vehicle has returned black and white images that capture part of its own body, its shadow on the ground and views off to the horizon.
Spectacular relief - the rim cliffs of the crater in which the rover landed - can be seen in the distance.
Is it just me or does that picture look like it was taken on Earth? I know that it wasn't but the similarities are uncanny, and the surface doesn't look like a 52 ' drop. You could imagine trees and grass.
Curiosity - also known as the Mars Science Laboratory, MSL - put down on the Red Planet on Monday (GMT).
The US space agency (Nasa) mission came to rest on the floor of a deep depression on Mars' equator known as Gale Crater, close to a 5.5km-high mountain.
The plan eventually is to take the robot to the base of this mountain where it is expected to find rocks that were laid down billions of years ago in the presence of liquid water.
Curiosity will probe these sediments for evidence that past environments on Mars could once have favoured microbial life...
http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/mars-organic-matter/#.VJWtKA0Z
I'm surprised nobody had posted this already.
This too:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4413
They're still not sure what is causing the methane, but the fact that it's been detected is a very big deal.
Quote from: Firebird on December 20, 2014, 05:33:22 PM
This too:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4413
They're still not sure what is causing the methane, but the fact that it's been detected is a very big deal.
thinks like those should be with thick bold headlines all over the place. But I only know about it because I;m watching some science websites
Hmm, no doubt plenty of this thread is gone/in electronic limbo. Here's a link to some recent photos from
Curiosity: "Farewell to Murray Buttes" (http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia21044/farewell-to-murray-buttes)
Image #4:
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasa.gov%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fthumbnails%2Fimage%2Fmain_pia21044.jpg&hash=5f6f27dcc5f335d78772356e7ffced583c7de8ae)
Image Credit: NASA
^^^ That's cool - thanks, Rec!
Amazing how earth-like they look. The sandstone layers and wear patterns.
Wonder how much the lower gravity and low atmospheric density changes the way they form...
Curiosity rover: 2,000 days on Mars (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-43494227)
We lost one rover, but extra time out of the other two made up for it.
I wonder what the planning sessions for their extra time went, like how they prioritized the science they wanted to do.
Quote from: Davin on March 26, 2018, 10:09:44 PM
We lost one rover, but extra time out of the other two made up for it.
I wonder what the planning sessions for their extra time went, like how they prioritized the science they wanted to do.
It would be very interesting to be a fly on the wall for many NASA meetings.
Quote from: Tank on March 27, 2018, 08:29:21 AM
Quote from: Davin on March 26, 2018, 10:09:44 PM
We lost one rover, but extra time out of the other two made up for it.
I wonder what the planning sessions for their extra time went, like how they prioritized the science they wanted to do.
It would be very interesting to be a fly on the wall for many NASA meetings.
They don't allow flies in there. Very sanitary, from what I could tell on my visit.
For your perusal.....or not. https://www.brainpickings.org/2017/12/21/reflection/
Well whoopee, astronomers have discovered a new star or some sort of object that is the farther from the earth than any other object in the catalogues. Some nine billion light years away. It is catalogued as MACS J1149. The astronomers are calling it Icarus. Yeahhhhh, I am almost famous but kind of far out.
Quote from: Icarus on April 09, 2018, 11:38:08 PM
Well whoopee, astronomers have discovered a new star or some sort of object that is the farther from the earth than any other object in the catalogues. Some nine billion light years away. It is catalogued as MACS J1149. The astronomers are calling it Icarus. Yeahhhhh, I am almost famous but kind of far out.
Congrats!
NASA Finds Ancient Organic Material, Mysterious Methane on Mars (https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-finds-ancient-organic-material-mysterious-methane-on-mars)
QuoteNASA's Curiosity rover has found new evidence preserved in rocks on Mars that suggests the planet could have supported ancient life, as well as new evidence in the Martian atmosphere that relates to the search for current life on the Red Planet. While not necessarily evidence of life itself, these findings are a good sign for future missions exploring the planet's surface and subsurface.
The new findings – "tough" organic molecules in three-billion-year-old sedimentary rocks near the surface, as well as seasonal variations in the levels of methane in the atmosphere – appear in the June 8 edition of the journal Science.
More on the variations in methane levels observed in the atmosphere of Mars:
"Curiosity's Mars Methane Mystery Continues" |
NASA (https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8452/curiositys-mars-methane-mystery-continues/)
QuoteCuriosity's team conducted a follow-on methane experiment this past weekend. The results came down early Monday morning: The methane levels have sharply decreased, with less than 1 part per billion by volume detected. That's a value close to the background levels Curiosity sees all the time.
The finding suggests last week's methane detection — the largest amount of the gas Curiosity has ever found — was one of the transient methane plumes that have been observed in the past. While scientists have observed the background levels rise and fall seasonally, they haven't found a pattern in the occurrence of these transient plumes.
"The methane mystery continues," said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity's project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "We're more motivated than ever to keep measuring and put our brains together to figure out how methane behaves in the Martian atmosphere."
Curiosity doesn't have instruments that can definitively say whether the source of the methane is biological or geological. A clearer understanding of these plumes, combined with coordinated measurements from other missions, could help scientists determine where they're located on Mars.
[Continues . . . (https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8452/curiositys-mars-methane-mystery-continues/)]
Now, an "oxygen mystery" has been added.
"With Mars Methane Mystery Unsolved, Curiosity Serves Scientists a New One: Oxygen" |
NASA (https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8548/with-mars-methane-mystery-unsolved-curiosity-serves-scientists-a-new-one-oxygen/)
QuoteFor the first time in the history of space exploration, scientists have measured the seasonal changes in the gases that fill the air directly above the surface of Gale Crater on Mars. As a result, they noticed something baffling: oxygen, the gas many Earth creatures use to breathe, behaves in a way that so far scientists cannot explain through any known chemical processes.
Over the course of three Mars years (or nearly six Earth years) an instrument in the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) portable chemistry lab inside the belly of NASA's Curiosity rover inhaled the air of Gale Crater and analyzed its composition. The results SAM spit out confirmed the makeup of the Martian atmosphere at the surface: 95% by volume of carbon dioxide (CO2), 2.6% molecular nitrogen (N2), 1.9% argon (Ar), 0.16% molecular oxygen (O2), and 0.06% carbon monoxide (CO). They also revealed how the molecules in the Martian air mix and circulate with the changes in air pressure throughout the year. These changes are caused when CO2 gas freezes over the poles in the winter, thereby lowering the air pressure across the planet following redistribution of air to maintain pressure equilibrium. When CO2 evaporates in the spring and summer and mixes across Mars, it raises the air pressure.
Within this environment, scientists found that nitrogen and argon follow a predictable seasonal pattern, waxing and waning in concentration in Gale Crater throughout the year relative to how much CO2 is in the air. They expected oxygen to do the same. But it didn't. Instead, the amount of the gas in the air rose throughout spring and summer by as much as 30%, and then dropped back to levels predicted by known chemistry in fall. This pattern repeated each spring, though the amount of oxygen added to the atmosphere varied, implying that something was producing it and then taking it away.
[Continues . . . (https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8548/with-mars-methane-mystery-unsolved-curiosity-serves-scientists-a-new-one-oxygen/)]
Something like anaerobic bacteria, perhaps? As a bonus, we have an article from a NASA scientist who describes an old experiment and its results which he believes were evidence of life on Mars. That particular experiment has not been repeated.
"I'm Convinced We Found Evidence of Life on Mars in the 1970s" |
Scientific American (https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/im-convinced-we-found-evidence-of-life-on-mars-in-the-1970s/)
QuoteWe humans can now peer back into the virtual origin of our universe. We have learned much about the laws of nature that control its seemingly infinite celestial bodies, their evolution, motions and possible fate. Yet, equally remarkable, we have no generally accepted information as to whether other life exists beyond us, or whether we are, as was Samuel Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, "alone, alone, all, all alone, alone on a wide wide sea!" We have made only one exploration to solve that primal mystery. I was fortunate to have participated in that historic adventure as experimenter of the Labeled Release (LR) life detection experiment on NASA's spectacular Viking mission to Mars in 1976.
On July 30, 1976, the LR returned its initial results from Mars. Amazingly, they were positive. As the experiment progressed, a total of four positive results, supported by five varied controls, streamed down from the twin Viking spacecraft landed some 4,000 miles apart. The data curves signaled the detection of microbial respiration on the Red Planet. The curves from Mars were similar to those produced by LR tests of soils on Earth. It seemed we had answered that ultimate question.
When the Viking Molecular Analysis Experiment failed to detect organic matter, the essence of life, however, NASA concluded that the LR had found a substance mimicking life, but not life. Inexplicably, over the 43 years since Viking, none of NASA's subsequent Mars landers has carried a life detection instrument to follow up on these exciting results. Instead the agency launched a series of missions to Mars to determine whether there was ever a habitat suitable for life and, if so, eventually to bring samples to Earth for biological examination.
[Continues . . . (https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/im-convinced-we-found-evidence-of-life-on-mars-in-the-1970s/)]
Curiosity has found oil, sort of. The link to MSN below will probably expire at some point (not soon, but I've noticed before that MSN doesn't maintain stories on its site indefinitely), and the original is behind a paywall. The news release from WSU (https://news.wsu.edu/2020/03/05/study-finds-organic-molecules-discovered-curiosity-rover-consistent-early-life-mars/) linked in the story should remain on the net, though.
"Scientists Found Oil on Mars. Or Truffles." |
MSN/The Daily Beast (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-found-oil-on-mars-or-truffles/ar-BB11oECE)
The paywall has been removed. Original article: "Scientists Found Oil on Mars. Or Truffles." |
The Daily Beast (https://www.thedailybeast.com/scientists-found-oil-on-mars-or-truffles)
QuoteTechnically speaking, Dirk Schulze‑Makuch and Jacob Heinz didn't find oil. Rather, they found organic compounds called "thiophenes" that are also present in crude oil, coal, and truffles.
Thiophene molecules include four carbon atoms and a sulfur atom in a ring-like shape. There are lots of ways thiophenes get created. Not all of them are "biotic," meaning they involve life.
But many of them are biotic. And if that's the case with the thiophenes Schulze‑Makuch and Heinz found on Mars, then the discovery could be proof of, well, alien life.
"If they are biotic, it means that there was early life on Mars," Schulze‑Makuch told The Daily Beast, "and that there is possibly still extant life in some ecological niches of Mars today."
The thiophenes turned up in dried-up mud that NASA's Curiosity Rover dug up in Mars' Gale Crater. Curiosity landed on the Red Planet in 2012 and has spent the last eight years rolling around Mars, periodically pausing to scoop up samples, analyze them, and beam the raw data back to Earth.
Schulze‑Makuch from Washington State University and Heinz from Berlin's Technische Universität studied the numbers from Curiosity and concluded the Martian dirt held thiophenes. They published their findings this month in the science journal Astrobiology.
The astrobiologists can't say for sure what produced the Martian thiophenes. On Earth, thiophenes often result from the eons-long process of fossilization: plankton living, dying, sinking to the seafloor, getting buried and pressure-cooked into oil.
But thiophenes can also result from a non-organic process called thermochemical sulfate reduction, which involves heating up certain compounds to hundreds of degrees Fahrenheit. A meteorite impact could spark thermochemical sulfate reduction.
The best Schulze‑Makuch and Heinz could do was identify all the ways the thiophenes might have gotten into the Martian dirt.
"We identified several biological pathways for thiophenes that seem more likely than chemical ones, but we still need proof," Schulze‑Makuch said in a statement (https://news.wsu.edu/2020/03/05/study-finds-organic-molecules-discovered-curiosity-rover-consistent-early-life-mars/). "If you find thiophenes on Earth, then you would think they are biological, but on Mars, of course, the bar to prove that has to be quite a bit higher."
To prove that the Martian compounds came from some kind of alien life, Schulze‑Makuch and Heinz would have to find the parent molecule. In other words, tiny fragments of the Martian equivalent of Earth's plankton tissues that, over millions of years, eventually became oil.
Just don't count on Curiosity to do the heavy lifting. The decade-old rover doesn't have the equipment to handle really delicate samples. Curiosity gathers a lot of its data by way of pyrolysis gas chromatography—in essence, it burns up samples and analyzes the resulting gas.
The extreme heat the process requires can wreck the very thing it's examining. The sample in which Schulze‑Makuch and Heinz found their thiophenes reportedly was a bit damaged (https://www.sciencealert.com/organic-molecules-on-mars-could-have-a-biological-origin).
[Continues . . . (https://www.thedailybeast.com/scientists-found-oil-on-mars-or-truffles)]
Only the abstract (https://liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ast.2019.2139) of the paper is currently available.
QuoteThe question whether organic compounds occur on Mars remained unanswered for decades. However, the recent discovery of various classes of organic matter in martian sediments by the Curiosity rover seems to strongly suggest that indigenous organic compounds exist on Mars. One intriguing group of detected organic compounds were thiophenes, which typically occur on Earth in kerogen, coal, and crude oil as well as in stromatolites and microfossils. Here we provide a brief synopsis of conceivable pathways for the generation and degradation of thiophenes on Mars. We show that the origin of thiophene derivatives can either be biotic or abiotic, for example, through sulfur incorporation in organic matter during early diagenesis. The potential of thiophenes to represent martian biomarkers is discussed as well as a correlation between abundancies of thiophenes and sulfate-bearing minerals. Finally, this study provides suggestions for future investigations on Mars and in Earth-based laboratories to answer the question whether the martian thiophenes are of biological origin.
Maybe Orson Wells famous program was not the hoax that it seemed to be.
A new Mars rover (called Perseverance) is nearing its launch date. Hat-tip to
Lark for this story. :boaterhat:
In due time Perseverance will no doubt have its own thread, but it's not safely there yet . . .
"Nasa Mars rover: Meteorite to head home to Red Planet" |
BBC (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53491555)
QuoteA small chunk of Mars will be heading home when the US space agency launches its latest rover mission on Thursday.
Nasa's Perseverance robot will carry with it a meteorite that originated on the Red Planet and which, until now, has been lodged in the collection of London's Natural History Museum (NHM).
The rock's known properties will act as a calibration target to benchmark the workings of a rover instrument.
It will give added confidence to any discoveries the robot might make.
This will be particularly important if Perseverance stumbles across something that hints at the presence of past life on the planet - one of the mission's great quests.
[. . .]
The rock has been put in a housing, along with nine other types of material, on the front of the rover where it will be scanned from time to time by the Sherloc instrument (https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/instruments/sherloc/).
This is a tool that contains two imagers and two laser spectroscopes, which together will investigate the geology of the rover's landing site - a 40km-wide crater called Jezero.
Satellite images suggest the bowl once held a lake, and scientists consider it to be one of the best places on Mars to try to find evidence of past microbial activity - if ever that took place.
Sherloc will study the local rocks and soil, looking for signatures of ancient biology.
What scientists don't want, however, is to have what they think is a "eureka moment" only to then realise Sherloc had developed some systematic error in its observations.
"We'll look at the calibration target in the first 60-90 days and perhaps not again for six months because we think the instrument is really very stable," said Dr Luther Beegle, Sherloc's principal investigator from Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
"But if we start seeing interesting things on the surface of Mars that we can't explain in the spectra, then we'll look back to the calibration target to make sure that the instrument's working correctly.
"I think the best we're going to be able to do from a scientific perspective is identify what we would call a 'potential bio-signature'.
"I don't think we'll ever be necessarily 100% sure because that's a hard measurement to make, which is why the sample-return aspect of Perseverance is so important."
[Continues . . . (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53491555)]
Perhaps we'll get some interesting video of the Marsfall of
Perseverance in a while. Launching on July 30--already today in some parts of the world. :smokin cool:
"NASA added 6 HD video cameras to its next Mars rover so we can all watch the first footage of a spacecraft landing on another planet" |
Business Insider (https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-perseverance-rover-seven-minutes-terror-landing-video-2020-7)
QuoteOne out of every two spacecraft that humanity rockets toward Mars for a landing never makes it.
Those are the rough odds facing NASA's upcoming Mars 2020 mission and Perseverance rover, which is currently scheduled to launch from Earth on July 30 and reach the red planet on February 18.
The mission's $2.4 billion cost, eight years of development, and work by thousands of people will come down to a recurring nightmare for aerospace engineers called the "seven minutes of terror" — the entry, descent, and landing phase that all Mars spacecraft must survive in order to explore the world's surface.
"We've got literally seven minutes to get from the top of the atmosphere to the surface of Mars, going from 13,000 mph to zero in perfect sequence, perfect choreography, perfect timing," Adam Steltzner, chief engineer of the Perseverance mission, said in a 2012 NASA-JPL video about its predecessor robot, the Curiosity rover (which is still going strong). "The computer has to do it all by itself with no help from the ground. If any one thing doesn't work just right, it's game over."
Like the Mars missions before it, Curiosity took some still photos of part of its descent, though no interplanetary spacecraft has ever recorded bonafide video of its landing phase, let alone in high-definition.
With Perseverance, however, the team behind the car-size, nuclear-powered robot is hoping to change that.
"We have something new this time: We've taken some ruggedized commercial cameras, and we've dispensed them around the spacecraft," Matt Wallace, deputy project manager of the Mars mission, said during a June 17 press briefing. "Those those cameras will be taking high-definition video of the spacecraft during entry, descent, and landing activity. So we should be able to watch this big parachute inflate supersonically, we should be able to watch the rover deploy and touch down on the surface."
He added: "This is going to be very exciting; it's the first time that we have ever been able to see a spacecraft land on another planet."
[Continues . . . (https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-perseverance-rover-seven-minutes-terror-landing-video-2020-7)]
Exciting stuff!
Quote from: Randy on July 29, 2020, 11:41:55 PM
Exciting stuff!
There was an error in my post. I said the landing date was July 30, but that's the launch date. I've edited the post to correct the error. :embarrassed:
Quote from: Recusant on July 29, 2020, 11:32:55 PM
Perhaps we'll get some interesting video of the Marsfall of Perseverance in a while. Launching on July 30--already today in some parts of the world. :smokin cool:
"NASA added 6 HD video cameras to its next Mars rover so we can all watch the first footage of a spacecraft landing on another planet" | Business Insider (https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-perseverance-rover-seven-minutes-terror-landing-video-2020-7)
QuoteOne out of every two spacecraft that humanity rockets toward Mars for a landing never makes it.
Those are the rough odds facing NASA's upcoming Mars 2020 mission and Perseverance rover, which is currently scheduled to launch from Earth on July 30 and reach the red planet on February 18.
The mission's $2.4 billion cost, eight years of development, and work by thousands of people will come down to a recurring nightmare for aerospace engineers called the "seven minutes of terror" — the entry, descent, and landing phase that all Mars spacecraft must survive in order to explore the world's surface.
"We've got literally seven minutes to get from the top of the atmosphere to the surface of Mars, going from 13,000 mph to zero in perfect sequence, perfect choreography, perfect timing," Adam Steltzner, chief engineer of the Perseverance mission, said in a 2012 NASA-JPL video about its predecessor robot, the Curiosity rover (which is still going strong). "The computer has to do it all by itself with no help from the ground. If any one thing doesn't work just right, it's game over."
Like the Mars missions before it, Curiosity took some still photos of part of its descent, though no interplanetary spacecraft has ever recorded bonafide video of its landing phase, let alone in high-definition.
With Perseverance, however, the team behind the car-size, nuclear-powered robot is hoping to change that.
"We have something new this time: We've taken some ruggedized commercial cameras, and we've dispensed them around the spacecraft," Matt Wallace, deputy project manager of the Mars mission, said during a June 17 press briefing. "Those those cameras will be taking high-definition video of the spacecraft during entry, descent, and landing activity. So we should be able to watch this big parachute inflate supersonically, we should be able to watch the rover deploy and touch down on the surface."
He added: "This is going to be very exciting; it's the first time that we have ever been able to see a spacecraft land on another planet."
[Continues . . . (https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-perseverance-rover-seven-minutes-terror-landing-video-2020-7)]
That's really cool! ;D
A NASA briefing on the
Perseverance mission. The slick video intro isn't useful; skip forward to about 1:30 to start the actual briefing.
Interesting piece on the BBC about this today.
It's off the ground and heading to orbit!
And I missed it. I forgot about it for some reason. Today is also chemo day so maybe that was on my mind. I can't wait for the landing in February. :)
Curiosity has worn wheels. Not that surprising after eight years of what definitely qualifies as extreme off-road use. This story is about special zip-ties though.
"This Photo of Curiosity Is Real! Here's Why NASA Uses Zip Ties on Mars Rovers" |
ScienceAlert (https://www.sciencealert.com/no-this-photo-of-curiosity-isn-t-fake-here-s-why-nasa-uses-cable-ties-on-their-rovers)
Quote(https://i.imgur.com/2tfZbyD.png)
Image Credit: NASA
Have you heard the one about NASA spending millions to develop a pen that would write in space, while the Soviet Union used pencils?
Well, that story is a big fat myth, but the refrain 'simple is best' isn't wrong. For example, to secure any loose cables, pipes, or even equipment on Mars rovers, NASA does indeed use zip ties - quite similar to the ones you can buy at the hardware store.
This fact recently bemused our Instagram fans, with many deciding that the photo of Curiosity's worn-down wheels we recently published was fake - due to some zip ties clearly visible in the shot.
This isn't the first time the internet has been enthralled with NASA's use of zip ties, either. Back when Perseverance landed on the red planet in February, there was a similar wave of surprise sloshing across social media.
[. . .]
If you're wondering how plastic can survive a 560-million-kilometer (350-million-mile) journey, a 1,300 C (2,370 F) fall to the surface, and - in Curiosity's case - almost nine years of ultraviolet radiation (UV) and harsh Martian conditions, you've come to the right place.
NASA can assure all amateur cable tie enthusiasts that space engineers thought of this before sending their expensive equipment to another planet.
The zip ties intended for extraterrestrial use are made of Tefzel ETFE (ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene) resins designed for extreme temperatures, high UV levels, and 2,000 times more radiation than what you'd find in the standard plastic nylon version.
[Continues . . . (https://www.sciencealert.com/no-this-photo-of-curiosity-isn-t-fake-here-s-why-nasa-uses-cable-ties-on-their-rovers)]
:)
We didn't use those fauncy NASA style Zip-ties, but regular ones are used extensively to hold the electrical wiring in place on spacecraft. As is lacing tape, which is just nylon braid that looks like a thin shoelace. It's all about keeping the weight to a minimum while restraining the parts. They could have made special brackets, but those would be 10s of thousands of dollars in design and production, on top of the weight.
Quote from: Dark Lightning on April 13, 2021, 03:09:29 PM
We didn't use those fauncy NASA style Zip-ties, but regular ones are used extensively to hold the electrical wiring in place on spacecraft. As is lacing tape, which is just nylon braid that looks like a thin shoelace. It's all about keeping the weight to a minimum while restraining the parts. They could have made special brackets, but those would be 10s of thousands of dollars in design and production, on top of the weight.
Billy Rubin knows all about zip-lock ties. :grin:
Quote from: Randy on April 14, 2021, 04:25:12 AM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on April 13, 2021, 03:09:29 PM
We didn't use those fauncy NASA style Zip-ties, but regular ones are used extensively to hold the electrical wiring in place on spacecraft. As is lacing tape, which is just nylon braid that looks like a thin shoelace. It's all about keeping the weight to a minimum while restraining the parts. They could have made special brackets, but those would be 10s of thousands of dollars in design and production, on top of the weight.
Billy Rubin knows all about zip-lock ties. :grin:
His lovely wife knows a lot more about zip-lock ties than he does. :grin:
Still truckin'
An unusual formation imaged last month by
Curiosity.
That thing looks like an Orca. What the hell are killer whales doing out there in near space?
Ten years on and still going strong.
10 Years Since Landing, NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Still Has Drive (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/10-years-since-landing-nasa-s-curiosity-mars-rover-still-has-drive)
"Despite signs of wear, the intrepid spacecraft is about to start an exciting new chapter of its mission as it climbs a Martian mountain.
Ten years ago today, a jetpack lowered NASA's Curiosity rover onto the Red Planet, beginning the SUV-size explorer's pursuit of evidence that, billions of years ago, Mars had the conditions needed to support microscopic life.
Since then, Curiosity has driven nearly 18 miles (29 kilometers) and ascended 2,050 feet (625 meters) as it explores Gale Crater and the foothills of Mount Sharp within it. The rover has analyzed 41 rock and soil samples, relying on a suite of science instruments to learn what they reveal about Earth's rocky sibling. And it's pushed a team of engineers to devise ways to minimize wear and tear and keep the rover rolling: In fact, Curiosity's mission was recently extended for another three years, allowing it to continue among NASA's fleet of important astrobiological missions."
A postcard from
Curiosity:
(https://i.imgur.com/lD2VV86.jpg)
Image Credit: NASA/JPL"NASA's Curiosity Captures Martian Morning, Afternoon in New 'Postcard'" |
JPL/NASA (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-curiosity-captures-martian-morning-afternoon-in-new-postcard)
QuoteAfter completing a major software update in April, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took a last look at "Marker Band Valley" before leaving it behind, capturing a "postcard" of the scene.
The postcard is an artistic interpretation of the landscape, with color added over two black-and-white panoramas captured by Curiosity's navigation cameras. The views were taken on April 8 at 9:20 a.m. and 3:40 p.m. local Mars time, providing dramatically different lighting that, when combined, makes details in the scene stand out. Blue was added to parts of the postcard captured in the morning and yellow to parts taken in the afternoon, just as with a similar postcard taken by Curiosity in November 2021.
The resulting image is striking. Curiosity is in the foothills of Mount Sharp, which stands 3 miles (5 kilometers) high within Gale Crater, where the rover has been exploring since landing in 2012. In the distance beyond its tracks is Marker Band Valley, a winding area in the "sulfate-bearing region" within which the rover discovered unexpected signs of an ancient lake. Farther below (at center and just to the right) are two hills – "Bolívar" and "Deepdale" – that Curiosity drove between while exploring "Paraitepuy Pass."
[Continues . . . (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-curiosity-captures-martian-morning-afternoon-in-new-postcard)]