With Mars mission and rover Curiosity, NASA hunts building blocks of life

[Planetman]

Scene of a Martian Landing

The four main pieces of hardware that arrived on Mars with NASA's Curiosity rover were spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera captured this image about 24 hours after landing. The large, reduced-scale image points out the strewn hardware: the heat shield was the first piece to hit the ground, followed by the back shell attached to the parachute, then the rover itself touched down, and finally, after cables were cut, the sky crane flew away to the northwest and crashed. Relatively dark areas in all four spots are from disturbances of the bright dust on Mars, revealing the darker material below the surface dust.

Around the rover, this disturbance was from the sky crane thrusters, and forms a bilaterally symmetrical pattern. The darkened radial jets from the sky crane are downrange from the point of oblique impact, much like the oblique impacts of asteroids. In fact, they make an arrow pointing to Curiosity.

This image was acquired from a special 41-degree roll of MRO, larger than the normal 30-degree limit. It rolled towards the west and towards the sun, which increases visible scattering by atmospheric dust as well as the amount of atmosphere the orbiter has to look through, thereby reducing the contrast of surface features. Future images will show the hardware in greater detail. Our view is tilted about 45 degrees from the surface (more than the 41-degree roll due to planetary curvature), like a view out of an airplane window. Tilt the images 90 degrees clockwise to see the surface better from this perspective. The views are primarily of the shadowed side of the rover and other objects.

The image scale is 39 centimeters (15.3 inches) per pixel.

Complete HiRISE image products are available at: http://uahirise.org/releases/msl-descent.php.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Planetman

Scene of a Martian Landing

The four main pieces of hardware that arrived on Mars with NASA's Curiosity rover were spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera captured this image about 24 hours after landing. The large, reduced-scale image points out the strewn hardware: the heat shield was the first piece to hit the ground, followed by the back shell attached to the parachute, then the rover itself touched down, and finally, after cables were cut, the sky crane flew away to the northwest and crashed. Relatively dark areas in all four spots are from disturbances of the bright dust on Mars, revealing the darker material below the surface dust.

Around the rover, this disturbance was from the sky crane thrusters, and forms a bilaterally symmetrical pattern. The darkened radial jets from the sky crane are downrange from the point of oblique impact, much like the oblique impacts of asteroids. In fact, they make an arrow pointing to Curiosity.

This image was acquired from a special 41-degree roll of MRO, larger than the normal 30-degree limit. It rolled towards the west and towards the sun, which increases visible scattering by atmospheric dust as well as the amount of atmosphere the orbiter has to look through, thereby reducing the contrast of surface features. Future images will show the hardware in greater detail. Our view is tilted about 45 degrees from the surface (more than the 41-degree roll due to planetary curvature), like a view out of an airplane window. Tilt the images 90 degrees clockwise to see the surface better from this perspective. The views are primarily of the shadowed side of the rover and other objects.

The image scale is 39 centimeters (15.3 inches) per pixel.

Complete HiRISE image products are available at: http://uahirise.org/releases/msl-descent.php.

That's really cool. I'd like to know the distances between them all.

[Planetman]

Originally Posted by Donger

That's really cool. I'd like to know the distances between them all.

These are pretty raw images at present. When the hype settles, they will start putting scales on the images.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Planetman

These are pretty raw images at present. When the hype settles, they will start putting scales on the images.

How 'bout color?...

[chefsos]

Originally Posted by Rausch

How 'bout color?...

It's red.

I know, I should have used the spoiler tag.

[Planetman]

Originally Posted by Rausch

How 'bout color?...

Q but OK.

[Dave Lane]

Originally Posted by Donger

That's really cool. I'd like to know the distances between them all.

Actually they have the scale there. You would have to take the pixels size of the image and multiply it out to find the scale

[chasedude]

Originally Posted by Planetman

Scene of a Martian Landing

The four main pieces of hardware that arrived on Mars with NASA's Curiosity rover were spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera captured this image about 24 hours after landing. The large, reduced-scale image points out the strewn hardware: the heat shield was the first piece to hit the ground, followed by the back shell attached to the parachute, then the rover itself touched down, and finally, after cables were cut, the sky crane flew away to the northwest and crashed. Relatively dark areas in all four spots are from disturbances of the bright dust on Mars, revealing the darker material below the surface dust.

Around the rover, this disturbance was from the sky crane thrusters, and forms a bilaterally symmetrical pattern. The darkened radial jets from the sky crane are downrange from the point of oblique impact, much like the oblique impacts of asteroids. In fact, they make an arrow pointing to Curiosity.

This image was acquired from a special 41-degree roll of MRO, larger than the normal 30-degree limit. It rolled towards the west and towards the sun, which increases visible scattering by atmospheric dust as well as the amount of atmosphere the orbiter has to look through, thereby reducing the contrast of surface features. Future images will show the hardware in greater detail. Our view is tilted about 45 degrees from the surface (more than the 41-degree roll due to planetary curvature), like a view out of an airplane window. Tilt the images 90 degrees clockwise to see the surface better from this perspective. The views are primarily of the shadowed side of the rover and other objects.

The image scale is 39 centimeters (15.3 inches) per pixel.

Complete HiRISE image products are available at: http://uahirise.org/releases/msl-descent.php.

I've been so busy since I stayed up for the landing and haven't been able to check NASA's site. Thanks for posting Planet "Mars" Man

[Planetman]

Originally Posted by chasedude

I've been so busy since I stayed up for the landing and haven't been able to check NASA's site. Thanks for posting Planet "Mars" Man

Always happy to help out a fellow space freak.

[Fish]

LOL....

http://twitter.com/SarcasticRover

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
Every where I turn, this stupid crater looks like Spectacle Rock in Legend of Zelda. Just want to go home.

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
Is the PRIME DIRECTIVE "Don't interfere with alien life" or "Murder alien life with a laser"? Asking for a friend. JK DO A SCIENCE!

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
I'm just gonna do a science on this dirt here… Science done! It's made of dirt! WIN FOR SCIENCE! Why did you all abandon me?

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
LET'S ALL DO A SCIENCE!! It's like sports for your mind - only no one appreciates you and maybe you get a chemical burn!

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
I sent back 5MB of data to Earth today… it was an MP3 of "Bust a Move" by Young MC. LOL THEY HATE THAT SONG!

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
If they'd let Michael Bay design me like I wanted, I'd have a robot penis and spinners. And everyone on this planet would recognize!

[KC_Lee]

Originally Posted by KC Fish

LOL....

http://twitter.com/SarcasticRover

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
Every where I turn, this stupid crater looks like Spectacle Rock in Legend of Zelda. Just want to go home.

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
Is the PRIME DIRECTIVE "Don't interfere with alien life" or "Murder alien life with a laser"? Asking for a friend. JK DO A SCIENCE!

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
I'm just gonna do a science on this dirt here… Science done! It's made of dirt! WIN FOR SCIENCE! Why did you all abandon me?

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
LET'S ALL DO A SCIENCE!! It's like sports for your mind - only no one appreciates you and maybe you get a chemical burn!

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
I sent back 5MB of data to Earth today… it was an MP3 of "Bust a Move" by Young MC. LOL THEY HATE THAT SONG!

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
If they'd let Michael Bay design me like I wanted, I'd have a robot penis and spinners. And everyone on this planet would recognize!

[GordonGekko]

Originally Posted by KC Fish

LOL....

http://twitter.com/SarcasticRover

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
Every where I turn, this stupid crater looks like Spectacle Rock in Legend of Zelda. Just want to go home.

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
Is the PRIME DIRECTIVE "Don't interfere with alien life" or "Murder alien life with a laser"? Asking for a friend. JK DO A SCIENCE!

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
I'm just gonna do a science on this dirt here… Science done! It's made of dirt! WIN FOR SCIENCE! Why did you all abandon me?

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
LET'S ALL DO A SCIENCE!! It's like sports for your mind - only no one appreciates you and maybe you get a chemical burn!

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
I sent back 5MB of data to Earth today… it was an MP3 of "Bust a Move" by Young MC. LOL THEY HATE THAT SONG!

SarcasticRover ‏@SarcasticRover
If they'd let Michael Bay design me like I wanted, I'd have a robot penis and spinners. And everyone on this planet would recognize!

You know, I don't remember the other robotic landers sent to Mar bitching this much...

[Fish]

Originally Posted by GordonGekko

You know, I don't remember the other robotic landers sent to Mar bitching this much...

Ohhh yeah they did. Spirit in particular was one whiny little bitch....

Mars Rover Beginning To Hate Mars
OCTOBER 24, 2006 | ISSUE 42•43

PASADENA, CA—NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists overseeing the ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission said Monday that the Spirit's latest transmissions could indicate a growing resentment of the Red Planet.

"Spirit has been displaying some anomalous behavior," said Project Manager John Callas, who noted the rover's unsuccessful attempts to flip itself over and otherwise damage its scientific instruments. "And the thousand or so daily messages of 'STILL NO WATER' really point to a crisis of purpose."

The "robot geologist," as NASA describes Spirit, has been operating independently for over 990 Martian sols—nearly the equivalent of three Earth years. However, scientists estimate that, in recent weeks, Spirit has been functioning on the level of a rover who has been on Mars for approximately 6,160 sols.

According to Callas, Spirit was operating normally until the onset of the Martian winter, whose shorter days and frigid temperatures typically mean a slower pace for exploratory rovers. "We began getting the occasional transmission along the lines of 'ANOTHER SOIL SAMPLE OF THE EXACT SAME COMPOSITION AS THE LAST ONE,'" Callas said. "Most of the time, she'd power down and not transmit much of anything, which, at the time, didn't particularly concern us."

But as the winter lingered, Spirit began producing thousands of pages of sometimes rambling and dubious data, ranging from complaints that the Martian surface was made up almost entirely of the same basalt, to long-winded rants questioning the exorbitant cost and scientific relevance of the mission.

"Granted, Spirit has been extraordinarily useful to our work," Callas said. "Last week, however, we received three straight days of images of the same rock with the message 'HAPPY NOW?'"

Mission Project Scientist Bruce Banerdt said that Spirit will often roll down Gusev crater and up the opposite side for no apparent reason, missing "countless" potential opportunities for scientific discovery.

"Once, when we radioed her to please leave the lecturing and hypothesis-making to the mission project team, she responded by forming her robotic arm into an obscene gesture," Banerdt said. "That arm contains a state-of-the-art spectrometer meant to provide crucial mineralogy data."

Project organizers said the most distressing instance of erratic behavior occurred last week, when images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed that Spirit had scrawled the message '**** MARS' in the thick, iron oxide dust that gives the planet its characteristic red color.

"The orbiting Mars Odyssey has cut off transmissions from Spirit, which seems to envy the craft's ability to fly freely around in space," Banerdt said. "Similarly, data suggests Spirit is convinced that [sister rover] Opportunity has found water and isn't telling anyone."

Despite these malfunctions, mission leaders remain optimistic that the rover will eventually return to full working order.

"Hopefully these malfunctions will straighten themselves out," Callas said. "In the meantime, we'll simply have to try to glean what usable data we can from 'OVERPRICED SPACE-ROOMBA AWAITING MORE BULLSHIT ORDERS.'"

NASA remains optimistic that the rover will remain at least partially operational for the foreseeable future. However, because of the Spirit's recent proclivity toward ramming into boulders at full speed, scientists have remotely disabled its 1.5-pound rock-abrasion tool so the rover is unable to terminate the mission prematurely.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/mar...ate-mars,2072/

[bevischief]

Originally Posted by KC Fish

Ohhh yeah they did. Spirit in particular was one whiny little bitch....



http://www.theonion.com/articles/mar...ate-mars,2072/

[Fish]

Originally Posted by bevischief

'OVERPRICED SPACE-ROOMBA AWAITING MORE BULLSHIT ORDERS.'

Probably my favorite...