Mars Rover Scheduled To Land Tonight At 11:31pm MST- Update- Landed!

[worth]

It's a laboratory on wheels!

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Human civilization will do fine if social and economic situations call for a reduced scope for a few years. The technology ripple effect won't cease or even slow down significantly when you look at it on a larger time scale.

I'd say second world and third world countries are catching up faster than ever technologically - no sense in letting the masses close that gap even further - that science & technology and project management/engineering trickle down effect is, in essence, just about the only marketable product we have left.

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

the other rovers were very sophisticated RC cars. this one is almost the size of the vehicles the astronauts drove on the moon, with far more instruments than any of the other rovers to date

And because it's so big it took some cool technology to get it safely on the surface. Skycranes FTW!

[Nehkara]

There are a few key things about this rover that are important:

1. It has more and better science instruments than previous rovers (10 times the mass of instruments).

2. It is big. 10 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 7 feet tall. Much bigger wheels, the ability to traverse much rougher terrain.

3. Honestly its power source is almost the most important thing about the rover. It uses a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) for power, rather than solar panels. This is very important. This means the rover can operate day and night, in all seasons, and during/after dust storms. The previous rovers operated mostly during the day and had to park for the entire winter. Curiosity will be able to operate at full capacity at all points in time. The RTG also produces waste heat, which the rover uses to warm its instruments (rather than using precious power like the other rovers had to). Most importantly (in my mind), the RTG has a MINIMUM expected life of 14 years. It is kind of a strange thought but there is a decent possibility that this rover will still be operating when we land people on Mars.

4. It is going to study whether life has ever existed on Mars and get a better understanding of Mars' history. It will also study the climate and geology of Mars, and also has taken and will take important radiation measurements for the journey to Mars and on the surface. A lot of this data is being gathered and studied as an aid to a future manned mission.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

There are a few key things about this rover that are important:

1. It has more and better science instruments than previous rovers (10 times the mass of instruments).

2. It is big. 10 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 7 feet tall. Much bigger wheels, the ability to traverse much rougher terrain.

3. Honestly its power source is almost the most important thing about the rover. It uses a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) for power, rather than solar panels. This is very important. This means the rover can operate day and night, in all seasons, and during/after dust storms. The previous rovers operated mostly during the day and had to park for the entire winter. Curiosity will be able to operate at full capacity at all points in time. The RTG also produces waste heat, which the rover uses to warm its instruments (rather than using precious power like the other rovers had to). Most importantly (in my mind), the RTG has a MINIMUM expected life of 14 years. It is kind of a strange thought but there is a decent possibility that this rover will still be operating when we land people on Mars.

4. It is going to study whether life has ever existed on Mars and get a better understanding of Mars' history. It will also study the climate and geology of Mars, and also has taken and will take important radiation measurements for the journey to Mars and on the surface. A lot of this data is being gathered and studied as an aid to a future manned mission.

...and I mean this honestly, what are the odds of a manned mission to mars happening within the next 20-25 years?

[Byrns]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

...and I mean this honestly, what are the odds of a manned mission to mars happening within the next 20-25 years?

I bet the Chinese will be walking on Mars before NASA.

[dbcTweeker]

Originally Posted by Byrns

I bet the Chinese will be walking on Mars before NASA.

Update: AUSTRIA WINS!!!!

[puckluck2]

Originally Posted by Byrns

I bet the Chinese will be walking on Mars before NASA.

Why's that? They were the first on the moon and the first to Mars.

Clearly they are a step behind.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Byrns

I bet the Chinese will be walking on Mars before NASA.

Yeah, but that first Chinese dude probably has no way to get back.

[Lobotroth]

Originally Posted by Bunk

Human mission to Mars! Come on, let's go for it.

Is there any dispute that this would be the greatest human accomplishment? I hope it happens in my lifetime; there is nothing more awe-inspiring or humbling than the universe. Sorry, I'm feeling really sentimental right now.

[Nehkara]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

...and I mean this honestly, what are the odds of a manned mission to mars happening within the next 20-25 years?

I'd say roughly 50/50.

I think once other nations start up their space programs in a serious way, US patriotism among other things will restore funding to NASA.

If NASA doesn't get there in the 2030s as is still planned, there's always the possibility that another nation will do it or something like Mars One actually happens.

[Delthefunky]

It wouldn't surprise me if China does go to Mars. Having a space program is kind of a status symbol as a country, much like performing well at the Olympics. Russia was the first to space, America the first to the moon, why not China the first to Mars.

[NinePack]

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/6...43_946-710.jpg

[troutman]

Grab your 3D glasses for this view of Curiosity's landscape on Mars

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily...am-pan-3d.html

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/6...-full_full.jpg

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily...-1-status.html

Here's the big picture of what's planned for the coming days. If they run into problems, this schedule could slip. Note that images acquired on a given day will not necessarily be returned to Earth on that day.

• Sol 2: Retry high-gain antenna communication session. Lift the mast from its stowed position on the desk, exposing the Navcams, Mastcams, and ChemCam for the first time. Use the Navcams to begin acquiring a 360-degree panorama. Only the bottom two tiers of that panorama will be taken tosol, so the images will mostly show the rover deck. Use the Mastcam to take a photo of the calibration target, otherwise known as the Marsdial.
• Sol 3: Do some activities to prepare for flight software upgrade. Perform some aliveness tests on several science instruments including APXS, DAN, Chemin, and SAM. Take full 360-degree panorama with the wider-angle Mastcam.
• Sol 4: More activities to prepare for flight software upgrade. More RAD data acquisition. Use Chemcam spectrometer in passive mode (without shooting laser). Use DAN neutron detector in passive mode (without shooting neutrons).
• Sols 5-8: Flight software upgrade. They need to move from version 9 of the flight software, which operates Curiosity as a spacecraft, to version 10, which is designed to operate Curiosity as a landed, roving vehicle. The software was already uploaded to Curiosity while it was on its way to Mars, but it'll still take four days to install and check out the operating system upgrade on both of its redundant main computers.

So after the end of sol 4, which is in the afternoon of Friday, August 10, there won't be any new data acquired for a while.

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I think this is a great acheivement and really cool. I can't wait to start seeing more pictures, but it is a total luxury. If times are tough and something needs to be cut, it's one of the first things that should be considered in my opinion.

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I'm not saying that it should be ended completely. In the same vein as my original comment, when times are good, I think the budget should be inflated.

Human civilization will do fine if social and economic situations call for a reduced scope for a few years. The technology ripple effect won't cease or even slow down significantly when you look at it on a larger time scale.

A little late to this but I completely disagree that the NASA budget should be cut. First, it's a incredibly small chunk of the US GDP with only 0.5% being spent on NASA. Contrast that with the TSA budget which is bigger and the defence budget which is almost 20% of the US GDP. Do we really need more warfare in this world?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U...._-_FY_2010.svg

Second, ROI of spinoff technologies from NASA has been estimated conservatively at 2-3 times of it's budget. That means the US actually makes money off of NASA investments rather than lose money. Even in tough times it would probably make sense to continue investment from this point alone.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonl...00827_1798.php

[troutman]

Be a Space Advocate

SOS - Save Our Science!

http://www.planetary.org/get-involve...pace-advocate/

NASA’s Science program—including Planetary Science—is slated for drastic cuts in the proposed U.S. budget for fiscal year 2013. NASA has already been forced to largely back out of planned missions to Mars with the European Space Agency in 2016 and 2018. Any future flagship missions to the outer planets will be gone. NASA’s proud tradition of planetary discovery will be devastated.

[Azure]

The US could cut back and still spend $500 billion on the military, which is more than enough. I agree that NASA is important and needs to be funded. I also like the fact that Obama has opened up space exploration to the private sector. SpaceX will bring amazing things in our lifetime.

The military isn't the whole problem though. Spending on social programs is the majority of the US budget.

[Flash Walken]

Spending on social programs is the problem?

Really? A government spending it's tax revenue on services for the tax paying public is where the waste is?

It's not the $50 billion dollar subsidy to one of the highest profit generating sectors of the economy as just a single example of the wastes of the 'free market'?

It's amazing how well the marketing has worked on people against their own interests.

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by Azure

The US could cut back and still spend $500 billion on the military, which is more than enough. I agree that NASA is important and needs to be funded. I also like the fact that Obama has opened up space exploration to the private sector. SpaceX will bring amazing things in our lifetime.

The military isn't the whole problem though. Spending on social programs is the majority of the US budget.

Yes, the US spends 20% of it's GDP on healthcare and medicare while we spend closer to 10% while receiving a much better level of general care. US has a lot of inefficiencies to work out.

Social programs don't necessarily have to be cut, but they can use a lot of streamlining like every other area of government.

[Bigtime]

Enough, have a nice hi-res picture of the heat shield falling away:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ms.../pia16021.html

This is a little taste of the hi-res descent video still to come.