NASA rover - Curiousity - touchdown confirmed (2 Viewers)

[Zasada]

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2012/08/06/mars-orbiter-catches-pic-of-curiosity-on-its-way-down/

My vote for coolest pic of the year.

 

[MikeIke]

Nice to see something go right for NASA!

Well to be fair there have been more successes than failures on Mars. I mean the last two rovers went well past their expected duty cycle. Heck one of them is still kind of functional.

Actually, 24 NASA missions to Mars have failed and 15 have been successful. The recent history, especially those last two rovers, has been pretty good.

Do you have a link for those numbers? As far as I can tell NASA has had 5 failures. It seems like you are counting other nations or groups missions in. By my count there have been 12 NASA missions total.

Ah, that could be the case. I was going off a graphic on NASA's website that had a "scoreboard" posted. it said Earth 15 Mars 24. I supposed it counted other nations as well.Silly me, I should know better than to correct NCCommish

 

[NCCommish]

Nice to see something go right for NASA!

Well to be fair there have been more successes than failures on Mars. I mean the last two rovers went well past their expected duty cycle. Heck one of them is still kind of functional.

Actually, 24 NASA missions to Mars have failed and 15 have been successful. The recent history, especially those last two rovers, has been pretty good.

Do you have a link for those numbers? As far as I can tell NASA has had 5 failures. It seems like you are counting other nations or groups missions in. By my count there have been 12 NASA missions total.

Ah, that could be the case. I was going off a graphic on NASA's website that had a "scoreboard" posted. it said Earth 15 Mars 24. I supposed it counted other nations as well.Silly me, I should know better than to correct NCCommish

Well the USSR really skews the failure numbers. They had trouble getting stuff even into Earth orbit. And I am always open to being corrected.

 

[Maelstrom]

https://twitter.com/sarcasticrover



Some funny quips here.

[*]Great… 100,000,000 miles and I'm stuck in a damn crater. Awesome.

[*]@surfaceofmars @marscuriosity @xeni Yeah nice planet you got here… super stoked to be stranded here for the rest of my life.

[*]Hey guys! I found an alien!… Oh, no, wait… just another stupid ### rock. Awesome.

[*]Initial data coming in on surface gravel… yup, just really small stupid rocks. I'm crushing it!

[*]“@BarackObama: "I eagerly await what Curiosity has yet to discover."— Sheesh! I'm working on it! Don't you have #### to do? Nerd.

[*]With my luck, if I do find bacteria on Mars - it'll be syphilis.

[*]I've got a nuclear-powered laser and control of an entire planet… so I'm essentially a Bond villain. #suckit007

[*]So you give gold medals for falling into a pool, but I stick a 100,000,000 mile landing and get jack-squat? Thanks, humanity.

 

[NCCommish]

https://twitter.com/sarcasticrover



Some funny quips here.

[*]Great… 100,000,000 miles and I'm stuck in a damn crater. Awesome.

[*]@surfaceofmars @marscuriosity @xeni Yeah nice planet you got here… super stoked to be stranded here for the rest of my life.

[*]Hey guys! I found an alien!… Oh, no, wait… just another stupid ### rock. Awesome.

[*]Initial data coming in on surface gravel… yup, just really small stupid rocks. I'm crushing it!

[*]“@BarackObama: "I eagerly await what Curiosity has yet to discover."— Sheesh! I'm working on it! Don't you have #### to do? Nerd.

[*]With my luck, if I do find bacteria on Mars - it'll be syphilis.

[*]I've got a nuclear-powered laser and control of an entire planet… so I'm essentially a Bond villain. #suckit007

[*]So you give gold medals for falling into a pool, but I stick a 100,000,000 mile landing and get jack-squat? Thanks, humanity.

The Bond one is my favorite

 

[El Floppo]

"video" (a bunch of stills) taken by Curiosity itself as it descends to Mars surface.

I freaking love this ####.

oh! I found out what happened to the HS washout, organic grocery working partier who grew up down the street and was family friends and school-mates with us... lead EDL engineer for Curiousity. holy hell. Somebody forwarded that 7 minutes of terror video and I my jaw hit the floor.

 

[badmojo1006]

360 Panorama view from the rover. I love this fricken stuff!

 

[NCCommish]

360 Panorama view from the rover. I love this fricken stuff!

Someone was doing donuts with the rover. I'm not sure that was in the mission guidelines.

 

[badmojo1006]

360 Panorama view from the rover. I love this fricken stuff!

Someone was doing donuts with the rover. I'm not sure that was in the mission guidelines.

I guess this is not Curiosity. It is one of the other rovers Opportunity

 

[Wingnut]

360 Panorama view from the rover. I love this fricken stuff!

Awesome.

 

[Wingnut]

from Curiosity on Twitter

 

[curta269]

360 Panorama view from the rover. I love this fricken stuff!

That is just amazing!! Unbelievable pictures!

 

[Otis]

360 Panorama view from the rover. I love this fricken stuff!

Someone was doing donuts with the rover. I'm not sure that was in the mission guidelines.

I guess this is not Curiosity. It is one of the other rovers Opportunity

Not the droid we were looking for

 

[RBM]

360 Panorama view from the rover. I love this fricken stuff!

Holy #### thats awesome.

 

[matuski]

The first country to litter on Mars!

 

[El Floppo]

360 Panorama view from the rover. I love this fricken stuff!

Someone was doing donuts with the rover. I'm not sure that was in the mission guidelines.

I guess this is not Curiosity. It is one of the other rovers Opportunity

Not the droid we were looking for

nice...Yeah- just so we're all clear here: these linked pictures- which are amazing nonetheless- are from the last Mars mission, not this current one.

 

[Mario Kart]

http://www.360cities.net/image/curiosity-rover-martian-solar-day-2#342.64,6.59,109.6

 

[Mario Kart]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/curiosity-rover-landing-time-hd-224131860.html

 

[El Floppo]

I love this stuff.

This photo from the Mars rover Curiosity shows the base of Mount Sharp, the rover's destination. The black rock enlarged in the inset is as large as the 1-ton Curiosity, which is the size of car. Photo taken on Aug. 23, 2012.

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has snapped a stunning image of the base of Mount Sharp, showing the many-layered Red Planet rocks it may be investigating a year or so from now.

The photo, taken on Aug. 23 by Curiosity's 100-millimeter Mast Camera, captures a colorful, complex landscape that mission scientists have likened to the backdrop of old Western films.

The rocks hold considerable scientific as well as aesthetic appeal. The foothills of Mount Sharp — the 3.4-mile-high (5.5 kilometers) mountain rising from the center of Curiosity's Gale Crater landing site — show evidence of exposure to liquid water long ago.

Curiosity's main task is to determine if the Gale Crater area could ever have supported microbial life, so the rover team is keen to study Mount Sharp's layered deposits. Researchers reckon the six-wheeled robot could begin the roughly 6-mile (10 km) trek to the mountain's base — its main science target — by the end of the year, after Curiosity wraps up work at another site dubbed Glenelg.

The $2.5 billion Curiosity rover touched down inside Gale Crater on the night of Aug. 5. Its prime mission is slated to last one Martian year, or roughly two Earth years.

 

[saintfool]

how is it that a robot - on freakin mars, no less! - can take a better picture than I can?

:noartistictalentwhatsoever:

 

[NCCommish]

Spectacular and inspiring.

 

[CBusAlex]

how is it that a robot - on freakin mars, no less! - can take a better picture than I can?:noartistictalentwhatsoever:

In all fairness, your camera probably cost less than seven figures.

 

[Billy Bats]

Here's a pic of the rover, I know they said it was the size of a car, but seeing it actually being that big is damn impressive.

 

[Mario Kart]

http://news.yahoo.com/stunning-mars-photo-shows-curiosity-rovers-tracks-space-195711349.html

 

[beer 302]

Pretty awesome stuff, did it find oil yet?

 

[Mario Kart]

http://mars.nasa.gov/bp1/

 

[El Floppo]

http://mars.nasa.gov/bp1/

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

http://mars.nasa.gov/bp1/

 

[NCCommish]

http://mars.nasa.gov/bp1/

How amazing is it to be looking at another world millions of miles away and see it in this kind of clarity? Not quite as good as standing there but I guess it will have to do.

 

[Mario Kart]

http://mars.nasa.gov/bp1/

How amazing is it to be looking at another world millions of miles away and see it in this kind of clarity? Not quite as good as standing there but I guess it will have to do.

Next best option is to have video so we could hear what Mars sounds like. We still miss out on smell and touch but to hear what it sounds like, if anything, is the next step. I want to go.

 

[NCCommish]

http://mars.nasa.gov/bp1/

How amazing is it to be looking at another world millions of miles away and see it in this kind of clarity? Not quite as good as standing there but I guess it will have to do.

Next best option is to have video so we could hear what Mars sounds like. We still miss out on smell and touch but to hear what it sounds like, if anything, is the next step. I want to go.

That would be called.

 

[Mario Kart]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-stunning-view-earth-99-180616132.html

Looking at home from 99 millions miles away. Too many beers on the wall to count if coming home. I think I'd lose my count and that would suck.

 

[Mario Kart]

http://i.imgur.com/iIDCC1h.jpg

Just saying hi and we're I've been.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

http://i.imgur.com/iIDCC1h.jpg

Just saying hi and we're I've been.

Fascinating picture when you zoom in....

 

[Mario Kart]

Fascinating picture when you zoom in....

It truly is. Could be death valley for all we know. But, that is Mars. Fascinating. I'll walk there one day.

 

[saintfool]

i am always sort of surprised by just how bright the sun's light is there. is the atmosphere there thinner? 

 

[joffer]

i am always sort of surprised by just how bright the sun's light is there. is the atmosphere there thinner? 

yes, a lot thinner.  Mars lost most of its atmosphere soon (relatively) after the solar system formed.

 

[Godsbrother]

Pretty cool that it is still going despite wheel damage:

http://www.space.com/32774-mars-rover-curiosity-mountain-climb-wheel-damage.html

 

[saintfool]

yes, a lot thinner.  Mars lost most of its atmosphere soon (relatively) after the solar system formed.

makes sense but i assumed there would be a denser cloud cover somehow. again, it is amazing to me that pics are so bright given the distance.

 

[Godsbrother]

As cool as this pic is it is interesting to see the path that Curiosity took.   

 

[Nathan R. Jessep]

Very cool pics in case you didn't zoom in on the smaller images in that link. Here they are "zoomable":

landscape

terrain