MarsScienceLaboratory
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Curiosity landing video assembled from high-res images (video)
A new video has been compiled by Spaceflight101.com showing Curiosity's final minutes of terror in glorious HD (though a dearth of frames and lack of stabilization make it a bit herky-jerky). It's an assembly of all the high-res photos taken by the buggy on the way down to its now familiar perch, rolling at the not-exactly-HFR speed of 4 fps, but still trumping a previous low-res thumbnail version. It gives a much clearer, rover's-eye-view of the journey, starting with the heat shield ejection and finishing with the dusty, butterfly-like touchdown. Check it out below the break to see the precarious descent -- and don't forget your Dramamine. Update: An enterprising (and patient) individual, Dominic Muller, spent four straight days creating a frame interpolated version of the video, giving the choppy footage a beautiful, smooth new look. Check out his version below the original after the break -- blow it up to full screen HD, crank the sound and enjoy.
Life on Mars: One week of Curiosity
Is there life on Mars? NASA's latest mission to the red planet might well answer that question, or perhaps the more pertinent question, was there life on Mars. At 10:02 AM EST on November 26th last year, the space agency's Mars Science Laboratory (to give the mission its full name) set off on its eight-month journey to the red planet. The most advanced equipment ever sent to the planet -- and the biggest-ever rover -- should allow exploration of some of the most interesting regions, over far larger distances than ever previously covered. On arrival, after negotiating a tricky landing, the mobile laboratory (that's Curiosity) will spend a Martian year (687 Earth days) analyzing rock samples and seeking evidence of conditions suitable for microbial life or -- we can live in hope -- actual evidence of the same. After the break, we take a look at some of the key events over the first seven days on the planet's surface.
What time is it on Mars? There's a Mac app for that
Budding astronomers and NASA flight controllers need to know -- what time is it at the landing site of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Opportunity rover? As we all know from watching the successful rover landing the other day, Macs are very popular at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. So it's not surprising that there's a Mac app available for determining the current time at various points on the red planet. The Mars24 Sunclock app is a Java application that displays a constantly updating clock in one window as well as a second window that displays a sunclock (a map of the Martian surface showing the parts of the planet in light and shadow), a solar system view showing where the various planets are in their orbits around the Sun, a local panorama from the Opportunity rover's current location, or an analemma. The app is surprisingly fun to use. The sunclock display also shows the spot on the Mars surface that is directly "under" the sun or Earth and the panorama display lets the flight controllers figure out when and where the sun is going to rise from the viewpoint of the rover. There's a constant display of how far away Mars is at the present time (1.685 AU or 156,630,535 miles), and how long it's going to take for signals from Earth or Mars to reach the other planet (right now, 14 minutes and 1 second). The only negative about this app is that most Mountain Lion machines don't have a Java virtual machine installed, and you'll be prompted to let OS X install it before you can run the app. There's also a security concern; getting the app to run on Mountain Lion at this time requires you to "allow applications downloaded from anywhere" just for the first launch, since this is an unsigned app and Gatekeeper throws a hissy fit when you try to run it. After that initial launch, you can switch your Gatekeeper settings back to the preferred "App Store & identified developers" option; the app has been whitelisted by the initial launch. Normally, you could use the workaround of right-clicking the app and choosing Open, then telling Gatekeeper to launch the app -- however as the NASA download page notes this does not work for this particular app. It reports as "damaged" unless Gatekeeper is in fully permissive mode for the first launch. [Thanks to reader Gregory for his note about Gatekeeper, which led us to check both the right-click and restored setting options.] Still, if you switch Gatekeeper to permissive mode for a moment, launch the app & then switch back, you can install Mars24 Sunclock and enjoy the feeling of being a Curiosity flight controller without the need for a mohawk haircut. Now if they could just make this an iOS app and give authorized people a way to "drive" the rover from home...
NASA's Curiosity rover is on its way to Mars (video)
It's been described by the scientist in charge as "the most complex mission that has ever been undertaken to the surface of another planet," and NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft is now well on its way to Mars. An Atlas V rocket carrying the Curiosity rover launched from Cape Canaveral this morning, and a successful separation of the craft occurred in space shortly thereafter, kicking off a journey to Mars that's expected to end with a rocket-powered descent to the planet in August of next year. Video of both events are after the break, and additional details can be found at the links below
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity gains DAN apparatus, new lust for water
"You can think of DAN as a reconnaissance instrument." That's a quote from Igor Mitrofanov of the Space Research Institute, Russia, who is being deemed the "principal investigator" of the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons. Shortened to DAN for obvious reasons, this guy will soon be affixed to NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, with one primary purpose: to "check for any water that might be bound into shallow underground minerals along the rover's path." In total, ten instruments on Curiosity will be dedicated to investigating whether the area selected for the mission has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for life and favorable for preserving evidence about life. We're told that while in active mode, it's sensitive enough to detect water content as low as one-tenth of one percent in the ground beneath the rover, but there's still no indication of when it'll actually prove that Mars truly is the next major relocation hotspot. Something tells us Richard Branson will be ready, regardless.
NASA animation depicts Curiosity's soft landing on Mars, courtesy of a 'sky crane' (video)
Sending a rover to a distant planet is no small feat, so we might as well make the landing even more spectacular, right? That's exactly what NASA has in mind for its Curiosity Mars rover, albeit for more practical reasons. Launching in late 2011 and expected to land on Mars in August 2012, this mobile laboratory will see a unique descent after entering the Martian atmosphere: there'll be the usual separation from the heatshield and backshell, but at about 380 seconds into the entry, the rover will be gently lowered down by wire from a "sky crane," as opposed to taking a leap of faith. Once the landing is complete, the hovering sky crane will then detach from the rover and fly off for a dramatic disposal -- let's just hope it won't hit the now-dormant Spirit. See for yourself in the video above.
NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover stars in its very own photoshoot
NASA's already given us a glimpse at its Mars rover, courtesy of a USTREAM broadcast a few months back, but the crew over at BoingBoing has taken one small step for mankind by going even further in-depth with Curiosity before it launches in November. One lucky photographer was granted permission into the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, and the fruits of his bunny-suited labor showcase the nooks and crannies of NASA's latest and greatest. We're still kind of bummed that the rover won't be equipped with a zoom 3D camera as originally planned, but we've got a hunch James Cameron's taking it even harder. Be sure to hit the source link for a whole smattering of more angles, if intergalactic spacecrafts are your thing.
NASA forced to abandon plans for 3D camera in next Mars rover, James Cameron not losing faith yet
Among the many great feats of his career, film director James Cameron counts the rather unorthodox achievement of being able to convince NASA to use a stereoscopic camera on its next Mars rover project. Unfortunately for him, us, and the hard working folks over at Malin Space Science Systems, technical snags have been encountered in the integration of the jumbo mastcam (pictured above) with the rover's hardware and the resulting delays have caused NASA to nix the idea altogether. You might think that 3D visuals of Red Planet gravel will be no great loss, but the MSSS cams also had zoom lenses attached, whereas the research project will now be returning to tried and true fixed focal length imaging. Ah well, such is the bumpy road to interterrestrial enlightenment. NASA's rover, titled Curiosity, is set to begin its voyage in November of this year, while Cameron and co remain upbeat about the future, saying they're "certain that this technology will play an important role in future missions."
James Cameron convinces NASA to use 3D camera on next Mars mission
What do you do once you've broken your own record for the world's highest-grossing picture film? Well, you go offworld, of course. James Cameron, in his infinite benevolence and multidimensional wisdom, has convinced NASA bigwigs not to forgo the inclusion of a high-res 3D camera on the Curiosity (aka Mars Science Laboratory) rover, which is set to depart for the red planet in 2011. Budget overruns had led to the scrapping of the autostereoscopic idea, but the director-man -- who has been involved with this project for a good few years now -- felt the results of the mission would be far more engaging if people could see them in 3D. Hey, if he can make us watch the Blue Man Group reenactment of Fern Gully, don't bet on Cameron failing to make extraterrestrial rubble interesting with his 3D voodoo.
NASA's new virtual tours of the Space Station and new Mars Rover exactly approximate the sensation of not being in space
NASA's grabbed Microsoft's fancy Photosynth software once again to build virtual tours of the International Space Station and a full-scale model of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover. The interface lets you dive through endless, 3D-oriented photographs of the station's modules, both inside and out, and gives a really good impression of the size and complexity of the lab-on-wheels NASA is prepping for a 2011 mission to Mars. It's not like being there, but it's a good way to kill a lazy Saturday morning.[Via PhysOrg]
