The Curiosity On Mars Thread.

Hotblack Desiato

Two years? I remember as a kid watching the Voyager 1 and 2 Saturn images come in - and they were fantastic - but with the constant remider that it'll be 6 more years before we see the mysterious Uranus (no sniggering at the back), another 3 beyond that for Neptune - that literally seemed like forever... and at the same time everything I was reading (avidly) about the manned space programme was looking more and more like a wild adventure of the past

I don't know what the answer is in relation to kids and science, but there are a lot of positive things now. We have easy access to vast repositories of knowledge which can only be a good thing, the trick is getting people (I was going to say kids, but why not adults as well?) interested in it. You can lead a horse to water...

On the downside we have an increasing lack of science teachers who are actually qualified/willing/able to spark kids' interest, and conduct meaningful experiments ('elf 'n' safety, sigh...)

I suppose if people think that learning will influence their lives for the better then they'll have an interest in it. This is a socio-political question as much as anything. The Roman principle of keeping the masses contented was 'bread and circuses' but if the dole provides bread and reality TV provides the circuses, where is the hope for anything better?

The serious problem with providing worthwhile careers in science in this country doesn't help either.

Hotblack Desiato

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

They use the most boring coders imaginable to get predictable results.

Anyone with a flash of brilliance or creativity need not apply.

I hope Airbus and BNFL use really, really, really bloody boring coders as well too...

(former professional coder :pac: )

shedweller

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

jkforde wrote: »

oh for the brains to work in JPL!

They use the most boring coders imaginable to get predictable results.

Anyone with a flash of brilliance or creativity need not apply.

I have thought about this before and i am torn.
It is true, coding is the realm of the geek and the windowless room. (stereotype)
Space exploration is another realm altogether. It does tie them both together but in reality they are kept apart, by virtue of what they do.
I suppose the computer geek is happy to know he/she has programmed a spacecraft to do their bidding; there's jobs for everyone, somewhere.
I still think it is so awesome that we can do this though.

It is but a stepping stone. Alas one of many any of us will ever see.

Hotblack Desiato

There is a huge number of people with a hand in Curiosity across lots of disciplines.

The thing about coding is that when it breaks you get the sh*t, when it works your boss gets a raise

JupiterKid

Is it just me or are the quality of many of the colour images coming back from Curiosity on NASA's website just a tad disappointing?

I mean, there are a lot of rough grains of "blocky" parts to some of the images - especially some of the images of the layered "promised land" at the foot of Mount Sharp - that are a flat out disappointment.:(

Are Curiosity scientists processing the images in a way to try to prevent the wider public from making discoveries before they do? Compared to the daily digest of colour imagery we were getting (and still do in the case of Oppy) from the MER rovers, these images certainly fall short of what we could expect.

shedweller

I'm not sure myself. Maybe there is more of an emphasis on the science.
Anyhoo:

08.30.2012
Marks of Laser Exam on Martian Soil
The Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its laser to examine side-by-side points in a target patch of soil, leaving the marks apparent in this before-and-after comparison.

The two images were taken by ChemCam's Remote Micro-Imager from a distance of about 11.5 feet (3.5 meters). The diameter of the circular field of view is about 3.1 inches (7.9 centimeters).

Researchers used ChemCam to study this soil target, named "Beechey," during the 19th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's mission (Aug. 25, 2012). The observation mode, called a five-by-one raster, is a way to investigate chemical variability at short scale on rock or soil targets. For the Beechey study, each point received 50 shots of the instrument's laser. The points on the target were studied in sequence left to right. Each shot delivers more than a million watts of power for about five one-billionths of a second. The energy from the laser excites atoms in the target into a glowing state, and the instrument records the spectra of the resulting glow to identify what chemical elements are present in the target.

The holes seen here have widths of about 0.08 inch to 0.16 inch (2 to 4 millimeters), much larger than the size of the laser spot (0.017 inch or 0.43 millimeter at this distance). This demonstrates the power of the laser to evacuate dust and small unconsolidated grains. A preliminary analysis of the spectra recorded during this raster study show that the first laser shots look alike for each of the five points, but then variability is seen from shot to shot in a given point and from point to point.

So the holes are quite big then. Much bigger than the 0.5mm i speculated before.
Here's a view of the site from almost directly overhead:

That was quite a crosswind during landing!
Here's a link to a much higher res of the landing site:http://www.uahirise.org/images/2012/details/cut/ESP_028401_1755.jpg

shedweller

Curiosity is well on the move now! 21 metres on Sol 24 then looked back at its progress.
I expect less of this as it progresses and more time driving to get to mt. Sharp.

shedweller

Looking Back at Tracks from Sol 24 Drive
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove about 70 feet (about 21 meters) on the mission's 21st Martian day, or sol (Aug. 30, 2012) and then took images with its Navigation Camera that are combined into this scene, which inclues the fresh tracks. The view is centered toward the west-northwest.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

shedweller

Curiosity Checks Sample of Martian Atmosphere
Tue, 04 Sep 2012 03:57:46 PM GMT

Curiosity continued to work in good health during the Labor Day weekend. The rover drove 98 feet (30 meters) during the mission's Sol 26, on Sept. 1. The drive included a test of the rover's "visual odometry" capability for using onboard analysis of images to determine the distance it has driven. Sol 26 activities also included an empty-cell test analysis by the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument.

The Sample Analysis at Mars instrument (SAM) analyzed a sample of Martian atmosphere as an overnight activity from Sol 27 to Sol 28 (Sept. 2 to Sept. 3).

Planned activities for Sol 29 (Sept. 4) include another drive.

Sol 28, in Mars local mean solar time at Gale Crater, ended at 1:58 a.m. Sept. 4, PDT.

Here's a short video about SAM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BymSstXSm7E

And another, narrated by a lad that has my (realistic, somewhat) dream job!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjTveKwWCeU

And finally, from MSL Science Corner:

The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Suite Investigation in the MSL Analytical Laboratory is designed to address the present and past habitability of Mars by exploring molecular and elemental chemistry relevant to life. SAM addresses carbon chemistry through a search for organic compounds, the chemical state of light elements other than carbon, and isotopic tracers of planetary change.
SAM is a suite of three instruments, a Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (QMS), a Gas Chromatograph (GC), and a Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS). The QMS and the GC can operate together in a GCMS mode for separation (GC) and definitive identification (QMS) of organic compounds. The TLS obtains precise isotope ratios for C and O in carbon dioxide and measures trace levels of methane and its carbon isotope.

http://msl-scicorner.jpl.nasa.gov/Instruments/SAM/
http://ssed.gsfc.nasa.gov/sam/ (this one is still in development)

shedweller

Rover Completes Longest Drive Yet

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 05:00:51 PM GMT

Curiosity completed a drive of 100 feet (30.5 meters) during the mission's Sol 29, on Sept. 4, 2012, traveling southeastward with a dogleg move partway through the drive to skirt some sand. This was the mission's longest drive so far and brought total driving distance to 358 feet (109 meters).

A Navigation Camera image with a wheel track from the Sol 29 drive is in the mission's collection of raw images, at http://1.usa.gov/OWxGIT .

Curiosity continues to work in good health. Sol 29, in Mars local mean solar time at Gale Crater, ended at 2:37 a.m. Sept. 5, PDT.

shedweller

Would i be right in saying that there is almost 57kg on each wheel? (on mars that is!)
I just became more aware of it when i saw the small stones pressed into the ground in the last pic. Seems pretty solid there, despite looking soft. Going by the scour marks from the descent stage i would say solid rock is not far below the rover.

ThatDrGuy

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0903/1224323522516.html

So maybe it is time for the Government to announce Ireland will launch a rover to Mars or land an Irish astronaut on the moon. If it captured the public imagination then the Government could ramp up the €150 million a year it spends on research each year without annoying the electorate. Or maybe it should just invest more money in research anyway to help achieve the dream of becoming an international centre for research excellence. All it would take is a bit of vision.

If we spent our entire research budget we probably couldnt afford to send a dead budgie to the moon.In fact given our epic inability to accomplish anything (HSE PPARS system blew entire Irish research budget for over a year and yielded nothing) I doubt we could get the dead budgie to Cork from Dublin.

shedweller

This is something i always think about when i hear people go on about how much space exploration costs. The costs are in peoples wages, after which taxes are deducted and the remaining, net wages are spent on goods and services.
Wasn't the Hoover Dam built to create jobs, back in the day?

Ireland has a very good chance of doing something big like space exploration but we need to tell our elected officials what to do!

We need backbone people!

shedweller

NASA Mars Rover Curiosity Begins Arm-Work Phase


PASADENA, Calif. -- After driving more than a football field's length since landing, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is spending several days preparing for full use of the tools on its arm.
Curiosity extended its robotic arm Wednesday in the first of six to 10 consecutive days of planned activities to test the 7-foot (2.1-meter) arm and the tools it manipulates.
"We will be putting the arm through a range of motions and placing it at important 'teach points' that were established during Earth testing, such as the positions for putting sample material into the inlet ports for analytical instruments," said Daniel Limonadi of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., lead systems engineer for Curiosity's surface sampling and science system. "These activities are important to get a better understanding for how the arm functions after the long cruise to Mars and in the different temperature and gravity of Mars, compared to earlier testing on Earth."

---

Since the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft placed Curiosity inside Mars' Gale Crater on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT), the rover has driven a total of 358 feet (109 meters). The drives have brought it about one-fourth of the way from the landing site, named Bradbury Landing, to a location selected as the mission's first major science destination, Glenelg.
"We knew at some point we were going to need to stop and take a week or so for these characterization activities," said JPL's Michael Watkins, Curiosity mission manager. "For these checkouts, we need to turn to a particular angle in relation to the sun and on flat ground. We could see before the latest drive that this looked like a perfect spot to start these activities."

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html

Man thats a lot of exposed wires!:eek: What say the electricians??!!:D

shedweller

Here's a picture we are used to seeing from previous rovers:


This time next year they should look very interesting!
And a view of the tracks made:

Turtwig

Shamelessy stolen from YLYl.



Puts a lot of things in perspective.:)

shedweller

Arm Work to Include Vibration Testing
Fri, 07 Sep 2012 03:36:24 PM GMT

Curiosity skipped arm testing on Sol 31 (Sept. 6) after controllers held back on new commanding due to a caution about a temperature reading on the arm. The issue was resolved later in the day, so the planned activities have shifted to Sol 32 (Sept. 7). These include a checkout of the tool turret at the end of the arm and a test using vibration of the sample processing device on the arm.
The downlink during Sol 31 returned a Navigation Camera image of the turret taken during testing on Sol 30

shedweller

Sorry about the large pics!
This is a self portrait of Curiosity. It was taken through the dust cover as it was being checked for stones etc that might stop it from opening.

Turtwig

shedweller wrote: »

http://marsmobile.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/images/pia16159_MAHLI-br2.jpg
Sorry about the large pics!
This is a self portrait of Curiosity. It was taken through the dust cover as it was being checked for stones etc that might stop it from opening.

No need to apologise keep em coming.
I really think they ought to have painted a smile onto the bottom of the head of the rover. (And maybe painted another cute eye too. Not that I'm discriminating against one eye rovers here or anything . . .)

shedweller

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16130.html

First Image From Curiosity's Arm Camera With Dust Cover Open
The reclosable dust cover on Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) was opened for the first time during the 33rd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars (Sept. 8, 2012), enabling MAHLI to take this image.

The level of detail apparent in the image shows that haziness in earlier MAHLI images since landing was due to dust that had settled on the dust cover during the landing.

The patch of ground shown is about 34 inches (86 centimeters) across. The size of the largest pebble, near the bottom of the image, is about 3 inches (8 centimeters). Notice that the ground immediately around that pebble has less dust visible (more gravel exposed) than in other parts of the image. The presence of the pebble may have affected the wind in a way that preferentially removes dust from the surface around it.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems

Man! Things happen slowly on Mars! Geologically that is, although i'm getting a little impatient with the rover progress! I know, i know, it's all about science but i just want to put put the boot down on that thing!:D

shedweller

This view of the three left wheels of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines two images that were taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 34th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Sept. 9, 2012). In the distance is the lower slope of Mount Sharp.
The camera is located in the turret of tools at the end of Curiosity's robotic arm. The Sol 34 imaging by MAHLI was part of a week-long set of activities for characterizing the movement of the arm in Mars conditions.
The main purpose of Curiosity's MAHLI camera is to acquire close-up, high-resolution views of rocks and soil at the rover's Gale Crater field site. The camera is capable of focusing on any target at distances of about 0.8 inch (2.1 centimeters) to infinity, providing versatility for other uses, such as views of the rover itself from different angles.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems

Rubecula

I would just like to offer a general thank you to everyone who has posted on this thread so far. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading each and every post.

Keep it up guys and girls, it is great.

thecommander

All of the wheel images stitched together.

shedweller

Excellent picture there Commander!
Now if nasa would put a little more effort into cutting out the black bits we might have an even awesomer picture!!

Anyway, has anybody noticed the dents in the wheels? I first became concerned when i saw them being handled while being assembled. They looked extremely light.
I took this latest picture:http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00034/mhli/0034MH0063001000E1_DXXX.jpg
And cut out this bit:

And cropped and rotated it, lightened the bit on the inside of the wheel to show those dents and circled the outer dents.
It's awful early in the game to be having dents like that isn't it? Especially since the drives to date have been literally a walk in the park compared to climbing Mt. Sharp!
I'm hoping they'll work harden over time....:)

Mountainsandh

Thanks Shedweller and all the others for the great pics, don't have time to check Nasa site every day since I'm back working, but it's great to know I'll find all the important bits here.

That's weird allright that the wheels should look so dented already, they'll be pretty shook by the time it gets there if that's only a fourth of the way, but I guess if they keep rolling ...

derra

Jernal wrote: »

No need to apologise keep em coming.
I really think they ought to have painted a smile onto the bottom of the head of the rover. (And maybe painted another cute eye too. Not that I'm discriminating against one eye rovers here or anything . . .)

Turtwig

^ ^ ^

Mickeroo

Take the zipper away and that's Wall-E!

I still feel strange looking at HD photos from the surface of mars, the fact that it looks like it could just be somewhere on earth makes it feel even more alien in a strange way. Great time to be alive.

Mountainsandh

Mickeroo wrote: »

Take the zipper away and that's Wall-E!

I still feel strange looking at HD photos from the surface of mars, the fact that it looks like it could just be somewhere on earth makes it feel even more alien in a strange way. Great time to be alive.

Yes it's really strange, I have this notion in my head that it's really silent there and so I try to imagine a rocky dusty place on earth all silent with a blown out sky, and I can and I can't at the same time

I haven't read anything about sounds on Mars, I saw something about them playing a song there, but didn't read the articles... How would sound be on Mars ? Does the density of the atmosphere affect it ? Surely there's at least the sound of wind over the relief ?

shedweller

Standing there in a spacesuit, i'd say you might hear the gusts but not normal levels of wind. If a dust devil blew past you'd hear the sand hopping off your visor and most likely have to brace against the wind.
But as regards hearing everyday breezes, i dunno. Nasa should test it out in their giant vacumn chambers!