The Curiosity On Mars Thread.

DubOnHoliday

Yep, it's pretty damn cool.

.jacksparrow.

I love thinking about it lying in bed at night,something just fascinating about it happening millions of miles away as we speak.

shedweller

One can only imagine what an inspiration it would be to everybody if it were a manned mission. Sure, it would cost a fortune but where does the money get spent? Do people not pay taxes??

Capt'n Midnight

shedweller wrote: »

One can only imagine what an inspiration it would be to everybody if it were a manned mission. Sure, it would cost a fortune but where does the money get spent? Do people not pay taxes??

The US has only spent three trillion extra on security and stuff since 9/11.

Cheapest way to Mars would be to get the Russians to do it.

shedweller

Or Elon Musk!

Capt'n Midnight

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/tmke.htm

Russian manned Mars expedition. Study 1960. Feoktistov felt that the TMK-1 manned Mars flyby design was too limited. His design group proposed in 1960 a complete Mars landing expedition, to be assembled in earth orbit using two or more N1 launches.

The spacecraft would be powered by nuclear electric engines, with the reactor moved away from the crew quarters on long telescoping booms. Five landers would deliver a nuclear-powered 'Mars Train' on the surface for a one-year survey of the terrain. The design would be heavily modified as the 1960's progressed, as research showed the Martian atmosphere to be much thinner and the nuclear electric engines to be less efficient than assumed.

losthorizon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfM4WRV1RE8

Mountainsandh

http://www.exploremars.org/shiny-thing-in-rock-at-yellowknife-bay mystery shiny thing, lodged in rock, so not likely to be debris from landing.

bottom left hand side, higher res image available click on pic.

shedweller

^^^^^^
Bit of quartz maybe? Looks rounded so either flowing liquid did it or its a melted blob from a volcano or meteorite strike. Or something else....:)

Mountainsandh

a big diamond ...


me ^^^

2 stroke

I don't see why there shouldnt be shiny bits on mars. However I am curios about this part of that pic. looks like a small cylinder with a cuboid shape attached.

shedweller

Some close inspections here:

Are they marks from those "blueberries" i wonder?

DubOnHoliday

Question: If you could send a 'Curiosity' machine to another destination in the solar system, where would you send it? First on my list would be Titan. I'd say that place is full of surprises.

shedweller

I would tend to agree with Titan as a rover destination. Europa or Io might also be interesting. Partly because Jupiterise/jupiterset would look stunning! Apart from that i dont think theres much chance of finding signs of life anywhere else. I'm no scientist by the way so correct me if i'm wrong!

namloc1980

Don't forget little Enceladus with its cryovolcanoes and organic compounds!

JupiterKid

Titan, Enceladus and Triton would IMO be ideal candidates for a Curiosity style rover.

Io would be problematic because of its volcanic terrain - a lander/rover could become engulfed in sulphur dust and lava and of course the radiation from Jupiter would also be a huge hurdle. Radiation would also be a problem on Europa.

Mountainsandh

that's cute http://funny-pictures-blog.com/2011/09/30/comics-conversation-between-earth-and-the-moon-2/

TOMP

DubOnHoliday wrote: »

Question: If you could send a 'Curiosity' machine to another destination in the solar system, where would you send it? First on my list would be Titan. I'd say that place is full of surprises.

I would stay on Mars and send the next 'curiosity' into the caves on Mars. Dying to know if there are any aliens in there!

shedweller

I'd forgotten about those! Abseiling robots, anyone??

irishgeo

its going to struggle to take a photo in the dark.

Mountainsandh

surely it would have a light, and a flash for the camera !

JupiterKid

A robotic lander with a winch down into these caves with a remote sensing device through the skylights at the top would be a good solution. Maintaining telemetry might be a problem though.

The Martian caves are certainly a tantalising target for future exploration.

shedweller

WIFI booster, maybe?:D

Mountainsandh

http://www.exploremars.org/curiosity-briefing-tuesday-january-15-2013-1-pm-est

Anyone listened to the new update ?

Just tried a bit of it, but my own little martians here are making quiet listening difficult...

shedweller

Was busy myself so i missed it. They don't seem to upload them in any format that i can find. Or do they? I can never find them anyway.

Anyhoo, they are planning on drilling for the first time.

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is driving toward a flat rock with pale veins that may hold clues to a wet history on the Red Planet. If the rock meets rover engineers' approval when Curiosity rolls up to it in coming days, it will become the first to be drilled for a sample during the Mars Science Laboratory mission.

"Drilling into a rock to collect a sample will be this mission's most challenging activity since the landing. It has never been done on Mars," said Mars Science Laboratory project manager Richard Cook of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "The drill hardware interacts energetically with Martian material we don't control. We won't be surprised if some steps in the process don't go exactly as planned the first time through."

No **** sherlock. As anyone that has drilled into rocks or simply rocky concrete will tell you; It is hard work and fraught with risk!
Is there a reverse on that drill, i wonder? Could come in handy.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20130115.html

'John Klein' Site Selected for Curiosity's Drill Debut

.jacksparrow.

I thought one of the other rovers drilled before,hmmm maybe not.

shedweller

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

I thought one of the other rovers drilled before,hmmm maybe not.

Opportunity did, with its RAT. But the holes were very shallow.

Curiosity will be deeper, maybe up to 100mm?

shedweller

Quick search found this tasty little gem!
Up to 65mm depth apparently.

http://spaceref.com/mars/curiousmars-curiositys-critical-rock-drilling-target-selected-as-opportunity-achieves-major-science.html

shedweller

It's never too late for a little brush up on the various bits and bobs on the rover. So here's a link to do just that:http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/interactives/learncuriosity/index-2.html

ronan45

Just "CURIOUS" pardon the pun.... I read the following

"This power source gives the rover an operating life span of at least 14 Earth years or 7.4 Martian years. The mission is initially expected to last around two Earth years."

So are they saying that its objectives will last 2 years and possibly not work or break down or will we still be using the rover in 2023 assuming it hasnt had a catastrophic failure or gotten stuck???