Blogs
Blog Archive
Pretty picture: rocks underfoot at Curiosity's landing site
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/09/17 02:54 CDT | 4 comments
An amateur-processed mosaic of some intriguing-looking broken rocks along Curiosity's traverse. They were intriguing enough to photograph with the Mastcam -- but not enough to stop and check them out, as Curiosity has already rolled on.
Curiosity sol 38 update: arm tests done, on the road again, and an important question answered
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/09/14 06:28 CDT
Curiosity has completed Commissioning Activity Period 2 and is on the road again. I asked Daniel Limonadi to explain a couple of the photos of tests being performed on CHIMRA, and took the opportunity to ask him an amusing question that came up during a previous Google+ Hangout.
Cosmoquest Astronomy Hour replay: What's up with Curiosity on Mars, with guest: me! (yes, again)
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/09/12 07:00 CDT | 8 comments
Fraser Cain and I had a wide-ranging conversation about Curiosity's recent activities on Mars during the Cosmoquest Astronomy Hour.
MAHLI sees Curiosity's wheels firmly on Martian ground
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/09/10 12:39 CDT | 3 comments
MAHLI opened its "eye" on sol 33, seeing Mars clearly for the first time. On sol 34, Curiosity used MAHLI to survey the parts that Mastcam can't see, including a view right underneath the rover.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/09/07 11:24 CDT | 3 comments
Curiosity's much-anticipated self-portrait with the MAHLI camera just arrived on Earth, and even though it was shot through the dust cover it is AWESOME.
Checking in on Curiosity after sol 30
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/09/06 03:54 CDT | 4 comments
Curiosity completed the "Intermission" phase on sol 29, and began checking out the robotic arm.
Posted by David J. Fred on 2012/09/05 04:21 CDT | 3 comments
It might surprise most people to learn that multitudes of knots tied in cords and thin ribbons have probably traveled on every interplanetary mission ever flown. If human civilization ends tomorrow, interplanetary landers, orbiters, and deep space probes will preserve evidence of both the oldest and newest of human technologies for thousands, if not millions of years.
An amazing LEGO model of Curiosity
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/09/03 09:15 CDT | 1 comments
A petite model of Curiosity in LEGO accurately represents many of its features and functions.
What's Up in the Solar System in September 2012
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/08/31 04:17 CDT | 4 comments
It's an active time in interplanetary exploration! Curiosity has begun roving Mars, and Opportunity's not wasting any time either. Dawn has just departed Vesta and begun the more than two-year cruise to Ceres. Juno is in the middle of a big deep-space maneuver, setting up next year's Earth flyby.
HiRISE's best view of Curiosity yet
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/08/31 12:50 CDT | 10 comments
HiRISE's best opportunity to view Curiosity so far came 12 days after landing, when the orbiter passed nearly directly overhead. The photo resolves amazing detail on the huge rover.
Explaining the new black-and-white Mastcam and MARDI raw images
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/08/24 05:05 CDT | 2 comments
If you've been obsessively checking the Curiosity raw images websites for new pictures from Mars, you might have noticed something weird: a bunch of Mastcam images and a few from MARDI that are black-and-white instead of color, and which have a peculiar checkerboard pattern.
The definitive version of Curiosity's first color panorama
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/08/23 06:15 CDT | 8 comments
The top of the mountain has finally been filled in, and Damien Bouic has produced what I think is the definitive version of Curiosity's first color panorama.
Sampling Mars, Part 4: Commissioning the Rover and Sampling System
Posted by Daniel Limonadi on 2012/08/22 07:04 CDT | 10 comments
Completing a multi-part guest blog series by Curiosity systems engineering team lead for the Surface Sampling and Science system. Part 4 explains the lengthy process of testing and using the system for the first time.
Curiosity's landing site named for Ray Bradbury
Posted by Jim Bell on 2012/08/22 04:32 CDT | 1 comments
Ray Bradbury explored Mars, and the future of humanity, through words and ideas--vehicles of the imagination. He was a visionary author and, through his writings and lectures, was a direct or indirect mentor to so many of us involved with designing, building, and operating the actual space vehicles of today. I think it is so fitting, then, that the MSL team has memorialized Ray's contributions to the exploration of the planets -- and especially Mars -- by naming Curiosity's landing site in his honor.
August 22, 2012 officially proclaimed "Space Day" in California
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/08/21 09:58 CDT
Governor Brown has declared August 22, 2012 "Space Day." I'm not sure what it means, but I love the repeated use of the word "whereas."
Sampling Mars, Part 3: Key Challenges in Drilling for Samples
Posted by Daniel Limonadi on 2012/08/21 05:34 CDT
Continuing a multi-part guest blog series by Curiosity systems engineering team lead for the Surface Sampling and Science system. Part 3 explains why drilling is hard, and what the team is doing to prevent things from going wrong.
Curiosity sol 15 update: Wheel wiggles, arm flexes, and bad news about REMS
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/08/21 04:26 CDT | 8 comments
Notes from this morning's press conference. Curiosity has successfully steered the corner wheels and deployed and restowed the robotic arm. ChemCam tests went well over the weekend. But one of the two wind speed sensors in REMS appears to have suffered permanent damage during landing.
Sampling Mars, Part 2: Science Instruments SAM and Chemin
Posted by Daniel Limonadi on 2012/08/20 11:28 CDT | 5 comments
Continuing a multi-part guest blog series by Curiosity systems engineering team lead for the Surface Sampling and Science system. Part 2 explains the science instruments SAM and Chemin.
The first Curiosity 360-degree panorama including the mountain
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/08/18 10:45 CDT | 8 comments
Damien Bouic took Curiosity's Hazcam images of Aeolis Mons / Mount Sharp and merged them with a beautiful 360-degree Navcam panorama to give us our first look at what the view will look like once the mission finally gets higher-resolution images that include the mountain's peak.
Curiosity sol 11 update: Decision to drive to "the high thermal inertia unit" and what that means
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/08/17 06:06 CDT | 8 comments
Some notes from this morning's Curiosity press briefing: the rover will be driving to "Glenelg" to investigate the "high thermal inertia unit." I explain what that means, with psychedelic Odyssey THEMIS images of the landing site.
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