Blog Archive

Curiosity artist's concept EDL 00 approach

Curiosity sol 4: EDL updates, rover ready for software upgrade

Posted by Jason Davis on 2012/08/10 05:16 CDT | 3 comments

A recap of the final Curiosity press conference of the week: lots of updates from the entry, descent and landing (EDL) team that safely deposited the rover on Mars, as well as an overview of the rover's R10 software upgrade.

Curiosity sol 3: First Mastcam color thumbnails down, everything "flawless," "nominal"

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/08/09 03:25 CDT | 13 comments

Curiosity's third day on Mars has been completed flawlessly, and the first preliminary color view from her Mastcam is lovely.

Curiosity Comes Cheap - Why the latest Mars rover (and all planetary exploration) is a steal

Posted by Casey Dreier on 2012/08/09 08:43 CDT | 24 comments

Along with any NASA mission comes the inevitable repetition of its cost and questions of its worth, Curiosity is no exception. This tired media narrative must end. The real question is not, "why so much?" but, "why so little?"

A mosaic of 20 full-resolution images taken from Curiosity's left Navcam on the second day after landing shows the rover, with a dirty deck, sitting on a gravelly plain, surrounded by mountains.

Curiosity: Most of sol 2 Navcam panorama, plus 18 full-res Descent Imager frames available

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/08/09 12:48 CDT | 10 comments

A look at the latest raw data dump from Curiosity: our first sharp view of the rover and immediate surroundings, plus 18 of the full-resolution descent imager frames are now available. Check out the gravel on Curiosity's deck!!

For use as thumbnail for 3D anaglyph posts

Grab your 3D glasses for this view of Curiosity's landscape on Mars

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/08/08 09:58 CDT | 4 comments

Curiosity fired up her Navigational Cameras on Sol 2 and began to take a look around her. The first four full-resolution frames are enough for a small 3D panorama that shows a lovely landscape. I think we're going to like it here!

Planetfest 2012 Was a Huge Success

Posted by Casey Dreier on 2012/08/08 07:46 CDT

Planetfest 2012 ended in the best possible way: the Curiosity rover touched down safely on the surface of Mars. In our ballroom, almost two thousand people leapt to their feet and provided thunderous applause to accompany the joyous celebration at mission control.