Blogs
Blog Archive
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.
Let NASA Dare Mighty Things Again
Posted by Andrew Chaikin on 2012/08/17 08:47 CDT | 18 comments
In the space Olympics, the U.S. just won gold. So what, in the scheme of things, is the justification for the draconian budget cuts to NASA’s planetary program that threaten scientists’ carefully thought out plans for exploring the solar system in the coming decade?
Sampling Mars, Part 1: The Hardware
Posted by Daniel Limonadi on 2012/08/16 02:08 CDT | 3 comments
The opening of a multi-part guest blog series by Curiosity systems engineering team lead for the Surface Sampling and Science system. Part 1 explains the robotic arm and the Sample Acquisition, Processing and Handling subsystem.
Some fun with Curiosity MARDI images
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/08/16 11:36 CDT | 9 comments
Yesterday Curiosity returned a pile of full-resolution descent imager photos to Earth. The full-resolution MARDI images are just as great as we anticipated.
Cosmoquest Astronomy Hour, Wednesday: What's up with Curiosity on Mars, with guest: me!
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/08/15 05:00 CDT | 11 comments
I'm hosting this week's Cosmoquest Astronomy Hour, and rather than having a special guest I'll be speaking myself about what's going on with Curiosity, and will leave lots of time to answer people's questions. Join me at 1600 PDT / 2300 UTC at cosmoquest.org/hangouts.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/08/15 01:21 CDT | 1 comments
An update on Curiosity's status as of sol 9, and a look ahead to the next month or two of commissioning activities.
Video, sound, and timeline of Curiosity's descent
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/08/14 04:56 CDT | 7 comments
A fantastic video produced by Brian Lynch combines the thumbnail images from Curiosity's Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) with the audio from the control room during landing night and a detailed timeline from spaceflight101.com.
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