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How did they make the nuclear power source for the Curiosity rover?
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/11/28 03:07 CST
Maybe it's because I was a kid during the Cold War; I always assume that information about anything nuclear only comes out on that "need-to-know basis."
Curiosity is on its way to Mars!
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/11/26 09:09 CST
It was a textbook launch for the Atlas V 541 today at 15:02 UTC, and within an hour after liftoff, the Centaur second stage had sent Curiosity on its way for an 8.5-month journey to Mars.
Mars Exploration Family Portrait
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/11/23 12:26 CST | 1 comments
Jason Davis put together this neat summary of the checkered history of Mars exploration.
Photos: Preparations for Curiosity's launch proceeding (don't show these to Blofeld!)
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/10/11 11:27 CDT
Photos: Preparations for Curiosity's launch proceeding (don't show these to Blofeld!)
Summary of the fifth MSL landing site selection meeting
Posted by Ryan Anderson on 2011/07/06 10:40 CDT
Guest blog: Ryan Anderson: Summary of the fifth MSL landing site selection meeting
Posted by Ryan Anderson on 2011/05/27 09:01 CDT
Laser beams and space exploration are perfect for each other, and not just because all self-respecting starship captains know their way around a blaster. It turns out that zapping rocks with a laser is not only fun, it also can tell you what they're made of!
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/04/08 12:03 CDT
The photo I took of Curiosity's "face" and posted on Monday seems to have tickled a lot of people. I understand it's the subject of a "Photoshop this Mars rover" challenge at Fark, and a couple of the guys over at unmannedspaceflight.com have been having a field day with it.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/04/04 04:54 CDT
I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity today for a face-to-face visit with one of the biggest celebrities in my world: Curiosity, the next Mars rover. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory gave members of the media a chance to suit up in the white coveralls known as "bunny suits" and enter the Spacecraft Assembly Facility, the clean room in which Curiosity is being assembled and prepared for launch.
A zoomable MastCam is not going to make it to Mars
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/03/23 05:05 CDT
I hate being the bearer of bad news, but here it is. Amid all the building excitement for Curiosity -- the successes in testing, the delivery of the instruments, the fun of tuning in to Curiosity Cam to peek in on engineers doing their work in preparing the next rover for launch -- I've learned that a much-anticipated (but not required) feature is not going to make it on to the rover.
Neat video of Curiosity drive testing (plus a code-cracking challenge)
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/03/21 01:37 CDT
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has posted a short video showing some recent testing of an engineering model of the Mars Science Laboratory in their outdoor Mars Yard; they're testing the performance of the rover's driving capability over slopes of varying steepness and covered with bedrock, compacted sand, and very loose sand.
365 Days of Astronomy Podcast: Unmanned Space Exploration in 2011
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/01/12 10:32 CST
Today the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast aired my contribution, Unmanned Space Exploration in 2011, about what to look forward to in solar system exploration this year.
Water and the Curiosity Landing Site Candidates
Posted by Ken Edgett on 2009/05/28 10:09 CDT | 2 comments
Water and the Curiosity Landing Site Candidates
Exciting Times Ahead: 2010 Will Sizzle, and 2011 Will Really Cook!
Posted by Alan Stern on 2009/05/18 03:56 CDT
Today, I'm kicking the week off with a look at the unusually intense confluence of far flung planetary exploration that's just around the corner, starting the middle of next year.
No descent images or sounds from Phoenix
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2007/11/15 11:05 CST
No descent images or sounds from Phoenix
Mars Science Laboratory is going to be HUGE
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2007/06/20 11:11 CDT
Yesterday I deposited the baby with her grandmother and went to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for a press junket to the opening of their new Mars Yard.
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