7 minutes of hell: Curiosity
 

http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl talking about it
http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2 mission control radio feed.

Should be landing in 24 hours. Simulation http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm?id=1090

Eyes on the solar system

http://eyes.nasa.gov/launch2.html?do...ts/msl/edl.xml

Man, I am riveted by this. The amount of genius and pure luck needed for the rover to land safely is absolutely mind blowing.

Anyone taking bets? I say it crashes. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...es/tongue1.gif

Luck? i dont mean to sound pedantic but im going to have to, luck or superstition whatever one would like to call it has absolutely nothing to do with this. If curiousity lands safely it will be because of reasoned engineering in planning for every possible variable. If curiosity fails to land safely it will be because of human error. Whether it fails or not has already been determined in the design stage, from the moment they launched theres not much they can do now. If something is wrong (or something goes wrong) that fault has been engineered into the plan in the first place. No amount of wishful thinking can change that outcome. If they dotted every i and crossed every t as they say, in the next 6 and a half hours, we will all be celebrating.

If Curiosity is succesful it is yet another triumph of reasoned thinking. Science +1 / Jesus 0 http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...es/tongue1.gif

Notice how I said luck AND genius. Obviously the term luck can be equated to just about any variable, but if a miscalculation on the part of engineering is counterbalanced by an over abundance of daily atmosphere (resulting in a safe landing), I would consider that a lucky scenario.

Times have changed at JPL. There is a guy in mission control sporting a multicolored Mohawk (Mr. T style).

Anyway... 1.5 hrs to go.

Hahahaha

Are you listening to it? They just now are 'waking' it up for reentry. Apparently, spaceships have heartbeats... they just said they have confirmation of a heartbeat(s) http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo.../confused1.gif Just completed its turn into the atmosphere... 7 minutes till reentry starts.

--- Post Update ---

This is pretty cool!

--- Post Update ---

touchdown confirmed!

Curiosity landed. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/ohmy1.gifhttp://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/smile1.gif

There are a lot of nerd tears flowing in that room.

SUCCESSFUL TOUCHDOWN!
They are getting the first images now.

Look at all those macbooks. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...es/tongue1.gif

I was driving to work watching the feed from my cellphone... http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/blush1.gifhttp://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/laugh1.gif

I need a diaper. I have offially **** my pants. I ****ing love everyone right now.

Fantastic engineering feat! Amazing!

BTW, A heartbeat is a periodic message that confirms that a device is still around. Wifi networks have it, as do most building automation systems - it is not uncommon at all.

$2 billion dollars and they can't even fit the rover with a camera that takes photos in color? bah.

It's hilarious to see a self proclaimed elitist, who constantly brags about their expensive tastes elevating him past "the common man" complaining about money being spent on "frivolity".


This is much more useful to our species than wine, pretension and paintings.

Perfect landing, now lets see some high resolution photographs of the area it landed in. I wonder who gets to drive around first. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/cool1.gif

They can, they did, so there. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...es/tongue1.gif

Cameras: Curiosity has seventeen cameras overall.[56] MastCam, MAHLI, and MARDI cameras were developed by Malin Space Science Systems and they all share common design components, such as on-board electronic imaging processing boxes, 1600×1200 CCDs, and a RGB Bayer pattern filter.[57][58][59][60][61][62]
MastCam: This system provides multiple spectra and true color imaging with two cameras.
See also: MastCam
Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI): This system consists of a camera mounted to a robotic arm on the rover, used to acquire microscopic images of rock and soil.
See also: MAHLI
MSL Mars Descent Imager (MARDI): During the descent to the Martian surface, MARDI will take color images at 1600×1200 pixels with a 1.3-millisecond exposure time starting at distances of about 3.7 km to near 5 meters from the ground.
See also: MARDI
Hazard avoidance cameras (Hazcams): The rover has two pairs of black and white navigation cameras (Hazcams) located on its four corners.
See also: Hazcams
Navigation cameras (Navcams): The rover uses a pair of black and white navigation cameras mounted on the mast to support ground navigation.
See also: Navcams