[Prosocorneliay]

NEWS RELEASE: 2012-227 Aug. 4, 2012

Mars Tugging on Approaching NASA Rover Curiosity

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cf...lease_2012-227

PASADENA, Calif. – The gravitational tug of Mars is now pulling NASA's car-size geochemistry
laboratory, Curiosity, in for a suspenseful landing in less than 40 hours.

"After flying more than eight months and 350 million miles since launch, the Mars Science
Laboratory spacecraft is now right on target to fly through the eye of the needle that is our target at
the top of the Mars atmosphere," said Mission Manager Arthur Amador of NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

The spacecraft is healthy and on course for delivering the mission's Curiosity rover close to a Martian
mountain at 10:31 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 5 PDT (1:31 a.m. Monday, Aug. 6 EDT). That's the time a
signal confirming safe landing could reach Earth, give or take about a minute for the spacecraft's
adjustments to sense changeable atmospheric conditions.

The only way a safe-landing confirmation can arrive during that first opportunity is via a relay by
NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. Curiosity will not be communicating directly with Earth as it lands,
because Earth will set beneath the Martian horizon from Curiosity's perspective about two minutes
before the landing.

"We are expecting Odyssey to relay good news," said Steve Sell of the JPL engineering team that
developed and tested the mission's complicated "sky crane" landing system. "That moment has been
more than eight years in the making."

A dust storm in southern Mars being monitored by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter appears to
be dissipating. "Mars is cooperating by providing good weather for landing," said JPL's Ashwin
Vasavada, deputy project scientist for Curiosity.

Curiosity was approaching Mars at about 8,000 mph (about 3,600 meters per second) Saturday
morning. By the time the spacecraft hits the top of Mars' atmosphere, about seven minutes before
touchdown, gravity will accelerate it to about 13,200 mph (5,900 meters per second).

NASA plans to use Curiosity to investigate whether the study area has ever offered environmental
conditions favorable for microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life.

"In the first few weeks after landing, we will be ramping up science activities gradually as we
complete a series of checkouts and we gain practice at operating this complex robot in Martian
conditions," said JPL's Richard Cook, deputy project manager for Curiosity.

The first Mars pictures expected from Curiosity are reduced-resolution fisheye black-and-white
images received either in the first few minutes after touchdown or more than two hours later. Higher
resolution and color images from other cameras could come later in the first week. Plans call for
Curiosity to deploy a directional antenna on the first day after landing and raise the camera mast on
the second day.

The big hurdle is landing. Under some possible scenarios, Curiosity could land safely, but temporary
communication difficulties could delay for hours or even days any confirmation that the rover has
survived landing.

The prime mission lasts a full Martian year, which is nearly two Earth years. During that period,
researchers plan to drive Curiosity partway up a mountain informally called Mount Sharp.
Observations from orbit have identified exposures there of clay and sulfate minerals that formed in
wet environments.

The Mars Science Laboratory is a project of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The mission is
managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Its rover,
Curiosity, was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. Information about the mission and about
ways to participate in challenges of the landing, including a new video game, is available at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mars and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ .

You can follow the mission on Facebook and on Twitter at:
http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

For more information about NASA programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov .

The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.

- end -

[fetesiceWaist]

Opportunity Prepares for Curiosity's Arrival
by Staff Writers
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 06, 2012

illustration only



Opportunity has been roving at the north end of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater. However, activity will be constrained for the period ahead as Opportunity prepares for the arrival of Curiosity.

The project is preplanning nine day or sols of activity around the landing time of Curiosity, so as not to require Deep Space Network tracking antenna coverage.

On Sol 3024 (July 26, 2012), Opportunity drove just over 20 feet (6 meters) to position for some surface targets at the feature called "Whim Creek."

On Sol 3025 (July 27, 2012), the rover collected an atmospheric argon measurement with the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS).

On Sol 3027 (July 29, 2012), the robotic arm was used to collect a Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaic of the surface target, called "Rushall," followed by the placement of the APXS for a multi-sol surface integration.

On Sol 3028 (July 31, 2012), Opportunity served as a trial horse for possible direct detection at Earth of Curiosity's Ultra High Frequency (UHF) signal during landing with the Parkes Radio Observatory in Australia.

Opportunity transmitted a UHF signal configured as Curiosity's UHF will be at landing. The Parkes antenna was able to detect the Opportunity test signal and will be now be listening during Curiosity's landing.

As of Sol 3022 (July 24, 2012), the solar array energy production was 547 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.642 and a solar array dust factor of 0.720.

Total odometry is 21.52 miles (34,639.45 meters).

[Abraham]

Live feed, not sure when the action starts.

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/nasatv/

[Tyncneiff]

The action starts in 52 min with the cruiser separation. Landing is about 7 mins after that.

[Valdoyes]

Ta .... just heard it was an hour away as well.

[capeAngedlelp]

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html

Alternate live feed.

[Mediconlinee]

some amazing apps for iPhone and iPad already but soon Android which enable people to participate in all kinds of marvellous things ... something like "eyes on the solar system" also "eyes on the earth" but I didn't catch it all.

did anyone else?

Less than 90 minutes from now

http://timeanddate.com/worldclock/fi...05T2230&p1=137


Even on satellite the feed from here is good.
It is a feed with lots of interviews and commentary. A clean feed with no comments etc is available at the nasa.gov homepage.

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/mars/curiosity_news3.html

[rhiniddibiarmr]

Unfortunately, the work computer is too slow to allow live streaming I'm relying on you guys for a commentary.

[GrottereewNus]

try the twitter feed awm; it's excellent ... the hashtags are back a bit.
They're no longer talking TO curiosity, only receiving,

[ButKnillinoi]

From NASA ‏@NASA Final @MarsCuriosity Prelanding Update News Briefing Today @ 9:30a PT/12:30p ET.
View on NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv


12 hours to go?


Other good Twitter feeds

New Scientist ‏@newscientist #MSL will toss out two laptop-sized blocks of tungsten that total weigh 145 kg. Crucial for landing: their loss creates lift.


NASA_EDGE ‏@NASA_EDGE NASA EDGE live webcast, August 6 from 12:30-2:30 am EDT (5:30 - 7:30 am UK time). #MSL #NASA Go Curiosity!!! http://pic.twitter.com/5XOT0q3e

and useful Twitter hashtags
#MSL
#NASA
#Curiosity
#Mars
#CuriosityRover
#SPACE

[Elaltergephah]

PASADENA, Calif. — A car-size NASA rover touched down on the Martian surface late Sunday night (Aug. 5), executing a stunning series of maneuvers that seem pulled from the pages of a sci-fi novel.

News of the 1-ton Curiosity rover's successful landing came in at 10:31 p.m. PDT Sunday (1:31 a.m. EDT and 0517 GMT Monday), though the robot actually touched down inside Mars' huge Gale Crater around 10:17 p.m. (It takes about 14 minutes for signals to travel from the Red Planet to Earth).

"Touchdown confirmed. We're safe on Mars!" a mission controller announced. The cheers were deafening.





http://www.space.com/16932-mars-rove...g-success.html

[adverwork]

PASADENA, Calif. — A car-size NASA rover touched down on the Martian surface late Sunday night (Aug. 5), executing a stunning series of maneuvers that seem pulled from the pages of a sci-fi novel.

News of the 1-ton Curiosity rover's successful landing came in at 10:31 p.m. PDT Sunday (1:31 a.m. EDT and 0517 GMT Monday), though the robot actually touched down inside Mars' huge Gale Crater around 10:17 p.m. (It takes about 14 minutes for signals to travel from the Red Planet to Earth).

"Touchdown confirmed. We're safe on Mars!" a mission controller announced. The cheers were deafening.





http://www.space.com/16932-mars-rove...g-success.html

[attishina]

For those that couldn't watch it curiosity is down safely. Sent back the first couple of low res images from the hazard cameras but they still have their dust covers on at this stage.

[bonyrek]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-0...verage/4179974

"live" blog, good for a recap. The 3.48PM entry is particularly enlightening.

[wmirkru]

NASA's $2.5 billion dream has certainly so far done what many thought it could not do.

[furious1]

PASADENA, California (Reuters) - The Mars science rover Curiosity landed on the Martian surface shortly after 10:30 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday (1:30 a.m. EDT Monday/0530 GMT) to begin a two-year mission seeking evidence the Red Planet once hosted ingredients for life, NASA said.

Mission controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles burst into applause and cheered as they received signals relayed by a Mars orbiter confirming that the rover had survived a make-or-break descent and touched down within its landing zone.

NASA described the feat as perhaps the most complex achieved in robotic spaceflight.

Moments later, Curiosity beamed back its first three images from the Martian surface, one of them showing a wheel of the vehicle.

"I can't believe this. This is unbelievable," said Allen Chen, the deputy leader of the rover's descent and landing team.

The car-sized rover apparently came to rest at its planned destination near the foot of a tall mountain rising from the floor of Gale Crater in Mars' southern hemisphere, mission controllers said.

The $2.5 billion Curiosity project, formally called the Mars Science Laboratory, is NASA's first astrobiology mission since the 1970s-era Viking probes.

The landing marks a major victory and milestone for a U.S. space agency beleaguered by budget cuts and the recent loss of its 30-year-old space shuttle program.

"It's an enormous step forward in planetary exploration. Nobody has ever done anything like this," said John Holdren, the top science advisor to President Barack Obama, who was visiting JPL for the event. "It was an incredible performance."

The exact condition of the one-ton, six-wheeled, nuclear powered vehicle upon its arrival could not be immediately ascertained.

NASA plans to put the rover and its sophisticated instruments, touted as the first full-fledged mobile science lab sent to another world, through several weeks of engineering checks before starting its two-year surface mission in earnest.

The landing capped a journey of more than eight months across more than 350 million miles (567 million km) of space since the Mars Science Lab was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida
http://news.yahoo.com/mars-rover-cur...002742981.html

[Noxassope]

I watched it live; there was so much emotion it was almost like watching a manned landing.

Great job by the MSL / JPL team!

[lollypopz]

I watched it live; there was so much emotion it was almost like watching a manned landing.

Great job by the MSL / JPL team!

And the kids at the local school even got to see those parts that they could get (downloading was intermittent but they persisted apparently) .. so they were all racing out the gate yelling to their parents that Curiosity made it

[AmericaAirline 111]

Congratulations to the fizzycists and the mathemagicians, there's some fine work involved with getting it there in one piece!

[PaulRyansew]

> "Touchdown confirmed. We're safe on Mars!" a mission controller announced. The cheers were deafening.

I didn't cheer until I heard that they had telemetry from the surface. Then I cheered.

Rover health on the surface seems good so far as I can tell. It looks like a landing on flat terrain. Fore and aft cameras are both working and sending back images. The temperatures of the two RTGs seem to be OK.

I found out a bit more about the rover today. It has a laser ray-gun that can zap rocks with enough power to vaporise them.