Giant Nasa rover launches to Mars

[haikuman]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15904408

Nasa has launched the most capable machine ever built to land on Mars.

The near one-tonne rover, tucked inside a capsule, left Florida on an Atlas 5 rocket at 10:02 local time (15:02 GMT).

Nicknamed Curiosity, the rover will take eight and a half months to cross the vast distance to its destination.

If it can land safely next August, the robot will then scour Martian soils and rocks for any signs that current or past environments on the planet could have supported microbial life.

The Atlas flight lasted almost three-quarters of an hour.

[ka jowct]

Eights months of waiting to find out if it was all for naught…I'd hate to be on the Rover team during the landing process. I think I'd need Valium.

[GGD]

ka jowct wrote:
Eights months of waiting to find out if it was all for naught…I'd hate to be on the Rover team during the landing process. I think I'd need Valium.

Let's home that it's not a much shorter wait, like the Russian's experienced.

[Paul F.]

ka jowct wrote:
Eights months of waiting to find out if it was all for naught…I'd hate to be on the Rover team during the landing process. I think I'd need Valium.

Think about the anticipation of the New Horizons team...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons

They launched the spacecraft on January 19, 2006...
It will fly by Pluto in a 10 minute window on July 14, 2015!

As of this December 2, it will take over from Voyager 2 as the closest spacecraft to Pluto... But then it will spend the next two and a half years getting even closer. But the REAL action will be that bare few minutes in the summer of 2015.


Curiosity is going to have a TERRIFIC mission! If it's HALF as successful as Spirit and Opportunity, we're going to know a LOT more about Mars in the near future!

[Paul F.]

GGD wrote:
[quote=ka jowct]
Eights months of waiting to find out if it was all for naught…I'd hate to be on the Rover team during the landing process. I think I'd need Valium.

Let's home that it's not a much shorter wait, like the Russian's experienced.
Yeah... that sucked!

[Uncle Wig]

ka jowct wrote:
Eights months of waiting to find out if it was all for naught…I'd hate to be on the Rover team during the landing process. I think I'd need Valium.

Have you seen the animation of the landing sequence? Looking at this, I don't think Valium would begin to cover it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwinFP8_qIM&feature=share

[Ted King]

ka jowct wrote:
Eights months of waiting to find out if it was all for naught…I'd hate to be on the Rover team during the landing process. I think I'd need Valium.

The chief flight engineer (that's probably not the official title) for this project is Rob Manning who is the husband of a friend of mine (he once gave me and my son a tour of the JPL facilities in Pasadena - I'll never forget it). He was the chief flight engineer for the Pathfinder, Spirit and Opportunity rover projects - and every one of those flew to, and landed on, Mars successfully. If anyone can make sure that this rover gets to Mars intact it's Rob. He's kind of a legend amongst those in the field. He also happens to be a really nice guy.

Edit: I found this about Rob:

http://www.aeispeakers.com/speakerbio.ph...kerID=1252

It mentions his, wife, Dominique, who I called Mino and was like a sister to me in my wilder, younger days.

[cbelt3]

Go Baby Go !
The JPL Mars rover team is amazing... their work is interplanetary awesome.

[Grateful11]

Uncle Wig wrote:
[quote=ka jowct]
Eights months of waiting to find out if it was all for naught…I'd hate to be on the Rover team during the landing process. I think I'd need Valium.

Have you seen the animation of the landing sequence? Looking at this, I don't think Valium would begin to cover it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwinFP8_qIM&feature=share
I saw part of that animation on the news last night. The part where the thrusters fire and the rover drops out on three
cables is really pushing the envelope IMO. I hope it works, I think the $3 billion rover is also nuclear powered.

[Paul F.]

Oddly enough, I think it's the supersonically deployed parachute that's pushing the envelope more than the "Sky Crane".
It's the biggest chute, deployed at the fastest speeds, with the heaviest cargo, even deployed. I saw a video of a wind-tunnel test on a documentary. Let's just say the one they tested was a "failed" design. It deployed, and shredded into lots of pieces.

The MSL has an RTG (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator) on board, and is planned for a more-than two year mission on Mars.
Now, the Spirit and Opportunity rovers were designed for a mission of what, 90 days? They operated for more than FIVE YEARS!
If the Curiousity Rover lasts an equivalent amount longer than it's designed life, we're going to be getting some neat data for many years.

Grateful11 wrote:
[quote=Uncle Wig]
[quote=ka jowct]
Eights months of waiting to find out if it was all for naught…I'd hate to be on the Rover team during the landing process. I think I'd need Valium.

Have you seen the animation of the landing sequence? Looking at this, I don't think Valium would begin to cover it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwinFP8_qIM&feature=share
I saw part of that animation on the news last night. The part where the thrusters fire and the rover drops out on three
cables is really pushing the envelope IMO. I hope it works, I think the $3 billion rover is also nuclear powered.