The Curiosity On Mars Thread.

shedweller

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20130718.html

A pair of new papers report measurements of the Martian atmosphere's composition by NASA's Curiosity rover, providing evidence about loss of much of Mars' original atmosphere.

SAM checked ratios of heavier to lighter isotopes of carbon and oxygen in the carbon dioxide that makes up most of the planet's atmosphere. Heavy isotopes of carbon and oxygen are both enriched in today's thin Martian atmosphere compared with the proportions in the raw material that formed Mars, as deduced from proportions in the sun and other parts of the solar system. This provides not only supportive evidence for the loss of much of the planet's original atmosphere, but also a clue to how the loss occurred.

Curiosity measured the same pattern in isotopes of hydrogen, as well as carbon and oxygen, consistent with a loss of a substantial fraction of Mars' original atmosphere. Enrichment in heavier isotopes in the Martian atmosphere has previously been measured on Mars and in gas bubbles inside meteorites from Mars. Meteorite measurements indicate much of the atmospheric loss may have occurred during the first billion years of the planet's 4.6-billion-year history. The Curiosity measurements reported this week provide more precise measurements to compare with meteorite studies and with models of atmospheric loss.
The Curiosity measurements do not directly measure the current rate of atmospheric escape, but NASA's next mission to Mars, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN), will do so. "The current pace of the loss is exactly what the MAVEN mission now scheduled to launch in November of this year is designed to determine," Mahaffy said.

So the meteorite measurements are saying most atmospheric loss happened in the first billion years of mars existence and Curiosity/MSL will help narrow down these results.

So, if life happened on mars, it had a better chance in the first billion years of mars' life. But that first billion years would have been tumultuous to say the least! What with constant meteorites, extensive lava coverage etc. The next 3 odd billion years would have been calmer, relatively speaking, but also had less atmosphere to help things along.
Anyway, the kilometre-age is increasing and new ground awaits!

Those wheel dings aren't getting worse!
Here's a ground shot from MARDI, the landing camera:

shedweller

This is from MAHLI and i have rotated it to what looks ok to me. Here's the original link:http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00340/mhli/0340MH0305000000C0_DXXX.jpg
Is it me or is that mountain getting closer??!!

46 0s

The Mars Reconaissance Orbiter spots Curiosity down on the surface.

shedweller

Thanks for the link! Within that link is this link to the full res TIFF: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17080

shedweller

One Year On Mars!!:) (+1 day, i know i know!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-VS4C80Pb8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Alq08Poqb0

Here's a map of the drive so far. Thats quite a bit of backtracking eh? The difference in distance covered vs sols is quite apparent though. Roughly twice as far per day since Curiosity was at yellowknife bay.

The reason for the backtracking is this:



And the most recent front hazcam view:

Mountainsandh

I want one ! (for my daughter I mean)

31 0s

31 0s wrote: »

Mattel's Astronaut Barbie Becomes a Mars Explorer with NASA Help

and about time too
I know now what Im getting for my birthday..

shedweller

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


:D:D

shedweller

There doesn't appear to be much happening in the line of drilling etc. Which is good for odometer freaks... like me...heh.
This hazcam image shows lots of flat ground ahead and that should lead to many metres covered over the coming days/weeks.


This image below shows the dark band of sand in the distance which is on the rovers left side and will remain that way until the "entrance point" of Mt.Sharp if i remember correctly.

Leader of the Furlings

Curiosity takes pics of Martian Eclipse.

shedweller

Sol 369. More flat land! yay! This is a front hazcam image.

And a view out the back from the navcam. The rover has turned too, which is somewhat odd given we need to be going in a straight line! Those stones pressed into the ground fairly easily eh?

This navcam image shows up some bumpy terrain ahead better than the hazcam image above. I forsee a slowdown for some science in the next few sols.

shedweller

Navcam image looking back over the left shoulder so to speak. There's a rather dark looking angular rock in the two o clock position that looks an awful lot like a meteorite??

And a rear hazcam view showing the previous days drive.

shedweller

New landscape, even though it looks the same! Not sure of the mileage covered but i'm thinking it has been uninterrupted driving given how little we have been hearing from Curiosity.
Front left NAVCAM:

MASTCAM:

Thats the crater wall to the right and background and thats the foothils of Mt.Sharp on the left. Looks closer now eh?:)
Here's a view to the left of the above image. Is the camera leaning to the left a little? Or am i seeing things? Have we covered more ground than i thought we would?
After a bit of a search i found a traverse map showing her position at sol 378:

apollo8

Hopes of finding life on Mars suffered a setback after new findings from NASA's Curiosity rover detected only trace amounts of methane gas in the Red Planet's atmosphere, a study said Thursday.

In the past decade, scientists have reported large "plumes" of methane in the Martian atmosphere, findings that have remained controversial because they were made on the basis of observations from Earth or an orbiting satellite.

Researchers said in March 2003 that they had found a cloud near the Martian equator containing some 19,000 tons of methane, considered a key indicator of microbial life.

However, analysis of data from Curiosity's onboard instruments shows only trace amounts of methane in Mars's atmosphere.

Scientists said Curiosity's findings indicated that the maximum level of methane was 1.3 parts per billion by volume -- about six times lower than previous estimates.

http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Life_on_Mars_hopes_fade_after_rover_findings_study_999.html

shedweller

Thems the joys of exploration. Sometimes we strike gold, most times we flounder around and scratch our arse! Still though, thats what the rover was sent to do. This is how we learn about the universe. I hope my great grandkids make it to mars surface. Maybe more kids might aspire to do the same!

shedweller

Hey i missed this!

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia17481.html

Evolving Excitement Over ‘Darwin’ Rock Outcrop at 'Waypoint 1'

For at least a couple of days, the science team of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity is focused on a full-bore science campaign at a tantalizing, rocky site informally called "Darwin."

Curiosity arrived in the vicinity of Darwin last week after its longest drive yet.

The rover rolled closer to Darwin in recent days to lay its "contact science" instruments on the bedrock itself for in-depth mineral and chemical composition analysis.

I didn't hear much about it though. Spaceflight101.com has a few nice pictures, including a closeup:http://www.spaceflight101.com/msl-darwin-gallery.html
I cannot wait for Curiosity to start the hillclimb! Hopefully it'll be easier than that bloody game....

shanered

Water found!

http://news.rpi.edu/content/2013/09/26/nasa-mars-rover-curiosity-finds-water-first-sample-planet-surface?destination=node/40197

shedweller

They're saying about 2% water! Would it be worth their while drilling a well??!

Capt'n Midnight

2% of Mars soil is water
- solar still FTW
- so makes it a lot easier to power a rocket for the trip home
- or colonisation

also makes the ESA hopper more attractive and not needs nuclear heater

Stargate

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

2% of Mars soil is water
- solar still FTW
- so makes it a lot easier to power a rocket for the trip home
- or colonisation

also makes the ESA hopper more attractive and not needs nuclear heater

Quote from BBC site

" It would work like this: carbon dioxide would be extracted from the Martian air, compressed and liquefied."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24213830

Capt'n Midnight

It's a lot easier to extract water , and electrolyse it to Hydrogen and Oxygen , even less moving parts - no compressor for a start

murrax

0064MR0285005000E1_DXXX.jpg

The rock on the right side of this pic is interesting, looks like a pipe sticking out of it. It has raised a few questions and eyebrows...

slade_x

murrax wrote: »

0064MR0285005000E1_DXXX.jpg

The rock on the right side of this pic is interesting, looks like a pipe sticking out of it. It has raised a few questions and eyebrows...

no its not interesting whats interesting is when people dont actually know what something is they immediately associate it with something familiar to them. the i dont know what that is so it must be a ................ mentality

given the quality of the image in that area, the lack of detail of that particular rock it is highly likely it is nothing more than a shadow, a crevice/ fissure/ hole etc. until it can be proven otherwise.

A high resolution shot of that particular area will no doubt prove that, that rock is completely uninteresting as is always what happens.

It was a low resolution/ poor quality image that had people believing there were faces on the martian surface, of which to this day im sure it is a belief that some people hold.

For example:



Take a good look at what the vintage photograph above is actually of

Spoiler in white below (highlight below to see spoiler)

It is a vintage photograph of a man sitting down, with a child in his lap and a female standing next to them. Dont see it? Dont worry theres nothing wrong with your eyes, and considering how the brain works there is nothing comparatively wrong with your brain either. That's just human perception: Flawed.

murrax

Unfortunately there will be no high resolution of it as it was taken last October , one of the questions asked is why did they not drive over there and get a high res pic. Looking at it can appear to be something of intelligent design but we are smart enough to know Mars is pretty much a dead planet and this cannot be the case. But it is interesting enough to take a closer look, questions along the lines of a stromatolite or ancient lava tube remnant etc...

Maximus Alexander

murrax wrote: »

Unfortunately there will be no high resolution of it as it was taken last October , one of the questions asked is why did they not drive over there and get a high res pic. Looking at it can appear to be something of intelligent design but we are smart enough to know Mars is pretty much a dead planet and this cannot be the case. But it is interesting enough to take a closer look, questions along the lines of a stromatolite or ancient lava tube remnant etc...

Here's why they didn't divert a multi-billion dollar machine from its actual mission to take a closer look:



Because it's just a rock.

murrax

Thank you, even at different times of the day they are still the same, obviously the sunlight is at a different point, don't just assume since Mars is a mostly a dead planet that, in it's ancient past when it was warmer and wetter there wasn't a possibility of primitive life that today could show up in the form of stromatolites, ancient lava tubes, ancient fumaroles etc.. we now know that Gale crater had plenty of water in it's past. The question is how old was Mars before it lost most of it's atmosphere and hence it's water and thus martian primitive life forms or did it this all happen too early for Mars to even begin the process of primitive life itself... that is why this is interesting and it brings up possible questions, other than the usual shadows, fissures etc.. although I wouldn't not rule those out...
For anyone not familiar with stromatolites, wiki gives a good explanation...

shanered

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

Here's why they didn't divert a multi-billion dollar machine from its actual mission to take a closer look:



Because it's just a rock.

Wasn't the sole purpose of the multi-million mission to examine rocks?

Zubeneschamali

shanered wrote: »

Wasn't the sole purpose of the multi-million mission to examine rocks?

Climatoligists and weather forecasters study clouds, but not because they look like horsies and duckies.

Maximus Alexander

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Climatoligists and weather forecasters study clouds, but not because they look like horsies and duckies.

This. They know which rocks they are interested in and why. Because the shape looks interesting to a layman is not why.

murrax

800px-ALH84001_structures.jpg

All rover and orbiter missions from pathfinder to the present are the result of seeing something on Mars meteorite 84001 found in Antarctica back in the 80s and examined in 1996. Looking at it, it certainly appears it could be a primitive life form, a lot of geologists dismiss it as a coincidental part of the rock formation process that makes it appear that way, others say it formed from ancient Mars gas trapped inside the rock and nothing more while others believe it is the result of earth contamination, but still something that merely resembled a primitive life form based simply on it's shape and appearance and nothing more, launched multi billion dollar missions to Mars...
Anyways, still a shame they didn't drive that short distance to get a closer look, makes me wonder why they named this rover "Curiosity"...