The Curiosity On Mars Thread.

shedweller

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

I haven't checked up on this, but I thought the rusty soil is a throwback to the formation of the planet when it would have oxidized while it was still hot and partially molten. Could be wrong on that though.

Yeah there seems to be a few theories alright. I smell a manned mission just to be sure.

Klair88

I really hope NASA come out and explain it now as i really wanna know! Might post in r/Askscience!

Rucking_Fetard

Every experienced traveler knows never to leave home without a trusty map. Thanks to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), stargazers and future explorers now have the most detailed map of Mars ever made.

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/07/17/see-mars-map-landmarks-for-yourself/

Rucking_Fetard

Mars rover Opportunity breaks record for miles roamed

The Mars rover Opportunity has outdone itself by driving further than any other off-Earth vehicle in history. NASA announced Monday that the 10-year-old rover hit 25 miles, which breaks the previous record set by the Soviet Union's Lunokhod 2 rover.

"Opportunity has driven farther than any other wheeled vehicle on another world," said John Callas, Mars Exploration Rover project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a statement. "This is so remarkable considering Opportunity was intended to drive about one kilometer and was never designed for distance."

While often in the shadow of its popular sibling Curiosity, Opportunity has exceeded expectations by living on the inhospitable planet for more than 10 years. The rover landed on Mars in 2004 and has since been hard at work exploring the surface of the planet, collecting Martian rock samples, and beaming information back to Earth.

Rucking_Fetard

NASA’s Mars 2020 rover will hunt for signs of alien life, produce oxygen from Mars atmosphere

The Next Mars Rover Will Have Better Lasers and X-Ray Vision

shedweller

Rucking_Fetard wrote: »

NASA’s Mars 2020 rover will hunt for signs of alien life, produce oxygen from Mars atmosphere

The Next Mars Rover Will Have Better Lasers and X-Ray Vision

And stronger tyres??!!??
I like the sample return idea. With any bit of luck it'll be a human doing the pickup...

thecommander

shedweller wrote: »

And stronger tyres??!!??
I like the sample return idea. With any bit of luck it'll be a human doing the pickup...

With stronger tires!

I don't get this sample return part, it's going to have a container for rocks for another mission to collect them from. Hardly groundbreaking when you consider the place is full of rocks.

Why they didn't choose an instrument to check for current life baffles me.

shedweller

I suppose the sample containers might spur on and help gain funding for the actual sample collection mission.

Capt'n Midnight

thecommander wrote: »

Why they didn't choose an instrument to check for current life baffles me.

How do you check for life ?

It's actually a very difficult question.

If there is a lot of life on a planet then you don't even need a lander, you could detect gas ratios that shouldn't be there. Like all the fuss about methane a while back. And you could do that from earth.

Mountainsandh

Watched this the other day, pretty interesting, relevant here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4IIQPwxmwY

Is Curiosity equipped for these experiments ? not according to him.

wiki quote on the man

Gilbert Levin is an American engineer, the founder of Spherix and the principal investigator of the Viking mission Labeled Release experiment.[1]

In 1997, Levin published his conclusion that a 1976 Viking lander had discovered living microorganisms on Mars.[1] He is noted for still claiming that his experiment on board the 1976 Viking Mars landers to detect microscopic life on Mars rendered a true positive result. On 12 April 2012, an international team including Levin reported, based on mathematical speculation through cluster analysis of the Labeled Release experiments of the Viking program, that may suggest the detection of "extant microbial life on Mars."[2][3][4]

He is one of the scientific advisers of the International Committee Against Mars Sample Return.[5][6]

edit : if you click on the ICAMSR link, there is a Carl Sagan quote on their wiki page. It seems he thought the Sample return approach was a very bad idea too.

Rucking_Fetard

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/10/stylish-new-video-celebrates-curiosity-on-mars/

shedweller

The mastcam took a pic of this freshly broken rock the other day.

And did a fair bit of hooning around too, by the looks of the dug up sand!!:pac:

Mountainsandh

Poor lady in RF's video sounded like she should have been in bed with a hot whiskey and hot water bottle rather than narrating this...

That curvy, eroded looking (or melted) rock centre right on the close up of rock looks a bit out of place no ? All other rocks look pretty straight and recently broken in comparison.

Edit : it's a bit like a dolphin's tail

shedweller

Mountainsandh wrote: »

That curvy, eroded looking (or melted) rock centre right on the close up of rock looks a bit out of place no ? All other rocks look pretty straight and recently broken in comparison.

Edit : it's a bit like a dolphin's tail

I see that alright. Funny little thing looks melted somewhat. The bedrock under it looks like sedimentary rock thats been eroded by wind over aeons or water/liquid over less aeons!
The ChemCam did some shooting at the dug up sand too but theres no results from it yet. It didnt have the white minerals visible like the broken rock (stone?? Naa...rocks!! Arrr!!) had.
I havent seen a traverse map recently but it is getting hilly is it not?

Edit: look up traverse map 709 and you'll see its at the dark sand now! Yay!!

shedweller

Curiosity is moving on from the rocky mound by the looks of things. Here's a front, sorry, rear:pac: hazcam view of what is in front now: (looks like a lot of dead pixels too which is somewhat alarming!)

The front/rear hazcam view shows whats being left behind:

Did they mean to get the wheels so far up the mound, or down on the soft sand, i wonder??!! Concentrate lads! You'll need those wheels in as good a shape as possible for those hills up ahead!!
CHEMCAM took this too. Lots of veiny structures.

Here's that white powdery stuff too. Picked up by CHEMCAM:

No laser marks yet.....pew pew!

shedweller

MAHLI took this too, but i rotated it so we could see it better. That's fairly rocky terrain!
[IMG][/img]

shedweller

This one might display better. Bleedin numpty!:o

shedweller

Prepping for drilling.

Pew Pew!!

Getting the drill in position, it would seem.

Mickeroo

Crikey, that almost looks like a calcite deposit to me at the top of the page, imagination running wild here

shedweller

Mickeroo wrote: »

Crikey, that almost looks like a calcite deposit to me at the top of the page, imagination running wild here

It's a wonder they didnt fire off the laser at it. I know they have seen deposits like it already but it's a bit presumtious to assume they are all the same.

Rucking_Fetard

shedweller wrote: »

Did they mean to get the wheels so far up the mound, or down on the soft sand, i wonder??!! Concentrate lads! You'll need those wheels in as good a shape as possible for those hills up ahead!!

Bottom left, big ass hole forming, this was a month ago.



http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/20/6046609/its-hard-out-there-for-an-interplanetary-robot

shanered

I am actually a little disappointed, almost sad to see those holes forming.

shedweller

shanered wrote: »

I am actually a little disappointed, almost sad to see those holes forming.

I am too. But those in charge seem to be unconcerned about them. Not completely but they seem confident they'll hang in there for the job at hand.
Lets face it, if curiosity gets up the hill and gets samples then its job done. Doesn't have to go anywhere after that.
I'll tell you what though, those wheels will be in some state by then!

Klair88

.

Rucking_Fetard

Klair88 wrote: »

Here's an article with user changeable comparison photos of the damage done to Curiosity over time. http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wissen/weltraum/curiosity-auf-dem-mars-ganz-schoen-mitgenommen-13109551.html

2 posts back.

Klair88

Rucking_Fetard wrote: »

2 posts back.

Damn. Still, Sad to see.

Rucking_Fetard

Klair88 wrote: »

Damn. Still, Sad to see.

We'll fix it up when we get up there. Shure, it'll be grand.

shedweller

Rucking_Fetard wrote: »

We'll fix it up when we get up there. Shure, it'll be grand.

Do they have fully comp on it? That usually has roadside assist if i remember correctly....

Capt'n Midnight

shedweller wrote: »

Do they have fully comp on it? That usually has roadside assist if i remember correctly....

Rover 3 year 50,000mile warranty IIRC

shedweller

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Rover 3 year 50,000mile warranty IIRC

Ah she has a bit to go then!