Mars Spacecraft Curiosity landing Sunday 10:30pm.

[SkyvanDelta]

Fascinating landing system NASA has developed for Curiosity. Take a look at the video:

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2I8AoB1xgU

Opportunity's landing system:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRCIzZHpFtY&feature=related

[Victor Archer]

Re: Mars Spacecraft Curiosity landing Sunday 10:30pm.

Better not dam land in my yard again...

[AirDOGGe]

Re: Mars Spacecraft Curiosity landing Sunday 10:30pm.

I've been following this puppy since conception, and viewing every bit of info I could find along the way, like this footage of the actual skycrane lowering system being tested:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89YfPWTpWN0&feature=related

Comparisons in size between the first rover that landed in the 90's, Sojourner (red wagon-size, middle), the amazing "MER" pair, Spirit and Opportunity (powered go-kart size, left), and this new entry in the Mars-or-Bust race, "Curiosity", (4x4 mini-truck size, right):





And this one gave me the best impression of the size of this 6-wheeled monster yo-yo:

I'm going to be on the edge of my seat tomorrow. This is one long-shot landing NASA is attempting, and the current record is not so good (7 out of 17 Mars landers have been successful) . So many things have to happen in the right order and at just the right time, using a landing method never before attempted. It will be simply amazing if it lands soft (and upright).

Better not dam land in my yard again...

You mean you DON'T come from one of Saturn's moons? Damn, lost the betting pool again...

[supercub]

Re: Mars Spacecraft Curiosity landing Sunday 10:30pm.

To the average person like myself, it seems like a very complicated way of landing. I'll be watching and hoping everything goes right. Back in 1969 when Apollo 11 landed on the moon, most of the nation figured we would be walking on Mars by now.
Brian

[Victor Archer]

Re: Mars Spacecraft Curiosity landing Sunday 10:30pm.

You mean you DON'T come from one of Saturn's moons? Damn, lost the betting pool again...

The place on Mars is just one of my timeshare properties
Last time one of those things landed in the flowerbed...

[SkyvanDelta]

Re: Mars Spacecraft Curiosity landing Sunday 10:30pm.

Is there a live webcast that the public can watch as Curiosity begins it's descent into the atmosphere?

Or is this event private and not shared with the public until things have settled down and the facts are in?

[C_roundy]

Re: Mars Spacecraft Curiosity landing Sunday 10:30pm.

Is there a live webcast that the public can watch as Curiosity begins it's descent into the atmosphere?

Or is this event private and not shared with the public until things have settled down and the facts are in?

From CNET, "The space agency will begin its live coverage Sunday evening at 8:30 p.m. PT / 10:30 p.m. ET on the NASA TV site and will also show the coverage via UStream"

Link to NASA TV site: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

Apparently there will also be lots of landing parties around the world with it up on the big screen, for instance Times Square in New York, etc.

[AirDOGGe]

Re: Mars Spacecraft Curiosity landing Sunday 10:30pm.

Up-to-date info here at NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html

And the Mission Status Center as SpaceFlightNow.com will present live video and text updates that don't require refreshing of the page every few minutes: http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/msl/status.html

Is there a live webcast that the public can watch as Curiosity begins it's descent into the atmosphere?

Or is this event private and not shared with the public until things have settled down and the facts are in?

From CNET, "The space agency will begin its live coverage Sunday evening at 8:30 p.m. PT / 10:30 p.m. ET on the NASA TV site and will also show the coverage via UStream"

Of course, any live broadcast will be of the fellas behind the consoles running the whole she-bang, since it will take 7 minutes before touchdown plus another 15 minutes for the lander's "I'm OK" signal to reach Earth traveling at the speed of light. We won't know if it's bang-or-bust for a short while. The vehicle does not broadcast any real-time signals during entry and landing that I'm aware of.

Nobody on this planet will see it land, live or pre-recorded, unless Victor plans to be up there for the momentous occasion.


3 Hours, 42 Minutes to go...





QUOTE: "We have three different signals we would use to confirm touchdown and we need all three of those things to look right before we say so," explained Adam Steltzner, the leader of the Entry, Descent and Landing team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "One of those is a message from the spacecraft that says 'I touched down, and this is the velocity I touched down at and where I think I am.'

"The rover has an inertial measurement unit, a gyro and an accelerometer set, and we look at that stream to say the rover's not moving at all, that signal says 'I think I'm on the ground and I'm not moving.' And the third is, we wait a safe period of time and confirm we're getting continuous UHF (radio) transmission. And frankly, that's there to make sure the descent stage hasn't fallen back down on top of the rover. When all three of those signals are positive, we declare touchdown confirmation."

[Tibia]

Re: Mars Spacecraft Curiosity landing Sunday 10:30pm.

With the Curiosity Rover, if the landing is a success, it can be said that JPL will be quite literally leaving their mark on Mars. The rover's tire tread spells out JPL in Morse Code.

http://www.arrl.org/news/new-mars-ro...ure-morse-code

Bob

[Bob]

Re: Mars Spacecraft Curiosity landing Sunday 10:30pm.

The NASA channel has started its coverage of the landing.

Victor, any chance you could film the landing? I am sure NASA would pay BIG Bucks for the footage.

None other than William Shattner is/was narrating the clip I saw.

[AirDOGGe]

Re: Mars Spacecraft Curiosity landing Sunday 10:30pm.

...None other than William Shattner is/was narrating the clip I saw.

That must be the Grand Entrance video. NASA also made a version of said clip with Will Wheaton (who played 'Wesley Crusher' on 'Star Trek The Next Generation').


Latest report:

0431 GMT (12:31 a.m. EDT)
One hour, just 60 minutes from Curiosity touching down on Mars! The rover currently is 9,446 miles from the planet, closing at 9,572 mph.

At the landing time, it will be mid-afternoon -- around 3 p.m. local -- in Gale Crater. It is late winter there in the southern hemisphere, about two thirds of the way from winter solstice to spring equinox.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter team reports the spacecraft is ready to record data from Curiosity. And Odyssey is being oriented for its live data-relay on the descent.


See you all on Mars.
.

[AirDOGGe]

Re: Mars Spacecraft Curiosity landing Sunday 10:30pm.

They did it! The whole dang' Rube Goldberg contraption worked as designed! Curiosity is beaming data to the Odyssey orbiter, and photos are coming in.

Congratulations to NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratories for this most incredible feat.

"The first photograph from the surface is a low-resolution thumbnail image from a hazard-avoidance camera on the rear of the rover. It shows wheels on Mars! "

[SkyvanDelta]

Re: Mars Spacecraft Curiosity landing Sunday 10:30pm.

YES!!! Congratulations Curiosity!!!

[Dudewanarace]

Re: Mars Spacecraft Curiosity landing Sunday 10:30pm.

That was pretty cool to watch! Everything happens so fast near the end. Looking forward to the science it will bring.

[FlyKidChris]

Re: Mars Spacecraft Curiosity landing Sunday 10:30pm.

That was pretty cool to watch! Everything happens so fast near the end. Looking forward to the science it will bring.

Yes, just incredible! Congratulations to NASA/JPL.