Curiosity rover lands on Mars Monday

[Dungeon Master]

For those of us that think real life is more amazing than science fiction, the Mars Science Laboratory aka Curiosity Rover lands of Mars on Monday after a flight of 8 months.

At 900kg, this is by far the largest object landed on Mars. Its primary mission is to find evidence of life, past or present, as well as explore the geology and climate of Mars. The implications of finding even fossil evidence of life, even if it is unicellular, would be mind-boggling.

The landing system for bringing a 900kg object from a speed of 21,000km/h to a gentle landing within 7 minutes of atmospheric re-entry is amazing.

It is worth reading about on Wikipedia and watching the landing sequence video (download, 91MB).

[Opus106]

Quite an exciting mission, especially because of its size and the in-built "chemistry lab". When it was first publicly announced a few years ago, I was amazed looking at the size of the wheels! Spirit and Opportunity, as ridiculously enduring as one was and the other still is, still seem like delicate little things. Curiosity, on the other hand, looks as if it can monster even over slightly large stones. I'll have to take a break from work late on Monday morning to catch the webcast.

[Coopmv]

Is a soft landing assured?

[Opus106]

Is a soft landing assured?

As everything in science, nothing is assured.

[mahler10th]

Exciting stuff.  Webcast here:  http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
Aug. 5 at 8 p.m. EDT (11 p.m. EDT; 0300 GMT Aug. 6)  I'll be up watching it too.

[Szykneij]

I'll have to take a break from work late on Monday morning to catch the webcast.

Where might that webcast be found? I remember as a kid how exciting it was to watch the early Mercury and Gemini take-offs and splashdowns live on television. Space missions in general seem to have become a bit mundane these days. This Mars landing would be cool to view as it happens.

And, as I was typing, Scots John anticipated my question. Thanks!

[Opus106]

Space missions in general seem to have become a bit mundane these days.

To each his own, I suppose. The Saturnian system, via the Cassini spacecraft, is throwing at us one mystery after an another and vistas that are breathtaking. And New Horizons is arguably the most exciting thing happening right now. Humans have known about the existence of Pluto for a little over 80 years, but the best images we have are of fuzzy blotches. I simply can't wait for the fastest man-made object to send back the closest images of this long-but-little-known world and of the things that lie beyond. I compare it to the meeting a long-lost relative about whom you have heard a lot, but have only seen the back of his head in the background of an old photo.

This Mars landing would be cool to view as it happens.

Not to dampen your enthusiasm, but much of the webcast will be of the scenes from Mission Control. About 15 minutes after the rover has successully landed, the first image from Galre Crater will be up on the big screen.

[Szykneij]

To each his own, I suppose. The Saturnian system, via the Cassini spacecraft, is throwing at us one mystery after an another and vistas that are breathtaking. And New Horizons is arguably the most exciting thing happening right now. Humans have known about the existence of Pluto for a little over 80 years, but the best images we have are of fuzzy blotches. I simply can't wait for the fastest man-made object to send back the closest images of this long-but-little-known world and of the things that lie beyond. I compare it to the meeting a long-lost relative about whom you have heard a lot, but have only seen the back of his head in the background of an old photo.

What I meant is that space missions today get little news coverage compared to years ago. I remember as a kid cutting out tons of Ranger Moon Mission pictures from the local newspapers and pasting them in a scrapbook. I don't think we'd see that kind of media interest today.

Not to dampen your enthusiasm, but much of the webcast will be of the scenes from Mission Control. About 15 minutes after the rover has successully landed, the first image from Galre Crater will be up on the big screen.

My enthusiasm isn't dampened. It still sounds fascinating to me.

[Opus106]

What I meant is that space missions today get little news coverage compared to years ago. I remember as a kid cutting out tons of Ranger Moon Mission pictures from the local newspapers and pasting them in a scrapbook. I don't think we'd see that kind of media interest today.

Ah. In that case, it's only the result of media producers' heads having become muddled with banality. But with the Web, there are plenty of avenues for information like this to spread like wildfire.

My enthusiasm isn't dampened. It still sounds fascinating to me.

Wonderful!

[Opus106]

Where might that webcast be found?

If you can get to NYC by late Sunday night, you can watch it live on the large Toshiba screen at Times Square.

[JerryS]

The site http://www.space.com has some excellent coverage of the Curiosity mission. I thought some clarification might be needed on the timing of the event. NASA coverage will begin Sunday at 10:00 pm Central Time. The actual landing will take place on Monday at 12:31 am Central Time. A great many people will be holding their breath for the next 14 minutes to find out whether Curiosity is capable of reporting a successful landing.

I think I may be a little late to work on Monday!

As a youngster at the time, I remember how excited everyone was about the Apollo program. The grocery stores even had new collectible photographs available every week! Now it seems many people are unaware of space missions or consider them a waste of money.

[Szykneij]

If you can get to NYC by late Sunday night, you can watch it live on the large Toshiba screen at Times Square.

I could drive to Times Square in about four and a half hours, but I think I'll stick closer to home to check it out.   

[Opus106]

Universe Today will be holding a special Curiosity landing Google+ Hangout on Air.

Hosted by Universe Today's Fraser Cain, along with Dr. Pamela Gay and Dr. Phil Plait, the webcast will feature interviews with special guests, a live video feed from NASA of the landing, and live coverage from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Planetary Society's PlanetFest by reporters Scott Lewis and Amy Shira Teitel, who will be on location to interview members of the MSL team, as well as and other scientists and NASA officials that will be on hand.

[springrite]

Guess they could have called the rover The Cat-Killer.

[JerryS]

Curiosity is safely on the surface of Mars and has sent back an image. Wow!

[Opus106]

And I missed it! Boo... Anyway, I'm looking forward to the science now.

[Opus106]

XKCD has us covered.

[mahler10th]

Hells fire, I hope they get better.  Even Viking took better pics than this.   

[JerryS]

The initial photos were taken by the hazard avoidance cameras and were transmitted at low resolution. I expect the images from the main cameras will be amazing. This incredible photo was taken during the descent by one of the spacecraft orbiting Mars. The camera was 211 miles away.

[Cato]

Mount Sharp of Mars, as seen from Curiosity: