Hum Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 NASA?s biggest and most advanced Mars rover is scheduled for launch Saturday from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Curiosity is packed with 10 science experiments to determine whether Mars has ever been suitable for life and to find clues about past life forms that may have been preserved in rocks. NASA says Curiosity won?t answer the age-old questions about life on Mars, but it will provide important information that will guide future missions. The launch was originally scheduled for Friday, but the mission team will take an extra day to remove and replace a flight termination system battery, NASA said. Curiosity is expected to spend about two years roaming Mars, hunting things researchers say are essential for life to grow: liquid water, key chemicals used by living organisms and an energy source. The rover will blast off Saturday atop an Atlas V rocket and is scheduled to land in August 2012 in the Gale Crater. The first opportunity for launch is 10:02 a.m. EST; the window lasts an hour and 43 minutes. Curiosity is twice as long and five times as heavy as the older Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. Its science instruments weigh 15 times as much as its predecessors' science payloads. The rover has a mast that can extend to 7 feet (2.1 meters) to hoist a high-definition imaging system. It also will hold a laser-equipped camera that can zap rocks to study the sparks emitted for information about their composition. A 7-foot-long robot arm will hold instruments for soil analysis. Unlike earlier rovers, Curiosity can gather rocks and soil to process inside its lab. The rover also has tools to look for water beneath the surface, to monitor the weather and to measure natural radiation. Curiosity is designed to roll over obstacles up to 25 inches (about 65 centimeters) high and to travel about 660 feet (200 meters) per day. Its energy source will be a radioisotope power generator. more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azies Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 How far we've come, this is a decent trade off for manned missions, more unmanned scientific missions to Mars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted November 25, 2011 Author Share Posted November 25, 2011 I hope the Martians approve. :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybertimber2008 Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 I hope the Martians approve. :yes: Chuck Norris approved, and that's all that matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinggus Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 I hope the Martians approve. :yes: They exist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted November 25, 2011 Author Share Posted November 25, 2011 They exist? Of course -- just ask the Russians. :shifty: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neoadorable Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 good luck Curio, you carry the hopes of humanity with you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph B Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Neat. When can I go on vacation to Mars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cork1958 Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Much more worthy cost than any of these countries and wars we're supporting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Webcasts - launch in 3 hrs from this post. Get your popcorn ready ;) http://curiositylaunch.jpl.nasa.gov/Home/LaunchHome http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-mobile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrispinto Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Watching! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copernic Reporter Posted November 26, 2011 Reporter Share Posted November 26, 2011 Huge stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 This will be the firdt use of the Sky Crane system - a rocket powered hover vehicle that lowers the rover to the surface by cables. Curiosity is far too heavy for the air bag system used for previous rovers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeta_immersion Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 I thought parachutes and thrusters are somewhat useless on mars due to thin atmosphere ... however, are they aiming for a period of coolness to be thicker? interesting design for descent but just looking at it is far too complicated and many variables and points where it could go wrong what I did like about it however was the chute and the inverted cone which in itself added a little bit more drag (though taking some from the chute) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 You don't need an atmosphere for thrusters to work - Newton's 3rd Law works anywhere. As for propulsive hover - been done often. The McDonnell Douglas DC-X used it in the 1990's, several NewSpace companies have demonstrated advanced versions of it & NASA worked with one of them to develop its new Mighty Eagle lander prototype, and SpaceX will use it as the primary landing mode for the crew version of Dragon. A parachute works even in a thin atmosphere if you're going fast enough. MSL will be supersonic.. Its only purpose is to get ghe Sky Crane subsonic so its propulsive hover will work - it wouldn't work firing directly into a supersonic shockwave. Dragon will get away with it because its thrusters will fire behind the shockwave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted November 26, 2011 Author Share Posted November 26, 2011 Huge stuff Damn -- that thing could run over an elephant :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Smooooooth launch!! Staging clean, fairing jettisoned, and in the 1st of 2 burns of the Centaur 2nd stage. The 2nd burn will be the TMI - trans-Mars injection - that'll send Curiosity on her way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Getting ready for the coast between Centaur burns. Troubling us that there have beed telemetry dropouts since launch. That transmitter is on yhe Centaur, so as long as it does its job it won'r affect Curiosity which has powered up and phoned home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 TMI burn started!! Centaur's transmitter still cutting out, but its flight computer seems to be working fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Satellite rotation started & on spec, Trans Mars Insertion burn ended, satellite separated from Centaur and Curiosity is on her way to Mars Next nail-biter is August 5/6, 2012. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 It's looking like the first mid-course correction may be cancelled - they scored a bulls-eye with the launch. Engineering checkout in December. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted November 26, 2011 Author Share Posted November 26, 2011 ^ Martians gave it an assist. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinggus Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 So did this thing take off or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leedogg Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 i bet this gall's the Russians, they've failed to launch a mars mission a couple times now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim K Global Moderator Posted November 26, 2011 Global Moderator Share Posted November 26, 2011 Very cool. Looks like a very complicating landing in the future. Of course I have faith in the bright minds at NASA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts