nasa;mars Curiosity lands on Mars

[DocM]

[Hum]

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) ? The ancient Martian crater where the Curiosity rover landed looks strikingly similar to the Mojave Desert in California with its looming mountains and hanging haze, scientists say.

More hints ? :ninja:

[ahhell]

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) ? The ancient Martian crater where the Curiosity rover landed looks strikingly similar to the Mojave Desert in California with its looming mountains and hanging haze, scientists say.

More hints ? :ninja:

Don't you have enough other threads to pollute up with your conspiracy nonsense?

[ANON86364]

To everyone ruining this scientific achievement bragging about "usa! usa! usa!" and other nationalistic bullcrap: this is 2012 not 1982, so NASA should have been able to send human explorers on Mars if your presidents hadn't cut budgets, expectations and dreams for it.

Also: Large Hadron Collider :-D

Sure, but it's not on par with actually putting a person on another planetary body. We've been dropping robots on Mars since the 70's. That this one is larger really has little relevance.

Also, what's with the "USA, USA!" nonsense?" It was very much an international project, USA just paid for it.

Great work on the part of ALL the scientists and technicians involved; but not a unique event by any means.

Wow can you guys get out of here with your debby downer attitudes? Are you saying the Large Hydron Collider isn't also "nationalist bullcrap"? Do you really think that those scientists are only of European blood? We give you credit where it's due with your achievements, how about a little reciprocated respect?

[Bulldozer]

What happened to the other rovers roaming Mars?

[ANON86364]

What happened to the other rovers roaming Mars?

Spirit and Opportunity are still alive and kicking :)

[ahhell]

Spirit and Opportunity are still alive and kicking :)

If those little guys can still be trucking around Mars, just imagine how long Curiosity will last.

[FloatingFatMan]

Wow can you guys get out of here with your debby downer attitudes? Are you saying the Large Hydron Collider isn't also "nationalist bullcrap"? Do you really think that those scientists are only of European blood? We give you credit where it's due with your achievements, how about a little reciprocated respect?

Who said I don't respect the achievement? I'm just injecting a little reality. It's NOT a "USA" achievement, it's an international one, just like the LHC is an international achievement. Calling "USA USA!" is just denigrating the 100's of international scientists and technicians who have put just as much into this project as everyone else. Leave your nationalism where it belongs, please; in the Olympics.

[ANON86364]

Who said I don't respect the achievement? I'm just injecting a little reality. It's NOT a "USA" achievement, it's an international one, just like the LHC is an international achievement. Calling "USA USA!" is just denigrating the 100's of international scientists and technicians who have put just as much into this project as everyone else. Leave your nationalism where it belongs, please; in the Olympics.

You might want to tell that to your Prime Minister for even he assumes great credit for Britain over the discoveries had at the LHC and it isn't even located in the same country and not to mention Britain isn't the largest contributor to the organization.

"This is a great breakthrough, one that could be profoundly significant to our understanding of the universe and the fundamental laws that govern it.

"All of those involved in this important discovery deserve huge acclaim, in particular the many UK scientists, researchers and businesses that have helped make the Large Hadron Collider such a tremendous success. And let's not forget that this discovery started right here in Britain. The man behind the theory, Peter Higgs, was born and bred in Newcastle and did his ground-breaking work in Edinburgh.

"The search for the Higgs Boson has inspired so many to get involved in science over the years; hopefully today?s announcement will inspire the next generation of scientists too, helping to ensure the UK continues to be at the forefront of the next great scientific discoveries. From Higgs to DNA to Graphene, Britain is great for science."

On the other hand, NASA is federally funded and if any international scientists were on board, they were working for the US. NASA and this mission are US created, funded, and we should be able to have a bit of pride over it if we so choose. I feel it's the lack of pride and awe that has lead to the decline in our space endeavors.

[DocM]

If those little guys can still be trucking around Mars, just imagine how long Curiosity will last.

Spirit gave up the ghost March 22, 2010 and they kept trying to communicate with it until May 24, 2011, but Opportunity is still chugging along after 9 years. We sure got our money's worth out of those buggies.

Curiosity is budgeted for 2 years, but in principle it could keep going as long as its radioisotope thermoelectric generator and storage batteries hold out. A big advantage over the solar powered rovers is this nuclear generator, which should let it work during the Martian winters.

[neoadorable]

loving the photos that are coming in, but want more! as for looking like New Mexico/Arizona, yeah we've known that at least since Viking sent back images in 1976...most of Mars is basically one big cold desert, or a cold version of the Mojave.

and i'm with the baron on this, i also don't like this being referred to as an American achievement. first of all the team and Curio herself are decidedly multi-national. second of all, space exploration is in the interest of humaniy. To their credit, both Bolden and Garver said that during the live broadcast, they said this is going to benefit all of humanity, even if they did say it was an American achievement in the same sentence!

EDIT: Ice Blue!!! Carl would indeed be so proud and happy :cry: it's terrible he's not here with us to celebrate this after all his hard work and love. you are perfectly right, the world is our world and there is only one humanity, don't worry, time will show this. space expansion and settlement will bring us together.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

There is a lot of talk about consolidating NASA centers because, frankly, there are too many of them, but JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and Draper Labs need not only to be left alone but expanded. Those folks know their sh*t and should be the models for any consolidated centers.

I work at NASA Glenn, and while this center is considered small, it still does vital work for aeronautics. Glenn used to have thousands of employees, but now has <2000. So even though the center is still functioning, it certainly has been consolidated over the years

btw, DocM, are you in the field or is space and aeronautics just a hobby for you?

[DocM]

Longtime hobby rocketeer & large model aircraft builder with very good industry sources. Right now trying to track down rumors of a hydrolox or methane Merlin 1D based upper stage engine.

[DocM]

The megawatt class laser works :)

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/msl/120819laser/

Zap! Mars rover uses rock for laser-shooting practice

The Curiosity rover successfully test fired a powerful laser at a nearby rock Sunday, blasting it with rapid-fire million-watt pulses that vaporized the outer layers for spectroscopic analysis.

>

This composite image, with magnified insets, depicts the first laser test by the Chemistry and Camera, or ChemCam, instrument aboard NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP

[FloatingFatMan]

You might want to tell that to your Prime Minister for even he assumes great credit for Britain over the discoveries had at the LHC and it isn't even located in the same country and not to mention Britain isn't the largest contributor to the organization.

On the other hand, NASA is federally funded and if any international scientists were on board, they were working for the US. NASA and this mission are US created, funded, and we should be able to have a bit of pride over it if we so choose. I feel it's the lack of pride and awe that has lead to the decline in our space endeavors.

I'd gladly tell it to his face. David Cameron is a butthead and doesn't speak for the UK populate as a whole; just the parts that voted for him. All of these big teams, CERN, NASA, whatever, are primarily international in nature and deserve all the praise possible for their achievements; just appropriately credited.

And the decline in space exploration has nothing to do with the decline in pride. It's purely financial.

[neoadorable]

wouldn't say it's declining at all, Baron, quite the opposite! i think this is a ramping up stage. on the one hand it's been made clear the folly of programs like Apollo should not be repeated. i mean i love Apollo and everything we got out of it, but they were basically politcally motivated outings/daytrips to the friggin moon that cost way more than they needed to cost cause the tech was immature. now we're getting to the point where things are much more affordable and doable. ironically, much of it is thanks to Apollo and those space race programs. i believe in the next decade space will reveal itself as the ultimate growth industry it's always been waiting to become.

as for Curio, finally she's moving and getting ready to actually drive somewhere. i like the gradual testing of instruments and the daily updates. just hope we get some video or something, like proper video.

EDIT: just look at InSight, that mission came out of nowhere, approved in seconds due to Curio's success. things are heating up, not cooling down.