Mars Fever: NASA's Curiosity Rover

[Polar Maritime]

Curiosity Rover Has Computer Problems

by NANCY ATKINSON on MARCH 1, 2013

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Curiosity Rover’s Self Portrait at ‘John Klein’ Drilling Site, which combines dozens of exposures taken by the rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s work on Mars (Feb. 3, 2013). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

A problem with the memory on the Curiosity rover’s main computer has caused engineers to switch the rover over to a redundant onboard computer. This caused the rover to go into “safe mode,†which was anticipated in the computer switch. And so now over the next few days, the team will be shifting the rover from safe mode to operational status. They are also troubleshooting the condition that affected operations yesterday.

Read more: http://www.universet.../#ixzz2MQ5xZdYe

Edited March 2, 2013 by Polar Maritime

[Polar Maritime]

Nasa Curiosity rover tests suggest life may have existed on Mars

Curiosity rover finds ancient network of rivers on Mars that could have made parts of the planet habitable for microbial life.

Link to video: Curiosity rover finds drinkable water on Mars, says Nasa

An ancient network of rivers on Mars once made parts of the planet habitable for microbial life, according to the latest analysis from Nasa'sCuriosity rover.

Rock dust drilled from sediments in the giant Gale crater on the red planet were found to contain clay minerals that can have formed only in water, scientists said.

Link to video: Curiosity rover finds drinkable water on Mars, says Nasa

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/mar/12/nasa-curiosity-mars-rover-rock-samples

Edited March 13, 2013 by Polar Maritime

[Polar Maritime]

Curiosity is Back! Snapping Fresh Martian Vistas

Curiosity’s raised robotic arm and drill are staring at you in this new panoramic vista of Yellowknife Bay basin snapped on March 23, Sol 223, by the rover’s navigation camera system. The raw images were stitched by Marco Di Lorenzo and Ken Kremer and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Marco Di Lorenzo/KenKremer (kenkremer.com)

Curiosity is back! After a multi-week hiatus forced by a computer memory glitch, NASA’s mega rover is back to full operation.

And the proof is crystal clear in the beautiful new panoramic view (above) snapped by Curiosity this weekend from Yellowknife Bay, showing the robot’s arm and drill elevated and aiming straight at you – raring to go and ready to feast on something deliciously Martian.

“That drill is hungry, looking for something tasty to eat, and ‘you’ (loaded with water and organics) are it,†I thought with a chuckle as Curiosity seeks additional habitats and ingredients friendly to life.

Read more: http://www.universet.../#ixzz2Ob2mp2TF

Edited March 25, 2013 by Polar Maritime

[Polar Maritime]

Thousands of astronauts enter race to take part in '1,000-day mission to Mars' as NASA says red planet is 'top priority'

• Space agency's administrator Charles Bolden said Mars was 'ultimate destination in our solar system for humanity '
• Experts claim mission could take place as soon as 2033

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2320344/Charles-Bolden-NASA-chief-says-manned-mission-Mars-priority--happen-2033.html#ixzz2ScG2cx3D 

[Polar Maritime]

Water on Mars: Curiosity Rover Uncovers a Flood of Evidence

 

 

The Curiosity rover investigated an area on Mars named Hottah, which appears to be part of an ancient riverbed.
Credit: Malin Space Science Systems

View full size image

LONDON — Water, water everywhere, and some of it fit to drink.

That’s the picture of ancient Mars that has emerged during the past few months thanks to discoveries by NASA's Curiosity rover, which has been exploring the Red Planet since touching down inside Gale Crater in August 2012.

The announcements have come in dribs and drabs, but presented together recently here at the European Planetary Science Congress, they provide compelling evidence that Mars was quite wet in the distant past. [The Search for Water on Mars (Photos)]

 

http://www.space.com/22854-mars-water-curiosity-rover-discoveries.html

Edited September 24, 2013 by Polar Maritime

[Polar Maritime]

NASA Rover Results Include First Age Measurement on Mars and Help for Human Exploration

 

Dec. 9, 2013

 

 

This mosaic of images from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a series of sedimentary deposits in the Glenelg area of Gale Crater, from a perspective in Yellowknife Bay looking toward west-northwest.

In a little more than a year on the Red Planet, the mobile Mars Science Laboratory has determined the age of a Martian rock, found evidence the planet could have sustained microbial life, taken the first readings of radiation on the surface, and shown how natural erosion could reveal the building blocks of life. Curiosity team members presented these results and more from Curiosity in six papers published online today by Science Express and in talks at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

The Age of  'Cumberland'

The second rock Curiosity drilled for a sample on Mars, which scientists nicknamed "Cumberland," is the first ever to be dated from an analysis of its mineral ingredients while it sits on another planet. A report by Kenneth Farley of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, and co-authors, estimates the age of Cumberland at 3.86 billion to 4.56 billion years old. This is in the range of earlier estimates for rocks in Gale Crater, where Curiosity is working. http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/mars-rover-curiosity-20131209.html#.UqYXWvRdVXa

[Polar Maritime]

On Mars, NASA's Curiosity Rover Seeks Smoother Road to Reduce Wheel Damage.

 

NASA engineers are looking for ways to reduce the wear and tear on the Mars rover Curiosity's wheels, which have accumulated an increasing number of dings and punctures over the last few months.

Curiosity's handlers are driving the 1-ton rover more cautiously now and are checking the condition of its wheels frequently, NASA officials said. The rover team is also considering sending Curiosity over a 3-foot-tall (1 meter) sand dune soon to access a potentially smoother, less rocky route to its ultimate science destination, the foothills of the towering Mount Sharp. http://www.space.com/24491-mars-rover-curiosity-wheel-damage.html?cmpid=514648_20140131_17836074

Edited February 3, 2014 by Polar Maritime

[Polar Maritime]

NASA Mars Rover Curiosity Sees 'Evening Star' Earth

Bright 'Evening Star' Seen from Mars is Earth (Annotated)

This view of the twilight sky and Martian horizon taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover includes Earth as the brightest point of light in the night sky

 

Curiosity Mars Rover's First Image of Earth and Earth's Moon

The two bodies in this portion of an evening-sky view by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity are Earth and Earth's moon. The rover's Mast Camera (Mastcam) imaged them in the twilight sky of Curiosity's 529th Martian day, or sol (Jan. 31, 2014).

New images from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover show Earth shining brighter than any star in the Martian night sky.

The rover's view of its original home planet even includes our moon, just below Earth.

The images, taken about 80 minutes after sunset during the rover's 529th Martian day (Jan. 31, 2014) are available at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17936 for a broad scene of the evening sky, and at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17935 for a zoomed-in view of Earth and the moon.

The distance between Earth and Mars when Curiosity took the photo was about 99 million miles (160 million kilometers).

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project is using Curiosity to assess ancient habitable environments and major changes in Martian environmental conditions. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, built the rover and manages the project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1598

[Polar Maritime]

This is Opportunity Not Curiosity Rover....

 

Opportunity Overlooks Ridge for Spectacular Vista of Vast Martian Crater and Habitable Zone Ahead
 

NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover captures sweeping panoramic vista near the ridgeline of 22 km (14 mi) wide Endeavour Crater’s western rim. The center is southeastward and also clearly shows the distant rim. See the complete panorama below. This navcam panorama was stitched from images taken on May 10, 2014 (Sol 3659) and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer-kenkremer.com
More mosaics and 10 year route map below

NASA’s incredibly long lived Opportunity rover has driven to the ridgeline of a Martian mountain and captured spectacular panoramic vistas peering down into the vast expanse of huge Endeavour crater and out along the jagged rim segments leading to her next target – which scientists believe holds minerals indicative of a habitable zone. See mosaic views above and below.

Since departing the world famous ‘Jelly Doughnut’ rock by the summit of ‘Solander Point’ in February, Opportunity has spent the past several months driving south and exploring intriguing rock outcrops on ‘Murray Ridge’ located along the eroded western rim of Endeavour Crater.

The renowned robot is now exploring a region of outcrops atop the rims ridge that’s a possible site harboring deposits of hydrated clay minerals, formed in the ancient past when Mars was warmer and wetter.

Read more: http://www.universetoday.com/112050/opportunity-overlooks-ridge-for-spectacular-vista-of-vast-martian-crater-and-habitable-zone-ahead/#ixzz32oDTYQJC
 

[Polar Maritime]

 

Curiosity Mastcam panorama from mission Sol 1281 (March 14, 2016) showing a view from "Naukluft Plateau."

Image is white-balanced for terrestrial illumination (i.e. what it would look like on Earth.)

See a larger version on Flickr page here:https://www.flickr.com/photos/lightsinthedark/25883762375... See more

Edited March 19, 2016 by Polar Maritime

[Polar Maritime]

Nasa’s Curiosity rover has found organic matter preserved on Mars, in a discovery that could suggest it was once home to life.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/mars-nasa-announcement-latest-organic-matter-red-planet-a8388591.html%3famp