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NASA's Mars Science Laboratory |OT| 2,000 Pounds of Science!

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B

Bowdz

Member
birdcity said:
I don't believe so. The only thing happening for the next four days is the rover upgrading it's software from landing software to surface operations software.
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I think today is the last day of the software update. NASA doesn't have anymore press conferences listed on their schedule.
 
P

Parch

Member
It is a geology mission, so that's why the public loses interest so quickly. If you don't have a basic interest in geology then you can only look at so many pictures of rocks and dirt before it gets a little boring.

I followed the daily sols of Opportunity and Spirit for over two years but the press and public abandoned interest pretty quick. For the majority of people the most exciting part of the Curiosity mission has already happened.
 
Rentahamster

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
GaimeGuy said:
I thought I recalled that Obama's proposed budgets asked for increases, but the budgets passed by congress decreased funding? (hooray austerity).
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http://www.space.com/14551-nasa-budget-2013-request-obama-mars.html
Obama's 2013 NASA Budget Request Shifts Funds from Mars to Space Tech

According to the White House's 2013 budget request, NASA would receive about $17.7 billion for next year — $59 million less than the space agency got for 2012.

However, NASA's planetary science efforts would suffer a 20 percent cut next year, with the president allocating just $1.2 billion for unmanned missions to Mars and other solar system bodies. Meanwhile, funding for human exploration and commercial spaceflight would rise nearly 6 percent, to $3.93 billion, and space technology would get a 22 percent bump, to $699 million.

"We are having to make tough decisions, because these are tough economic times," NASA chief Charlie Bolden told reporters today. "We are doing all that we can to be fiscally responsible."
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The White House's proposed allocation for NASA in fiscal 2013 represents less than 0.5 percent of the overall federal budget request, which is $3.8 trillion.

Other NASA programs fare better than planetary science in the request for fiscal year 2013, which runs from Oct. 1, 2012, through Sept. 30, 2013. The space agency's Earth sciences program, for example, would receive $1.78 billion, slightly more than the president allocated in his fiscal 2012 budget request.

The White House also prioritizes space technology, as evidenced by the 22 percent increase requested in the 2013 budget proposal.
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http://io9.com/5885042/how-will-the-white-houses-brutal-budget-cuts-affect-nasa
How will the White House’s brutal budget cuts affect NASA?
The White House released its Presidential budget request for fiscal year 2013 on Monday, including the budget for NASA, and as usual there is some good news and some bad. But the good news is tepid, and the bad news is, well, pretty damn bad. I can lay some of this blame at NASA's feet - a long history of being over budget and behind schedule looms large - but also at the President himself. Cutting NASA's budget at all is, simply, dumb. I know we're in an economic crisis (though there are indications it's getting better), but there are hugely larger targets than NASA. If this budget goes through Congress as is, it will mean the end of a lot of NASA projects and future missions.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/31/AR2010013101058.html
NASA budget for 2011 eliminates funds for manned lunar missions
NASA's grand plan to return to the moon, built on President George W. Bush's vision of an ambitious new chapter in space exploration, is about to vanish with hardly a whimper. With the release Monday of President Obama's budget request, NASA will finally get the new administration's marching orders, and there won't be anything in there about flying to the moon.

The budget numbers will show that the administration effectively plans to kill the Constellation program that called for a return to the moon by 2020. The budget, expected to increase slightly over the current $18.7 billion, is also a death knell for the Ares 1 rocket, NASA's planned successor to the space shuttle. The agency has spent billions developing the rocket, which is still years from its first scheduled crew flight.
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http://www.space.com/14986-nasa-planetary-science-congress.html
Congress Grills NASA Chief on Planetary Science Cuts
Lawmakers grilled NASA chief Charles Bolden today (March 21), saying the deep cuts to NASA's planetary science program in the agency's 2013 budget request will "cannibalize" future Mars exploration and threaten America's leadership in space.
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Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said the cuts to planetary science were disproportionate and devastating, and he called the current proposal a "disaster for leadership in space."

Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) shared Schiff's sentiments, saying the proposed planetary science cuts are "unacceptable," and NASA's vision for future robotic exploration is "not consistent with reality."

"I grieve for my country — I grieve for NASA," Culberson said. "There's no way you can say the planetary program can survive a cut of 21 percent."
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http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/06/nasas-commercial-crew-gains-support-in-congress/
NASA's Commercial Crew gains support in Congress

It appears that SpaceX's success with the Dragon spacecraft has won some much-needed space in the US House of Representatives. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) announced Tuesday that his office reached a truce with NASA regarding the Commercial Crew program. Under the agreement, Wolf will lower his opposition to Commercial Crew and hopefully help NASA gain better funding.

Wolf chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, which controls NASA's budget. His subcommittee has consistently hit the Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) with heavy cuts. NASA Administrator Bolden has stated that the cuts have delayed access to the Space Station by American vehicles by at least a year, with this year's cuts expected to delay American access again. In hearings, some of Wolf's subcommittee members have seemed intent on using the coming Space Launch System (SLS) to ferry astronauts to the Space Station, even though this service would come at a price that's about ten times higher.
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G

gutshot

Member
This is how observers on Mars would see the Earth and Moon if viewed through a telescope (to the naked eye they would appear as two very bright and distinct stars). Amazing.

600px-Earth_and_Moon_from_Mars_PIA04531.jpg
 
E

Ether_Snake

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Lovely Salsa said:
So that means we won't find anything new in any planet ever? Like a different/alien looking forest?
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On planets or moons that have life or clouds and water, sure. On rocky planets or moons like the Moon and Mars? Boring.
 
C

Chichikov

Member
Ether_Snake said:
On rocky planets or moons like the Moon and Mars? Boring.
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Well, if you call a canyon that can stretch from Seattle to Boston and is 6 times deeper than the grand canyon or a 14 miles tall volcano the size of Arizona boring, then yeah, you might be right.
Also, damn, you live some exciting life!
 
E

Ether_Snake

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Chichikov said:
Well, if you call a canyon that can stretch from Seattle to Boston and is 6 times deeper than the grand canyon or a 14 miles tall volcano the size of Arizona boring, then yeah, you might be right.
Also, damn, you live some exciting life!
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I'm saying the pics will look boring. The thin atmosphere makes everything big look small.
 
Insane Metal

Insane Metal

Member
Ether_Snake said:
Looks more like water marks. The dark outlines definitely indicate that it's not "rubbed off dirt" by rocks.



Yep. And it's probably what caused the marks on the wheels too. Funny a lot of people think we never found water on Mars. There's ice all over the poles:p Ice melts, travels into the earth, evaporates, goes back to the poles, etc.

VBQOt.jpg




http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2009/03/21/drip-drop-mars-style/
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Exactly! I confused the names, but yeah. I was correct. Thanks for finding the source.

And I also think it looks like water marks. :)
 
I

i-Lo

Member
birdcity said:
He may not have ran on that platform, but he's definitely not helping.
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b.bb..bbut they need that money to bail TBTF financial corporations. Perhaps in years to come NASA will enjoy the benefits of tricklenomics.

On a more serious note, it'll be devastating if the shrinking of budget has anything to do with offsetting R&D and other aspects to private firms (most likely big oil corps).
 
O

Ovid

Member
GaimeGuy said:
I thought I recalled that Obama's proposed budgets asked for increases, but the budgets passed by congress decreased funding? (hooray austerity).
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Obama Lauds NASA for Mars Landing, Pledges Continued Investment
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama congratulated NASA scientists on Monday for landing a rover on Mars, promising to keep up key space investments and jokingly asking if they could keep him posted on any contact with Martians.

In a phone call from Air Force One to the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, Obama lauded their "incredible success" of having landed the nuclear-powered Curiosity rover on the Red Planet last week.

"Through your dedicated effort, Curiosity stuck her landing and captured the attention and imagination of millions of people," he said, using the gymnastics term the day after the Olympic Games wrapped up in London.

"It's really mind-boggling what you've been able to accomplish, and being able to get that whole landing sequence to work the way you did is a testimony to your team," Obama said.

The science rover's landing came as a welcome success for NASA, which has been beleaguered by science budget cuts and the cancellation of its 30-year-old space shuttle program.

Obama, who has made a focus on engineering, math and science the centerpiece of his education policy, did not specify funding plans, but offered NASA "a personal commitment to protect these critical investments in science and technology" and said the rover was set to prompt more work on and about Mars.

"Our expectation is that Curiosity is going to be telling us things that we did not know before and laying the groundwork for an even more audacious undertaking in the future, and that's a human mission to the Red Planet," he said.

Curiosity has been called the first fully equipped mobile laboratory sent to another world. Its mission is to search for evidence that the planet most similar to Earth now harbors, or once hosted, the key ingredients necessary for the evolution of microbial life.

In his call to the NASA team, Obama said he wanted a quick update if they do find signs of life on Mars.

"If in fact you do make contact with Martians please let me know right away," the president said, to laughter. "I've got a lot of other things on my plate, but I suspect that that will go to the top of the list. Even if they're just microbes it will be pretty exciting."

The president also joked that he may want to emulate the look of Bobak Ferdowski, the 32-year-old flight engineer known to fans as "the NASA Mohawk Guy" because of his stars-and-stripes punk rock hairdo.

"I in the past thought about getting a Mohawk myself but my team keeps on discouraging me," Obama said on the call, telling the scientists they had "come a long way" from the dark-rimmed glasses and pocket protectors they were long known for.

"You guys are a little cooler than you used to be," he said.
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http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/08/13/technology/13reuters-usa-mars-obama.html?hp
 
B

Branduil

Member
Chichikov said:
The laws of physics are the same everywhere.
Personally, I find it magical and inspiring rather than disappointing.

Also, this is a geological mission, they're going after geological features we understand.

But I do imagine that if we ever send a rover to Mount Olympus, you'll get your sci-fi fix.
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I dunno, sounds like it would be kind of disappointing.

Because of the size of Olympus Mons and its shallow slopes, an observer standing on the Martian surface would be unable to view the entire profile of the volcano, even from a great distance. The curvature of the planet and the volcano itself would obscure such a synoptic view.[12] Similarly, an observer near the summit would be unaware of standing on a high mountain, as the slope of the volcano would extend beyond the horizon, a mere 3 kilometers away.[13]
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E

ElectricBlue187

Member
Obama said:
Our expectation is that Curiosity is going to be telling us things that we did not know before and laying the groundwork for an even more audacious undertaking in the future, and that's a human mission to the Red Planet
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I%20DON'T%20CARE%20GUY.png
 
S

SUPREME1

Banned
So people really are falling for this?

I'm not saying it's not real, but it's not real. That's all I can say.




I was never here.









Go NASA, or whatever.
 
E

ElectricBlue187

Member
RMoney said:
"This is still the greatest nation on earth. I know there are people around the world who are always critical of America, have something negative to say, say our greatest days are in the past. Baloney,” Romney said. “We just won more Olympic medals than any other nation on earth. You also just saw we just landed on Mars and took a good look at what's going on there. And I know the Chinese are planning on going to the moon and I hope they have a good experience doing that and I hope they stop in and take a look at our flag that was put there 43 years ago.”
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I%20DON'T%20CARE%20GUY.png
 
A

akira28

Member
birdcity said:
He may not have ran on that platform, but he's definitely not helping.
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I'd prefer he cut the trip to Disney world, rather than stop paying the Car Insurance, you dig? Especially when his evil cousin is simultaneously stealing the rent money to purchase guns and ammo, and also cut the brake lines on the family car.

The GOP has been pushing NASA cuts or blocking NASA funding in the name of fiscal responsibility for 3 decades, unless it's a Republican from a NASA state like Alabama or Texas or Florida. Yet somehow Obama hes become NASA's worst enemy, not Congress' tradition of putting education and the sciences on the chopping block before defense or revenue increases or anything else.
 
O

owlbeak

Member
akira28 said:
I'd prefer he cut the trip to Disney world, rather than stop paying the Car Insurance, you dig? Especially when his evil cousin is simultaneously stealing the rent money to purchase guns and ammo, and also cut the brake lines on the family car.

The GOP has been pushing NASA cuts or blocking NASA funding in the name of fiscal responsibility for 3 decades, unless it's a Republican from a NASA state like Alabama or Texas or Florida. Yet somehow Obama hes become NASA's worst enemy, not Congress' tradition of putting education and the sciences on the chopping block before defense or revenue increases or anything else.
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They're all at fault.

It just is shitty that he calls them and panders about funding them when he's proposed large cuts to the entire organization.
 
A

akira28

Member
birdcity said:
They're all at fault.

It just is shitty that he calls them and panders about funding them when he's proposed large cuts to the entire organization.
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I fear his decisions in reference to NASA a whole lot less than I do a Tea Partier who wants to know why we even have a NASA to begin with. I remember during the Clinton and Bush years, people talking about cutting unnecessary programs, and NASA was one of the programs they wanted to shrink. And it wasn't Democrats or Presidents talking like this, but members of Congress, hidden in a room somewhere playing cost-cutting supermajority. And these are the guys who actually do the cutting.
 
D

DrForester

Kills Photobucket
Mars actually is a huge problem. Whoever is sent to Mars is going to have to stay there, nearly a year becasue of the orbits of the planets. Add into that the travel time, and you're looking at a trip lasing almost twice as long as the longest space flight on record (437 days). It's not as "simple" as Apollo was, just sending three guys on a 4 day trip to spend at longest, 3 days on the moon and return.
 
C

CFMOORE!

Member
DrForester said:
Mars actually is a huge problem. Whoever is sent to Mars is going to have to stay there, nearly a year becasue of the orbits of the planets. Add into that the travel time, and you're looking at a trip lasing almost twice as long as the longest space flight on record (437 days). It's not as "simple" as Apollo was, just sending three guys on a 4 day trip to spend at longest, 3 days on the moon and return.
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I'll stay for a 5 year trip. I am physically and mentally fit to withstand the rigors of space travel. goddamnit, nasa, pick me.
 
L

Leeroy3101

Banned
Sorry if my point came across as simple fix. I know it's much more complicated than anyone can imagine. We'd have to figure out how to deal with the radiation as well.

I was just trying to illustrate how tribal we still are as a species. We could do much more if we all united on a single goal, such as Mars, to further the human race. Sure, there's other things which are even more important here at home. I'm just trying to give a few analogies, that's all.
 
Alebrije

Alebrije

Member
What about China? do they really have chance to sent people to the moon?

I think going to Mars is a team work ( U.S. , China. Europe, Rusia) not possible for a country alone.
 
smokeymicpot

smokeymicpot

Beat EviLore at pool.
Alebrije said:
What about China? do they really have chance to sent people to the moon?

I think going to Mars is a team work ( U.S. , China. Europe, Rusia) not possible for a country alone.
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One problem we won't work as a team if we did we could actually get there.
 
C

Culex

Banned
CFMOORE! said:
I'll stay for a 5 year trip. I am physically and mentally fit to withstand the rigors of space travel. goddamnit, nasa, pick me.
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Yea, as aggressive as a 2030 trip is, I just don't see how it's feasible. How are you going to budget food / water for the duration? The extra weight?

I just don't see the tech available yet to do this. Plus, if it's NASA, we certainly do NOT have the budget in place to do the trip. This is a 30 billion dollar tip, minimum.
 
E

Ether_Snake

安安安安安安安安安安安安安安安
AstroNut325 said:
So the last time NASA's budget was below 0.5% was 1959. What happened to progress?
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No no no no, it's just gotten cheaper, thanks to progress!

Anyway the point remains: NASA should be funded to work almost exclusively on getting things on the moon and Mars and back, no scientific research. The more we have breakthroughs in doing that, the cheaper it gets to get there, and the sooner we can send more advanced research vehicles if desired. Right now we are doing the equivalent of sending biologists to the New World to tell us about how things are, instead of actually finding ways to get there easily.

It's really stupid. Get the Santa Maria on Mars and you'll be able to add whatever rovers you want in there to look at rocks.
 
B

Branduil

Member
DrForester said:
Mars actually is a huge problem. Whoever is sent to Mars is going to have to stay there, nearly a year becasue of the orbits of the planets. Add into that the travel time, and you're looking at a trip lasing almost twice as long as the longest space flight on record (437 days). It's not as "simple" as Apollo was, just sending three guys on a 4 day trip to spend at longest, 3 days on the moon and return.
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That's why we need to plan for a long-term colony, not a trip there and back.

Culex said:
Yea, as aggressive as a 2030 trip is, I just don't see how it's feasible. How are you going to budget food / water for the duration? The extra weight?

I just don't see the tech available yet to do this. Plus, if it's NASA, we certainly do NOT have the budget in place to do the trip. This is a 30 billion dollar tip, minimum.
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We could already have a colony on Mars if we had the will to do it. It's not a problem of technology.
 
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