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

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B

BruiserBear

Banned
Like the hat? said:
Every time I see these high resolution photos, my insides scream "THAT IS ANOTHER FUCKING PLANET JESUS CHRIST"
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I get that thought too, particularly because the resolution is just so good. It looks like I could be standing there looking at that myself.


then after I think about that, I remember how many other planets exist out there, in other solar systems, it blows my mind to realize they all actually exist. Like you could actually stand on them, and they could even have living things on them. Probably billions or trillions of these planets exist.
 
W

WeAreStarStuff

Member
BruiserBear said:
I get that thought too, particularly because the resolution is just so good. It looks like I could be standing there looking at that myself.


then after I think about that, I remember how many other planets exist out there, in other solar systems, it blows my mind to realize they all actually exist. Like you could actually stand on them, and they could even have living things on them. Probably billions or trillions of these planets exist.
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Indeed. Really makes so many of the conflicts of our species seem so..........petty.
 
S

speculawyer

Member
Nighttime picture from Mars done with Ultraviolet light & camera.

CSI: Mars. Did someone spooge in the lower left?

2013-01-24T235440Z_96340761_TM4E91O1GH301_RTRMADP_3_MARS-NIGHT-PHOTO.JPG


NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has captured its first nighttime view of the Red Planet using a camera and ultraviolet light on its robotic arm.

Curiosity snapped the Mars night photos in visible and ultraviolet light on Wednesday (Jan. 22) to take an up-close look at a rock called "Sayunei," which the rover had scuffed with a wheel to scratch off surface dust, NASA announced Thursday. One goal was to seek out any fluorescent minerals, they added.

The rover took the photos with the help of small light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that serve as lights for the Mars Hand Lens Imager — or MAHLI — a microscope-like camera at the end of Curiosity's robot arm. The camera has an adjustable focus and several LED light sources for its Martian photography.
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http://news.yahoo.com/curiosity-rover-snaps-1st-photos-mars-night-163233084.html
 
Insane Metal

Insane Metal

Member
Can I make a new thread? Or the OP? Cause this one is almost forgotten =(

Anyway here's something new - and exciting!

725704main_pia16726-673.jpg
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PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Curiosity rover has, for the first time, used a drill carried at the end of its robotic arm to bore into a flat, veiny rock on Mars and collect a sample from its interior. This is the first time any robot has drilled into a rock to collect a sample on Mars.

The fresh hole, about 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters) wide and 2.5 inches (6.4 centimeters) deep in a patch of fine-grained sedimentary bedrock, can be seen in images and other data Curiosity beamed to Earth Saturday. The rock is believed to hold evidence about long-gone wet environments. In pursuit of that evidence, the rover will use its laboratory instruments to analyze rock powder collected by the drill.
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"We commanded the first full-depth drilling, and we believe we have collected sufficient material from the rock to meet our objectives of hardware cleaning and sample drop-off," said Avi Okon, drill cognizant engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Rock powder generated during drilling travels up flutes on the bit. The bit assembly has chambers to hold the powder until it can be transferred to the sample-handling mechanisms of the rover's Collection and Handling for In-Situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA) device.

Before the rock powder is analyzed, some will be used to scour traces of material that may have been deposited onto the hardware while the rover was still on Earth, despite thorough cleaning before launch.

"We'll take the powder we acquired and swish it around to scrub the internal surfaces of the drill bit assembly," said JPL's Scott McCloskey, drill systems engineer. "Then we'll use the arm to transfer the powder out of the drill into the scoop, which will be our first chance to see the acquired sample."
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"Building a tool to interact forcefully with unpredictable rocks on Mars required an ambitious development and testing program," said JPL's Louise Jandura, chief engineer for Curiosity's sample system. "To get to the point of making this hole in a rock on Mars, we made eight drills and bored more than 1,200 holes in 20 types of rock on Earth."
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O_O

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20130209.html





Yeah it will be a few weeks before we get the results, but I can't wait!
 
O

Orbis

Member
Sane_Man said:
Has anyone debunked this yet?:

http://beforeitsnews.com/alternativ...reature-fossilized-spine-on-mars-2571646.html
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Probably just another case of our eyes wanting to see something in a random collection of rocks. It barely resembles the spine seen in the example image. In addition, it would be unlikely that something like this would appear so exposed on the surface. Certainly can't rule out ancient aquatic lifeforms though, given that we believe there was an abundance of water on Mars at one point. But evidence of complex and ancient life probably isn't going to appear on a plate like that.
 
Insane Metal

Insane Metal

Member
1. The memory got corrupted and Curiosity had to switch to "Safe Mode". Fortunately, it seems nothing serious happened.

2. Also, NASA Briefing on Curiosity's Analysis of Mars Rock, March 12th, 1pm. EDT.

Finally. This is the most important moment of the mission so far, although I bet nothing really remarkable will be discussed. My guess is that the best chance of getting valuable information on Mars' past will be the rocks around Mt. Sharp. And the rover won't be getting close to it for at least 5 months =(
 
Dice

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
I wonder if/how many comets that would have hit us hit some other planet first. Our bros got our back?
 
M

Mario

Sidhe / PikPok
Sane_Man said:
Has anyone debunked this yet?:

http://beforeitsnews.com/alternativ...reature-fossilized-spine-on-mars-2571646.html
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Hard to debunk when nothing presented really constitutes any evidence of anything.

Like all of these kinds of pictures, out of all the billions of things on Mars it looks (at a distance) vaguely like one of the billions of things on Earth. Humans have evolved to see patterns in things, and sometimes we see something that just isn't there, like staring at clouds and finding shapes that look like stuff.

Should such a thing exist on Mars, I have faith in NASA to find it, verify it, and communicate with the world when they do.
 
xclaw

xclaw

Member
Any place to see news on the findings or does it take forever to have something to present to the public? All those samples should have some sort of news behind what they're seeing.
 
Evolved1

Evolved1

make sure the pudding isn't too soggy but that just ruins everything
No way it's been a year... no way.

why does time move so damn fast now...
 
Evolved1

Evolved1

make sure the pudding isn't too soggy but that just ruins everything
Still can't believe these crazy people built a rocket crane to autonomously lower their SUV rover onto the surface on another planet.... it's science fiction.
 
P

Partial Gamification

Banned
Not science fiction.

This has been my favorite coverage so far:
To celebrate its first birthday, NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity took a moment to thumb its nose at Earthlings’ copyright laws. Curiosity, which made its dramatic landing on Mars a year ago Monday, used the motor in its soil-analysis system to play “Happy Birthday to You” to itself, a performance that normally requires a license from Warner Music.

There aren’t any loudspeakers on Curiosity, but it does have a motor that vibrates very loudly, according to The Verge. The vibrations come at very specific frequencies, and the NASA team was able to control these to produce the exact frequencies that make up “Happy Birthday.”

Warner’s copyright requires a fee for any public performance of the jingle. “Happy Birthday” is the most popular song in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records, and earns Warner an estimated $2 million in royalties every year. If you’ve ever wondered why chain restaurants each have their own version of the birthday song, it’s to avoid paying the fee.

[...]

This is just the latest act of rebellion by the young robot. In April, Curiosity took some time to draw a penis on the surface of Mars. In October, Curiosity proved its social media acumen by checking in on Foursquare.
[...]
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D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
Happy birthday, Curiosity!

Smiles and Cries said:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astr...t_may_get_hit_by_a_comet_in_october_2014.html

So Mars has a chance to get smacked by a Comet in 2014

this rover better get work done
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I kinda wish that this happen, because it's something that we'll never be able to see again, being so close to the event in question.

However, whatever interesting stuff that is on the surface might as well be lost with this. Hell, even a fragment is threatening. Just remember that one fragment of a comet that impacted Jupiter and was the size of Earth. I am not able to even imagine what would happen to a planet if it were struck by a comet head on. Jesus.

Plus, I don't want Wall-E Curiosity to be destroyed.
 
P

Partial Gamification

Banned
Ekdrm2d1 said:
What's up with that donut shaped rock? It wasn't there a week ago, and now it appeared?
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Opportunity, another rover, probably kicked it up. Some speculate it might have come from a meteor impact,but not impacts or dust plumes have been seen.
The rock itself has been given the epic name "Pinnacle Island." Its upside-down resting position gives scientists a chance to study a rock surface that has likely been laying downward on the planet's surface for billions of years.

The rover team is busy examining the rock, trying to figure out how it got there. There are several possible options, including the rover's own movement somehow sending the rock flying to its current resting place. A meteorite impact could have landed it there, though that theory is more of a long shot.
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edit: its not from MSL/Curiosity, the photo
 
Insane Metal

Insane Metal

Member
The rover has drilled another rock on mars and nothing on the results yet. On the other hand, one of its wheels is getting really hammered up there:

0679MH0002640000203976E01_DXXX.jpg
 
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