Tag Archives: mars rover

Mars Curiosity leaves its landing area, heads to distant frontier a quarter-mile away

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DNP Mars Curiosity leaves its landing area, heads to distant frontier ok, 50 feet

Now that Curiosity has survived its thrill-a-minute landing and passed an upgrade and physical with (nearly) flying colors, the rover is off to earn its $2 billion keep. The buggy got off to a good start, driving 52 feet towards its first science site "beautifully, just as our rover planners designed it," according to NASA. The destination, Glenelg, is 1,500 feet away from the now-familiar Bradbury Landing where it first set down, which is pretty far for a rover that treks along at about a tenth of a mile per hour. On top of that, its minders have some stops in mind to test instruments -- meaning it'll arrive there in about two weeks. Once at Glenelg, Curiousity will scope the unusual geology of the region, though its principal destination for science is Mount Sharp, a relatively vast six miles away. Don't worry about it running out of gas, though -- it's nuclear power supply will last a full Martian year, or 687 earth days.

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Mars Curiosity leaves its landing area, heads to distant frontier a quarter-mile away originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 12:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Voice signals sent to Mars and back, while telephoto images tease rich geology

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Voice signals sent to Mars and back, while telephoto images tease rich geology

The Martian hills are alive with the sound of music. Well, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden's voice at least, as the agency reveals that the first recorded human voice has traveled from Earth, to another planet, and back. The words might not have literally echoed in the surrounding hills, but by having been beamed to Curiosity and back again, have made a small step towards interplanetary communication. Along with the motivational words of Bolden, the rover returned some telephoto images from the onboard 100mm and 34mm lenses. The pictures show the hills toward which Curiosity is bound, and tease the scientists with their rich-looking -- and hopefully revealing -- layers of geology. Want to know what interplanetary voicemail sounds like? No need to go to Mars and back, just click on the more coverage link below.

Continue reading Voice signals sent to Mars and back, while telephoto images tease rich geology

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Voice signals sent to Mars and back, while telephoto images tease rich geology originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Aug 2012 10:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Curiosity rover flaunts its battle scar, wind sensor is bruised (but not broken)

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Curiosity rover flaunts its battle scar, wind sensor is bruised but not broken

You can't win 'em all. Such is the case with the Curiosity rover, anyway, as diagnostics have revealed that its wind sensors have sustained damage. NASA engineers aren't fully sure what caused this minor setback to the otherwise successful landing, but hypothesize that stones might've been kicked up during the rocket-powered landing, which then struck the sensor's wiring. Fortunately, there's already someone on the job, as Javier Gomez-Elvira is investigating the damage with the intent of restoring the lost functionality. Another NASA scientist, Ashwin Vasavada, believes the issue is rather minor: "It degrades our ability to detect wind speed and direction when the wind is blowing from a particular direction, but we think we can work around that."

The broken instrument was initially discovered as part of NASA's routine power-cycling of all instrumentation, so as to determine an overall bill of health for the rover. Now that Curiosity has earned its battle scars, it can hold its head high during its journey to Glenelg and Mount Sharp.

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Curiosity rover flaunts its battle scar, wind sensor is bruised (but not broken) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 19:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Curiosity landing video assembled from high-res images (video)

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NASA releases a choppy HD movie of Curiosity touching down

A new video has been compiled by Spaceflight101.com showing Curiosity's final minutes of terror in glorious HD (though a dearth of frames and lack of stabilization make it a bit herky-jerky). It's an assembly of all the high-res photos taken by the buggy on the way down to its now familiar perch, rolling at the not-exactly-HFR speed of 4 fps, but still trumping a previous low-res thumbnail version. It gives a much clearer, rover's-eye-view of the journey, starting with the heat shield ejection and finishing with the dusty, butterfly-like touchdown. Check it out below the break to see the precarious descent -- and don't forget your Dramamine.

Continue reading Curiosity landing video assembled from high-res images (video)

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Curiosity landing video assembled from high-res images (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Aug 2012 13:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NASA maps out proposed travel plans for Curiosity, decides to head for the hills

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NASA maps out proposed travel plans for Curiosity, decides to head for the hills

As the vista on Mars gradually gets ever clearer, and the system checks continue to show that the rover is in good stead, the team behind Curiosity will be increasingly eager to stretch its legs wheels. The first trip might be just a cautious few meters, but plans for a more adventurous jaunt have just been revealed. The first location in Curiosity's sights is an area referred to as Glenelg, which, based on initial pictures, offers three different geological characteristics, as well as potentially being an area where water used to be present. The site is only 1,300 feet (400 meters) from where the rover landed, but it could still take several weeks to get there. This is merely a quick dash compared to the next leg of its journey, which sees Curiosity heading out to an area called Mount Sharp -- a large mound of layered rock which is hoped to contain visible geology potentially dating back millions of years. With seven kilometers (4.4 miles) lying between the rover and the mountain's foothills, it'll be a much longer journey, but one that could provide the first real evidence of the planet's ability to host, or have hosted, life.

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NASA maps out proposed travel plans for Curiosity, decides to head for the hills originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Aug 2012 09:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Curiosity survives brain transplant, prepares for first drive

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Curiosity survives 'brain transplant,' prepares for first drive

If you thought your OTA update took too long, how about four days? That's how long the Curiosity "brain transplant" took, and is now finally complete. This now means that the main computers have switched over from landing mode, to surface mode -- and thus we hope -- meaning the rover's good to go. That said, it's still a painfully slow process, with Curiosity's wheels likely remaining steadfastly motionless for at least another week -- and even then we're looking at a trip of just a few meters. When it comes to interplanetary travel, though, slow and steady definitely wins the race -- in the meantime, you can soak up the view.

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Curiosity survives brain transplant, prepares for first drive originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 08:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Life on Mars: One week of Curiosity

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Life on Mars One week of Curiousity

Is there life on Mars? NASA's latest mission to the red planet might well answer that question, or perhaps the more pertinent question, was there life on Mars. At 10:02 AM EST on November 26th last year, the space agency's Mars Science Laboratory (to give the mission its full name) set off on its eight-month journey to the red planet. The most advanced equipment ever sent to the planet -- and the biggest-ever rover -- should allow exploration of some of the most interesting regions, over far larger distances than ever previously covered. On arrival, after negotiating a tricky landing, the mobile laboratory (that's Curiosity) will spend a Martian year (687 Earth days) analyzing rock samples and seeking evidence of conditions suitable for microbial life or -- we can live in hope -- actual evidence of the same. After the break, we take a look at some of the key events over the first seven days on the planet's surface.

Continue reading Life on Mars: One week of Curiosity

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Life on Mars: One week of Curiosity originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NASA’s Curiosity rover receives long-distance OTA update, ‘brain transplant’ on Mars

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NASA's Curiosity rover receives longdistance OTA update, brain transplant on Mars

Think it's nifty when your carrier deigns to provide your smartphone with that long awaited OTA update? That's nothing. Over the weekend, NASA's Curiosity rover will be receiving its first long-distance OTA update -- all the way out there on Mars. The goal is to transition both redundant main computers from software suited for landing the vehicle to software optimized for surface exploration -- such as driving, obstacle avoidance and using the robotic arm. NASA calls it a "brain transplant" and points out that the software was actually uploaded during the flight from Earth. Now can someone please enable OTA downloads for the human brain? We'd really like to know kung fu. PR after the break.

Continue reading NASA's Curiosity rover receives long-distance OTA update, 'brain transplant' on Mars

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NASA's Curiosity rover receives long-distance OTA update, 'brain transplant' on Mars originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Aug 2012 19:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NASA’s Curiosity Mars landing successful, first pictures trickling in (video)

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NASA's Curiosity Mars landing successful, first pictures trickling in

After "seven minutes of terror" involving guided entry, parachute and powered descent, and even a sky crane, NASA's Curiosity rover has successfully touched down on the surface of Mars. Better yet, the 2,000lbs (900kg) science lab has established communications with Earth and is sending back telemetry along with the first pictures of Gale crater. These initial grayscale images are only 256 x 256 pixels in size but show Curiosity's shadow on the Martian soil. Peek at our galley below and stay tuned for updates.

Update: Hit the break to check out a video of all the "seven minutes of terror" highlights.

Gallery: NASA's Curiosity first pictures of Mars

Continue reading NASA's Curiosity Mars landing successful, first pictures trickling in (video)

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NASA's Curiosity Mars landing successful, first pictures trickling in (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Aug 2012 02:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Watch NASA’s Curiosity rover touch down on Mars, live at 1:30AM EDT

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Watch NASA's Curiosity rover touch down on Mars, Live at 1:30 AM ES

You watched the launch, bit your nails over computer simulations and even played the game, and it all comes down to today: NASA's Curiosity rover is about to land on Mars. The $2.5 billion vehicle has been en route to the red planet for eight months, and in a few short hours will spend seven terrifying minutes blindly making its way to the Martian surface -- only to make NASA scientists wait another full seven before reporting on its success or failure. The rover is flying solo.

That doesn't mean we can't be there in spirit, however: NASA TV will be broadcasting the event on Ustream, offering commentary from the minds behind the rover, as well as audio from mission control. The Curiosity Cam, which runs from 11:30PM until 2:00AM EDT and 3:30AM to 4:30AM EDT, will offer commentary from the scientists and engineers behind Curiosity, while a second feed (at NASA JPL Live, which runs from 11:30PM onward) will play audio from mission control. If all goes to plan, NASA will be able to share an image from Curiosity's navigation cameras, confirming its safe arrival on the Martian surface. Sounds like a hell of a show to us.

Read on to view the Curiosity Cam right here or check out the source links below to prep your evening (or early morning) viewing for yourself. Let us know your own thoughts on Curiosity's landing in the comments.

Update: Touchdown confirmed! The entire sequence went perfectly to plan, and rover Curiosity is now on the surface of Mars and sending telemetry data.

Update: NASA's press conference is now happening live.

Continue reading Watch NASA's Curiosity rover touch down on Mars, live at 1:30AM EDT

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Watch NASA's Curiosity rover touch down on Mars, live at 1:30AM EDT originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Aug 2012 22:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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