Mars Curiosity Rover... to land 10:31 pm 8/5/2012

Just don't have it fire at those rock formations that look like coiled dog turds, or blow up the Mysterons' city.

 

http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/22/mars-rover-passes-first-driving-test/?hpt=hp_inthenews

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/04/us/mars-rover-scott-maxwell/index.html?iref=allsearch

 

Here is a great HD video (best quality yet) of the MARDI/descent footage:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZX5GRPnd4U&feature=player_embedded[/yt]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZX5GRPnd4U&feature=player_embedded

Also, here is a great hi-res color panorama, the first high quality one to include 'Mount Sharp':
http://www.db-prods.net/blog/wp-con..._13_Mastcam34_m_postcard_medium1-1000x344.jpg

 

I'm going to do it again and say that Curiosity just returned the most unique narcissistic image in the history of humanity:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16239.html

 

^ I don't follow.

 

Curiosity needed a better Facebook profile pic to compete with Neil Armstrong's. Have you visited the Apollo astronauts pages? It's just not fair!

 

It's just missing a duckface At least these photos serve a purpose, to check on the status of the rover's exterior.

 

That pic ^ makes me think of "Joe Tourist", standing in front of the Eiffel Tower with his arm outstretched so the camera can get him and the tower.

I think Curiosity was just trying to shut down the naysayers who claim its roving about the backlots of NASA or JPL instead of the surface of Mars.

I like this next pic... although I'm not sure why.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16174.html

I wonder why the need for "white balancing". Sure, the pic on the right is what it would look like on earth with our "light"... but its not earth so who cares?

If they were to say that the pic on the right is what WE humans would see with our opitcal apparatus if we were on Mars... and the pic on the left was redder due to the Mars Curiosity optical apparatus, then I could understand the need to "white" balance.

Hey... an update ( #13 on 11/1/12) WITH my fav pic and the tourist pic!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuPFsHGQU6I

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuPFsHGQU6I[/yt]

Ahh, there is a 14th update too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPUJ6XJCvfY

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPUJ6XJCvfY[/yt]

Hmmm and even an update 15. But it sounds like the guys on earth will be takingn Thanksgiving off, so don't expect another one this week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZjIW12sDas

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZjIW12sDas[/yt]

 

If you have a free hour...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAecap7-3z4&feature=relmfu

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAecap7-3z4&feature=relmfu[/yt]

or two...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN0y10Nx6rs&feature=g-u

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN0y10Nx6rs&feature=g-u[/yt]

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CURIOSITY!!!!!!!!

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=146903741


If you have a spare hour...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP3cud3QIaM

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP3cud3QIaM[/yt]

 

Hmmm, it looks like I missed an important anniversary.

Last week Curiosity celebrated its one YEAR anniversary.

http://us.cnn.com/2014/06/24/tech/mars-curiosity-anniversary/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

Yes, on June 24th it had been 687 days since the Curiosity landed on Mars.

Gawd, on Mars I'd half as old as I am!

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/

In Feb of this year, the rover watched the odometer flip the 5 kilometer mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSf1HenQhWs
Hurray!

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSf1HenQhWs[/yt]

 

And the US saves fuel by sticking with Imperial measurements because it takes fewer units to get wherever you're going! Meanwhile, Daylight Savings Time increases Global Warming because it adds more hours of daylight to the day!

 

Humor, it is a difficult concept.

 

Wait, what, DST doesn't contribute to global warming? You're joking, right? Next you'd be telling me being at sea doesn't increase your chances of getting struck by meteorite. Come on, I should know these things, I've gone to school on Mercury.

 

Or maybe played with too much mercury while at school?

 

Hmmm.

I know I was making a joke about the arbitrary concept of time measurements.

Are you suggesting Metriq isn't making a joke about the arbitrary concepts of miles per gallon and kilometers per liter?

Getting back to Curiosity... here's another news tidbit from the "1st anniversary".

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-205

Makes me think of an old interview where a male political leader challenged Barbara Walters to dispute his contention that there were any female scientists of note.

Of course, from my seat in the peanut gallery, I was yelling at her to bring up the only person (at the time, and maybe still?) who won the Nobel Prize twice in two different scientific disciplines, physics & chemistry. (The Peace prize didn't count).

If you actually need a hint, I'll simply say that the person was Polish.

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1903/marie-curie-bio.html

 

Actually, I was making an even more obtuse joke. The same distance in miles (say, 40) is a smaller number than in kilometers (64). Therefore, Imperial units are more efficient! That's why I also threw in the bit about DST. There are people who seriously believe that this readjustment of clocks adds another hour of daylight to the day.

 

That's actually true. Casual use of imperial units gives you faster reentry velocity than you could have ever anticipated.

 

And didn't we lose one Mars mission because the designers used 2 different forms of measurements (feet & meters) a few years back?

Found it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/space/stories/orbiter100199.htm

I didn't realize it didn't crash, it just went spinning off into space.

 

Yeah, that's what I was referring to. It's a messed up fate, you try to reenter too fast, and instead of crashing and dying quickly and painlessly, you fly away and get stuck in a prolonged dead in the vacuum of space. And you typically wouldn't have enough propellent to return from whatever trajectory you got sent on. For now we can be glad there aren't people on these things.

"Houston, I think we're back into space..."

"Roger, Olympus. We think we mixed meters with feet down here. Stand by."

"Say again please?"

(For some reason I always mixed up the climate orbiter with Beagle 2. Once I came to wondering why would NASA name a probe after a British ship, and I realised they never did. Either way, poor dog.)