Mars Curiosity Rover - Mission Progress

Curiosity Rover on Track for Early August Landing

06.26.12


Artist's concept of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover This artist's concept features NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, a mobile robot for investigating Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mission Status Report

PASADENA, Calif. -- A maneuver on Tuesday adjusted the flight path of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft for delivering the rover Curiosity to a landing target beside a Martian mountain.

The car-size, one-ton rover is bound for arrival the evening of Aug. 5, 2012, PDT (early Aug. 6, EDT and Universal Time). The landing will mark the beginning of a two-year prime mission to investigate whether one of the most intriguing places on Mars ever offered an environment favorable for microbial life.

That was really impressive, Lynn; I trust there will be a live link to NASA
so we can listen in on the landing.

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The Kite Fliers

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Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

When this thing lands, I sure hope someone will be kind enough to link to all the goodies, like live streaming video feeds, news, etc.

IIRC the last good mars mission I watched unfold was in the late 90's (I forget what that rovers name was, but those were the nicest HD images of the red world I think we've ever seen. I remember N-Geo magazine doing a nice series on it.)

For those who want a real experience on landing day
http://www.planetary.org/get-involved/events/planetfest-2012/
this should fit the bill nicely.

I seem to remember seeing that the method used with Spirit and Opportunity wouldn't work for Curiosity due to it's increased size and mass. Plus they want to make a pinpoint landing. Other than the possibility of the new system having difficulties another potential hazzard would be one of those infamous Martian dust storms. But I would assume they have planned the landing for a time of the year when dust storms are a minimal risk.
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Bob DeWoody

Once a lander failed because of different units systems used by the builders and NASA. I hope this time they have used the same system.
Tullio
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Well if we can't land a container of sophisticated machinery and electronics softly I think it will be so much longer before we attempt to send humans to the red planet. At least Curiosity is on a one way trip no matter how hard or soft the landing is. On the other hand a spacecraft with humans on board has to land totally intact and be able to launch again with only minimal repairs being able to be conducted. So far I do not recall any rocket making a re-entry into an atmosphere and then launch again without major servicing, except the lunar modules from the Apollo missions. However the moon is less massive and has virtually no atmosphere.
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Bob DeWoody

Well , it isn't like they could send a last minute command to fix a problem at that point. We may just have to wait a few minutes longer to find out whether the landing was a success.
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Bob DeWoody

I am following Curiosity on the JPL site. They don't seem to worry much and they give more space to a new amplifier they just built.
Tullio
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